I'm really excited for Blade Runner 2049 and Denis's vision for this world (he says his favorite version is the final cut, so I'm assuming that's the official canon). Are you guys excited? What movies should I do in a future video?
Lessons from the Screenplay Birdman! I know it's mostly remembered for the continuous shot and not for screenplay, but I think there's a lot there to explore regarding the relationship between artists and their art.
I’d like to see a video on Mad Max: Fury Road. Since dialogue is used minimally in the film, it’s impressive to see how much the movie does with so little and the principle of “show don’t tell”
Would you be interested in doing older films? Ozu's films, for example, are usually nothing but dialogue, so I can imagine there to be a lot to get from them. Then again, they're not in English, which can prove to be an obstacle if the focus is on the screenplay. I don't know if you limit your material to English films or not, but it would at least be interesting to see what you have to say about how films of today are different from films of the past, when the art of the cinema was still new.
Would love to see you examine more older films - classic screenplays like Double Indemnity. I also recently read the book Off the Cliff - about Thelma & Louise and would love to see your thoughts on that! A wealth of 70s-80s films are underanalysed with video essays, so thanks for making this one!
It's interesting how Hauer decided to say "Father" instead of "Fucker" it completely changes the meaning of the line going from aggressive and threatening to sentimental. It's more clear that he feels a sense of wonder at meeting his creator up in his palace, like he's stepped into heaven and is confronting god about his mortality. All that builds to him being a far more human and sympathetic character. Without that the film would be very lacking
Indeed! I was surprised that was the line in the script. If you look at his lips, he may even be saying "f*cker," and then perhaps they dubbed over the line later.
He says "fucker" in the directors cut. In the "Final Cut" which is what I believe you were using they changed it to "Father". I believe they recorded both. Blade Runner has a ton of versions : Theatrical release, directors cut, workprint, final cut. They're all worth checking out!
@@vinodrams3646 I've been really digging into Blade Runner recently. I found out that The Final Cut was edited by Ridley Scott himself, whereas The Director's Cut was edited by another editor, and merely approved by Scott. I'd like to think he preferred "Father" over "fucker", it really does change the tone of Batty.
I think "father" was definetly the better choice here. It gives it so much more meaning and an almost spiritual undertone. Think about the headquaters of Tyrell Corporation being modeled after the ziggurats, the temples, of ancient Mesopotamia - the craddle of human civilization. The creation that rebells against its creator, a classic trop of ancient mythologies. "F*cker", like in the original script, would destroy that moment. It's too weak and misplaced (even though Tyrell or any "God" or father figure can undoubtably be a f*cker). "Father" is just a perfect word in a perfect moment their.
That change is dramatic in many ways. But I think it turns the Roy character from a lost child looking for his fathers help, to a impatient teen demanding his fathers attention. Up to this point everything in the movie is done for the express purpose of getting the replicants into an audience with their creator. Once there, they act belligerent and demanding... It doesn't sit with me. The humility and reverence approach seems more appropriate, although it could be argued that they're only 4 year olds. Calling Tyrell father before killing him is more jarring this way.
Blade Runner is my favorite movie of all time so needless to say-I've been excited for this for a long time! Thank you for your work and keep doing what you're doing!
I'm looking forward for it-I've been trying to avoid all marketing like the plague. It's tough during the NFL season because I feel like I'm watching 6 different BR2049 adds every commercial break, but I've gotten pretty good at tuning them out!
well, it changes the meaning in this sentence. He's not seeking revenge on an enemy, he seeks "help" from his "father". When he can't get that help, he kills him. Also, the final cut is the one, that's most in line with what Sir Ridley Scott wanted this movie to be, so: Great decision there.
I was on a panel about film noir and someone asked me "How can you tell if it's a film noir?" The answer I gave was "if it's raining at night in Los Angeles, it's film noir."
Thank you for showing that RU-vid channels can be original, smart, thought-provoking, popular, and interesting without catering to shock value and immaturity. I love all of your videos and I always show my friends.
Apocalypse Now. How the location was totally changed from Belgian Kongo in the book to Vietnam war in the movie has always fascinating me. How you can take a story written by a dead man and change it to a event he did not experience is to me impressive. And how hard that execution really was is also very interesting. Can´t be more well suited for you. Suggestion for video title: Apocalypse Now - Changing Destiny.
