Blade Runner and 9 more famous film adaptations of Philip Dick's books

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Many people do not even realize that a significant part of the fantastic films, which everyone loves so much, were filmed, if not based on the works of the famous writer, then with references to them.

Blade Runner

• Thriller, dystopia.
• USA, 1982.
• Duration: 117 minutes
• IMDb: 8, 2.

One of the most famous works based on the work of Philip Dick, which brought him worldwide fame. Alas, already posthumously.

The film is a free interpretation of the novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep. Although director Ridley Scott deviated from the original plot quite a lot, the author of the book himself, when previewed, was pleased with the embodiment of the world he had invented.

In the center of the plot is Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford) - an employee of the special police department, engaged in the capture of fugitive replicants - androids, almost indistinguishable from humans. Deckard takes on the last thing, trying to catch a group of replicants, but in the process a lot of difficulties arise, and the viewer will not fully understand whether Rick himself is a human being.

The film became a kind of long-term construction for the director. The original version was released back in 1982, but Scott has repeatedly tried to supplement it, remount it and bring it to perfection. The final version appeared only in 2007.

On October 5, a sequel titled "Blade Runner 2049" will be released, the main character of which will be a new hunter for replicants (Ryan Gosling), who turns to Deckard for help.

There is also an unofficial remake of Blade Runner - the South Korean film City of the Future.

Remember all

• Science fiction, action, adventure.
• USA, 1990.
• Duration: 113 minutes
• IMDb: 7, 5.

The legendary 1990 film with Arnold Schwarzenegger in the title role is based on the short story "We will remember everything for you." It is about an office clerk who decided to implant himself with fake memories of working as a secret agent. However, it soon turns out that it is these memories that are real, and the hero's ordinary life was just a cover.

The plot is close enough to the plot of the story, but then the film develops on its own, showing the hero's attempts to learn about the past. Since Arnold Schwarzenegger was completely unsuitable for the role of a clerk, the script was rewritten for him: the main character became a builder.

There are two more adaptations of this story: the film of the same name in 2012 and the TV series Total Recall 2070, which also connects the events with the work Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep. But the film with Arnold Schwarzenegger still remains the most beloved by the audience.

Screamers

• Action, science fiction, thriller.
• Canada, USA, Japan, 1995.
• Duration: 108 minutes
• IMDb: 6, 4.

One of the few adaptations that closely convey the plot of the original work. This film is based on the story "The Second Model".

In the future, the war between the world's two largest corporations has led to the creation of screamers - autonomous robots that destroy anyone without a special bracelet. Robots have learned to copy and repair themselves and, as a result, have become the main threat not only to enemies, but also to their creators.

The first model is known - a robot with a circular saw, and the third, more advanced - a child asking for help. But no one knows what the second model looks like - anyone can be a screamer.

Although "Screamers" were filmed for very little money, the acting and special effects are at a decent level, which ensured the film's status as a cult film among fans of science fiction. It should be noted that the idea of robots masquerading as humans became one of the sources of inspiration for James Cameron when writing the script for The Terminator.

In 2009, a sequel was released called "Screamers 2: The Hunt", which did not have much success with the audience.

Special opinion

• Thriller, sci-fi, thriller.
• USA, 2002.
• Duration: 145 minutes
• IMDb: 7, 7.

The events of the film unfold in the future, where, with the help of three seers, a special crime prediction department was created. They can show the events and the perpetrator even before the event itself occurs, so the police arrest people in advance, thereby saving the victims.

The head of the pre-crime department (Tom Cruise) is charged with a murder not yet committed. And the victim should be a complete stranger to him. He is forced to run and hide from his colleagues in order to prove that the system can be wrong.

The very concept of "dissenting opinion" refers to a situation when one of the three seers does not agree with the vision of the others and assumes a different development of events, thereby showing the ambiguity of the future.

The plot in the film is greatly simplified relative to the story of the same name, according to which it was filmed. In the original, the ending is much more difficult. It deals with the situation when knowledge of the future itself influences events. But the main idea - punishment before committing a crime - is shown in a very interesting way.

In 2015, the series "Minority Report" was released, which tells about the fate of the seers after the events of the film. It did not have much success with the audience and was closed after the first season.

Reckoning hour

• Science fiction, thriller.
• USA, Canada, 2003.
• Duration: 126 minutes
• IMDb: 6, 3.

The film is based on the story "Full Settlement". The main character of the picture (Ben Affleck) is working on high-tech cutting-edge developments. Because of this, his memory is regularly erased. But one day he is offered a really lucrative contract: three years of work on a secret project, after which he receives large compensation and shares in the company that will allow him to live for his own pleasure.

