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11 Science Fiction Movies based on Philip K. Dick's Writing

movies.popcrunch.com — Think that Blade Runner and Total Recall are the only sci-fi movies adapted from the writing of Philip K. Dick? Here's a list of 11 movies in total, complete with video clips and poster images (where available), including 2 new movies in development.

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  • HoldingOn, on 01/09/2008, -0/+9Wow, I didn't realize he wrote so many sci-fi books that were turned into movies. There are a lot of incredible ones in there, too
    • kirb59y, on 01/09/2008, -0/+1How convenient, I was actually looking for a list just yesterday... should also include The Truman Show.
    • kaplanfx, on 01/09/2008, -0/+1All science fiction movies are based on the works of Philip K. Dick, duh.
  • potifar, on 01/09/2008, -3/+6The Kindred Dick was a genious.
  • SpaceBass, on 01/09/2008, -9/+1removed - was an incorrect post
  • TheNik, on 01/09/2008, -0/+8My local bookstore has no PKD. :(

    Blade Runner and A Scanner Darkly were excellent, I'll have to check out some of the others.
    • salomejones, on 01/09/2008, -0/+2Do check out Valis. It's probably the best thing he wrote.
      • VAXcat, on 01/09/2008, -2/+0 VALIS the best? Better than "The Man In the High Castle"? Better than "The Penultimate Truth"? Better than "The Three Stigmata of Palmer K. Eldritch"? Better than "A Scanner Darkly"? Better than "Eye in the Sky"? Better than "A Maze of Death"? Better than "UBIK"? VALIS isn't even in the same league as any of those - it's really one of his least works.
        • MrGordonLiu, on 01/10/2008, -0/+1No way. VALIS is right up there with the best. Best three? Three Stigmata, A Scanner Darkly, and VALIS. I rank A Maze of Death and Penultimate Truth as his worst. I find these two books to be dreadful.
        • salomejones, on 01/10/2008, -0/+1I did say "probably". Dick generally wrote pretty much the same story hundreds of times---a *brilliant* tale that deserves to be told billions of times naturally, but Valis is very much like The Man in the High Castle, the Penultimate Truth, Scanner Darkly, UBIK, etc. Every one of them is about a sick mind--or universe--or God--or something in desparate need of healing (often highly metaphorical as in The Galactic Pot Healer--and sometimes not metaphorical at all as in The Divine Invasion), wherein the cure itself is rejected by the thing suffering the sickness due to its sickness itself. Clues about *why* Dick wrote about this so often abound in Valis and Radio Free Albemuth, which is why I chose Valis (RFA is a bit less accessible to some people) as an example of one of his best works---

          Because it goes a very long way in setting the background for the REST of his works.
    • edwartica, on 01/09/2008, -0/+1www.powells.com
      They usually have tons of PKD used.
  • JupiterSSJ4, on 01/09/2008, -1/+2lots of fun, very weird movies! Dugg!
  • Nitesmoke, on 01/09/2008, -1/+3Wow, that "Total Recall 2070" looked like a cross between "Total Recall" and "DADoES" aka "Blade Runner." I wonder how bad it sucked or if it was good.
    • DigTheDoug, on 01/09/2008, -0/+2Surprisingly good. It was a Showtime series, but I've only seen the movie/pilot. It was much much more Blade Runner than it was Total Recal, but I was surprised atthe job they did with it, being made for TV and all... Don't get me wrong, it was not near the quality of the original material, but they did a fair job with it.
    • MrGordonLiu, on 01/09/2008, -1/+1It's terrible.
    • TheWriteGuy, on 01/09/2008, -0/+2Decide for yourselves. You can (legally) watch every episode for free here:
      http://www.fancast.com/tv/Total-Recall-2070/10604/ ...
    • EbilPhish, on 01/09/2008, -0/+2I liked it. It was much more like Blade Runner than Total Recall, although the article says its based on a different book entirely.
  • mistertim, on 01/09/2008, -2/+9Also, "The Truman Show" might well be based on Philip K Dick's "Time Out of Joint". The plot is different, but the concept is almost exactly the same.
    • MrGordonLiu, on 01/09/2008, -1/+0Yes sir.
    • dualityim, on 01/09/2008, -0/+1A lot of stories have almost identical concepts. There seems to be a concept ceiling, and very rarely do we see concepts being invented nowadays. Almost every new story coming out can be traced back to some concept invented years ago.
      • Urusai, on 01/09/2008, -1/+1Yes, I'm sick as ***** of vampires, werewolves, zombies/frankensteins, and ghosts. Especially ***** goddamn vampires, stop ***** out vampire movies already, Hollywood, vampires suck (har har). Invent a new monster already.
        • directive0, on 01/09/2008, -0/+2Gentlemen what I have to show you will change the entertainment industry as we know it. I give you the future of horror cinema.

