This is my favorite movie all time. Bar none... Hands down. I still judge almost all over movies by this one... *Leaving "Bridges of Madison County... "Well, that was no Blade Runner...""*
Visually, this movie is where it's at. Like previous posters mention, even with multi-billion dollar special effects, not to metion loads of CGI, that stuff still doesn't immerse you like this world does.
Also, a note on the narration. Harrison Ford hated making this movie. I remember reading an extensive article about the making of Blade Runner in Details magazine (one of the first issues, I think the first issue had De La on the cover, which is what got me into it back in the day), and he tried to sabotage it by giving a very corny narration when they told him he had to go back and do it. I think the narration turns out ok, but I prefer the directors cut by far. Also, I think Ford's dislike of this movie may have worked in the movies favor, because Deckard comes across pretty detached and floating, and at times bored, which really works for the hard-boiled noir character.
I actually had the pleasure of reading the book first. I read that thing in one sitting I got so immersed in it. Love the movie as well. Ranks one behind 2001 in my all time favorite sci-fi flicks. Right above Starship Troopers(??).
Just starting to get into Dick(semi homo) and was wondering if anybody had some good places to start. Anybody read that biography of him that just came out?
Dick is great. "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep" is a good start. "The Man in the High Castle" is, I think, the name of a book about an alternate world where the Axis allies won the war, and people are always reading some book called "The Grasshopper Sleeps" or something like that. Good shit. "We Can Sell You Memories Whole Sale" is Total Recall... all of his books are good, and I want to read his biography too. Most I've read about the real man was a newspaper article, and he sounded like a pretty fucked-up dude.
I actually had the pleasure of reading the book first. I read that thing in one sitting I got so immersed in it. Love the movie as well. Ranks one behind 2001 in my all time favorite sci-fi flicks. Right above Starship Troopers(??).
Just starting to get into Dick(semi homo) and was wondering if anybody had some good places to start. Anybody read that biography of him that just came out?
Didn't read the new Bio, but I've read a few others in the past...went through a major PKD phase, during which I read around 24 of his something like 32 novels.
Must reads:
A Scanner Darkly[/b] somewhat later masterpiece about drugs, paranoia, and bugs crawling all over you
Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch[/b] earlier masterpiece about drugs, paranoia, and sex
Ubik[/b] very well-conceived mindbender about the dead still being in contact with us, and the alive being dead already(?)
Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said[/b] dark pulper about drugs, fame, and incest...
Galactic Pot Healer & The Man Who Japed[/b] lesser-known classics, a little lighter than the others, but with many similar themes, and besides, PKD at his lightest is often PKD at his best.
Valis Trilogy[/b] his last major novels, all based around the "epiphany" he had in the mid-70's, where he claims to have seen the face of God in a vision of millions of ever-changing images...madness distilled into great literature.
and 20 others, almost every one is good, some repeat themes from others to the point where one will be the "best" version of an oft-repeated theme, but there are great ideas, humor and social commentary in just about every one.
Start with A Scanner Darkly[/b], and you'll be hooked.
on the subject of philip k. dick movie adaptations, please to shy the fuck away from that godawful Paycheck. John Woo was the absolute worst choice to direct a philip dick story (not to mention casting Ben Afleck in the lead). and don't get me started on John Woo. How this man managed to go from making movies like The Killer, Bullet In The Head and Hard Boiled - then coming to the states only to put out consistent crap - and get WORSE with every passing year - is one of the most baffling mysteries of our time.
co-sign. don't know what happened to woo -- style doesn't translate, too much money to fuck around with, same old tricks, no chow-yun ---??? the van damne flick was allright though.
dollar_binI heartily endorse this product and/or event 2,326 Posts
I actually had the pleasure of reading the book first. I read that thing in one sitting I got so immersed in it. Love the movie as well. Ranks one behind 2001 in my all time favorite sci-fi flicks. Right above Starship Troopers(??).
Just starting to get into Dick(semi homo) and was wondering if anybody had some good places to start. Anybody read that biography of him that just came out?
