"Nothing that we have done, individually or collectively, matches BLADE RUNNER. This is not escapism; it is super realism, so gritty and detailed and authentic and goddam convincing that, well, after the segment I found my normal present-day “reality” pallid by comparison."—Philip K. Dick writing to Jeff Walker at the Ladd Company, after watching a TV preview of Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner, the film version of his novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep. (Dangerous Minds)

  • Boundegar

    Dick is a poor critic, because he was always unsure of the line between fantasy and reality.  That might be a fun way to live, but it’s not a critical stance.

    • http://walkingwithshimmer.wordpress.com/ Werther deGoethe

       Wrath of the Dickheads in 3…2…1…

      • Halloween_Jack

        Not wrath but pity, as neither you nor Boundegar seem to have read Dick’s letter, in which he isn’t offering criticism but a spontaneous and enthusiastic response to a brief glimpse of the movie. (And, Boundegar, despite Dick’s complicated relationship with reality and sanity, the letter is thoughtful and warm, and quite coherent.) What traces of criticism are there are directed at his views of the then-current state of the art of science fiction, and he might have been quite right about that.

        • http://walkingwithshimmer.wordpress.com/ Werther deGoethe

           Quod est demonstradum.

    • Mighty Blowhole

      So… you don’t like Blade Runner?

      • Boundegar

        I love it.  Love his novels, too.  But also think he was nuts.

        • http://lemoutan.blogspot.com/ Lemoutan

          Now you’ve gone and done it. I can’t tell if that’s an enthusiastic response or a criticism.

        • Samsa

          I really love [90% of all literary figures] but also think he/she was nuts.

          There you go.

  • http://oneofme.ca Paul Turnbull

    So often authors are disappointed with the film versions of their stories. It’s wonderful that while PKD did not see the final result, he was genuinely liked what he saw of what they were doing.

    • http://glitch.tl/ Michael Smith

      It went through so many rewrites that I don’t think anybody knows who actually wrote Blade Runner.

  • Samsa

    Would have loved to see PKD’s less than excited letter after seeing pretty much anything else adapted from his work.

  • TheOven

    I’m glad he didn’t live to see Paycheck. 

  • http://www.facebook.com/joel.emmett Joel Emmett

    Hey, Mikey!  I think he likes it!