Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		3.0
Overall		4.0

Blade Runner 2049 3D Blu-ray Movie Review

Not Everything Is Better in 3D

Warner Brothers' continued commitment to 3D Blu-ray extends to director Denis Villeneuve's Blade Runner 2049, which played theatrically in 3D as well as in standard venues and IMAX 2D. Like other recent 3D releases from Warner, BR 2049 may be hard to find, especially in the U.S. (The format remains more popular internationally, as evidenced by Amazon.uk's listing.) The likeliest bet is either Best Buy, which intermittently stocks Warner's 3D releases, or WBShop. The disc can also be found through secondary sellers at Amazon, but prices can be exorbitant.

In this case, however, the quest may not be worth the effort. Unlike the recent 3D release of Geostorm, where 3D treatment added visual interest to an otherwise worthless film, BR 2049 doesn't gain much from the format. There's nothing to fault in the quality of the stereoscopic post-conversion, but its potential is limited by the impressive sense of depth already achieved by Roger Deakins' Oscar-nominated Oscar-winning cinematography, especially in BR 2049's 4K UHD presentation.

Blade Runner 2049 3D Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

(Note: Screen captures accompanying this review have been taken from the standard Blu-ray. Additional captures from that disc can be found here.)

I have already discussed Blade Runner 2049's cinematography and translation to Blu-ray and UHD in earlier reviews. The film's 3D presentation is a product of post-conversion, and although the work has obviously been done with care, it turns out that there's not much that 3D treatment can add to cinematographer Roger Deakins' carefully crafted images, which already convey a convincing sense of depth throughout the film's 2D versions. Certainly there are objects that jut or fly out of the frame: the occasional tall structure in the wastelands over which Officer K's spinner flies during his assignments; the snowflakes that fall on K outside Dr. Stelline's cloistered laboratory (snowfall is almost always better in 3D); or the firearm that K points at Sapper Morton and, in a parallel moment, the similar gun that Deckard aims at K when they first meet. Some of the best 3D enhancements occur in the kinetic sequence where K's spinner crash-lands in the acres of rubble outside the metal reclamation operation run by Mister Cotton (Lennie James), after which K is attacked by nomadic hordes. In 3D, the ensuing battle sends rubble flying in all directions, including directly at the viewer.

The 3D treatment also expands some of the film's cavernous interiors, most notably in Mister Cotton's vast facility with its hordes of child laborers and in the abandoned factory where K goes searching for a vital clue. An occasional exterior gets a bit of added depth, notably the sandy expanses littered with the remain of giant statues (which was used so effectively in the film's teaser trailer).

But for long stretches of BR 2049, there's little added by the 3D conversion. The L.A. cityscapes over which K flies to and from police headquarters are too dark to provide anything for 3D to extend, and stretches of wasteland like the disused solar panel farm at the film's opening are too uniform to offer any opportunity for additional depth and texture. The imposing interiors of Wallace Corp. don't feel any more cavernous in 3D than in 2D, and it's in scenes like these that you begin to appreciate the genius of Deakins' lighting, with its strategic placement of light and shadow (often dancing light and shadow) to convey the enormity of the space. Even the endless file room where K searches for old records (and first meets Luv) doesn't feel noticeably bigger in 3D. The same is true for the interiors of K's apartment and police HQ, where strategic set design and camera placement already convey a multi-dimensional sense of physical space in the original photography.

The 3D presentation is free of noise, interference or crosstalk, but it does suffer from a slight (a very slight) diminution in sharpness, as compared to the 2D version. And, of course, it can't begin to compete with BR 2049's 4K presentation on UHD.

Blade Runner 2049 3D Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The standard Blu-ray and UHD disc of BR 2049 offer a choice between Dolby Atmos and DTS-HD MA 5.1 tracks, which I continue to believe is a needless redundancy. Here, as on all their recent 3D iterations of such releases, Warner has dropped one of the two soundtracks to save space, and once again they have made the wrong choice by omitting the Atmos track. Still, having listened to the DTS track after several viewings in Atmos, I have to admit that the lossless 5.1 version is an effective sonic accompaniment to the film's grandly somber visuals. What the 5.1 soundtrack lacks in specificity and localization, it makes up for in powerful immersion, plunging the viewer into the cacophony that is equally composed of sound effects and the memorable electronic score by Hans Zimmer and Benjamin Wallfisch. The entry of Officer K's spinner may not be quite as dramatic without Atmos' overhead placement, but it retains its satisfying impact, and the same is true of the film's many thunderous events involving vehicle crashes and weapons fire of calibers both big and small. Quieter moments, like the scenes at police headquarters and Wallace Corp., retain their distinctive ambiance, even though one may not be able to isolate and identify specific sounds as easily as in the Atmos mix. Downpours of rain are just as torrential in lossless DTS, and the climactic confrontation in the seas outside L.A. is just as overwhelming.

If I had never heard BR 2049's Atmos track, I would probably give this 5.1 track the highest possible marks. But that's what so often happens with advances in home theater technology, as it continues to expand the limits of what can be experienced in the privacy of one's listening room. Yesterday's top of the line has become today's second best—but it's still pretty great.

Blade Runner 2049 3D Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The 3D disc has no extras. The included standard Blu-ray has the extras discussed here.

Blade Runner 2049 3D Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

If you're a 3D addict, then I suspect you'll want to add BR 2049 to your collection, if for no other reason than because you'll want to support Warner's laudable efforts to keep the format afloat. But it's not the film's best presentation either sonically or visually. You can get the former on the standard Blu-ray, but to get both, you need the UHD.