New ‘Blade Runner: 2049’ Trailer Gives You a Glimpse of a Potential Dystopian Future

A Futuristic Aesthetic

Blade Runner: 2049's upcoming release is quickly approaching us. A new trailer dropped earlier this week, giving fans even more exciting footage from the Denis Villeneuve (Prisoners, Arrival) directed film.

As we discussed in a previous article about the movie, the director has retained the iconic futuristic aesthetic that endeared the original film to die-hard sci-fi fans back in the 1980s, while still updating it enough to resemble a logical extension of the 30 years that have elapsed.

As the title suggests, the film takes place in the year 2049 — 30 years after the events of the first film. Director Ridley Scott delivered a grimy 2019 of an Earth occupied mostly by the poor, since the rich were shipped off to luxury colonies in space. The planet also contains humanoid robots equipped with advanced artificial intelligence at least as capable as actual human intelligence. But how close are we to making this future a reality?

It is highly unlikely that we'll be able to live comfortably in space or colonize other planets by 2019, but we are getting closer to turning that possibility into an eventuality. In fact, experts believe that if we don't colonize other planets within the next century, the human species is in danger of extinction.

Robotics and artificial intelligence may have come a long way since 1982, but we are still far from the levels depicted in Blade Runner. Stephen Hawking has already warned us about the destructive potential of AI, saying that it will "undoubtedly" destroy humanity. At least we have Harrison Ford and Ryan Gosling around to protect us. . .for now.