Hey man, I'm not surprised that youre getting into dick either... One of my favorite writers. I suggest anything by him, especially the Valis Trilogy. Also, if you view book covers similarly to record covers, here's a nice site. 1200 photos of PKD book covers:
So... I think PKD was more than just crazy, which he definitely was a bit also. However, his works when viewed the right way offer insights into the nature of reality that are very hard to come by elsewhere.
By the way, have you ever heard of the Incunabula/Ong's Hat mythos? It deals with a New Jersey commune of black muslims, university phyics and mathematics drop-outs, sufi drug dealers, and lesbian bikers, that figured out a way to travel to alternate dimensions, and were subsequently massacred by some black ops paramilitary group (well, most of them, some supposedly crossed over in time). I suggest you look into it. Maybe I'll post some stuff up.
2001 being my favorite movie of all time and also hands down best sci fi.. but i have to put blade runner as a pretty close second.
im surprised no one has mentioned the scene where he analyses the photo on his machine.. with the zooms and weird image enhancements..
i've seen a few differant cuts of the film .. the directors cut is good as it has way more shots of the city, flying around and such.. the lose of the narration isnt a huge.. but the directors cut is also alot less violent.
i seem to recall editting especially in the final fight with rutger.. i dont think the directors cut actually shows him breaking fords fingers, and it also doesnt show rutger stabbing his own hand with the nail as i recalll...
i might be wrong.
and yes the directors cut does include the famous unicorn dream which is the big tip off that olmos knows Ford is a replicant.
A little off-topic... but i'm looking forward to seeing 'Hitch-hikers Guide To The Galaxy'.
Watched the TV-movie when i was a kid and loved it and the rumors going around are that they did a good job with the movie. It even has the guy from 'The Office' in the lead role.
So... I think PKD was more than just crazy, which he definitely was a bit also. However, his works when viewed the right way offer insights into the nature of reality that are very hard to come by elsewhere.
Yeah, he also was using a lot of methamphetamines during that time as well. I remember hearing somewhere that he had crazy 'deja vu' stories about living out a scene from a book years after he had written it and the people's names were the same as the characters in his book, and the way they were related was the same and everything. So he was like "I wrote this in a fictional story 10 years ago and now it's happening - GET OUT OF MY BRAIN!"
By the way, have you ever heard of the Incunabula/Ong's Hat mythos? It deals with a New Jersey commune of black muslims, university phyics and mathematics drop-outs, sufi drug dealers, and lesbian bikers, that figured out a way to travel to alternate dimensions[/b], and were subsequently massacred by some black ops paramilitary group (well, most of them, some supposedly crossed over in time). I suggest you look into it.
You should read HP Lovecraft, alot of his stuff deals with occultish interdimensional traveling - the Hellboy movie was straight out of his world...
Yeah, he also was using a lot of methamphetamines during that time as well
In one of the bio's I read of him, he claimed that a doctor told him that his body was immune to the methamphetamines, and that he was wasting his time taking them, they were just placebos, which is pretty
The paranoid elements of his fiction, especially the scenarios in Scanner Darkly, are supported in real life by the fact that his Berkley home became a sort of counter-culture crash pad, and the FBI actually did raid his home and steal alot of papers and really did have him under surveliance. That's one thing that makes A Scanner Darkly so mind-blowing, is that, as he states in the afterword, most of it is in some way based on his real life, and on his friends who lost their minds and lives to hard drug use.
uh i'll pass while she looks good in that movie i hear she was the biggest bitch in the world, also now she his a fucking crack head
bladerunner is one of the best movies ever, k is right on the noir thing, and the way the future was portrayed in br is what shaped most of the movies in the 80s vision of the future
the book is great as well and everyone should def read some pkd, anyone seen that movie about him? dude was a genius and by the end was totally out of it
great fuckin movie. i gotta agree with the folks that like the VO version better. i guess im just nostalgic. plus, like many folks have said, its become increasingly harder to find the VO version. i think it may only exist on laserdisk and vhs/beta.
my favorite, my dude mufukin david lo pan in the ice suit "ILLEGAL! YOU NOT BE HERE!!!" or "c-c-c-cold"
"If only you could see what I've seen with these eyes"
sayin. that scene in the sub zero is chock full of classics. dude putting the eyeball on his shoulder, david lo pan talking to himself when they first walk in. god damn i love that movie! of course, david lo pan as david lo pan in "big trouble" is great too!!!
