I went into reading this letter thinking that it would be another 'they destroyed my vision!' example. I'm pleasantly surprised as I have a fondness for the movie. I'm not an expert though, I just do eyes! Just eyes!
I was expecting a rant as well. And I am actually a little skeptical about this letter, and not just because it lacks a signature. He never saw the final cut, yet is willing to make a grand, sweeping pronouncement about how important the movie will be.
The letter also says "My life and creative work are justified and completed by BLADE RUNNER". I doubt many respected authors would make such a pronouncement about a Hollywood adaptation and their own artistic legacy without seeing the final product, but this is even more unusual considering the adaptation barely followed the narrative in the original book.
Ridley Scott shouldn't be underestimated as a director. Blade runner works not only as a narrative, but also as a sequence of images designed to evoke raw emotions and reflection about the future and technological progress. It's the visual analogue of a tone poem. You can turn the volume down to O and appreciate the film on this level. The 1st Alien has the exact same thing going on.
I went in the same way. Near the end my jaw just dropped, and all I could think was "Wow." (which is also a very short summary of what Philip K. Dick wrote).
Being a young teenager and reading electric sheep and then seeing blade runner, Then to live and see things slowly unfolding toward this future he describes -- such as the rapid decline of critical life such as honeybees and frogs, BCI, AI, etc -- it really does blow my mind to see it all being a possibility - albiet a very dark one.
Also Google just released the Nexus one. Coincidence? I think not!
Funny follow-up ... Ridley Scott, the director of BR, is also a producer of the TV show "Numbers".
There is a scene where two of the FBI agents are walking through the mall area where parts of BR were filmed (where Deckard looks for, chases, and ultimately kills the dancer replicant as she crashes through the glass) and they make references to how "Ridley Scott saw this all coming" and "this area looks like something out of Blade Runner" ...
Over the last few months I've really gotten into Philip K. Dick. He wrote some of the best sci-fi I've ever read. Whereas a lot of sci fi is about cool stuff just to write about cool stuff, PKD used imaginative/futuristic settings, characters, and objects to explore the human condition.
"Do Android Dream of Electric Sheep" is a great book. One of its central questions is what makes humans, human. The book gives you plenty of ideas to mull over, and at the same time it's an exciting, plot-driven read.
I watched blade runner a month ago, a couple weeks after finishing Do Android Dream of Electric Sheep. The movie was nearly incomprehensible and the acting was terrible. It was too terrible and bizarre to even really be a disappointment.
All this is to say, I wonder how PKD would have felt after seeing the entire movie.
> The movie was nearly incomprehensible and the acting was terrible.
Try watching it a third or fourth time, paying close attention. It’s a dense film, visually, narratively, and symbolically. It dumps you straight into a fully realized world, doesn’t stop much to explain how it works, and is full of rich and believable but extremely socially awkward characters (they’re a mix of utterly isolated engineers – who build robots to hang out with because they're so incapable of dealing with people – and killer robots). I think it’s one of Harrison Ford’s most impressive performances (not to mention Rutger Hauer). Especially if you watch the version without the voiceovers, the film does very little to help the reader out.
But I’ve found it one of the most rewarding films, raising all kinds of deep questions about modern society, the nature of cognition and consciousness, teleology... but it only gives back as much as you put into it.
Another Phillip K. Dick book turned movie that I enjoyed is 'Impostor' http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0160399/. When I first saw it I did not know it was written by Dick but could tell after an hour or so of watching that it was. Theme wise it is similar to Bladerunner but with a different plot.
What i found most insightful is the "monotous death" he says SF is at risk of settling into. All the brilliant SF's reputation is overshadowed by the pulp works with tasteless covers, and people tend to think of SF as children's books, not serious (if you compare it to "classic" litterature). We need more works like Bradbury's, that are in themselves brilliant litterature (look at the prose in Fahrenheit 451!) as well as SF.
I've found the success of a work Science Fiction as a work of literature is closely correlated to how far removed it is from present day society. Fahrenheit 451 and Brave New World are both fairly close to society today, as far as Science Fiction goes. Richard Powers has had great success writing about things like virtual reality (Plowing the Dark) and artificial intelligence (Galatea 2.2), but his works are even closer to present day than Bradbury or Huxley. The Foundation Series, while not quite on Powers's level, are still incredible books that might just belong in the class of real literature. I don't think it will ever get there though because its world isn't coupled closely enough with the one we know.
I recall observing in the early 90's, with some amazement, that the actual Times Square had started to look like its depiction in Blade Runner, with over-the-top lighted billboards in every direction and sterile, glass-fronted places of non-sex commerce. It's easy to forget that Times Square verged on being a crappy porn district when Blade Runner came out.
