5 ms·

They do retain their power because of the notoriety of the stories they head. It's a matter of taste and thus hard to argue, but I do think his titles were kind

They do retain their power because of the notoriety of the stories they head. It's a matter of taste and thus hard to argue, but I do think his titles were kind of clunky. Can you imagine if Blade Runner retained the title of the work it was derived from?

nottorp 2y ago
> Can you imagine if Blade Runner retained the title of the work it was derived from? ... or even some parts of the plot ... It would have been more interesting than the shooting based thriller we got instead.
- to11mtm 2y ago
  FWIW the Adventure game adaptation, is -really- interesting from everything I've seen on Youtube, especially because it's apparently randomized in various ways on each play-through...
- ndsipa_pomu 2y ago
  I'm a big fan of PKD and also Blade Runner. You've got a point about the film being so very different, but I think it's subsequent success (it wasn't that successful at the time) justifies the approach to the subject matter. However I do wish that Mercerism (the religion in the book) was included in the film. Maybe someone should attempt to film a more literal adaptation. Edit: thinking about the difference between the novel and the film makes me think of The Shining and I'm very much in the Kubrick camp - the film being a work of art by itself and so doesn't have to follow the source material. However, I also really like A Scanner Darkly which is arguably the closest PKD adaptation.
  - nottorp 2y ago
    I'd rather have the obsession everyone has for the few remaining animals on earth, and the race to own at least a replica. Electric sheep are just a background detail in the movie, while they're as central as hunting the replicants in the book... I'd also like the scene where Deckard runs into another blade runner agency, further complicating the question if he's a replicant or not :)
    - ndsipa_pomu 2y ago
      Yeah, the film could have had more content about the real/artificial animals though it did feature a bit with the snake scales and the owl. Also agree about meeting the other agency though I can imagine that would have complicated the plot a bit (disclaimer - I haven't read Androids for many years and can't remember the details of that scene). I just think that Mercerism was a superb concept - a participatory religion. I suppose it wouldn't have really driven the story forwards in the film whereas almost every scene in the film was doing that. Incidentally, here's PKD's short story about Mercerism: https://sickmyduck.narod.ru/pkd092-0.html https://sickmyduck.narod.ru/pkd092-0.html
      - nottorp 2y ago
        > can't remember the details of that scene Deckard gets arrested by a different police agency - they think they're the only ones, just like Deckard's agency. He gets accused of being an android with implanted memories. They administer Voigt-Kampf tests to each other and while everyone ends up as human, the scene serves to make who's human and who isn't even more of a question. What really ticks me off about all movies made from Dick's writings is that they cut off most of the ambiguity. I shudder to think what they'd make of Ubik or A Maze of Death...
        ndsipa_pomu 2y ago
        I'd love them to get around to attempting Ubik - it's a shame that Gondry abandoned his attempt. In terms of ambiguity, surely Blade Runner is a prime example of ambiguity and the dichotomies between real/fake, light/dark, salvation/damnation, hunter/hunter etc. There's also the very significant portrayal of Roy Batty as both the villain and a Christ-like figure (e.g. nail in his hand, confronting his maker and both kissing and killing him).
        nottorp 2y ago
        Yeah, I wonder if whoever wrote the script confused Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? with Divine Invasion and added Christian motives from there :)
  - nottorp 2y ago
    > However, I also really like A Scanner Darkly which is arguably the closest PKD adaptation. Oh I missed this. Personally I think the best PKD "adaptation" is this: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0284978/ https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0284978/ Possibly because it wasn't an actual adaptation but low ish budget original work, with less of the constraints that a high budget brings.
ahazred8ta 2y ago
Irony: the original bladerunner novel was about a courier carrying surgical instruments so that the doctor would not be arrested for black market medical treatment. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bladerunner https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bladerunner FWIW I was a Galactic Pot-Healer fan.
- mcv 2y ago
  I did not know that. And running scalpels makes a lot more sense for that title. Because as cool as the title sounds, it doesn't make any sense for the movie. Nobody is running blades there.
  - coldtea 2y ago
    Cops aren't made of copper either (nor do they belong to the Sus domesticus species), but still...
    - mcv 2y ago
      > Cops aren't made of copper No, but their badges are. Or were. I guess it's a pars pro toto thing.
    - DonHopkins 2y ago
      And people don't eat Cheez-Its when they spot cops, either!
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]

nottorp 2y ago

> Can you imagine if Blade Runner retained the title of the work it was derived from? ... or even some parts of the plot ... It would have been more interesting than the shooting based thriller we got instead.

