Let's face it, most of the adaptations have been shitty movies. Blade Runner is a classic, but even that had to be re-cut to more closely reflect the source material.
Hollywood likes PKD's ideas, but his voice and idiosyncrasies are scrubbed from the final product.
@arbeck definitely. Linklater did a good job, probably because of his respect for the work he was adapting.
@3 I'd give you half and half for the adaptations.
In the good column:
Blade Runner
Minority Report
A Scanner Darkly
Bad column:
The Nick Cage one
The Ben Affleck one
Screamers
And of course Total Recall which was an awesome movie, despite being totally different than the short story.
I guess even the good movies don't have the same focus as the source material, but what adaptations do? plus, are there other PKD sourced films out there I should(n't) bother to check out?
The thing that always seems to be missing from Hollywood adaptions of PKD is his unique paranoid relationship with reality. Dick's best stories always leave you wondering, was the protagonist crazy? Does it matter if he is?
Because of this, I don't think we're going to see "Flow My Tears the Policeman Said" or "Valis" on the silver screen anytime soon.
I'd love to see a good treatment of Ubik. So many of Dick's short stories are prone to the Hollywood treatment: one or two of the more surprising but less interesting ideas is taken and made the basis of a film, while the really challenging themes are left behind. But I think it would be hard to do Ubik without embracing the source more completely.
Westside forever @9: Agreed. I wonder if they know their audiences, though. The only movie that I've seen that I really thought explored the intersection of bizarre reality and mundane insanity in a way that resembles Dick's writing is Vanilla Sky, and that wasn't received well. There are probably more examples and no doubt some good counter-examples, but I can't think of any.
The Matrix is the closest I can get to a counter-example, and while its central conceit is a Dick-style challenge to our fundamental assumptions about reality, the Matrix immediately gives you a new reality to adopt, while Dick was a master at keeping you guessing. He'd sweep the rug out from under you to reveal not a floor, but a gaping abyss.
I've been reading quite a few Philip K Dick novels in the past year, trying to get their appeal. So far, his regular fiction has been the best. In general, however, I find him booooooooooring.
Hollywood likes PKD's ideas, but his voice and idiosyncrasies are scrubbed from the final product.
@arbeck definitely. Linklater did a good job, probably because of his respect for the work he was adapting.
Anyway, back to the topic at hand :-)
In the good column:
Blade Runner
Minority Report
A Scanner Darkly
Bad column:
The Nick Cage one
The Ben Affleck one
Screamers
And of course Total Recall which was an awesome movie, despite being totally different than the short story.
I guess even the good movies don't have the same focus as the source material, but what adaptations do? plus, are there other PKD sourced films out there I should(n't) bother to check out?
Because of this, I don't think we're going to see "Flow My Tears the Policeman Said" or "Valis" on the silver screen anytime soon.
The Matrix is the closest I can get to a counter-example, and while its central conceit is a Dick-style challenge to our fundamental assumptions about reality, the Matrix immediately gives you a new reality to adopt, while Dick was a master at keeping you guessing. He'd sweep the rug out from under you to reveal not a floor, but a gaping abyss.
I like Matt Damon and I like Terrance Stamp too. This has potential.