synkrotron
I'll more than likely add it to my collection, even though it wasn't as good as the original... Are they ever?
 

Some, like Road Warrior, were far superior than their originals.  Heck, most people didn't even know there was a movie before Road Warrior (i.e., Mad Max)!

bitflipper
The volume was too loud in the theater I saw it in, too. Not to the point of distortion, but certainly above the sweet spot. Given that theater systems are calibrated, I'm assuming the hot mix was intentional.
 
It probably wasn't Hans Zimmer's idea; the most painful parts were low-frequency sound effects. In contrast, one complaint I had about Wonder Woman was the music wasn't up enough in the mix. It would seem Herr Zimmer has little influence over the mixing process.
 
And to be fair to Hans, he was brought in very late in the game, just six weeks before the film's release and after most of the music had already been composed and recorded. The official credits don't even mention the original composer, but I've read that a total of four composers contributed music.
 
They could have saved a lot of time and money - and kept true to the original - by just hiring Vangelis to start with.
 
The list of audio engineers is long enough to form two or three softball teams. While both of the mixers named have extensive filmographies, few of their past projects stand out for sound (Kung Fu Panda 3, Monster Trucks). One of them does list Apocalypse Now among his credits, but that was a long time ago and back then he was probably the intern who brought coffee.

Good info and a good read, Bit!  Definitely the mix at my local theater was super hot...a real cone scorcher!!!  Like I said before, it distorted the vocals at a certain part...no question about it.  I also totally agree with Hollywood's current love affair with low frequencies.  I think it all started with the first Transformers movie, as I believe that the first instance of the now-hackneyed "bass drop" occurred in said film.  Therefore, we've had a decade of bass-filled garbage ever since!
 
Basically, the BR2049 soundtrack would be good if the bottom end was cleaned up.  For giggles, I took one of the tracks off YouTube and remastered it quickly in Ozone 6--some EQ cuts, a little bass compression, narrowed the bass width (which was wide as heck), and added a little sparkle with Baxandall on the highs.  I could have cut the bass more, but the result?  Though I couldn't scrap the subharmonic mud, it actually did sound much better and tighter.  Better mid/high's cutting through the mix and it didn't sound like it was going to tear my speakers apart!
 
Good point about Vangelis.  I will have to do a little online research to find out if he was even offered the job.  Perhaps not as he's been out of the game for too long?  Whether it was Vangelis or someone else, I'm sure it would have been done better.  In fact, I can think of a couple of electronic musicians that I frequently listen to who would absolutely do a phenomenal job with BR2049's soundtrack if they had a chance.

Saw Blade Runner yesterday. After reading comments here about the volume, I took my band rehearsal earplugs with me. I agree with previous commenters, the low frequency stuff was overwhelming even with earplugs in. Then during the occasional quiet dialog scenes, I had to take the earplugs out to hear the dialog. I'm not sure who originally thought this kind of sound design was a good idea, but the trailers shown before the main feature confirm the notion that this is the accepted practice these days.

bitflipper
... The market for intellectually-engaging sci-fi seems to have disappeared.
...

I'm in the same boat. The movie was not satisfying and I'm even debating not bothering writing a review ... just another action/adventure formula movie with an incidental story, they could not really make satisfying, regardless. I thought that Decker's incredulous looks were for how much money he made for not doing or saying much of anything. The only/best line he has in the movie is about the dog! "I don't know. Ask him!"
 
That's exactly how I feel about the movie ... or the other example ... "she had green eyes" and walks away ... shoot it down ... just like the sequel. No class or appreciation for the romantic and really incredible imagery and sense of life, that the original had ... this one was devoid of life. PERIOD.
 
Btw, Flipper, I've heard better sound in the old Pink Floyd's Quadraphonic Sound, in Tangerine Dream concerts and in the original Star Wars, from which all those movies are STILL, trying to sound half as good. Even the music had no soul, and it was only used just like all the movies in Hollywood, and the original, was NOT about a Hollywood film at all ... I would almost say it was a big finger to Hollywood! 
 
BR2049 is one of the worst sequels of any movie I have ever seen ... but then, my taste is hard for many of you to appreciate ... mine is 2 Claude Berri films ... Jean de Florette and then Manon of the Spring ... and if you have never seen these two films, the ending will just blow your mind to smithereens ... and both films are incredible. No Hollyweird film even comes close!

I thought it was as good a sequel as it could have been, obviously made with love and respect to the original, whist having the bravery to go somewhere else with the story. The visuals were breathtaking. Really enjoyed it.

damn getting the double posts....

I thought it was so great that I watched it twice. The first time in 3D at a generic theater on the south side of town. It was rather empty, but that's how I like it. Loved the film, the score, and the way it was put together. The first film is pre-apocalypse. Density of humans, warm atmosphere, and there's obviously plenty to go around. The second film is post-apocalyptic, and the polar opposite in feel and mood. It wasn't the next chapter, but the next book. The sound system was obviously hanging on for dear life during the loud sequences. Still, they raised the hairs on my arm.
 
Saw it the second time at the Laser IMAX in 2D. One of the few in the country. This time, it wasn't just great, but phenomenal. The sound system blew away the first theater by a long shot. There was no audio or video distortion and everything was crystal clear. I could easily count the pores on their faces. While the dialog in the first film seemed to be low, it was perfect here. Glad I got to see if both ways.
 
