Blade Runner 2049 Trailer Shows Off Its New Flying Car

Just like the Ridley Scott-directed, 1982 cult classic which presented a dystopian world of the future complete with its flying cars, the upcoming sequel – Blade Runner 2049 – has its own fleet of future cars to look forward to.

When the original Blade Runner released in 1982, the Harrison Ford-vehicle didn’t turn out to be a darling with critics or viewers. Grossing a meagre $33.8 million against a production budget of $28 million, Ridley Scott’s neo-noir piece was in blunt terms a huge flop. But over the course of time, its status witnessed a massive climb. Blade Runner is now regarded as one of the best movies that Hollywood has ever produced. Which is why we are getting a sequel this year – Blade Runner 2049.

Directed by Denis Villeneuve (Arrival, Sicario, Prisoners) and starring Ryan Gosling alongside Harrison Ford, the new chapter continues to tell the fascinating and thematically complex story of replicants and their humanity in a story set in 2049.

The biggest highlights of the original’s futuristic production design were the flying cars a.k.a “Spinners”. While the super-sized holographic projections and some of future tech that we got to see in Blade Runner are a reality now, the flying car is something which is still in its young stages of development.

Back to Blade Runner 2049. The upcoming movie got a new full trailer for itself recently and the clip re-emphasized the fact that the sequel has its own bunch of impressive and captivating production design elements. Already being hailed for its breathtaking cinematography and visuals, the trailer also takes some time to show us the cars which we’ll get to see in the latest instalment of the Blade Runner saga.

The events in the first movie take place in 2019, which is hardly two years from now. And we haven’t seen any Spinners flying around in the real world yet.

One of the early posters had already revealed the police car which Ryan Gosling’s LAPD Officer K will be seen piloting in the sci-fi thriller. The new trailer revealed some more footage of the flying cop car in action. The rear-end in particular, caught our attention. It may have got just one wheel at the back, which is reminiscent of a trike, but the new car does have jet thrusters flanking that single wheel. Clearly an indication of its flight capabilities. Thrusters of a similar kind were featured on the Spinners in the first movie as well.

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The 2049 version looks like an amalgamation of the Batmobile from Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice and the Lamborghini Aventador. The profile mirrors Batsy’s ride of choice while the rear-end with its engine cover has Lamborghini cues written all over it.

Denis Villeneuve’s design is a graceful throwback at the original spinner in terms of its jet-powered flight tech. The 30-year window between the events in the first movie and those which will be taking place in the second one is one huge gap. But eyebrows can’t be raised on why the technology adopted is more or less the same as before. We haven’t perfected the flying car tech yet and cars are running on wheels even now. Perhaps Villeneuve decided to opt for a “realistic” take here when it comes to the pace of development in future transportation technology.

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Fans of the first instalment will be pleased to see Rick Deckard’s original Spinner in action in Blade Runner 2049. The number 44 cop car seems to be something which Deckard preserved while he continues to live in hiding, post the events in 1982’s Blade Runner. We also get a sweet tease of more vehicles of the future, including what appears to be police motorcycles, armored personnel carriers and public transportation units.

Blade Runner 2049 hits theaters on October 6, 2017.