Blade Runner changed the direction of science fiction movies. Heck, it changed the direction of WRITTEN science fiction (and, yes, I'm saying that the movie, not the original book, changed the direction of written SF).
I could go on and on, but I don't want to sound like a fanboy...but Blade Runner was - by its effects - one of the most important cultural artifacts of the second half of the 20th century.
Bladerunner is a favorite movie of mine, I must have watched it 10 times or more over the years. From the soundtrack (Vangelis) to the pre-CG visuals it's really impressive, it also realistically captures the mood of a possible near-future.
After all these years I still haven't gotten around to reading the book, but that's just got bumped up quite a bit on the todo list.
It's funny how the photography enhancement scene from Bladerunner is replicated in many movies later in time but never quite with the same feeling of it being possible.
Funny. "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep" is one of the cases for me when book is way better than movie. I literally feel asleep on Blade Runner. Twice. Then again maybe I was too young then to even watch this.
I think I should try and watch Blade Runner again.
Please do try! I have original VHS versions of both the theatrical release (hard to find!) and subsequent director's cut which became the mainstream. Now you can find them all on DVD. I recommend watching the director's cut, then the original theatrical release. Changes aside from the voice over are really subtle, but important! If you want to go for completeness, watch the final cut as well.
Maybe I'm just a hardcore fan, but I did that with my girlfriend while explaining all the differences and she really liked it.
To me the two of them just feel totally different. I love both but have a hard time seeing them as two forms of the same thing. That's quite different from most book/films where I see the one (usually the film) as a pale imitation of the other.
Almost all books are better than movies, even novelizations based on movies are often better - "Revenge of the Sith", "Ironman", and "Terminator Salvation" for examples are all much better than the movies. The only times I have seen movies that were as good, or better than, the novel were where they were very different.
Wow. I know that Hollywood folk have this stereotype of overrating their own importance in the world, but wow. This is really over the top.
I have no idea who this person is, but I assume he had something to do with the film. If that's the case, I just can't imagine how he could say those things with a straight face. Does he really take himself that seriously?
Maybe I am missing the irony, in which case I will look like a fool, but P.K. Dick is one of the most significant SF writer, and one of his book is the inspiration for Blade Runner. Several of his books are master pieces, and quite a few have been adapted into movies (blade runner, total recall, scanner darkly, minority report). He died more or less at the same time Blade Runner was made.
He's not Hollywood folk. PKD wrote a book back in 1968 called "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep". Ridley Scott made the movie based on a screenplay (written by Hampton Fancher and David Peoples) that was loosely based on the book. This is a glimpse of how the original author felt about the result. He is not praising his own work. He is praising theirs.
Er... Dick was one of hte most influential scifi authors of our time. He wrote Bladerunner. Maybe he was over the top, but if anyone could say something like that with a straight face, maybe it's Dick.
It was intended as a compliment. PkD was rather a counter culture figure and was 'less than impressed' with Hollywood's attempts at his (or any other) book.
When he saw Ridley Scotts's work on the visuals of Blade runner he was amazed. Remember before this, and Scott's Alien most SF films consisted of putting the star in spandex and drapping the set with some tin foil.
This is especially gracious since Blade Runner takes one tiny part of a complex themed book and turns it into little more than a cop chase.
He might have been less impressed with some of the later recreations of his books.
[+] [-] Aron|16 years ago|reply
[+] [-] ilamont|16 years ago|reply
The letter also says "My life and creative work are justified and completed by BLADE RUNNER". I doubt many respected authors would make such a pronouncement about a Hollywood adaptation and their own artistic legacy without seeing the final product, but this is even more unusual considering the adaptation barely followed the narrative in the original book.
[+] [-] stcredzero|16 years ago|reply
[+] [-] jvdh|16 years ago|reply
[+] [-] binarymax|16 years ago|reply
Being a young teenager and reading electric sheep and then seeing blade runner, Then to live and see things slowly unfolding toward this future he describes -- such as the rapid decline of critical life such as honeybees and frogs, BCI, AI, etc -- it really does blow my mind to see it all being a possibility - albiet a very dark one.
Also Google just released the Nexus one. Coincidence? I think not!
[+] [-] patrickgzill|16 years ago|reply
There is a scene where two of the FBI agents are walking through the mall area where parts of BR were filmed (where Deckard looks for, chases, and ultimately kills the dancer replicant as she crashes through the glass) and they make references to how "Ridley Scott saw this all coming" and "this area looks like something out of Blade Runner" ...
[+] [-] nonrecursive|16 years ago|reply
"Do Android Dream of Electric Sheep" is a great book. One of its central questions is what makes humans, human. The book gives you plenty of ideas to mull over, and at the same time it's an exciting, plot-driven read.