It was also fun because I went with my wife, and Blade Runner has always been her favorite film. As far as all the negative judgement, I think most people don't retain enough neuroplasticity to even enjoy anything that is truly new. Everything has to be judged through the lens of previous experience, which has probably bloated to a decrepit god-like level over the years. I remember the original reviews of the first film and how the local paper referred to Vangelis' work as an "electronic caterwaul". If you don't hear his work in the new film, then you really don't know the old film. It's not only clearly in there, but they play one of his most famous pieces verbatim. PKD was excited for the first film, and I think he would have liked this one. His daughter did good work overseeing the production.
 
I'm curious how many people caught the Alien easter eggs in 2049 since they are the same universe.

“We tried to create the intention of a more contemporary sound using 40-year-old technology,” Wallfisch says. “It’s a lot harder but the result has soul.”
 
http://www.factmag.com/20...runner-2049-interview/

That was a very interesting interview, RS, thanks. Impressive that Hans finished his contribution in just 10 days. I'll be cutting him a lot more slack from now on regarding 2049 and it's occasionally phoned-in musical feel. Interestingly,  Zimmer actually considered bringing Vangelis in on the project but decided to just use his synth instead.

Maybe that particular drawer is a tunnel to the Twilight Zone? 

bitflipper
That was a very interesting interview, RS, thanks. Impressive that Hans finished his contribution in just 10 days. I'll be cutting him a lot more slack from now on regarding 2049 and it's occasionally phoned-in musical feel. Interestingly,  Zimmer actually considered bringing Vangelis in on the project but decided to just use his synth instead.

You're welcome.
 
It's too bad Vangelis wasn't a part of this. I've heard conflicting reports that he both loved and loathed his work on Blade Runner. Hell, I would have been happy if they pulled in a few of the elder synth masters such as Wendy Carlos, but had no idea what she's up to these days. Her website hasn't been updated in a long time. There's not a lot of that initial crowd left unfortunately.

There is a very big distorted sound as part of the soundtrack but when I heard it, the sound system for me was super clean with everything else clean and even the distorted sound sounded fine to me. 
 
Yes there is a lack of music in parts.  Quite a lot of sound design going on I would say with more snippets of music here and there.  Other times the music is just textural and adds to the sound design.  I get the feeling maybe too many composers were involved and it lacks a little direction.  It is a style of modern cinematic mixing, music and sound design. I think it gets unnecessarily loud too.  The effects can be overwhelming compared to the rest of the soundtrack. 
 
In the original the music was more present and there is much more of it.  It conveys a strong feeling too.  The music is more involved with the film.  I am going to see the new one again and maybe listen to the music more.  Also I am keen to watch the original as well at home on a great sound system and revisit that.  

stickman393
... 
You have to remember that not even Vangelis sounds like Vangelis anymore.
...

Weird thing to say, I thought.
 
So you are not allowed to grow out from the person you were some 30 years ago, and have to reinvent yourself by copying? ... sorry ... that is only true for Eric Clapton, and some musicos in this board, but not for a real composer of music, with so many soundtracks to his name that you can't make a good listing (hint ... neither can I!) ... and an OSCAR in his closet.
 
I do not think, that Vangelis thought that the director would make a good and sensitive film like the original ... I really don't. If you see how his music was used in the two best known films (Blade Runner and Chariots of Fire), you will know right away that the director of the current film is not a music person at all ... he's a director of the fan-fare of the day complete with idiosyncratic effects and crowd pleasing moments so that the film can bring home some good bacon, and make sure that the beacan can not get a single mention in this thread! (I took care of that!!!!)
 
And unlike the original, the script for this one was not as romantic and pleasing as the original ... which appealed to us in a sort of youthful fascinating dreaming way ... your own hopes and dreams ... but in this latest version, it's like its over ... and what is left of that dream is encapsulated and probably will die the second that door opens. Or the father will kill it wanting to hug it and love it! How pathetic of an idea that is ... and sick! And while it maybe be sadomasochistic in its view of science fiction, in many ways it is much more of a vision of a Hollywood idea of "entertainment", than anything else ... and making it look like it is important and has a theme, that is human and all that ... something you can do by taking and aiming a piss anywhere. Just ask a child, in a movie that was banned for it ... (Fellini's Intervista ... just watch that opening!!!!!).
 
I now call this "pseudo-sci-fi" ... or a Hollyweird version of such. 
 
If this is all that "science fiction" can produce nowadays, you and I would be gone and never read any of it EVER again ... c'mon ... all the great sci-fi writers that inspired us ... have you forgot them?

bitflipper
There are no less than seven versions of the original movie floating around, so it's quite likely the version you rented was not the theatrical release.
 
Mainly, they differ in the ending. The original happy ending was put in against the director's wishes, so when he had the chance to make a director's cut he changed the ending. And that was an improvement, IMO, because it clearly suggests that Deckart is a replicant. That explains why, in the sequel, he's hiding out in the wastelands.

I caught the original on the big screen when it came out ... and immediately went out and got the soundtrack from the film, because I recognized a few other things in there, like the subtle use of the late Demis Roussos's voice and such ... and the way the music was issued in the film ... it was a sheer symphony of emotions, color, visuals and music ... and this new version did not have any of those 4 together at all ... and I'm not sure that the director and producers even had a clue ... what it was all about, instead of creating an imaginary something to make you think that you are missing a point ... 
 
The last person/society that did that to a group of people, was a Fascist Government in the country that my father left to become a full fledged writer and scholar, because in his own country he could not do it!
 
Take your choice, or poison. But fake crap, is not my idea of food that you need for your senses! You really think that Ray Bradbury, Isaac Asimov, Mr. Grok and others ... would have written that kind of crap that 2049 put together?
 
You would have never EVER bothered to read it! (I could really be more cynical about this ... no one reads anything anymore, anyway ... and it also happens in these threads and boards! No one, nowadays will even bother reading a book ... wtf ... what a waste of words and letters!