7 ms·

I'm yet to see the movie. Are there any spoilers in this article?

by dyzone 1mo ago

shevy-java 1mo ago
Well, some characters are mentioned and images are shown, so this is a tiny bit of a spoiler. But your trade-off would be "shall I first watch Blade Runner before reading this article"; watch it today. And read the article anyway, as it is not just about Blade Runner but also e. g. Logan’s Run. Now, Logan’s Run is not as good as Blade Runner, but it has some elements that are quite interesting IMO. So it can also be recommended, even though I find it a bit dated now; Blade Runner is not dated though really. Probably one of the most important science fiction movie ever made. The book is also good, but different to the movie; I was disappointed because I found the movie was better, but the book is in many ways much more logical. It kind of explains why there are so few animals and so many artificial animals (even though from a biological point of view this makes no sense, humans are also animals after all), whereas in the movie, it is rarely explained why there are artificial animals. IMO the book was more intrinsically logical, and more desperate e. g. regular humans were drug addicts, that was totally cut in the movie. I still liked the movie more, even though I think the book had a stronger intrinsic logic; but the performance of Rutger Hauer really was epic there. IMO his best performance in his whole career.
- LargoLasskhyfv 1mo ago
  The book felt dry and sort of boring to me. Which made me recognize that some movies can actually be better than the books they are based on. Which is not a given. That being said, there are sequels for the original movie in paperback, which I've found to be very acceptable. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blade_Runner_2:_The_Edge_of_Human https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blade_Runner_2:_The_Edge_of_Hu... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blade_Runner_3:_Replicant_Night https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blade_Runner_3:_Replicant_Nigh... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blade_Runner_4:_Eye_and_Talon https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blade_Runner_4:_Eye_and_Talon Did you know?
  - technothrasher 1mo ago
    I found the movie and the book so different in pacing and tone that they are hardly comparable. The book really has the ethical and sociological questions as the meat, and uses the plot simply as a backbone. The movie does the exact opposite, with the plot the driving force and the questions as food for further thought. You can still enjoy the movie without thinking too hard, if you wish, but the book will fall flat without giving it a lot of thought. As an example, the movie completely drops Mercerism, likely because it would be slow and clunky to try and explain it in an action movie. But it is an essential part of the book, without which PKD's explorations of the pain of the conflict between individualism and collectivism would be entirely missed. Similarly with the artificial animals, which are shown only in passing in the movie, but are a central tool in the book to illustrate hypocrisy and jealousy in people trying to grasp at what is "real". The titles of the two works encapsulate this difference of direction perfectly.
    - jambalaya8 1mo ago
      movie almost puts me to sleep every time.
  - diskzero 1mo ago
    K.W.Jeter was writing Blade Runner 2 in the office next to our small video game company. We were working on the entirely forgettable Dark Fiber title which was only published in Japan for the NEC PC-98. https://archive.org/details/DarkFiberWindowsMac/(WIN+MAC)%20Dark%20Fiber/DarkFiber_0001.jpg https://archive.org/details/DarkFiberWindowsMac/(WIN+MAC)%20... We talked a lot but I resisted asking him to help with the plot of the game. I probably should have!
anigbrowl 1mo ago
Close the window and go watch it.

I'm yet to see the movie. Are there any spoilers in this article?

by dyzone 1mo ago

I'm yet to see the movie. Are there any spoilers in this article?

Well, some characters are mentioned and images are shown, so this is a tiny bit of a spoiler. But your trade-off would be "shall I first watch Blade Runner before reading this article"; watch it today. And read the article anyway, as it is not just about Blade Runner but also e. g. Logan’s Run. Now, Logan’s Run is not as good as Blade Runner, but it has some elements that are quite interesting IMO. So it can also be recommended, even though I find it a bit dated now; Blade Runner is not dated though really. Probably one of the most important science fiction movie ever made. The book is also good, but different to the movie; I was disappointed because I found the movie was better, but the book is in many ways much more logical. It kind of explains why there are so few animals and so many artificial animals (even though from a biological point of view this makes no sense, humans are also animals after all), whereas in the movie, it is rarely explained why there are artificial animals. IMO the book was more intrinsically logical, and more desperate e. g. regular humans were drug addicts, that was totally cut in the movie. I still liked the movie more, even though I think the book had a stronger intrinsic logic; but the performance of Rutger Hauer really was epic there. IMO his best performance in his whole career.

LargoLasskhyfv 1mo ago
The book felt dry and sort of boring to me. Which made me recognize that some movies can actually be better than the books they are based on. Which is not a given. That being said, there are sequels for the original movie in paperback, which I've found to be very acceptable. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blade_Runner_2:_The_Edge_of_Human https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blade_Runner_2:_The_Edge_of_Hu... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blade_Runner_3:_Replicant_Night https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blade_Runner_3:_Replicant_Nigh... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blade_Runner_4:_Eye_and_Talon https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blade_Runner_4:_Eye_and_Talon Did you know?
- technothrasher 1mo ago
  I found the movie and the book so different in pacing and tone that they are hardly comparable. The book really has the ethical and sociological questions as the meat, and uses the plot simply as a backbone. The movie does the exact opposite, with the plot the driving force and the questions as food for further thought. You can still enjoy the movie without thinking too hard, if you wish, but the book will fall flat without giving it a lot of thought. As an example, the movie completely drops Mercerism, likely because it would be slow and clunky to try and explain it in an action movie. But it is an essential part of the book, without which PKD's explorations of the pain of the conflict between individualism and collectivism would be entirely missed. Similarly with the artificial animals, which are shown only in passing in the movie, but are a central tool in the book to illustrate hypocrisy and jealousy in people trying to grasp at what is "real". The titles of the two works encapsulate this difference of direction perfectly.
  - jambalaya8 1mo ago
    movie almost puts me to sleep every time.
- diskzero 1mo ago
  K.W.Jeter was writing Blade Runner 2 in the office next to our small video game company. We were working on the entirely forgettable Dark Fiber title which was only published in Japan for the NEC PC-98. https://archive.org/details/DarkFiberWindowsMac/(WIN+MAC)%20Dark%20Fiber/DarkFiber_0001.jpg https://archive.org/details/DarkFiberWindowsMac/(WIN+MAC)%20... We talked a lot but I resisted asking him to help with the plot of the game. I probably should have!

anigbrowl 1mo ago

Close the window and go watch it.