Star Harrison Ford originally recorded the narration under duress at the insistence of Warner Bros. executives who thought the story needed further "explanation"; he later confessed that he thought if he did it badly they wouldn't use it. (Moral: Never overestimate the taste of movie executives.)
Comments
Visually, this movie is where it's at. Like previous posters mention, even with multi-billion dollar special effects, not to metion loads of CGI, that stuff still doesn't immerse you like this world does.
Also, a note on the narration. Harrison Ford hated making this movie. I remember reading an extensive article about the making of Blade Runner in Details magazine (one of the first issues, I think the first issue had De La on the cover, which is what got me into it back in the day), and he tried to sabotage it by giving a very corny narration when they told him he had to go back and do it. I think the narration turns out ok, but I prefer the directors cut by far. Also, I think Ford's dislike of this movie may have worked in the movies favor, because Deckard comes across pretty detached and floating, and at times bored, which really works for the hard-boiled noir character.
My favorite movie...
How did i know you would love this movie???
I actually had the pleasure of reading the book first. I read that thing in one sitting I got so immersed in it. Love the movie as well. Ranks one behind 2001 in my all time favorite sci-fi flicks. Right above Starship Troopers(??).
Just starting to get into Dick(semi homo) and was wondering if anybody had some good places to start. Anybody read that biography of him that just came out?
Dick is great. "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep" is a good start. "The Man in the High Castle" is, I think, the name of a book about an alternate world where the Axis allies won the war, and people are always reading some book called "The Grasshopper Sleeps" or something like that. Good shit. "We Can Sell You Memories Whole Sale" is Total Recall... all of his books are good, and I want to read his biography too. Most I've read about the real man was a newspaper article, and he sounded like a pretty fucked-up dude.
Didn't read the new Bio, but I've read a few others in the past...went through a major PKD phase, during which I read around 24 of his something like 32 novels.
Must reads:
A Scanner Darkly[/b] somewhat later masterpiece about drugs, paranoia, and bugs crawling all over you
Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch[/b] earlier masterpiece about drugs, paranoia, and sex
Ubik[/b] very well-conceived mindbender about the dead still being in contact with us, and the alive being dead already(?)
Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said[/b] dark pulper about drugs, fame, and incest...
Galactic Pot Healer & The Man Who Japed[/b] lesser-known classics, a little lighter than the others, but with many similar themes, and besides, PKD at his lightest is often PKD at his best.
Valis Trilogy[/b] his last major novels, all based around the "epiphany" he had in the mid-70's, where he claims to have seen the face of God in a vision of millions of ever-changing images...madness distilled into great literature.
and 20 others, almost every one is good, some repeat themes from others to the point where one will be the "best" version of an oft-repeated theme, but there are great ideas, humor and social commentary in just about every one.
Start with A Scanner Darkly[/b], and you'll be hooked.
on the subject of philip k. dick movie adaptations, please to shy the fuck away from that godawful Paycheck.
John Woo was the absolute worst choice to direct a philip dick story (not to mention casting Ben Afleck in the lead).
and don't get me started on John Woo.
How this man managed to go from making movies like The Killer, Bullet In The Head and Hard Boiled - then coming to the states only to put out consistent crap - and get WORSE with every passing year - is one of the most baffling mysteries of our time.
Hey man, I'm not surprised that youre getting into dick either... One of my favorite writers. I suggest anything by him, especially the Valis Trilogy. Also, if you view book covers similarly to record covers, here's a nice site. 1200 photos of PKD book covers:
http://www.pkdickbooks.com/Frame1.html
So... I think PKD was more than just crazy, which he definitely was a bit also. However, his works when viewed the right way offer insights into the nature of reality that are very hard to come by elsewhere.
