The SOUND of Blade Runner 2049

The movie is mixed fine. Most theaters don't care about sound, or projection for that matter. I saw it in my local Regal 90s era cineplex and it sounded awful. Then I saw it in a well run theater that has a great sound system and didn't need earplugs at all. It was loud at times but it wasn't harsh or distorted so the volume was ok. I wish the well run theater was closer.

 

At the AMC Loews Kips Bay IMAX the sound was great. It was turned up loud and some of the effects were rumbly (mainly the car planes) but I don’t think anything was rattling. The gunfire had a nice deep boom. The various levels were good, there was space for the dialogue when needed and it was clear, the music sounded great. Halfway through I got up and ended up moving back from the dead middle of the theater to back a few rows (still center) and the back speakers took over a bit for a minute but my ears quickly adapted and the mix was still pretty good (could still hear dialog well).

 

No issues with my IMAX showing. The score was ok - I wanted more analog synth sounds like the original, but hey.

The full IMAX Dunkirk showing I saw earlier this year was insanely loud - I plugged my ears a few times and not for the effects but for the overblown score. Louder than any movie I've ever seen in a theater. I actually came out of the theater disoriented it was so loud. In a bad way.

 

I saw it here in Seattle at the only true IMAX theater in the state, possibly the best IMAX theater in the world. BR2049 was possibly the best sounding movie I've ever heard.

Dunkirk and Baby Driver were spectacular in Dolby Atmos at the Cinerama in Seattle.

I feel like one's experience depends on the quality of the theater. If one is seeing it at Regal or AMC, then expectations should be lowered. That goes for fake IMAX theaters as well.

 

Our IMAX Jr is in renovation, so it was standard multiplex cinema experience for us. It was one of the first times in 3-5 years I didn't put my ear plugs in. The loud parts were loud but the whole movie was not loud. Now, if only the seats weren't the most uncomfortable seats....

 

It's a shame that so much time has to be spent lamenting the inability of so many theaters to properly present what's clearly a state-of-the-art soundtrack. I'm not even sure that the state-of-the-art is something to be celebrated. The sounds are sometimes musical but just as often a part of the landscape/enviroment of the story. That's appropriate for a soundtrack I guess. If I listen to Alien by Jerry Goldsmith, I get the same kind of feel for that film while I'm listening. Whereas, the original King Kong soundtrack seemed to contain as much or more emotion than the action on the screen. These are extremes of what soundtracks can be, I suppose.

The original Blade Runner soundtrack was an entity in itself that seems to breathe on its own apart from the film - but that's retrospect, isn't it? It was just as much a layer of the original film that provided background and foreground. There just seem to have been more textures in the original film. Outdoor city, indoor bar, Tyrell Corp., apartment - all of these scenes are replicated in a way in the new film - and I LOVE the new film. It's just that the sound textures don't thrill me as much this time around. I'm more emotionally invested. So, perhaps this film does a better job at servicing the emotional plot? While the last one was more of a spectacle of a world I'd never seen and had less of an existential conflict to drive it.

 

The sound at the theater I went to was compromised, basically struggling to cope with the 'whisper to a scream' soundscape. And I don't think the Cineplex manager is going to be happy that the dynamic range of this movie is greater than the ability of his theater to reproduce it. Speakers both front & back were 'complaining' to put it mildly.

 

I actually liked the movie's chest-thumping sound design (not the music, which was as you say rather uninspired), but it gave my spouse a severe headache.

 

Saw this opening day at the Utvar-Hazy Smithsonian IMAX. I've done some design work and don;t shy from making an audience react to sound. The system there is astoundingly competant... transparent, immense headroom, and more than capable of what I got: throwing this film at me easily 15-20dB hotter than it should ever be... just the music cues pummled me into submission so that by the 15-minute mark any shred of dramatic involvement was on the floor in shreds under popcorn and beer remains. I failed to walk, as I should have, and talked to the manager aftewards, who said something about it 'having been set for DUNKIRK by the director' . I THINK this was a fine shot at BR, but between the auio assault and the 'Large Format' IMAX that had me searching the screen for information I have to go see it at a more modest venue and see what I come away with. Best Single Effect, the explosion when K hits a trip wire at Deckards place.

