'Blade Runner', Philip K. Dick and film

[evilC]

I caught the end of the BBC doc 'Dangerous Days: On the Edge of Blade Runner', last night. In the wake of this, I very belatedly searched on the web for references to the various adaptations (a kind term, really!) of Philip K. Dick movies that exist ...and some that don't.

One article I found was 'The 10 Best Philip K. Dick Movies that Aren't Actually Philip K. Dick Movies'

I have to say that it's a shame the original, 1962 TV adaptation of 'Imposter' didn't survive - I would have liked to see that.

Anyway... any thoughts of Philip K. Dick's legacy in terms of influence on film and TV science fiction?

(edit: BTW - It was all this that made me think of Alex Proyas' 'Dark City', actually.)

[Bored Of Education]

'Blade Runner', Philip K. Dick and film

Bloody hell, thanks for the heads up on that doc, Clive. I will watch that tomorrow

[Reed John]

'Blade Runner', Philip K. Dick and film

I'd like to see that.

I'd argue that The Matrix and Inception are much more William Gibson-influenced than PKD, although Gibson certainly got some inspiration from Dick.

[evilC]

'Blade Runner', Philip K. Dick and film

More opinion pieces here and here (though they are a bit dated, I'm afraid).

[danielmak]

'Blade Runner', Philip K. Dick and film

iPlayer video isn't available to those of us who live outside the UK. Is this the same documentary?

[evilC]

'Blade Runner', Philip K. Dick and film

danielmak wrote: iPlayer video isn't available to those of us who live outside the UK. Is this the same documentary?

No, but thanks for flagging that up - I'll have to watch it for comparison.

Having watched all of the BBC doc now, I can confirm it is brilliant, though it's as much a documentary on filmmaking as on just Blade Runner.

BTW - am I the only one who wants to shout at Ridley Scott "Oh, crack a fucking smile and lighten up for once, you pompous, miserable cunt! You're fucking loaded, worshipped the world over and work at the top in a job that most people would give their eye teeth for!" Sorry, but...!

Conversely, I thought Harrison Ford came out of that doc looking really good - both professionally and personally.

[The Awesome Berbaslug!!!]

'Blade Runner', Philip K. Dick and film

oh wow. I watched the directors cut the other night, never having seen the movie before, and having missed the first minute or so. I thought for for some reason that the movie was set in tokyo. It's really not my kind of thing at all, but I really liked it. But I thought that the best part of it was that and also the idea that I didn't really have much of a clue about what was going on, so the thought that of a happy ending or a voiceover fills me with with a mixture of astonishment or horror.

Also after about 20 minutes I realised that this is the story of Harkin, the security chief on the aircraft carrier in Fallout 3. It's amazing what a huge amount of hydrocortizone and sleep deprivation can do for your movie viewing experience. then again I also think that Femme folle's cat looks like brendan rodgers, so maybe i'm in a similar place to phillip K dick right now.

[hobbes]

'Blade Runner', Philip K. Dick and film

The "K" was for "Ketamine."

[The Awesome Berbaslug!!!]

'Blade Runner', Philip K. Dick and film

Hmm, I've only ever seen people on Ketamine so I can't comment, but if FF's cat turns up in the anfield dugout today I'll let you know.

[Ginger Yellow]

'Blade Runner', Philip K. Dick and film

Great topic. I'd argue that Philip K Dick's influence on cinema is enormous, but ironically it's mostly not felt through adaptations of his books/stories. His best longform works - Ubik, The Man In The High Castle, Confessions Of A Crap Artist - remain unadapted. Almost all of the adaptations are rubbish, and only one that I know of really captures (or even tries to) the spirit of the source material - A Scanner Darkly. Even that one falls apart a bit in the end because of Keanu's inability to act.

Blade Runner (director's cut) is great, and as I've argued here before, in it's own way a wonderful adaptation, but it's totally different from the novel.

The main cinematic legacy of Dick is in the plethora of paranoid/druggy layers-of-reality movies - The Matrix, Inception, Pi, Existenz, Cypher etc.

[evilC]

'Blade Runner', Philip K. Dick and film

Ginger Yellow wrote: His best longform works - Ubik, The Man In The High Castle, Confessions Of A Crap Artist - remain unadapted.

'The Man In the High Castle' is on the way and 'Confessions...' has been adapted (though about as successfully/faithfully as the others, allegedly - I haven't seen that one yet) as 'Barjo'.

[Edie St Pierre]

'Blade Runner', Philip K. Dick and film

'The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch', 'The Zap Gun' and 'Martian Timeslip' are brilliant and unadapted too.

When you look at the blokes output ebtween 1964 and 1969, the fucker was on fire wasn't he? Writing three or four novels a year, all of them cracking, permanently speeding off his head - no wonder he slowed down a bit in the 70's.

