Sim1Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep
December 28th 2009 12:47
Not long ago, I finished reading the book Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep by Philip K. Dick and it was a bloody awesome read! But this is not a book review blog, is it. So let’s chat about the film instead: Blade Runner.
Directed by Ridley Scott in 1982, Blade Runner stars a rather delectable Harrison Ford. But other than the delectability of Mr. Ford, I am not sure what to make of it. I feel I am obliged to like it, because it’s a Ridley Scott movie. And everyone raves about Blade Runner, don’t they?
In fairness, I was very impressed with the set and how Dick’s vision of the future has been realised. Deliciously gloomy and depressing. And I thought Rutger Hauer as a crazed android was inspired casting. I just wish someone had warned me about what shall henceforth be known as ‘the eye scene’. The bit in the film where the crazed android Roy Batty pushes his maker’s head together, effectively squashing his brain, until his eyes start bleeding.
Daryl Hannah was also brilliant as another crazed android and the scene in which she starts convulsing and fitting after being shot is somewhat gruesome (nothing compared to the eye scene though).
But from reading the book, I didn’t imagine Rick Deckard to be quite so dark and depressed as Harrison Ford has us believe. Of course it is impossible for a film to contain every element of the book it is based on, so it is a shame that some of Philip K. Dick’s ideas remain unexplored, such as the ‘mood organ’ that Deckard’s wife uses to regularly download a dose of depression into her brain to keep her balanced.
However, my old mate Ridley did a fantastic job of showing the turmoil Deckard finds himself in when faced with replicant Rachael. Is it right to fancy an android when your job is to kill them?
You may by now have deduced that Blade Runner is a science fiction film, if you didn’t know that already. But don’t expect moronic spaceship battles or creatures in dire need of having their ears pinned back. You’re better off reflecting if we are really heading towards this world that Philip K. Dick envisioned and that Ridley Scott banned onto celluloid.
I would strongly recommend you read the book, but of you are too lazy to do that, you might as well watch Blade Runner. And if you like what you see and want more of Philip K. Dick’s genius, get ‘A Scanner Darkly’ and ‘Minority Report’ from your local video shop, too.
Directed by Ridley Scott in 1982, Blade Runner stars a rather delectable Harrison Ford. But other than the delectability of Mr. Ford, I am not sure what to make of it. I feel I am obliged to like it, because it’s a Ridley Scott movie. And everyone raves about Blade Runner, don’t they?
In fairness, I was very impressed with the set and how Dick’s vision of the future has been realised. Deliciously gloomy and depressing. And I thought Rutger Hauer as a crazed android was inspired casting. I just wish someone had warned me about what shall henceforth be known as ‘the eye scene’. The bit in the film where the crazed android Roy Batty pushes his maker’s head together, effectively squashing his brain, until his eyes start bleeding.
But from reading the book, I didn’t imagine Rick Deckard to be quite so dark and depressed as Harrison Ford has us believe. Of course it is impossible for a film to contain every element of the book it is based on, so it is a shame that some of Philip K. Dick’s ideas remain unexplored, such as the ‘mood organ’ that Deckard’s wife uses to regularly download a dose of depression into her brain to keep her balanced.
However, my old mate Ridley did a fantastic job of showing the turmoil Deckard finds himself in when faced with replicant Rachael. Is it right to fancy an android when your job is to kill them?
I would strongly recommend you read the book, but of you are too lazy to do that, you might as well watch Blade Runner. And if you like what you see and want more of Philip K. Dick’s genius, get ‘A Scanner Darkly’ and ‘Minority Report’ from your local video shop, too.
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