Adaptations of Philip K Dick

[aggroculture]

He is "the Shakespeare of science fiction" (says literary critic Frederic Jameson) but the films based on his books/stories have been really hit or miss.
Blade Runner, Total Recall, Minority Report, A Scanner Darkly, then, um, Next, Impostor, Screamers, The Adjustment Bureau, Paycheck...and Radio Free Albemuth (with Alanis Morissette, which I never saw).
Ubik by Michel Gondry is on the way. King of the Elves, The Man In The High Castle...
Now Wait for Last Year has just been optioned http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/filmblog/2011/dec/09/now-wait-last-year-philip-k-dick
There's a Total Recall remake: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1386703/
And now Blade Runner's to get a sequel/prequel...

And this is before we even get to the films arguably inspired by Dick: Inception, Source Code, In Time (anyone see that?)...

[andreas]

love reading his prose but am almost too scared to watch movies based on the stories. they are a "miss" way too often, i basically only liked blade runner and scanner darkly

my beloved dick's story is the man in the high castle but i don't think i could watch a movie based on it, i'd be terified i'd see another "impostor" or even worse

[Corvus T. Cosmonaut]

In Time (anyone see that?)...
Which Dick did that one take from? Because Harlan Ellison was suing to say it had stolen from him—until he actually saw the thing and decided he didn't want his name anywhere near it. http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/harlan-ellison-sues-claiming-foxs-235987

I've seen other accounts that would go back further, and hang inspiration for the film on the shoulders of Karl Marx.

That the film is less specifically inspired by Dick is something I'd agree with, but only because it isn't unusual for sci-fi today to wear the preceding greats in the genre under its vest. (We could just as easily include Asimov, Heinlein, Ellison, etc.)

[jmtd]

Which Dick did that one take from? Because Harlan Ellison was suing to say it had stolen from him—until he actually saw the thing and decided he didn't want his name anywhere near it. http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/harlan-ellison-sues-claiming-foxs-235987

Yes, but Ellison also sued the Terminator folks, and that bears a lot more of a resemblance to the Dick stories "Second Variety" and "Jon's World" than Ellison's "Demon with a Glass Hand". Methinks Ellison a bit of an ass.


Ubik by Michel Gondry

Really concerned about this one. It could be great, it could be terrible. Ubik is my favourite Dick novel, and I respect Gondry (and LOVED "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind", which clearly owes a lot to Dick), but it could go so wrong…

[jmtd]

So I'm late to the party to learn about yet another Blade Runner re-release, the 30th anniversary:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Blade-Runner-Anniversary-Ultimate-Collectors/dp/B008PEHP8S/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1358244148&sr=8-2

The "72 page digibook" looks quite nice.

According to http://tyrell-corporation.pp.se/more-on-blade-runner-30th-anniversary-edition/ the "dangerous days" doc will be on blu ray. I doubt it is in HD but haven't confirmed.

All in all I think I'm done re-buying BR.

[ambergris]

So I'm late to the party to learn about yet another Blade Runner re-release, the 30th anniversary:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Blade-Runner-Anniversary-Ultimate-Collectors/dp/B008PEHP8S/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1358244148&sr=8-2

The "72 page digibook" looks quite nice.

According to http://tyrell-corporation.pp.se/more-on-blade-runner-30th-anniversary-edition/ the "dangerous days" doc will be on blu ray. I doubt it is in HD but haven't confirmed.

All in all I think I'm done re-buying BR.

I think I'll wait for the special extended 35th anniversary ultimate final cut on blu ray..