[ian.64]

'Blade Runner', Philip K. Dick and film

I read the short story 'We Can Remember It You For Wholesale' many moons ago and was impressed by it. Fast forward to Total Recall and it's fleshed out to a bonkers, yet hugely enjoyable Verhoeven flick with an artless script ('They think he's fuckin' George Washington'). Fast forward to Len Wiseman's remake and it's a better-dressed version, but with all the fun sucked out of it, with design that's not so much influenced by Blade Runner's rain-soaked, dystopic cityscapes, but ripped off completely. Best bit? A scene that plays a nice little joke with the original's Fat Lady suit sequence.

I've got the box set of Blade Runner (all versions, including the rough cut) along with the Dangerous Days doc, and had the pleasure of seeing them again over the weekend. If you haven't seen the latter, you're in for a treat.

[Sundeporino]

'Blade Runner', Philip K. Dick and film

I didnt realise Hoffman was the original choice for Deckard.

[anton pulisov]

'Blade Runner', Philip K. Dick and film

I was lucky in that I only ever saw the director's cut. I watched it again when it was on the telly the other night - in HD. It really is an astonishing and timeless piece of work. And, as the documentary afterwards showed, shot entirely "in camera", as they call it.

And at this watching I picked up how Rachel was able to play Deckard's sheet music at his piano.

Ridley Scott said in October that a Blade Runner sequel is coming. Not sure what I think about that.

[ian.64]

'Blade Runner', Philip K. Dick and film

Ridley Scott said in October that a Blade Runner sequel is coming. Not sure what I think about that.

I'm walking that thinnest of lines between thinking it's a shit idea (spoiling the memory of a film that had the unique benefit that rarely other films have in letting time grow and mature its qualities until it became just a simply beautiful world to step into. Going for the money and a simple refusal to let an original remain just that) and intrigued by it (a curiosity in getting another chance to see that world - or something like it - again in a completely new story, and to see whether Scott still possesses something of the visual mojo he had first time around).

Undecided, myself.

[Stumpy Pepys]

'Blade Runner', Philip K. Dick and film

ian.64 wrote: I read the short story 'We Can Remember It You For Wholesale' many moons ago and was impressed by it. Fast forward to Total Recall and it's fleshed out to a bonkers, yet hugely enjoyable Verhoeven flick with an artless script …

A lot of the Dick film adaptations are based very loosely on the source material — of the ones I've seen, only A Scanner Darkly followed the book closely. This is especially so for the short-story adaptions — Minority Report is another example.

As already mentioned, I'd also like to see adaptations of Ubik and The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch.

[The Purple Cow]

'Blade Runner', Philip K. Dick and film

I was about to add that 'The Man in the Maze' was my favourite Philip K Dick novel, but a quick Google to see if there are any plans to film it reveals that it was in fact written by Robert Silverberg.

Oops.

Still it is a very Dickesque novel, and would make a great movie.

[Edie St Pierre]

'Blade Runner', Philip K. Dick and film

Was it Robert Silverberg that wrote 'The Forever War'? I fucking love that one and it would make a great film too.

Also Samuel R Delaney's mid-60's books like 'Nova', 'Babel-17' and 'The Einstein Intersection' especially.

There were loads of people working along similar lines in 60's America weren't they? Worried about the power of advertising, the implications of virtual reality and virtual worlds and what-have-you.

[Ginger Yellow]

'Blade Runner', Philip K. Dick and film

Was it Robert Silverberg that wrote 'The Forever War'?

Nope. That was Haldeman. And you can probably thankful it hasn't been made into a film since Ridley Scott has the rights.

[Edie St Pierre]

'Blade Runner', Philip K. Dick and film

Oh, no. That's not good.

I have read a Robert Silverberg though. It's the one about the four college graduates having Battle Royale type shenanigans in an Aztec temple.

[evilC]

'Blade Runner', Philip K. Dick and film

Mat wrote: I have read a Robert Silverberg though. It's the one about the four college graduates having Battle Royale type shenanigans in an Aztec temple.

Four alien/predator graduates?

[Sundeporino]

'Blade Runner', Philip K. Dick and film

Bryaniek wrote:
Ridley Scott said in October that a Blade Runner sequel is coming. Not sure what I think about that.

Theres three Bladerunner sequel novels by KW Jeter. They may be the source?
Edge Of Human 1995
Replicant Night 1996
Eye and Talon 2000
Purchased in Spitalfields market ages ago but have only ever threatened em with reading. Scared of being let down.

[Edie St Pierre]

'Blade Runner', Philip K. Dick and film

evilC wrote:

I have read a Robert Silverberg though. It's the one about the four college graduates having Battle Royale type shenanigans in an Aztec temple.

Four alien/predator graduates?

Heh, they're sort of preppy Ivy League types experimenting with the counter-culture. It's a really good book to be honest. Proper gripping.

[Edie St Pierre]

'Blade Runner', Philip K. Dick and film

I should qualify I s'pose why I don't think Ridley Scott would be a good director for 'The Forever War'.

It's a book essentially in the minor-key and - though I like a lot of Ridley Scotts films - I think he's too pyrotechnic a director to pull it off. You'd lose the redemptive elements of the book and it'd just be a bleaker version of 'Starship Troopers'. Which would be alright, but not great, and the book - which is really, really fucking good, a belter - deserves better.