That's because it's based on 2 books not just 1. It's not just based on "heart of darkness" by Joseph Conrad but also Michael Herr's book "Dispatches" which is based on his real experience as a war correspondent for enquire. He was also brought in to help on the screenplay of "Apocalypse Now" and wrote all of the inner dialogues and monologues. He also helped on "Full metal jacket' If you ever decide to read "dispatches" you better buckle up. It felt like a cold rain was showering me the entire time I was reading it.
For better I consider myself to be in a minority here, but that change made the scene more valid, building the closer connection between two characters and then moving to Roy killing his father rather than some fucker who was meant to be killed, the film pulled more drama because of the change Ridley made
@@GiorgiNemsitsveridze "I consider myself to be in a minority here, " it's actually totally the opposite, majority thinks that. Consider yourself and idiot instead.
@@GiorgiNemsitsveridze Did Ridley make the change? He allowed Rutger to re-write the final death scene? I believe Roy using the word "Fucker" humanizes Roy. They had no relationship much like an absentee Father who left his son at birth. I may agree with you that the scene is more valid as well.
Dammit! Whenever I wanna make a video essay on certain films before release the already huge channels take the opportunity. I mean it's still an outstanding vid LFTS of course, love it. Imma have to change my perspective for my vid now
@Major Douchebag - Well, it's only been going for two months and already 2k subs. Seems like they're doing pretty well to me, and they'll only get better from here. Yeah they could give it up, turn bitter and start shitting on random internet people, but what kind of a crappy life would that be?
Mr Wendal on games Yeah it's impressive, but I was just saying, I watched two of their videos and I thought they were shit, if you don't like my opinion then fuck off pal, it's not hard.
Please do a video on "No country for old men". It's a really complex movie, and my first or second favorite of all time. I'd love to hear your thoughts on it.
It helps me to think about it as a kind of art film. A "mood" piece more than a normal movie. Also, subtitles might help you keep track of what's going on, a lot of the dialogue is difficult to understand.
Pretty much everyone hated Blade Runner at first but then re-evaluated it, it wasn't considered a classic right away back in its release. I liked it fine the first time I saw it in 2011 (it was The Final Cut), the only problem I had is that at times it was a bit slow for my tastes (similar to my first viewing of "Brazil", which after digesting with more viewings has become one of my favorites). But it got better every watch. Next week I'll bee seeing 2049, so I'll probably see it again in the near future!
@@LessonsfromtheScreenplay I haven't had any trouble understanding the dialogue wow didn't know that was an issue some might have with the movie. Though I'm an outlier as I loved this movie right after my first viewing and I wasn't aware of all the different cuts and only say The Final Cut
Michael, I just wanted to let you know that I was super excited when I saw a video by you on Blade Runner. Ridley Scott's dystopian masterpiece is among some of my favorite films ever made. Thank you for making this video, I'm SO excited for the sequel, and you've made my day.
I loved this film the first time that I saw it, that was somewhere back in 1990. The atmosphere in the movie made such a lasting impression, all that rain, so much rain.
The first time I saw Blade Runner, I didn't really pay attention. I was still in high school and was fairly busy. The 2nd time I saw it was in my first year of film school and it was unlike any other film I had ever seen before. Before I saw BR, I had considered Indiana Jones my favorite performance/character by Harrison Ford. Now it's Rick Deckard.
My older cousin took me to see Blade Runner when it first came out. We used to have an old single-screen Jerry Lewis theater in the town where I grew up and between my cousin and grandmother I got to see a lot of great films. It was open between 1976 and 1983 and I think I started seeing movies there in '82 with Blade Runner, E.T. and The Secret of NIMH. All three had quite an impact on me and helped inspire me to get into sci-fi and animation.
Hi Mike when I wrote subtitles to Game of Thrones I found some things you might want to correct. 1:43 “And their first dialogue scene together begins with what Iike to call,” “And their first dialogue scene together begins with what I Iike to call,” 4:08 "I always thought of this as...it's a bar brawl." "I always thought of this as a...it's a bar brawl." 5:13 “This is partially wh the "oner" shot is so gripping.” “This is partially why the "oner" shot is so gripping.”
the subtle editing here is legit! the smooth color transitions from the black and white Noir scenes to the blade runner colorful-rich ones, and the book pages in black and white but reversing the colors (white text in black background), man did my eyes love every second of it and they thank you for this extra care!