          The Polter-Nosfer-Zomba-Wolfenstien.
        • jgtg32a, on 01/09/2008, -0/+1Underworld 3, will have a zombieghost, that the warepire will fight against.
  • shoez, on 01/09/2008, -7/+2I didn't realize the Digg list trend had degenerated to the point where "top N items with quality X" had been replaced by "N items with quality X".
  • exomni, on 01/09/2008, -10/+0Why? Jesus Christ, you can make the most pointless, stupid list out of anything these days and get 100 diggs.

    But hell, I guess I'll comment anyways: Paycheck Rules. Uma Thurman is hot.
    • edwartica, on 01/09/2008, -0/+1Maybe they have people skills, unlike you.
  • TheWriteGuy, on 01/09/2008, -1/+14To say Dick was way ahead of his time might sound like a cliche, but it's true. American society and politics has become far more PKDickian than the futures that Asimov or Clark envisioned in their novels. (Just replace the word "Communist" with "terrorist" in Dick's novels that are set in a police state America, and the stories are still timely.) Had he lived, I bet Dick would be very bemused with the Internet, consumer tech gadgets, and the current state of American society, fashion and politics. (Ron Paul is exactly like a political character right out of a Dick novel.)
    • ricree, on 01/09/2008, -0/+4I'm not sure that it was really a prediction so much as a response to the times he was living in. McCarthyism at its peak was far worse than anything going on right now, and it falls to us to make sure that it never gets that bad again.
    • jvanasselberg, on 01/09/2008, -1/+0You're right, most of these writers seemed to have shaped our future. Not just the recent ones either. Everything from human flight, submarines, nuclear power, & genetics, to modern sociological concepts like "BRAVE NEW WORLD." As for what is going now, you might have to walk good ways back before you can start see how this forest is.
  • SiNN4R, on 01/09/2008, -1/+2I'll have to get a few of these.
  • exomni, on 01/09/2008, -5/+3Nice to see intelligent political commentary and philosophical metaphor boiled down into second-rate-action-popcorn-flick crap.
    • TimmyA, on 01/09/2008, -1/+0Absolutely. I'm a massive PKD fan, and most of the movies are utter abominations.
      • edwartica, on 01/09/2008, -0/+2A literature professor of mine once said to try to view movies as an interpretation of the book, not a retelling.
      • VAXcat, on 01/09/2008, -0/+0 Yah, I couldn't agree more...Total Recall was the worst of a bad lot. Properly done, a PK Disk based movie should do the same thing that one of his better novels did - you should come away from it not only wondering if the characters were human, you should be left wondering if you are human.
    • MrGordonLiu, on 01/09/2008, -0/+2So, so true. A Scanner Darkly is, by far, the best adaptation of a PKD book, and it fails when compared to the book.
  • detales, on 01/09/2008, -7/+3I think this might be a list that the world could do without. IMDB anybody?
  • skellener, on 01/09/2008, -10/+2Total Recall = horrible movie.
    • VAXcat, on 01/09/2008, -0/+1 Very much so - it was a crime. Except for the one scene where the psychiatrist is trying to convince Ahhnold that he's suffering from anillusion, the entire movie was utter crap.
  • duke1981, on 01/09/2008, -0/+5I'm a huge PKD fan. I really want to see a movie made of the Penultimate Truth. A lot of people would find it very coincidental with whats going on with our lives now and the future.
    • GreyICE, on 01/09/2008, -0/+2So you'd think, but Minority Report should have been that, and instead they gave it a cheesy crap ending.
  • theEpiphany, on 01/09/2008, -0/+1Disney's currently conceptually storyboarding King of the Elves for a future Animation release (potentially)
  • DaLukeMan, on 01/09/2008, -0/+2A man inspired by the tortures his name brought him as a child
  • thomsamuels, on 01/09/2008, -1/+4Man In The High Castle was a kick ass book. Dick definitely deserves to be mentioned with some of the sci-fi greats of late.
    • jimsf, on 01/09/2008, -0/+2This was the first story of his I read and its a great book. I'd love to see this made into a movie if they could be true to the story.
      • duke1981, on 01/10/2008, -0/+1Its the first book of his that I also read, a most excellent read.
  • CraigJ, on 01/09/2008, -2/+10Dugg, because it was all on one page.
    • DaLukeMan, on 01/09/2008, -1/+3Dugg, because comment was pro digg
  • MrGordonLiu, on 01/09/2008, -2/+4My favorite author. I just finished reading my 28th PKD book. I've only seriously disliked 3 of them, and many of them are amazing.

