WHAAAAAT 👿

Ridley Scott turned Dick's novel into the most influential SF film ever made.

Although different storylines they are both a complex rumination on the effects of dehumanisation. What film has produced the range of human emotions so vividly that BR has?

Its story is fantastically layered beyond belief. Religious parallels are rampant. The moody motion score by Vangelis is superb. The amazing cinemaphotography and fantastic set and costume design are breathtaking and the script – Absolutely Sublime. Let me remind you Roy Batty’s beautiful soliloquy and cinema’s most touching piece of dialogue;

“I’ve seen things you people wouldn’t believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched c-beams glitter in the dark near the Tanhauser Gate. All those … moments will be lost … in time. Like … tears … in rain. Time … to die”.

That still makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up and my nose fizz.

With all due respect but what with some of the utter balls written on this forum the OP could be the biggest tosh ever! Sorry, I appreciate it's a matter of opinion and all that.

All the best.

Lots of people mentioned I Am Legend, one of the 2 endings is a little more in keeping with the original book. And TBH I think quite a lot of the film actually works better than the book, which now feels very dated and unsubtle. Frinstance, the film shows the infected working together, setting traps and communicating, but all through that Smith's character ignores it and still treats them like brainless animals- quite subtle since it's not explicitly stated. Same with the twist at the end, rather than rubbing the reader's nose in it like Matheson did, the film shows you the realisation without forcing it on you as much.

But, the main concept's there, intact… Won't say more than that because of spoilers though.

easy tiger!

dont forget that speech was improvised if memory serves and no ones having a go at mr scott – he made daleks for petes sake!

EDIT: still to read that review but youre prob right about cramming all the action into 2min trailer, i really hope so anyway. i loved that book

fontmoss,

What difference does it make that the speech was improvised (you are right, it was)? In fact that spontaneity by Hauer adds to the films greatness! This staggering scene and one that is more associated with BR than any other was not in the book.

I also understand that the critique wasn't aimed at Scott. Again what point are you making? I’m simply disagreeing (vehemently) with samurai for the reasons stated. The film wasn’t “wrong” it was inspired and adapted from the book. It wasn’t a literal translation and never pretended to be. The film was Scott and Co's vision and in that sense comparing the two lacks relevance.

All the best.

i wasn't making any point

all the best

Captain Corelli's Mandolin

or Captain Bilkos Banjo as I prefer to call it 🙂 Cruz is lovely but really should be mimed over by someone less sqeaky.

Excellent work bwd!

+1, or should that be -1, for Capt Corelli.

Only 2 good things about the film: Penelope Cruz, and that they left out the wrong-headed right-wing propaganda from the end of the book.

Contact
Silence of the Lambs
The Evil Men Do
The First Great Train Robbery

All better reads than films.

I, Robot – Asimov's Robot books were the first SF I ever read, and amongst the first that gave me something to think about. All they were really about ws the Three Laws Of Robotics and dealing with conflicts arising out them
WTF was the film about?

And as for Stallone in Judge Dredd, don't start me on that.

And, if you're going to criticise Lord Of The Rings – have you ever seen the cartoon version?

Blade Runner and I Am Legend I really enjoyed, especially BR, but I've never read the books. (Don't start, my preferred reading material is SF, but there's so many books, so little time and money). One book I love, by one of my all time favourite authors, was made into a truly dreadful film, that the author demanded his name be removed from. That was Damnation Alley, by Roger Zelazny. In the book, the hero is a Hell's Angel, who does the right thing in the end. He's not a clean cut all-American hero for ****'s sake! Way past time for a remake, done correctly.

Blade Runner and I Am Legend I really enjoyed, especially BR, but I've never read the books. (Don't start, my preferred reading material is SF, but there's so many books, so little time and money). One book I love, by one of my all time favourite authors, was made into a truly dreadful film, that the author demanded his name be removed from. That was Damnation Alley, by Roger Zelazny. In the book, the hero is a Hell's Angel, who does the right thing in the end. He's not a clean cut all-American hero for ****'s sake! Way past time for a remake, done correctly.

I'd forgotten about Damnation Alley. Good call. Brilliant book, shite film.

And honestly, Sly as Judge Dredd. He just hasn't got the chin for the part.

If you wanted to pick a science fiction book that needs to be made into a fillum, I'd vote for Harry Harrison's Deathworld. It's got spaceships, explosions, monsters, big guns, everything…

Dead Zone. Cried. Dead zone the film- fantastic just different.

will smiths(tom cruise etc) name gets a film made but only to a standard required to attract his target audience
so an excellent book gets turned into a bag o sh!te hollywood cockbuster

Nice rant deluded! Don't get me wrong, I really like Blade runner the film, got the directors cut on DVD and it's in my top 5 films ever but it's nothing like the book, which is the point I was making. This isn't about which films are crap but which films are a very poor interpretation of the read.

I appreciate the vote for most tosh post ever too, result!

samuri,

Sorry mate, I was just sounding off, BR is my favourite film! The most tosh post was tongue in cheek 😉 and me being a knob.

I don't think BR was ever meant to be anything like the book as it wouldn't have translated well to screen, Androids essentially provided a flavour and narrative (or story hook i.e its paranoia) for BR by the co-screenwriter Hampton Fancher who originally tried optioning the novel.Perhaps that amounts however to what you said an "interpretation". My brain aches now!

All the best.

any historical book on WW2, the Americans have constantly made films about based on WW2 and changed the chracters, generaly from British/ANZACS to American. U951 cames to mind, that one about Burma, staring Errol Flynn, the yanks weren't even in Burma.

What about War of the Worlds- I mean the fifties version was bad enough, but is totally faithful compared with Spielbergs 're-imagining'
bassspine, do you really think hollywood would do justice to Deathworld?, I've been dreading the rumoured film adaption of The Stainless Steel Rat- I'm always glad when I hear that particular project has hit problems.
Soylent Green anyone?

The Golden Compass/Northern Lights. Missed out on all the lush detail the book has & turned it into a very ordinary kids movie.

Not sure if it counts as a film but the David Jason version of The Colour of Magic/The Light Fantastic is shocking compared to the books.

a film script is about a page for every minute of screentime (so about 120 pages for a 2 hour film), a book is what 400 pages – and films are not aimed at people who have read the book

the most interesting ones are films which are better than the book, usually middlebrow airport style paperbacks which work much better on screen with all the trash removed

The Godfather and Jaws are couple of potboilers really, nothing special – Jaws is far more adult in the novel, Brodie's wife has an affair with the Richard Dreyfus character

The Godfather took a potboiler about the Mafia and turned it into one of the geratest films of all time – with universal themes of family, revenge, destiny etc which reach beyond anything in the book.

Jaws takes a flabby paperback and turns it into a perfect example of a stripped to the bone thriller, without a single wasted scene

people will be watching both films for a long time to come, I don't think we can say the same for the novels they were based on

I'm surprised nobody's mentioned James Bond or the Bible.

So few books are written that have a 2 hour narrative timeframe, so its hardly surprising that a fan of the book will apreciate the film.

I must be the only person who enjoyed both versions of Bonfire of the Vanities. I also preferred the film version of Emanuelle.

Fatherland by Robert Harris was a fantastic boook.The film was an opportunity wasted.
wonderful book. I didn't even know it had been made into a film. I won't bother though!

+1 for Captain C. Other issues aside – why change the whole ending…

And, if you're going to criticise Lord Of The Rings – have you ever seen the cartoon version?
at least it's relatively true to the book…!