It's a good feeling of relief when you find the right words to describe something or a feeling. you taught me what noir films are, an a lot more in less than 8 minutes. I knew those things but I didn't know the words to describe them. I'm much obliged. keep it coming, and from the bottom of my heart i salute you.
It was the same for me with this film! I didn't really like it the first time I saw it, but once I got a better understanding of it and what it was supposed to be, when I rewatched it, I appreciated it so much more and now I love it!
Lessons from the Screenplay It would be nice to see. There are tons of people (even large youtubers like screen junkies) who use a comparison to video games writing/dialog as an knock on a movie. While I think that is true for many video games there are also many video games that have great stories and dialog.
Telltale Games would probably be a good match for this channel. There's the go-to favorites of The Wolf Among Us and The Walking Dead, but Tales from the Borderlands and Batman have a lot to dig into, as well, in terms of themes, storytelling, and characters. Other than that, I could see you doing a good analysis of Mass Effect or Persona (any of them, really, but 4 and 5 in particular) or Neir: Automata. Lots of juicy stuff to dig into with those games. Mass Effect has some amazing character writing, Persona is all about how you construct your identity, and Neir: Automata plays with game design conventions to tell a story about the nature of violence. And, yeah, Bioshock and The Last of Us would be great too, but they've been done to death, in my opinion.
You not liking Blade Runner the first time makes me feel better about the fact that I didn't either. I rewatched it a couple weeks ago and thought it was great--not without its flaws, but the experience was much more engaging when I knew what to expect. Great video!
Watching this made me realize that The Witcher series (books and games) is a high fantasy noir. That's a pretty awesome to be able to pull off, combining so well two genres that are so different from one another.
I was also a bit sceptical about the release of separate clips, as if they don't have faith in the project, but 2hrs 30mins run-time gives me some hope
exactly. On the surface Blade Runner seems to be about rainy dystopian neon-colored streets full of poor people and a guy in a trench coat hunting robots. They could mess up the sequel by filling it with too many action scenes and fancy cinematography that doesn't actually enhance the story. But Villeneuve's Arrival makes me very hopeful that he is THE current director that's fit this project. The delicate touch he showed in Arrival is exactly what's needed for 2049.
I watched Blade Runner because we were talking about the novel it is based of in school. My literature professor said she prefers the movie than the book (which is a rarity) but I didn't love the movie and didnt understand the hype. I definitely need to rewatch it now because of this video.
Since I started my own channel, I’ve been avoiding your videos. You just have such a clear intention, interesting quirks and flawless execution, it’s impossible to live up to.
4:50 I love how Roy said Father instead, it's definitely heavier and sadder for him to say that just to curse. Being given such a short and miserable life and asking for more time from your own father... just so you can feel how to live freely.
I agree with most points, but I also feel the need to point out that Deckard isn't the good guy, as almost implied in this video (and maybe it wasn't, but that's what I got from it). In my opinion, he hardly falls in love with Rachel, or he wouldn't have disrespected her (he basically sexually assaults her, something I'm shocked isn't mentioned more often) and he has a bitter personality too. He doesn't try and understand the Replicants' point of view, and if it weren't for the love interest, he'd hardly care for them.
I agree mostly. What is reflected is the change over the last how many years in attitude towards, and definition of, sexual assault. I think a lot of women saw this back when, and many more movies like it, but didn't have the voice that women today have. Some progress, a long way to go.
YES THANK YOU NO ONE EVER YALKS ABOUT THE SEXUAL ASSAULT SCENE. The worst part about it is it’s framed as a romantic scene. She backed away and he was violent with her and she said no but “she really wanted it” which is a toxic message
This is my major gripe with the film. Particularly the “ over romanticized” love plot. He just forces himself on her and only “empathizes” with Rachel because she is attractive to him and not trying to kill him. Her character starts out very independent in the first scene, even challenging him, but falls into the helpless damsel stereotype. (Apart from rescuing him one time) even though she’s a replicant and should be much stronger than a normal human. But Deckard wouldn’t be able to force himself on her of that were the case so... logic out the window.