    Also, The Truman Show had to be unofficially based off of Time out of Joint, and Open Your Eyes (Vanilla Sky) is said to be inspired by UBIK.

    There is also a French film based on Confessions of a Crap Artist, can't remember the name off hand.
    • dives425, on 01/09/2008, -1/+1Nice. I own Ubik, but have not read it yet. Now I am going to have to rewatch Vanilla Sky. I wonder if abre los ojos is much different, I never saw that version of the film, only Vanilla Sky.
    • UrinalPooper, on 01/10/2008, -0/+1I'm curious as to which three you didn't like.

      I'm a huge PKD fan, but man, Maze of Death just gave me the jibblies so bad I never want to read it again.
      • MrGordonLiu, on 01/10/2008, -0/+1My three least favorite:

        1. Maze of Death
        2. Penultimate Truth
        3. Lies, Inc.
    • f54280, on 01/10/2008, -0/+0> There is also a French film based on Confessions of a Crap Artist, can't remember the name off hand.

      That is Confession d'un Barjo: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0104003/

      I don't believe that The Truman Show is Time Out Of Join, the story is imo soooo different... Sames goes for ubik/abre los ojos...
      • MrGordonLiu, on 01/10/2008, -0/+1I remember reading, somewhere, that the original writer of Abre los Ojos was greatly inspired by Dick's UBIK. They have a lot of similarities. Also, Time Out of Join and Truman Show have a lot in common as well. They aren't actually adaptations, but I wouldn't be surprised if these two books influenced these particular films.
        • f54280, on 01/16/2008, -0/+0Well, I can understand that they were source of inspiration. Filmakers have a lot of inspiration sources. But, IMO, "based on" would mean more than simple inspiration, it would be a rendition of the story/theme themselves.

          It has been some time since I saw "Abre los ojos", but I think that:
          * the mask is a central thing not present in UBIK
          * the love thing from "abre los ojos" is also very different from UBIK
          * the kind of hero is not the standard dick looser
          * there is no parapsy in abre los ojos
          * UBIK as the world-changing deity is absent from abre los ojos.

          At the end, I feel they just have one common theme, and that is not very much.

          For the truman show / time out of join, there are also huge differences:
          * truman show central theme is about how far we can go in reality tv. there is zero of that in time out of join
          * time out of join reality changes around the protagonist, a theme not present at all in the truman show
          * the reason why the hero is living in a fantasy world is so different in the two stories that I can't find realtions between those.

          All in all, I would say that the similarities are:

          Abre los ojos / UBIK: protagonist world is not what it seems (for the same reason in both story)
          Truman show / time out of join: protagisnit world is constructed around him by the society (for a different reason in both story).

