Blade Runner film makes the top 10 list according to AFI...

[Ed Oscuro]

Wow, "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" is from 1968, same year as Poul's "Age of the Pussyfoot" (a basis for System Shock and lots of other things besides). That's pretty awesome.

Anyway, the answer is no, obviously. :(

@ Blade Runner music:

I was able to listen to most of the soundtrack continuously for a couple years after I first saw the movie (surprisingly recently, like '06) and bought the soundtrack; now...not so much. It just doesn't excite me any more. Have to move onto new things. ;p

[it290]

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? is pretty damn good, but not one of Dick's best by a long shot; Blade Runner, on the other hand, is easily one of the top science fiction films ever. I don't know if a faithful adaption would really make an interesting movie; personally, I'd rather see Richard Linklater take on the likes of VALIS after what he did with A Scanner Darkly (which was an excellent film, and quite faithful to its source material).

Other thoughts:

Vangelis' music makes the movie in many ways, especially the ending theme which is a total classic.

I've never heard of that WSB treatment; interesting. I do think that some of his later novels with similar premises would make very excellent films indeed, much more so than the Cronenberg adaptation of Naked Lunch -- which, although not a bad movie by any means, is probably one of Cronenberg's weakest.

A Clockwork Orange is absolutely science fiction; both the book and the film are often considered to be highly influential in the formation of the cyberpunk genre as well.

[Acid King]

I've never heard of that WSB treatment; interesting. I do think that some of his later novels with similar premises would make very excellent films indeed, much more so than the Cronenberg adaptation of Naked Lunch -- which, although not a bad movie by any means, is probably one of Cronenberg's weakest.

The problem with Cronenberg's Naked Lunch is that it only has faint relation to the book. It's more like a biographical mash up of Burroughs' life than a real adaptation of the book. Something like the Place of Dead Roads, or a good piecing together of the cut up trilogy would make awesome movies.

[Nuke]

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? is pretty damn good, but not one of Dick's best by a long shot; Blade Runner, on the other hand, is easily one of the top science fiction films ever. I don't know if a faithful adaption would really make an interesting movie; personally, I'd rather see Richard Linklater take on the likes of VALIS after what he did with A Scanner Darkly (which was an excellent film, and quite faithful to its source material).

Oh, I agree that it's not his best work and that Blade Runner is easily on the top 5 list of science fiction movies, but it's still better than the film which says more about Dick's ability as a writer than the quality of the film.
That said, I loved A Scanner Darkly but I'm not a fan of the rotoscoping.
I'd much rather have seen it as a regular film or even a cartoon instead of getting something that was half-way in between and way too blurry and jittery.

[it290]

Oh, I agree that it's not his best work and that Blade Runner is easily on the top 5 list of science fiction movies, but it's still better than the film which says more about Dick's ability as a writer than the quality of the film.
That said, I loved A Scanner Darkly but I'm not a fan of the rotoscoping.
I'd much rather have seen it as a regular film or even a cartoon instead of getting something that was half-way in between and way too blurry and jittery.

Really? I normally don't like the rotoscoped look either, but I thought it was perfect in this case. It would have been much harder, I think, to capture the drug-addled paranoia and confusion with traditional live action.

I don't know if I'd consider Do Androids Dream... to be better than Blade Runner; it's comparing apples and oranges. The book (like all of Dick's work) is really about the nature of reality. The movie features a little bit about that, but what makes it really superb is the atmosphere, which Dick generally ignores for the most part. If you read about the making of the film, you'll find that they really went to unprecedented lengths to make the street scenes realistic; they even created periodicals to be placed on the newstands of one scene, for example, which are never seen by the camera but are seen by the actors, so that they would become more immersed in the reality of the film.

The problem with Cronenberg's Naked Lunch is that it only has faint relation to the book. It's more like a biographical mash up of Burroughs' life than a real adaptation of the book. Something like the Place of Dead Roads, or a good piecing together of the cut up trilogy would make awesome movies.