I honestly think you have one of the best film channels on RU-vid. Been reading the screen writing book (The Anatomy of Story) you refereed too in an earlier video. Thank you for what you do.
I loved the earlier version of blade runner with the narration. It was so much more noir than the many later version. And don’t get me started on that unicorn scene from “Legend”.
Blade Runner, Alien and my personal favorite The Martian. Ridley Scott has to be the greatest Sci-Fi director of modern time, if not anyone want to argue for George Lucas.
Just like Blade Runner is heavily rooted in film noir, Star Wars is more fantasy than it is sci-fi, and has more in common with LotR than say, Blade Runner or Alien. George Lucas only directed A New Hope and the prequels, the latter of which are too awful to even contemplate. Which by the way, Ridley Scott seems bound and determined to eclipse Lucas in the terrible prequels department. That said, Scott is definitely the most influential. The other modern directors who could rank up there near him would be Christopher Nolan, who himself was heavily influenced by Scott and Blade Runner, and Spielberg but he also sorta uses sci-fi as window dressing like Lucas.
You didn't like it first time? When I first saw it I hated it and I thought it is the most overrated movie of all time. I watched it again recently and now I think it is a good movie, but still highly overrated. I just couldn't empathize with the replicants, nor Deckard. We knew that the androids had a very painful past, but we didn't see any of it, we didn't see their misery. For me, they were just killers because, we just didn't get enough information about them. We saw too little of the world. I think the only good part of the movie was the tears in rain sequence, which was really beautiful but still had the same problem. We got a lot of information about places, events what we haven't seen in the movie (Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion, C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhäuser Gate). We didn't know anything about these places and that really bothered me. I think Blade Runner 2049 may become a movie like Rogue One. It may make the original movie better.
The reason I prefer "Father" is mostly to do with Tyrell's reaction. He is previously tense, but rather than heighten his anxiety, after Roy's comment, he slips into a more relaxed, fatherly tone. It simply makes more sense, as a reaction, to "Father," rather than "Fucker."
very insightful as always. i love the way you make me realize more and more about movies whose plots i only thought of superficially and get sucked even deeper in stories i already love. but i gotta say blade runner is neither of those anymore. i used to consider it one of my favorite movies but a few years ago i realized something pretty disturbing, i couldn't believe i had missed til then: the sex scene between deckard and rachel was rape. she wanted to go and he didn't allow it, he physically stopped her. and even though she eventually kisses him back it's an awful message. this scene says "even though she said no, she actually means yes" i think pop culture detective made a great video about this maybe it's interesting for you or you could make a video about a similar topic because it really needs attention. the way boys get thought by movies how they can treat women is often overlooked. but sorry i really got side-tracked. great video still, keep going :)
I agree 100%. Re-watching it recently, I had forgotten that scene, and I was surprised how clearly it was rape. In watching the making of, one of the complaints the editor had about the trimmed down version they had to make was that the sex scene got cut down a lot. He indicates that it was more sensual in their original cut, but because of trimming it ended up much more violent. But like, I said, I agree. If I can find a way to bring up that topic in a way that I think will actually affect how people think about it, I will.
That's also pretty standard in old Film Noir. Harrison Ford & Sean Young really didn't like one another. The scene is definitely disturbing, not only because of the sexual assault, but also I think because you can feel the true to life bad blood between the two of them. In a way the discomfort is totally appropriate to the film's dark, morally precarious edge. Rachel is scared and vulnerable having just learned that her whole life is a lie, Deckard is lonely and morally compromised (does he even consider her human?). Its an ugly world...
For the purpose of your essay (and probably the time restrictions of a RU-vid video!) you make the distinction between the Deckard who hunts android and the Deckard who falls in love with Rachel; their relationship is probably worth another video. He is the ultimate hero/antihero even in that aspect. Their love starts out of Deckard forcing himself on Rachel and is abusive in many ways. Blade runner is one one my favourite film, I don't even remember the first time I saw it, I was maybe too young to see it, definitely to understand it all, but even then I couldn't fully empathise with the main character and I perceived Deckard as dangerous. That kind of abusive masculinity is a trope itself of film noir, I know, but it makes it hard to talk about romance. (It's also a leitmotif of Harrison Ford's filmography if you account Indiana Jones and Han Solo. Wtf, Harrison?!)