          Dick have sooo many books and stories in which the world is not what it seems, that probably most film about a changing reality will have something in common with a PKD book. Of course, if the author is a dick fan, it will show more...
  • metsrule3186, on 01/09/2008, -0/+1was not expecting "what hot at pop crunch" when i got to the bottom
  • FearFactory, on 01/09/2008, -2/+1I went to watch teh yuotobes but I was distracted by this at the bottom.
    http://www.popcrunch.com/jessica-sierra-offers-ora ...
  • ncapone, on 01/09/2008, -0/+2At least it has Blade Runner in it!
    • SiNN4R, on 01/09/2008, -0/+2I'm glad it didn't contain I Robot.
      • covertbadger, on 01/09/2008, -0/+5It'd have been a shocker if it did, given that PKD didn't write I Robot.
        • SiNN4R, on 01/10/2008, -0/+1I could have sworn I heard it was based on one of his books. Oh well.
          • covertbadger, on 01/10/2008, -0/+1Nah, I Robot is from another sci-fi great - Asimov.
  • tomakun, on 01/09/2008, -0/+4I'd like to see UBIK made into a film. That is my favorite novel of his out of the several that I have read.
    • MrGordonLiu, on 01/09/2008, -0/+1PKD was actually commissioned to write a screenplay for this. It ended up being over 300 pages long, and he wouldn't edit it, so no film was made. It would make a fantastic film, to be sure.
  • mumblingmynah, on 01/09/2008, -0/+1I've read The Golden Man, and also seen Next, and had no clue the movie was based on the story. The only thing they kept was the character with the ability to see a little bit into the future. I don't think the movie even credited Dick.

    There are going to be a LOT more movies based on his stories. He has a tremendous body of work (over 60 novels, hundreds of short stories), and Hollywood will rape them all, then come back for sloppy seconds.
  • guymac, on 01/09/2008, -1/+1Every bookshelf (and DVD rack) needs Dick.
    • edwartica, on 01/09/2008, -0/+1Especially the book racks that have nothing but tax law on them. you know, in like an accountant's office or something?
  • MrGordonLiu, on 01/09/2008, -1/+3So much of what old Phil has written inspired so much about science fiction as we perceive it today. He really did change the landscape of the genre, while also busting through the walls of the genre. It's nice to see him starting to get the critical recognition he deserves.

    I would suggest reading I Am Alive and You Are Dead. It is a fascinating biography, and truly a captivating read. Dick's life was as crazy and messed up as many of his books are.

    Also, R. Crumb drew a great 8-page comic detailing Dick's experiences with VALIS. It, too, is awesome.
  • Hetman, on 01/09/2008, -1/+1Im reading some of his short stories right now. He is one of the greatest scifi writers of all time. He is does come off as paranoid. He also seems to hate capitlisim which I do not entirely agree with but it does get out of hand. Finally total recall or rekal as thethe real story goes is so great. It would not fit into a movie well if you actually followed the stories plot. But I prefer it to the movie.
  • mooseofshadows, on 01/09/2008, -0/+7Did he seriously just say that Paycheck was the best out of those? You've got to be kidding me.
  • MaTT2011, on 01/09/2008, -0/+2Having just seen the final cut of blade runner its easy to say that Dick's work, the concepts and philosophies involved, provide mind shattering revelations that change the way you see humanity. That may seem like a total overstatement but its not. If you havent seen the adaptations of his work or read the works directly i highly recommend you see for yourself.
  • Infowarmachine, on 01/09/2008, -0/+1all of the movies on that list that ive seen were great
    now i guess ill have to watch the rest
  • loquax, on 01/09/2008, -1/+2I've always thought that PKD was this generation's Lovecraft--a man whose work and the mythos around his work and his life inspired others to write and create great things. Like Lovecraft, Dick suffers from the fact that his original material has always taken a backseat to material derived from his stories, and that is a sad thing as PKD is a great writer. For example, the movie "Minority Report" never really covered any of the dense, twisted philosophical issues that the story did. PKD also suffers (Like Lovecraft) in that the tone and atmosphere of his writing is so overpowering that it is easier for a director of a movie to glom on to making the "feel" of a PKD story and not the story itself.
    • covertbadger, on 01/09/2008, -0/+3In one of my PKD short-story collections, Ursula Le Guin (I think - can't be bothered to go check) wrote the foreword and described PKD as a "writer's writer". She agreed that his original material takes a back seat to later adaptations, and believes it's because his imagination outstripped his writing ability. I'd have to go with that - as a source of creativity and imagination PKD was almost unmatched in the 20th Century, but other authors wrote better novels based around his ideas. Not that Dick's writing was bad, it was just outshone by his ideas.
  • jimsf, on 01/09/2008, -0/+1PKD has always been a favorite of mine and Bladerunner has been my favorite movie ever since I first saw it when it came out. This anthology of short stories is a must read for anyone ramping up on PKD. Unfortunately not all movies based on his writings have been true to the original story. Still seeing this writing get recognized is a great thing to see.
  • CronoLeonhart, on 01/09/2008, -0/+1I read somewhere that Man in the High Castle was in the works. That might have been a while ago or just abandoned; but i'd still like to see that made into a film.
  • dives425, on 01/09/2008, -0/+2If I had my pick, I would go with the Galactic Pot Healer or maybe Crack in Space for the next flick. I'd even like to see some of the weirder stuff like Dr. Bloodmoney.
    • Klarth, on 01/09/2008, -0/+2Bloodmoney would be amazing. It's like Fallout, but more grim!
    • MrGordonLiu, on 01/10/2008, -0/+0Galactic Pot Healer is awesome.
  • gilgamesh23, on 01/09/2008, -0/+2Valis
  • Hetman, on 01/09/2008, -0/+1Next is a remake of the golden man? I really liked the short story. I just cannot see them transfering it to a movie very well. I mean if you look at total recal and we can remember it for you whole sale. They are completly different. The only thing the same is the company rekal and the name of the characters.
  • tattertech, on 01/09/2008, -0/+1I almost buried for the note that "Paycheck" was a favorite over "Blade Runner"
    • daizaru, on 01/10/2008, -0/+2Maybe he meant adaptation, Blade runner is a fantastic movie but very different then the book. Who knows though.
      • tattertech, on 01/10/2008, -0/+1Ah well in that case, fair enough.
  • prosayik, on 01/09/2008, -1/+2I'm a Philip K Dichead.
  • piper999, on 01/09/2008, -0/+1Why no 'Flow My Tears...'? One of my favourite books.
    • UrinalPooper, on 01/10/2008, -0/+1Also one of my favourite songs.