Three years later, the hero discovers that his memory has been erased again, and he refused money and shares, leaving himself only an envelope with a set of fairly simple things (a pack of cigarettes, glasses, a bus ticket). Further, the plot of the picture resembles a quest: each item from the envelope is needed at a certain moment. Together, they will lead the hero to a clue why he gave up money and what dangers his old work conceals in himself.

Cloudiness

• Cyberpunk, psychological thriller.
• USA, 2006.
• Duration: 100 minutes
• IMDb: 7, 1.

Visually unusual, but quite accurately conveying the plot of the novel of the same name, the film tells about a future in which America was swept by an epidemic of a new drug.

Robert Arctor (Keanu Reeves) is a police officer who has been infiltrated by drug addicts under cover that excludes any personal contact with contacts. Gradually, he himself becomes a victim of addiction to drugs. But one day one of his friends, whom he must follow, begins to inform on Arctor himself. As a result, he ends up in a hospital for drug addicts, with which something is also wrong.

The film is an unusual combination of real-life shots, painted later by animators, which made it possible to convey the strange perception of the world by the main character, as well as add fantastic and even surreal moments.

Prophet

• Thriller, sci-fi, thriller.
• USA, 2007.
• Duration: 96 minutes
• IMDb: 6, 2.

When adapting the story "The Golden Man", the authors of the film took only one main idea - the ability of the protagonist to see the future two minutes ahead.

Nicolas Cage plays just such a man named Chris Johnson. He hides from the authorities, entertains the public in the casino and makes a little money on bets. But FBI agents begin to hunt him down again, planning to use his gift to search for a nuclear charge stolen from Russia. Finding a hero is not easy, because Chris knows in advance when the agents will come and what they will do.

Like Minority Report, the plot of the picture is based on the fact that the ability to see the future affects the future itself, changing it. This theme can be traced repeatedly in the work of Philip Dick. Although in the original story, everything looked a little different: the hero was at least a mutant with golden skin who never spoke.

Free Radio Albemuth

• Drama, fantasy.
• USA, 2010.
• Duration: 110 minutes
• IMDb: 5, 8.

A film adaptation of the dystopian novel of the same name by Philip Dick, which was released only in limited release at festivals.

In this version of history, the 1960s United States is ruled by a corrupt president who has abolished all civil liberties. But there is a reaction to any action. And now a former student Nick Brady begins to hear some voices in his head, which turn out to be a broadcast of a radio signal from an alien satellite. This signal is not controlled by the authorities and becomes the voice of freedom, sounding in the minds of people.

The adaptation of one of Dick's favorite works is more a fan movie than a professional creation. This has its pros and cons. The visuals and computer effects look pretty cheap, but the independence allowed the authors to accurately transfer the novel to the screen.

Reality-changing

• Science fiction, melodrama, thriller.
• USA, 2011.
• Duration: 105 minutes
• IMDb: 7, 1.

The film, based on the story "The Correction Team", left only the basis from the literary source, but it is this that gives the film depth and originality.

Politician David Norris (Matt Damon) learns that all events in the world take place according to a predetermined plan. If something goes wrong, the correction bureau intervenes - people with supernatural abilities. Unfortunately, the meeting of the hero with the ballerina Eliza (Emily Blunt) does not fall into this plan, but love forces the hero to go against the established order.

As you read The Revision Command now, you can't help but remember the Matrix and the agents that are troubleshooting the glitches. So here, too, Philip Dick turned out to be a pioneer, who set the development of science fiction films for years to come.

The man in the high castle

• Science fiction, thriller, drama.
• USA, 2015.
• Duration: 3 seasons.
• IMDb: 8, 1.

The events of the series, like that of the book of the same name, develop in an alternative world, where the coalition of Germany and Japan won the Second World War. Stalin was executed, and Washington was destroyed by a nuclear bomb, after which the United States was divided among the winners.

But suddenly mysterious newsreels appear, in which a completely different world is shown, more similar to the one we are used to, where the Nazis still lost. And although the meaning of the films has not been fully revealed, they are hunted by supporters of the American resistance, the Japanese and the Nazis, led by Hitler. And all this leads to a mysterious man in a high castle, who also tries to find these chronicles.

It is impossible not to recall one more iconic work "Ubik", which, although it did not receive a full-fledged film adaptation, played an important role in the development of the entire cinema.

The novel "Ubik" for the first time presented to the reader the large-scale idea of the whole world, which is only an illusion. The main question of the book: "If an illusion is so similar to reality, how to distinguish where is the illusion, and where is the reality?" - has appeared in the cinema several times. "Vanilla Sky", "Source Code", "Matrix" and many other paintings would not have been invented without this work.

It is likely that soon this novel will also be filmed. Michel Gondry, a Frenchman, was appointed director. But so far, work on the painting has not begun.