The Films of Philip K. Dick

Philip K. Dick was one of America's most unique writers. Suffering from mental illness and drug addiction, Philip K. Dick sketched out a dark and futuristic vision of the world in his novels and short stories mixing surrealism, theology, insanity, technology and philosophy in compact and mind blowing doses.

Considering that his books and stories dealt with damnation and madness, drugs and religion, spaceships and psychopaths, androids and morbid depression, it is somewhat of a surprise that any of Philip K. Dick's work would be filmed. Yet indeed there have been more movies made based on Philip K. Dick's work, than of any other Science Fiction writer in America. This is a startling legacy, all the more so when you consider just how aberrant and unusual Philip K. Dick's worldview and writing was.

While Philip K. Dick became most famous for his novels, the cinematic adaptations of his work, generally ignored his books. Only the first film to adapt his writing, Blade Runner-- also the most famous of these movies, was derived from a novel, specifically, "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep." As would typically follow, the more complex and ambiguous universe of "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep" was stripped away in "Blade Runner" in favor of a simpler and more straightforward urban dystopia and a police procedural that favored action over contemplation and philosophizing. This was a pattern that his movies would follow throughout their adaptations.

The remainder of the films deriving from his writing-- with the exception of A Scanner Darkly, would be based on his short stories, transforming more complex plots into simpler action oriented SciFi suspense thrillers. More ambitious books such as The Man in the High Castle never were adapted. Blade Runner was the only movie of his Philip K. Dick ever saw at a screening, though he passed away several months before its cinematic release. Yet the movies are surely as much a part of his legacy as the rest of his work.

Blade Runner

The most famous of the films adapted from a Philip K. Dick work, Blade Runner also helped set the tone for a generation of imitators. With the world of the future rendered as a dark, glossy, rainy and neon lit dystopia where the line between men and machine is blurring, corporations rule and the government is forever agitating citizens to emigrate to Mars; Blade Runner is more of a visual product than one of plot and story. Like much of Philip K. Dick's own writing, Blade Runner depends more on infusing an atmosphere of uncertain dread and future shock than on the not particularly unpredictable plot. Stylish and visionary, yet also confusing and jarring, Blade Runner in some ways served as a triumph of style over substance. Despite Ridley Scott's stylistic triumphs, Blade Runner ultimately came off as jagged and uneven and lacking the cohesion and fusion of Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep.

Total Recall

One of the stranger adaptations of Philip K. Dick, eccentric European director Paul Verhoeven took Philip K. Dick's short story, We Can Remember It For You Wholesale, a story that ultimately depended on a twist ending that tore down our universe and transformed into a surreal adventure across consciousness, revolution, mutation and reality. Starring the muscle bound Arnold Schwarzenegger, Total Recall like much of Paul Verhoeven's work, specialized in violence, sadism, sex and bouts of outright nihilism.

Elements of Philip K. Dick's work from diverse sources wound up contributing to the movie, often in unexpected ways. P.K. Dick's more philosophical robotic taxi cabs became annoying sight gags. Mutants became leaders of a Mars resistance that seemed to have as much in common with Robert A. Heinlein as with the more pacifist and bewildered worlds of Philip K. Dick. The final outcome was a movie that played something like James Bond meets Alice in Wonderland meets Robert Heinlein's Between Planets. The question of the reality or unreality of the world Quaid is experiencing as well the overall atmosphere in Total Recall is generally PKDickian which leaves his contribution to the movie a primarily stylistic one.

Screamers

Screamers was probably the most unfortunate adaptation of a PKD work to date. A B-Movie starring Peter Weller, the movie adapted one of Philip K Dick's most disturbing short stories, Second Variety and managed to transform it into something absurdly laughable. Pointless transported to the setting of another planet, Screamers discards the Cold War and discards everything else too but the basic plot mechanics. The film's ending that has the Second Variety Screamer falling in love with him and sacrificing her life for him is an absurd cinematic cliche. The ominous ending of Second Variety is transformed into a horror movie standard ending. Screamers generally went unnoticed by moviegoers and for good reason.

Impostor

The 21st century-- appropriately enough-- saw a rash of Philip K. Dick adaptations beginning with Impostor. Impostor, an adaptation of the PKD story, Impostor-- had been a project meant to cover several stories but was trimmed to just one starring Gary Sinise. Combined with an unfortunate catchphrase and bad word of mouth, Impostor entirely failed to connect at the box office. While Gary Sinise turned in a strong performance, the rest of the movie was generally considered to be a mess. Impostor had never been one of Dick's strongest stories but it was nevertheless a memorable one for its shocking ending. Impostor the movie gave away the ending in the trailer, thus saving most the need to see it in the first place.

Minority Report

Minority Report was the more prominent Philip K. Dick adaptation and critically praised for rendering PK Dick's ideas about government surveillance and free will on the big screen. While occasionally entertaining though, like most Dick adaptations, Minority Report focused more on the chase than on the story and its second half was significantly weaker than its first and relied on implausible plot twists. Like Spielberg's prior adaptation, A.I., his sentimentality ultimately contaminated the final product.

Paycheck

Following in the footsteps of great directors such as Ridley Scott and Steven Spielberg, John Woo tackled a PK Dick adaptation and demonstrated that he ranked closer to the directors of Impostor and Screamers instead. Based on Philip K. Dick's own story, Paycheck did what most former adaptations had done, streamlining his work as a simple action adventure, but Paycheck also jettisoned everything that was worthwhile about Dick's writing. Burdened by Ben Affleck's poor acting and the terrible chemistry with Uma Thurman, Paycheck was nearly as great a disaster as Impostor and Screamers.

A Scanner Darkly

A Scanner Darkly was arguably one of the purer adaptations of Philip K. Dick, aided by a simpler plot grounded in a more 5 minutes from now future that is entirely relatable-- yet with the addition of a single new piece of technology. The rotoscoping look of the film did not always succeed but it did render the paranoid worldview of PK Dick and its tragic ending. It was also the only adaptation of Philip K. Dick in American cinema that did not displace his story with an action adventure narrative, but remained true to his writing and intent.

Next

Next was essentially Paycheck. Not as devoid of quality or watered down as Paycheck, Next nevertheless is essentially an action movie with a gimmick, rather than a meaningful adaptation of Philip K. Dick's work. Neither particularly interesting nor memorable, Next followed a string of similar projects, including Deja Vu ensuring limited audience interest when it was finally released.