      (I learned who Dowland was by reading PKD novels, now I just sit in my hovel and listen to his music as performed by the Fox)
  • Klarth, on 01/09/2008, -0/+2PKD = best author of all time.

    Also - What, no Barjo?
    • MrGordonLiu, on 01/10/2008, -0/+0Yes..that's the name of it. Couldn't remember.
      Although, Barjo is based off of Confessions of a Crap Artist, which is really one of Dick's mainstream novels. Maybe that's why it wasn't included.
  • Wuzi, on 01/09/2008, -0/+1PKD, definitely an amazing author. I wrote a report on him when I was in high school after reading the book "The man in the high castle". I think that would be an amazing movie!
  • theboozer, on 01/09/2008, -0/+1PKD FOREVER
  • maexus, on 01/09/2008, -0/+2I think I'm the only person who liked Screamers. Such an under rated movie.
  • Philosomatika, on 01/09/2008, -0/+3a scanner darkly is a brilliant film that didnt get enough credit or recognition
  • ibeetle, on 01/10/2008, -1/+1How the ***** is this 11? 1 has not been made yet. 1 has not been released, and 1 is a sequel to an earlier film that was really the basest of the Dick novel.
  • hammelman, on 01/10/2008, -0/+0The short story that Screamers is based on is one of the best ones i have read in a really long time. I've read about 5 or so of his books, some of them are very lucid, where some make little sense (to me anyhow). Second Variety which Screamers was based on was an awesome and totally lucid reading experience. If you like apocalyptic future wars - that's for you!
  • kaosethema, on 01/10/2008, -0/+1it's good to see him getting the recognition he deserves.
  • robotvsmonkey, on 01/10/2008, -0/+1Really creepy. Just yesterday I was driving home thinking about what movies were made from Philip K. Dick writings. To see this on here really weirded me out. Thanks though!
  • SleighBoy, on 01/10/2008, -0/+1Just about any PKD story would make a good movie, esp. Ubik , Man in the High Castle, Martian Time-Slip or The Simulacara. I'd like to see a Do Android Dream of Electric Sheep movie that focuses more on the book and its' human (Mercer/Empathy box) aspect and not a sullen cop bagging androids. All the more PKD love the better.
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