Apparently everyone involved didn't like that scene and felt it didn't fit apart from ridley an him being the director had final say. Between this and 'night of the hunter' as my favourite films I get what ridley wanted to go for but think its a misfire and terrible idea and should have listened to the cast & crew, its similar to the line of dialogue batty says "father" instead of originally "fucker" it completely changes the scene & the character.
Miftachul Hadi I'd say the "future noir" in the title explicitly refers to the setting of Blade Runner. "Neo-noir" basically just means any noir that's made after the classic era. Sin City's a neo-noir and it's present day.
As far as I'm aware, the term "future noir" was coined by Paul M. Sammon, and supplied the title of his excellent book, Future Noir: The Making of Blade Runner. Essentially, any noir-style story set in the future, future noir is often associated with cyberpunk, a movement spawned by Blade Runner and William Gibson's 1984 novel, Neuromancer.
Great video I love noir as well. It's completely different but another genre switching noir which is very underrated is who framed roger rabbit perfect blend of noir and animation
Good point about Deckard's private detective status allowing him to move between the worlds of cop and criminal. In that same vein, if one subscribes to the theory that Deckard is an advanced replicant himself, one could argue that he's able to move between the human and artificial worlds too. Nice little parallel there IMO.
Thank you so much for this video! My final dissertation in college was a 15 page paper on Blade Runner exploring that existential morality you delve into as well. Such a masterpiece. From what the early pre-embargo'd say 2049 is a modern sci-fy masterpiece.
Great preparatory video for the new film regarding noir and the themes of the film! Like you, I didn't like Blade Runner the first time I saw it. But over the years, I've learned to appreciate it more. Keep up the good work!
Holy cow! Just followed the link for your noir short and recognized the channel. I absolutely LOVED Occupational Hazards and never made the connection between you and it before, even though you were very prominent in all the BTS. Enough time must have passed between watching that and finding this channel.
Blade Runner isn't perfect, but it's still the type of movie that I think about every day and have to watch the movie again and again. I love blade runner, it's one of the best films ever, thank you so much for making a video about blade runner!
Great video :) Blade Runner 2049 undeniably deserves its own like 30-minutes segment of 'Lessons from the Screenplay'. Because that screenplay... is an absolute masterpiece (as the entire film is).
Hey! Your videos are what got me into watching film analysis videos but all the youtubers I've found don't have the amazing structure yours do. Love your videos and channel, keep it up!
Interesting you said you didn't like it the first time you saw it, I'm the same. It took me 2-3 attempts to sit through the film before I finally sat through it all. Part of it likely had to do with how old I was and me thinking it would be like Star Wars. After finally sitting through and being able to let it sit with me and appreciate what it is, I found it to be. New favourite! Absolutely stunning film!
I love this film, Watching Every Cut leading up to 2049. I'm new here to your channel and enjoying it more than i ever thought i would, Thank you Michael . sorry if i havent found them yet but I would love to see you dive into the 70's the real golden age of Hollywood
I stopped what I was doing at the office to watch a video about one of my favorites films ever, and I'm not dissapointed. As always your vision and your writing is perfect for a film that deserves more recognition. Thanks!!
You should do a video on the power of dilemma by examining Jake, the protagonist in Training Day, who is caught in between two unacceptable alternatives: sacrificing his ambition vs. sacrificing his morals.
the sound of the main theme synth is so powerful it's almost impossible to listen to. I am overcome by waves of dark and deep emotion that have no name
Amazing video as always, Michael. And even I didn't like Blade runner the first time I saw it. But a few years later I caught it on TV and the second time viewing really showed me how good this movie was.
Strangely, I don't really love any if the classic noir films, but adore many of the neo-noir or later variations of the genre. I just watched Brick, 2005 movie with a classic noir plot and characters set in the high school, and damn I loved it. Really unique, absurd and beatifully shot movie with over the top dialogues. I hope you will do more videos about noir in the future.
It took me awhile to start to like the classics. I think it was via the neo-noirs (like Brick) that I was kind of able to get where it was all coming from and what it was going for. Definitely more noir in the future.
