Comments on: Philip K. Dick’s A Scanner Darkly as a game.

By: Translating Identity - March ‘09 Round Table Entry | The Autumnal City

Tue, 24 Mar 2009 15:37:42 +0000

[...] A Scanner Darkly [...]

By: BoRT Feb’09 [Paranoid Android] «

BoRT Feb’09 [Paranoid Android] « — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 03:19:33 +0000

[...] Megill’s design for A Scanner Darkly follows a perspective from The Sims, where the play controls the protagonist Fred who is an undercover narcotics officer in the guise of Bob Archer. In it he must balance the relationships with the NPCs in the household either by doing drugs, having conversations, and basically keeping them happy. At the same time he must uncover the leader of a drug ring in the mists of the group. The player eventually beings to lose control of Fred as he consumes more drugs. This proposed A Scanner Darkly game is highly reliant on the scanner aesthetic and social relationships. [...]

By: Travis Megill

Travis Megill — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 13:09:32 +0000

I have a feeling if I watched the movie again I would appreciate it more. I did enjoy the animation and other than Reeves (who I don’t mind, except for the ending) everyone did a great job. It’s probably my fault for both setting my expectations too high and absolutely loving the book, which means that no film adaptation could live up to what I’ve internalized.

By: Max Battcher

Max Battcher — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 06:36:34 +0000

I thought Linklater did a good job. I certainly saw the love for the source material that some other adaptations lack. Ignoring Keanu Reeves’ acting skills (and/or lack thereof), I think that Linklater mostly did a decent job of tightrope walking between keeping the audience on their toes (ie, the ending is not telegraphed as early in the film as it is in the book; and yet the hints are there and a second watching reveals more depth, particularly for those that did not read the book) and yet keeping the audience “in the game” without getting too weird to completely lose some potential audience members. Sure it glossed over things, but you can’t adapt a full novel and expect to keep everything. I think the movie heterodynes nicely with the book in fact; with some elements playing better/more interesting in the film and others in the book and certainly the movie seems deepest if you have read the book. I think that’s about the highest calling a film adaptation can have anyway: a movie is not going to replace the book, it should co-exist well with it.

A Scanner Darkly to me felt the closest adaptation of any of PKD’s works that Hollywood has produced. It may be the closest we’ll ever see from Hollywood, though PKD’s descendants are certainly trying… (Supposedly; they also seem to be fond of the money or adventure…)

I loved the animation in A Scanner Darkly and I loved every performance with the exception of Reeves, but I thought Reeves was passable (particularly when allowed to stop “acting” so hard and just be his natural “stoner” self, which basically defines the narrow set of Reeves movies that I particularly enjoy, just as Ashton Kutcher is most watchable as a dumb “stoner”)…

By: Travis Megill

Travis Megill — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 03:46:38 +0000

I’ve pushed most of it out of my mind, but Keanu Reeves couldn’t really pull off the character, specifically the ending. I enjoyed parts of it, but the movie glossed over a lot of what made the book interesting to me, and I was disappointed because Linklater is supposedly such a huge Philip K. Dick fan.

By: David Sahlin

David Sahlin — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 22:41:25 +0000

I haven’t yet read A Scanner Darkly, but I want to. I also wanted to see the movie – what didn’t you like about it?

By: January ‘09 Round Table - Updated 01-27 : Man Bytes Blog

January ‘09 Round Table - Updated 01-27 : Man Bytes Blog — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 21:41:47 +0000

[...] Jan. 27 – Travis of The Autumnal City joins us again to go where only Keanu has gone before in Philip K. Dick’s A Scanner Darkly. [...]