Every movie starts with a handful of distributor and producer logos, and most of the time, they give you a few extra seconds to get comfortable before the film actually starts. However, every now and then filmmakers use that corporate branding as one more element to pull viewers into the world of their movie. And Denis Villeneuve accomplished that very thing with “Blade Runner 2049.”
With Warner Bros., Sony, Columbia, and Alcon Entertainment logos to run through, the director had the team at Prodigal Pictures gave them a glitchy, noir-ish, futuristic sheen. It worked. However, as it always goes with these things, Prodigal gave Villeneuve another option, which has made its way online. This alternate version goes more desert red, and feels, for lack of a better description, a bit more “The Matrix“-esque in its stylization. It’s pretty cool, but I’m not sure it quite fits “Blade Runner 2049.”
Check out the final treatment, followed by the alternate version below and let us know which you prefer.
I love the second one!
Yeah!! I mean…I get what the first one was trying to do, but there were times I was wondering if it invoked more Watchmen than it did Blade Runner. Also, the static lines make it feel to me less like noir and more like…some kind of invasion movie or something like that. I guess the rest of the movie kind of had something like that, but otherwise, it was more just the story of that Ryan Gosling detective replicant guy. Also, the very logo of the title is red, and even without the logo, there is a whole lot lighting that feels really red. Why didn’t the logos just use red? I think the only thing the second one couldn’t really make stand out as Blade Runner is the animation for the WB logo, since that kind of looked to me like Suicide Squad but with LED red. The rest of them actually look kinda like what I would think of when Blade Runner pops up. The first one made me think the movie wasn’t going to be as good as the reviews say, or as thought-provoking. Thank goodness the movie turned out not only amazing, but thought-provoking, and everything it should have been for a Blade Runner movie.
The second one is better, hands down.
But I must ask, does anyone feel the same way as I do that the Sony logo preceding the Columbia logo (with a Sony byline) is a bit redundant?
You’re not alone. It’s quite redundant.
Also, someone should re-edit that alternative logo variant into the movie.