Like 1982 again...

On the 25th of June 1982 what is probably my favourite (and certainly most watched) film of all time was released. Blade Runner wasn’t a resounding success at the time; partly as it was released just after the heart-warming ET and all-action Wrath of Khan which rather squeezed out the audience for a cerebral, dystopian piece of future fiction. Also the film had been rather messed around by the studio which wouldn’t be rectified until years later. I think I saw this first on VHS and it blew me away in terms of its imagery and the high concept ideas of what it really meant to be human and I’ve seen it multiple times in multiple versions since. You could say I am something of a fan.

Just three days after Blade Runner was released in 1982, Robert Plant released his first post-Led Zeppelin album, Pictures at Eleven. Although I was a Zeppelin fan I didn’t buy this at the time and eventually picked it up along with its successor, The Principle of Moments. I’m definitely a fan of Plant and have bought every release of his since as well as seeing him live on several occasions – in fact, more than any other artist. So it is some coincidence that this October the sequel to Blade Runner should be released just a week before Plant’s Eleventh solo outing, Carry Fire. I experienced both for the first time last Friday.

Blade Runner 2049 picks up the story some 30 years after the original ended (and some 35 years after it was made). Whereas the first film queries whether androids could become self-aware and hints that they may be more human than the “humans” this film is questioning whether such artificially created lifeforms could become their own self-sufficient species. There are a few twists but the plot itself is actually quite straight forward – more so than the original. Where this film excels is that it is visually stunning. More so than any film I’ve seen in a long while and very much in the style that original - but more so. I recognised some scenes from Philip K Dick’s Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep book that the original film was based on but I could see more influence from the likes of Kubrick, Spielberg (in particular AI) and even Spike Jonze’s Her (about a man who falls in love with an AI operating system). After leaving the cinema I immediately wanted to see it again which is probably the best review I could give a film although I will probably wait until its DVD release so I can watch it without the subwoofers set to stun (although, in fairness, it did clear the wax out of my ears).

Carry Fire is Robert Plant’s eleventh solo release although he has also made records with Jimmy Page, Allison Kraus and others in that time. It is very much a sequel to 2014’s Lullaby and The Ceaseless Roar although it is a more upbeat record than that. However, it is also one of Plant’s most political records along the lines of Fate of Nations and Mighty Rearranger - I think he has something of an issue with halfwit Republican Presidents. I’ve listened to it through a couple of times over and the more upbeat songs are very catchy with May Queen being a typical Plant opener and New World…, Carving up the World Again, Carry Fire and Bones of Saints being highlights along with a fantastic duet with Chrissie Hynde on Bluebirds over the Mountain. The slower songs are good as well although take repeated listening to gel and there doesn’t seem to be anything quite as gripping (and depressing) as Embrace Another Fall from the last album.

Just to round off the coincidences, when I saw the Director’s cut of Blade Runner my date for the night managed to throw up part way through the performance. I went to see Blade Runner 2049 with one of my friends and on this occasion he wasn’t sick but did need prodding to stay awake during the third hour of the film after finishing a long shift and making it for the late showing. I’ve got tickets to see Plant in November with him so I am hoping that goes better than the friend who I once took to see Robert Plant live who had confused him with Robert Palmer. It takes all sorts I suppose...