By the way, have you ever heard of the Incunabula/Ong's Hat mythos? It deals with a New Jersey commune of black muslims, university phyics and mathematics drop-outs, sufi drug dealers, and lesbian bikers, that figured out a way to travel to alternate dimensions, and were subsequently massacred by some black ops paramilitary group (well, most of them, some supposedly crossed over in time). I suggest you look into it. Maybe I'll post some stuff up.
Peace...
FM
AAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!
2001 being my favorite movie of all time and also hands down best sci fi.. but i have to put blade runner as a pretty close second.
im surprised no one has mentioned the scene where he analyses the photo on his machine.. with the zooms and weird image enhancements..
i've seen a few differant cuts of the film .. the directors cut is good as it has way more shots of the city, flying around and such.. the lose of the narration isnt a huge.. but the directors cut is also alot less violent.
i seem to recall editting especially in the final fight with rutger.. i dont think the directors cut actually shows him breaking fords fingers, and it also doesnt show rutger stabbing his own hand with the nail as i recalll...
i might be wrong.
and yes the directors cut does include the famous unicorn dream which is the big tip off that olmos knows Ford is a replicant.
great movie everyway you slice it though..
Watched the TV-movie when i was a kid and loved it and the rumors going around are that they did a good job with the movie.
It even has the guy from 'The Office' in the lead role.
Yeah, he also was using a lot of methamphetamines during that time as well. I remember hearing somewhere that he had crazy 'deja vu' stories about living out a scene from a book years after he had written it and the people's names were the same as the characters in his book, and the way they were related was the same and everything. So he was like "I wrote this in a fictional story 10 years ago and now it's happening - GET OUT OF MY BRAIN!"
You should read HP Lovecraft, alot of his stuff deals with occultish interdimensional traveling - the Hellboy movie was straight out of his world...
In one of the bio's I read of him, he claimed that a doctor told him that his body was immune to the methamphetamines, and that he was wasting his time taking them, they were just placebos, which is pretty
The paranoid elements of his fiction, especially the scenarios in Scanner Darkly, are supported in real life by the fact that his Berkley home became a sort of counter-culture crash pad, and the FBI actually did raid his home and steal alot of papers and really did have him under surveliance. That's one thing that makes A Scanner Darkly so mind-blowing, is that, as he states in the afterword, most of it is in some way based on his real life, and on his friends who lost their minds and lives to hard drug use.
I belive I did indirectly, as that and the Voight-Kamff (Spelling?) machine stem from the mind of visual futurist Syd Mead.
K.
Not true unless you belive the sun shining through the Tyrell Corporation's Pyramid windows is "more real than real" sun.
K.
P.S. Part of a dark>light/height hierarchy???
Yeah. I put this on late last night after reading these posts. I saw that sun right away and thought. oops, I goofed.
I'll get me coat
How cool would it be to have an artificial owl?
K.
uh i'll pass while she looks good in that movie i hear she was the biggest bitch in the world, also now she his a fucking crack head
bladerunner is one of the best movies ever, k is right on the noir thing, and the way the future was portrayed in br is what shaped most of the movies in the 80s vision of the future
the book is great as well and everyone should def read some pkd, anyone seen that movie about him? dude was a genius and by the end was totally out of it
on the scanner darkly tip have you seen this k...
http://www.apple.com/trailers/warner_independent_pictures/a_scanner_darkly.html
fuck keanu but it still looks like it could be good
At least his performance will be more animated than in the Matrix Reloaded - Zing!
my favorite, my dude mufukin david lo pan in the ice suit "ILLEGAL! YOU NOT BE HERE!!!" or "c-c-c-cold"
sayin. that scene in the sub zero is chock full of classics. dude putting the eyeball on his shoulder, david lo pan talking to himself when they first walk in. god damn i love that movie! of course, david lo pan as david lo pan in "big trouble" is great too!!!