I watched blade runner a month ago, a couple weeks after finishing Do Android Dream of Electric Sheep. The movie was nearly incomprehensible and the acting was terrible. It was too terrible and bizarre to even really be a disappointment.
All this is to say, I wonder how PKD would have felt after seeing the entire movie.
[+] [-] jacobolus|16 years ago|reply
Try watching it a third or fourth time, paying close attention. It’s a dense film, visually, narratively, and symbolically. It dumps you straight into a fully realized world, doesn’t stop much to explain how it works, and is full of rich and believable but extremely socially awkward characters (they’re a mix of utterly isolated engineers – who build robots to hang out with because they're so incapable of dealing with people – and killer robots). I think it’s one of Harrison Ford’s most impressive performances (not to mention Rutger Hauer). Especially if you watch the version without the voiceovers, the film does very little to help the reader out.
But I’ve found it one of the most rewarding films, raising all kinds of deep questions about modern society, the nature of cognition and consciousness, teleology... but it only gives back as much as you put into it.
[+] [-] VMG|16 years ago|reply
Also you've got to read all the short stories. They are better than the novels in my opinion.
[+] [-] troystribling|16 years ago|reply
[+] [-] DannoHung|16 years ago|reply
Go on.
[+] [-] proemeth|16 years ago|reply
[+] [-] tsally|16 years ago|reply
[+] [-] eru|16 years ago|reply
[+] [-] JoeAltmaier|16 years ago|reply
[+] [-] jcdreads|16 years ago|reply
[+] [-] pvg|16 years ago|reply
[+] [-] pvg|16 years ago|reply
He also never saw the released movie (which was not the commercial success he predicted), let alone the multiple later cuts.
[+] [-] tjic|16 years ago|reply
How about CULTURAL success?
Blade Runner changed the direction of science fiction movies. Heck, it changed the direction of WRITTEN science fiction (and, yes, I'm saying that the movie, not the original book, changed the direction of written SF).
I could go on and on, but I don't want to sound like a fanboy...but Blade Runner was - by its effects - one of the most important cultural artifacts of the second half of the 20th century.
[+] [-] unknown|16 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] jacquesm|16 years ago|reply
http://www.philipkdick.com/films_bladerunner.html
Bladerunner is a favorite movie of mine, I must have watched it 10 times or more over the years. From the soundtrack (Vangelis) to the pre-CG visuals it's really impressive, it also realistically captures the mood of a possible near-future.
After all these years I still haven't gotten around to reading the book, but that's just got bumped up quite a bit on the todo list.
It's funny how the photography enhancement scene from Bladerunner is replicated in many movies later in time but never quite with the same feeling of it being possible.
Is this part of the test ?
[+] [-] scotty79|16 years ago|reply
I think I should try and watch Blade Runner again.
[+] [-] nanexcool|16 years ago|reply
Maybe I'm just a hardcore fan, but I did that with my girlfriend while explaining all the differences and she really liked it.
[+] [-] almost|16 years ago|reply
[+] [-] tjic|16 years ago|reply
You're just saying that because the Mood Organ made you want to say that...
[+] [-] elblanco|16 years ago|reply
But an absolute bore to watch when I was younger.
[+] [-] bugs|16 years ago|reply
[+] [-] billswift|16 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Jim72|16 years ago|reply
[+] [-] jackfoxy|16 years ago|reply
Coincidently "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" was the last fiction I read (a couple of years ago).
[+] [-] mkramlich|16 years ago|reply
[+] [-] johnohara|16 years ago|reply
[+] [-] RevRal|16 years ago|reply
[+] [-] jasonkester|16 years ago|reply
I have no idea who this person is, but I assume he had something to do with the film. If that's the case, I just can't imagine how he could say those things with a straight face. Does he really take himself that seriously?
It was a movie.
[+] [-] cdavid|16 years ago|reply
[+] [-] ThomPete|16 years ago|reply
Both are not your fault. But perhaps you should do some research about who he was before you choose to have an opinion about him.
[+] [-] pohl|16 years ago|reply
[+] [-] WorkerBee|16 years ago|reply
If you don't know what you're talking about, why speak?
[+] [-] pmichaud|16 years ago|reply
[+] [-] lfgmikujhygfv|16 years ago|reply
When he saw Ridley Scotts's work on the visuals of Blade runner he was amazed. Remember before this, and Scott's Alien most SF films consisted of putting the star in spandex and drapping the set with some tin foil.
This is especially gracious since Blade Runner takes one tiny part of a complex themed book and turns it into little more than a cop chase. He might have been less impressed with some of the later recreations of his books.