Paul M. Sammon thinks Blade Runner is the best adaptation of Phil K. Dick's work, in this case the 1968 novel Do Androids of Electric Sheep?, even though the two have virtually nothing to do with each other. Hampton Fancher's drafts transformed itself as one followed the other and so did the movie's title. After all, neither the words Blade Runner nor Replicant even appear in the book. Rick Deckard was a spectacle wearing, suitcase carrying bureaucrat instead of a Film Noir detective.
Along with Sammon, some more Dick enthusiasts and experts such as Jonathan Lethem, Tim Powers and Greg Rickman then proceed to tick off a list of interesting elements and details from the novel that were completely ignored in Fancher & Peoples screenplay and Scott's interpretation. These include a police station run by Andie's (Androids), the religion of Mercerism and the addictive Mood Organ. Add to this the fact that the book is set not in L.A., 2019 but rather San Francisco, 1992 after World War Terminus.
Elements that were incorporated into the movie were the Off-world colonies, the characters of Rachael, Holden and in a way J.F. Sebastian by way of chicken head J.R. Isidore, the electric animals replacing extinct ones (but no electric sheep for Deckard, because that would just be silly). There are also parallels in the 4 year live span for the Andie's or Reppies and the genetic corporation is there as well.
Most significant of all, Philp K. Dick's view of the androids as heartless, egotistical creatures was the complete opposite of Ridley Scott who saw them as superior to humans in every way. But still, when Dick saw Ridley's interpretation of the future, he felt it was exactly what he had had in mind. And the reason why Blade Runner has become such a beloved cult, it is because of the way Ridley transformed the Burbank back lot into modern day Tokio. Novels are not like movies or vice versa. Each one is a sheep of it's own, no matter how much or how little DNA they might share.
8 out of 10
Along with Sammon, some more Dick enthusiasts and experts such as Jonathan Lethem, Tim Powers and Greg Rickman then proceed to tick off a list of interesting elements and details from the novel that were completely ignored in Fancher & Peoples screenplay and Scott's interpretation. These include a police station run by Andie's (Androids), the religion of Mercerism and the addictive Mood Organ. Add to this the fact that the book is set not in L.A., 2019 but rather San Francisco, 1992 after World War Terminus.
Elements that were incorporated into the movie were the Off-world colonies, the characters of Rachael, Holden and in a way J.F. Sebastian by way of chicken head J.R. Isidore, the electric animals replacing extinct ones (but no electric sheep for Deckard, because that would just be silly). There are also parallels in the 4 year live span for the Andie's or Reppies and the genetic corporation is there as well.
Most significant of all, Philp K. Dick's view of the androids as heartless, egotistical creatures was the complete opposite of Ridley Scott who saw them as superior to humans in every way. But still, when Dick saw Ridley's interpretation of the future, he felt it was exactly what he had had in mind. And the reason why Blade Runner has become such a beloved cult, it is because of the way Ridley transformed the Burbank back lot into modern day Tokio. Novels are not like movies or vice versa. Each one is a sheep of it's own, no matter how much or how little DNA they might share.
8 out of 10
