Does Celluloid Dream of Electric Sheep?
New Book Offers Critical Exploration of the Cinematic Adaptations of Philip K. Dick
“At a time when most 20th-century science fiction writers seem hopelessly dated, Dick gives us a vision of the future that captures the feel of our time. He wrote about ordinary Joes caught in a web of corporate domination and ubiquitous electronic media, of memory implants and mood dispensers and counterfeit worlds. This strikes a nerve.”
— Wired
An expansive look at Philip K. Dick’s posthumous career in the movies, COUNTERFEIT WORLDS: PHILIP K. DICK ON FILM (TITAN BOOKS; 21 JULY 2006; £16.99) is the definitive history of all of the adaptations of the science-fiction luminary’s work as translated onto the big and small screens. From the legendary Blade Runner to the forthcoming A Scanner Darkly (starring Keanu Reeves), via Total Recall, Paycheck and Minority Report, Dick’s legacy has revolutionised Hollywood
Beginning with a concise biography, writer Brian J. Robb examines the evolution and production of each project in depth, uncovering a wealth of new information, including the stories behind the fascinating unmade film Ubik (with a screenplay by Dick himself), and the stillborn sequels to Total Recall and the seminal masterpiece Blade Runner.
Philip K. Dick was a prolific author and self-asserting ‘fictionalising philosopher’ who died in 1982. The deceased Dick remains one of the hottest writers in Hollywood today. He left behind a rich corpus of novels, short stories and journal entries that still maintain their gripping power over readers across the world.
Brian J. Robb is a film critic and author of books on Brad Pitt and River Phoenix, a bestselling biography of Johnny Depp, a guide to the films of Ridley Scott, and a forthcoming project on silent cinema. He has appeared as an expert on a variety of radio and television shows and biographical documentaries, including Channel 4’s recent “Banned in the UK” series. Brian has also appeared on Radio 1, Radio 4, Radio Scotland, Scot FM, Radio Clyde and a host of other radio and television stations. He is currently editor of the science fiction magazine Dreamwatch, and is available for interview.
Counterfeit Worlds examines the cinematic interpretations of an author who shaped the course of science fiction literature, cinema and popular culture across the twentieth century, and remains a powerhouse in Hollywood more than twenty years after his death. It is essential reading for Philip K. Dick enthusiasts, science fiction aficionados and any and all interested in the development of modern cinema.
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COUNTERFEIT WORLDS: PHILIP K. DICK ON FILM
Brian J. Robb
Titan Books
21 July 2006
Paperback • £16.99 • 320pp
ISBN: 1-84023-968-9
Copyright © 2006 Brian J. Robb
TITAN BOOKS IS A DIVISION OF TITAN PUBLISHING GROUP LTD. REGISTERED OFFICE: 144 SOUTHWARK STREET, LONDON, SE1 OUP.
VAT REG. NO. 607 9631 24 REG NO. 159937 REG. IN ENGLAND
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Gary Carden writes......
A big thank you to sophie at titan books for forwarding me a fresh copy of Counterfeit worlds. Though i've always been a big fan of Blade Runner, i guess my interest in the film only went so far in only particular directions, a good example is interest in the Director, Music artist and the history of the film itself in regards to the different versions (DC OV WP + 35mm 70mm prints).
Since im a BR fan (placing my cup of tea on my BR coaster..) I immediately flipped to the middle of the book and read the several chapters surrounding the connections between PKD and BR. The book is very thorough in every detail, and this is where I realised i was not just reading another BR book, but was reading an almost step by step or day by day diary on the life and insight of Philip K Dick. After reading a huge section on BR (covered here later), i then felt compeled to read the book from the beginning to get the bigger picture.
Counterfeit worlds does a good job to mix a biography of PKD, with the fact of what he did, and how if affected the world we live in. I can honestly say that i had no idea the world i was in, was so closely 'manipulated` by Philip. Dating back to the 60`s, Counterfeit Worlds documents how PKD vision was applied to the series `the invaders` (not just the books and scripts that he wrote, but small touches like aliens zapped with ray guns left just a ring of black powder round their body). there is countless books stories films at TV films inbetween, but notably is BR, Total Recall, Minority Report and also a film which is due to be released later this year.
Other thsn this biographical side to the book, it also explores the relationship between the author and the director, aswell as the scriptwriters and visual effects team. It was this area between the BR chapter that shined very very brightly. The life of BR is well documented in how it stared life. Indeed, the original book 'Do androids dream of electric ship` seems to differer greatly from the finished article. For a good decade the book seemed to have been tossed backwards and forwards between companies and their directors. Cutting a long story very short indeed (by about 10 years!) warner bros. picked up the book and inturn Ridley was the chosen director (freshly finishing Alien). This certainly was not the end of the line, only now does the book go into lengthy and vivid detail into how the author works with the script writers and also liased with Ridley. Many things happened in this time, like the title being changed, the word android is dropped completely, and many many aspects of the book were changed as time went on (lots of aspects of the game BR on the PC suddently made perfect sense). The script gave me a huge insight of what the film could have been, more to the point, if money had not been such a huge obstacle, what the film SHOULD have been. A classic example is a proposed opening scene where real humans are using spades to scoop dead replicants (presumably their 2 years was up) into a huge furnice. Throught the flames a hand comes up to grab a rail and escape. This of course is Roy Batty). Also mentioned is the hockey mask scene (though it made it in the WP) was followed by a huge scene and grand entrance of zhora in the snake pitt, and my personal favorite is the script that would have showed deckard and racheal going off into the distance where racheal experiences nature and wild life for real (there is also refferences to a proposed BR-2 which would start with deckard and racheal living in a log cabin in the wilderness).
Though Philip never got to see the theatrical presentation of Blade Runner (almost a carbon copy of the ill fated Bruce Lee and Enter the Dragon), PKD did get to see a few reels of special effects footage, presented at a private screener for himself and Ridley. His reactions are documented as being very pleased with what he saw, and happy that his vision of what the future was in his mind, was portrayed correctly on film.
Gary's final thoughts..
There is a collosal amount of information well presented and correctly timed and dated in their relivant sequence within the book. It did its personal job for me which was to expand the history of BR/PKD and give me a wider perspective of exactly what happened with the original `DADOES` and the finished BR as we know it. There will of course come a time when PKD books and stories come to an end. My hope is that future novelists and writers wanting to write sci-fi, can start off where PKD left, with one of the greatest imaginations this century.
Written and edited by Gary Carden
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