 

You make a good point about the large screen format and having to scan so much real estate to find the right details. I’m assuming the Utvar-Hazy Smith is a “real” IMAX and thinking that perhaps some of the “fake” IMAX theaters at some of the cinema multiplexes might actually be BETTER for actual cinema films.
Still a nice huge clear format with enhanced sound but not overkill where you can’t see the whole screen in one view.

 

I thought that was the sound of someone holding a microphone next to Hans Zimmer's soul?

 

Just saw it...I loved the sound; it matched the landscapes and the visions. You could argue it’s a turbo-charges version of the original, but it worked for me. Not too loud, just loud!

 

Hi, I just registered to say im glad im not the only one having a problem with how loud some scenes were. And in Cinemacity Timisoara the movie was unpleasantly loud! I don't think its the movies fault even.. I just think some cinemas just have no idea what the right volume for a movie is. I enjoyed the movie but I reported the cinema to consumer protection services...

 

I didn't like the Spanish dubbed (from Spain, Europe) track when I went to see it a week ago, but I seldom (never?) like the Spanish dubbed tracks. First because is not in the original languaje it was shot and produced, but Spanish people reading a bad translation compromised by lip sync and the logical differences between the two languajes, dubbing actors are reading not only a translation but also an adaptation. Second because Spanish dubbed mixes use to be dreadful, they sound terrible 99.9% of the time. I'll get the UHD BD from the UK as this is a Sony release in Europe and ot may look and sound better than the US Warner Bros. release.

 

Saw it yesterday. I am a guy that likes LOUD, and I thought the presentation at my local theater (regional chain Icon Theaters) was stupidly loud. I can’t say I heard any speakers rattling, but it was probably the loudest film I have ever attended, and very unpleasant at times.

We have no Atmos theaters here, and the quality of the presentation at the national chains is always a crap shoot. This chain has become my go to theater because they actually seem to care. I would assume that they either set the volume to their standard reference, and 2049 was simply mastered way loud, or perhaps theaters are given instructions on how to set the level. Either way, I found it way too hot.

 

We just saw it tonight at The Grove, and I disliked the mix as well. I heard some distortion in spots and the dialogue was buried in others, so there were definitely bad creative decisions being made. About 70% of the movie was OK to me, but I felt it was "too dynamic" in some ways, where it just got painfully loud when it got really loud. Not what I would call a good mix. I've seen all kinds of action and superhero movies (even recently) where everything was clean and reasonably loud without getting crazy, so I know it's possible to do.

I whipped out my dB meter at one particularly loud section and it was hovering at about 90dB, which is not really that bad. Maybe the fact that it was distorted bothered me, and the kinda "square wave" sound I was hearing made it sound that much louder and annoying.

 

BLADE RUNNER 2049 and DUNKIRK mark some sort of Hollywood bellwether in aggressively loud soundtracks. I'm not sure I spoke to anyone about either film who didn't first mention how loud it was.

 

Crazy, unpleasantly loud at my theater. I ordered the soundtrack and am eager to hear it at normal volume.

 

We didn't feel any chest-thumping at all. Just a kind of fake attempt at it. Maybe overwhelming the sound system?

 

Made me wonder, how loud should the THX bit be? That is a calibrated reference level, right? Seems with an app-IF capable and accurate enough-one could quickly check if the theater really has the volume set correctly.

 

Wow surprised to read all these rips. I saw it about 10 days ago at my local which does Atmos . I thought the sound was mixed well for my viewing. And I enjoyed theZimmer soundtrack more than expected. It echoed Vangelis without apeing him. As I said in the other thread my only knock against this was the length.

 

I am glad the Dolby Atmos presentation in my theater was f**king loud; that way i dont have to listen to all the annoying idiots munching on popcorn, crunching wrappers and talking (yep...I'm getting old and irritable)

 

Popcorn is acceptable, they are a classic but nachos, wraps, pizza and the likes are unaceptable, one goes to the cinema to see a movie not to eat or hear others eating.

 

I'm a little pissed off that I can't get the soundtrack on CD until middle of November.

 

This is why I wish they would allow streaming new movies at home for a little bit more than going to the theater. I'd pay a couple more dollars if I could just watch it in the privacy of my own home. Then I can pause it, get up and go to the bathroom or get more food or water, and come back down and resume without missing anything.