Thank you Mo!
Based on those screenshots, it would appear that Villeneuve is going for a high degree of visual continuity with the original movie.
This kind of surprises me.
Based on earlier interviews, I had formed the opinion that he may try a very different visual approach - maybe placing most of the action off-world, as opposed to LA.
This could of course still be true, and we might just get a glimpse of the City of Angels, no more... we shall see.
But if the whole movie does take place in Deckard's old city haunts, then the next big question is: how about the score?
Will Villeneuve bring back Vangelis?
We know for sure that the Greek composer is
still active, so in theory it would be perfectly possible. If John Williams can still deliver the goods at 80plus, so can Vangelis in his mid-seventies.
But would it actually work?
For the record, I absolutely adore Blade Runner's score, and its key role in rounding off the movie's atmosphere and mood has been extensively discussed everywhere.
However, the early 80s were the dawn of synth music in popular culture, and Vangelis' score not only worked perfectly as a complement to BR's visuals: back then it also represented the most up-to-date, almost futuristic music genre out there.
These days synths are everywhere, to the extent that in film scoring sound design seems to be considered more important than melody, harmony and orchestration, particularly in sci-fi movies.
In film scoring circles, latter day Vangelis music gets sometimes mocked because the old master still uses his 80s computers, samples and synth algorithms, instead of upgrading to the latest generation.
I don't doubt for a minute his ability to deliver a great score, musically speaking. But is he still capable of sounding as modern and ground breaking as in the early 80s?
I would love BR2's score to be as much a vital component in BR2 as it was in the original movie, and can't wait to see who Villeneuve ends up choosing.