to11mtm 2y ago
FWIW the Adventure game adaptation, is -really- interesting from everything I've seen on Youtube, especially because it's apparently randomized in various ways on each play-through...
ndsipa_pomu 2y ago
I'm a big fan of PKD and also Blade Runner. You've got a point about the film being so very different, but I think it's subsequent success (it wasn't that successful at the time) justifies the approach to the subject matter. However I do wish that Mercerism (the religion in the book) was included in the film. Maybe someone should attempt to film a more literal adaptation. Edit: thinking about the difference between the novel and the film makes me think of The Shining and I'm very much in the Kubrick camp - the film being a work of art by itself and so doesn't have to follow the source material. However, I also really like A Scanner Darkly which is arguably the closest PKD adaptation.
- nottorp 2y ago
  I'd rather have the obsession everyone has for the few remaining animals on earth, and the race to own at least a replica. Electric sheep are just a background detail in the movie, while they're as central as hunting the replicants in the book... I'd also like the scene where Deckard runs into another blade runner agency, further complicating the question if he's a replicant or not :)
  - ndsipa_pomu 2y ago
    Yeah, the film could have had more content about the real/artificial animals though it did feature a bit with the snake scales and the owl. Also agree about meeting the other agency though I can imagine that would have complicated the plot a bit (disclaimer - I haven't read Androids for many years and can't remember the details of that scene). I just think that Mercerism was a superb concept - a participatory religion. I suppose it wouldn't have really driven the story forwards in the film whereas almost every scene in the film was doing that. Incidentally, here's PKD's short story about Mercerism: https://sickmyduck.narod.ru/pkd092-0.html https://sickmyduck.narod.ru/pkd092-0.html
    - nottorp 2y ago
      > can't remember the details of that scene Deckard gets arrested by a different police agency - they think they're the only ones, just like Deckard's agency. He gets accused of being an android with implanted memories. They administer Voigt-Kampf tests to each other and while everyone ends up as human, the scene serves to make who's human and who isn't even more of a question. What really ticks me off about all movies made from Dick's writings is that they cut off most of the ambiguity. I shudder to think what they'd make of Ubik or A Maze of Death...
      - ndsipa_pomu 2y ago
        I'd love them to get around to attempting Ubik - it's a shame that Gondry abandoned his attempt. In terms of ambiguity, surely Blade Runner is a prime example of ambiguity and the dichotomies between real/fake, light/dark, salvation/damnation, hunter/hunter etc. There's also the very significant portrayal of Roy Batty as both the villain and a Christ-like figure (e.g. nail in his hand, confronting his maker and both kissing and killing him).
        nottorp 2y ago
        Yeah, I wonder if whoever wrote the script confused Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? with Divine Invasion and added Christian motives from there :)
- nottorp 2y ago
  > However, I also really like A Scanner Darkly which is arguably the closest PKD adaptation. Oh I missed this. Personally I think the best PKD "adaptation" is this: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0284978/ https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0284978/ Possibly because it wasn't an actual adaptation but low ish budget original work, with less of the constraints that a high budget brings.

ahazred8ta 2y ago

Irony: the original bladerunner novel was about a courier carrying surgical instruments so that the doctor would not be arrested for black market medical treatment. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bladerunner https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bladerunner FWIW I was a Galactic Pot-Healer fan.

mcv 2y ago
I did not know that. And running scalpels makes a lot more sense for that title. Because as cool as the title sounds, it doesn't make any sense for the movie. Nobody is running blades there.
- coldtea 2y ago
  Cops aren't made of copper either (nor do they belong to the Sus domesticus species), but still...
  - mcv 2y ago
    > Cops aren't made of copper No, but their badges are. Or were. I guess it's a pars pro toto thing.
  - DonHopkins 2y ago
    And people don't eat Cheez-Its when they spot cops, either!

deleted 2y ago

[deleted]