Agreed, but I don't think that a faithful adaptation of Naked Lunch, or any of the cut-up books, is really possible. Place of Dead Roads, Cities of the Red Night, etc. would definitely make great movies.

[PC Engine Fan X!]

Custom car designer Gene Winfield was responsible for all the vehicle designs shown in the movie, including the famous Police Spinner type of VTOL land/air vehicles... ^_~

Only if Ridley Scott had shown some high speed chases with the Spinners and some bad guys...I think that would've been cool. Of course, in Luc Besson's film, The Fifth Element, he does pay homage to BR's vehicles having such a cool high speed chase scene with flying vehicles...

Mr. Winfield is still alive at the ripe old age of 82 and still making custom cars to this very day. Plus, he was in Modesto, CA, just recently for the American Graffitti celebration held every year in honor of George Lucas' famous film of the same name... ^_~

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[Mortificator]

Speaking of books vs. movies, the film version of Planet of the Apes was an improvement. The book was too Guliver's Travels with all the heavy-handed allegories, and its ending wasn't nearly as good as the movie's (which I consider a strong contender for Best Movie Ending Ever).

It's not sci-fi, but The Godfather was leagues better on the big screen too. Do I need chapter after chapter that talks about the vagina of the girl Sonny banged at the wedding and how big her vagina is and how she needs surgery on her big vagina? No, I do not.

[KindGrind]

True for Godfather, although the book is great, too.

Another case of movie superior to the book is Shawshank's Redemption, and most recently There Will Be Blood, adapted from Oil!. An awesome book, but the movie is just perfect.

Did you guys like Equilibrium? Quite entertaining rehash of countless sci fi classics.

[kengou]

I like Equilibrium much more for the incredible action scenes than the sometimes cheesy and preachy story about how emotion is important and whatever.

[Acid King]

Agreed, but I don't think that a faithful adaptation of Naked Lunch, or any of the cut-up books, is really possible. Place of Dead Roads, Cities of the Red Night, etc. would definitely make great movies.

I think Naked Lunch could be done, but since there is no overarching plot, it would become a series of vignettes. I keep toying with the idea of writing a graphic novel script of it. I think a lot of the "chapters" would make really cool comics.

A movie of the cut ups really wouldn't resemble the books because any attempt to replicate the cut ups and word collages would be either impossible or make the movie an unwatchable blob of images. But because there is a cogent story to them, something that's completely absent from Naked Lunch, you could create a solid narrative from them. It wouldn't be a "faithful" adaptation, but it would make a fucking sweet movie.

[PC Engine Fan X!]

My local art movie house, The State Theatre based in Modesto, CA, is showing the 35mm print of the 2007 version of Blade Runner: The Final Cut coming this July 11th, 2008 at midnight and on Sunday, July 13th, 2008 at 3:30pm. Should be cool to finally watch it as it was meant to be seen. Is better than watching it on hi-def Blu-Ray format any old day... ^_~

I recall watching the Blade Runner: The Director's Cut back in 1997 presented in 35mm print...priceless. That films seems to portray Deckard as a Replicant... ^_~

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[PC Engine Fan X!]

Has anyone seen Blade Runner: The Final Cut in 35mm print? And is it presented in THX audio format or what?

Considering that each traditional 35mm film reel weighs in at a whopping 44 pounds, they're indeed heavy. Plus, that for whole feature length film to be shown in it's entirety, it takes several of those 44lbs. film reels. Some national movie chains have gone entirely digital with their theatre film projects systems and it must seen to truly appreciate the digital film format to the fullest.

Having watched an all-digital DLP version of Star Wars Episode III at my local movie theatre, it was super razor sharp and crystal clear compared to watching it on traditional 35mm print edition -- out with the old and in with new and latest technology in film projection. Btw, George Lucas only authorized a few places in the USA to show this SW:Ep III film in DLP format anyways... ^_~

I understand that this particular version of BR had an extremely limited engagement in the States, namely the bigger cities like S.F., L.A., N.Y., etc. Still the rare opportunity to see it as it was be meant shown on the big screen is an awesome sci-fi cinema experience not to be missed... ^_~

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~