A Look at PKD - Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?/Blade Runner

Now that I’m back from Chicago, it’s time to look at more PKD stories and adaptations. Tonight,  it’s Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Yes, that is the title to the book. I doubt Warner Bros. would have been fine with that name. I can see why Ridley Scott (or who ever was behind the movie) changed to something edgier: Blade Runner. The Phillip K. Dick novel was first published in 1968. It’s been reprinted a lot since then. Blade Runner was released in 1982 and got a mixed reception at first. Since then, it’s become more popular and some claim it’s one of the best sci-fi films.

Now I have a confession about this movie: I hadn’t seen it fully until a couple of days ago. Yes, I know I’m a pretty bad sci-fi fan. Put down your digital ptichforks! I’ve seen small reviews here and there about the movie beforehand. I know Confused Matthew did a review back in the day. I think SFDebris did one as well. I actually read the novel before I saw the movie this time. I checked out Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep at the library a couple of years ago. Now that I’ve finally seen the movie and revisited the book, what do I think?

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

Blade Runner

Novel Written by Phillip K. Dick

Movie directed by Ridley Scott

BRIEF BLURB: In the not too distant future, a bounty hunter named Rick Deckard must hunt down fugitive androids that have landed on Earth.

Trade Tales! - The Star Wars

Next up for the month is a weird return to the Star Wars universe. Actually, I don’t even know if you can call it that. I guess it’s the “Earth-2” of the Star Wars multiverse or something.

For those who don’t know, George Lucas had an original draft to Star Wars called “The Star Wars.” It was similar to what he put into the original trilogy but a lot of crap was different. Some names and characters are similar but there are a lot of things different about it. For example, Luke Skywalker is older and is in Obi-Wan’s role. Annikin Starkiller is more or less of the main protagonist and basically has Luke’s role from the movie. There’s a Darth Vader who’s only a scarred general, R2-D2 (spelled differently) actually talks, and Han Solo looks like Swamp Thing. Those are just some changes.

I actually found the trade at a comic convention last year. I got it along with the adaptation to Star Wars: The Force Unleashed. The 8-part miniseries came out through Dark Horse. I think this mini was one of the last ones done before Marvel got the rights for the comics. J.W. Rinzler is the writer of the adaptation. He’s done a few things for the Star Wars universe. He even had to get permission from George Lucas to adapt the script. The artwork is done by Mike Mayhew and I’ve seen some of his stuff with DC. So, how does this original draft hold up?

The Star Wars

Writer: J.W. Rinzler

Art: Mike Mayhew

Colors: Rain Beredo

Letters: Michael Heisler

Cover Art: Nick Runge

"It's A Video Game!" - Deus Ex: Mankind Divided

Next up for the month is a return to something cool. Back in 2011, Deus Ex: Human Revolution was released. It was a first-person shooter/stealth RPG that was heavily influenced by cyberpunk. Imagine someone mixes Robocop, Blade Runner, and a few other sci-fi properties together. I heard good things about it and tried it out one day. I’ve tried it out a few more times since then.  I even have it’s predecessor/sequel, Deus Ex, on my computer. If I had a good game controller to play the thing, I’d be set. A couple of years ago, I talked about DE: HR here and I had good things to say about it.

Around the time of my review, I heard that a sequel was finally coming down the line. Of course, I was hyped.  Deus Ex: Mankind Divided was eventually released in August of 2016. I didn’t get to play it until a couple of weeks ago. It takes place two years after the events of Human Revolution. At the end of that game, the Illuminati (yes, The Illuminati) wanted to halt human progress, so they created software to cause all augmented people to go mad. The event was known as the “Aug Incident.” Don’t get it mixed up with Marvel Netflix’s “Incident.” You (as Adam Jensen) were able to stop them before they did any more damage. Afterwards, something happens and you’re out of commission.

The game picks up with Adam two years later. Because of the Incident, Augs are now outcasts to society and treated like crap. Adam is now working for Interpol in Prague. He’s also secretly working for the Juggernaut Collective, a hacking group who’s wants to take down the Illuminati. When a terrorist bomb goes off in Prague, Adam has to do what he can in finding the true culprits. Not only do you have to deal with anti-Aug problems, you also got Augs stirring up trouble. Adam also has to deal with things related to some new upgrades he mysteriously gotten to his body.

A Look at PKD - The Minority Report

Next up for the month is a new, small segment. Ever since I started to do this branch out, I’ve been looking into the writings of different sci-fi authors. One of the big ones has been author, Phillip K. Dick. I wanted to touch upon one of his novels and its adaptation last year, but I didn’t finish it in time. Then, there’s the fact I can’t find the dang thing. Anyway, instead of A Scanner Darkly, I think I’m going to start off with a more well-known property: Minority Report.

The Minority Report was a short story that first debuted in Fantastic Universe, a sci-fi magazine from the 1950’s. It’s been reprinted in a lot of places since then. It was even adapted into a small indie movie by the guy who did one of the Jurassic Park movies. I think the lead actor was some up-and-comer named Tom Cruise. Hopefully, you can smell the snark. I originally saw the movie before I read the story. For a while, I didn’t know it had been adapted. Later on, I actually found the story in a book that had other short stories written by Dick. So, what do I think of the original story and its adaptation?

The Minority Report

Story Written by Phillip K. Dick

Movie directed by Stephen Spielberg

BRIEF BLURB: In the future, a division known as Precrime is used to stop and punish crimes before they happen. Its director, John Anderton, ends up being accused of murdering a man, so he goes on the run to find out how it happens.

TV Talk - Battlestar Galactica Season 1

Well, this took a while to get to. A few years ago, I decided to revisit the original Battlestar Galactica show and its horrid sequel, Galactica: 1980.  If the original 70’s sci-fi show was a father, then G: 1980 was the child who decided to go down the dark path and become an arsonist. If the reboot is anything, it’s the franchise’s child who went to get his doctorates in Science, Liberal Arts, Theology, Philosophy, and Aerospace. What I’m trying to say is that Season 1 of 2003’s Battlestar Galactica might be pretty good.

Battlestar Galactica came out as a mini-series in December 2003 and eventually had their first season a year later on the Sci-Fi Channel. I don’t remember what I thought of the show when it first aired. I saw some of the original mini-series when it was aired on NBC of all places. I think my thoughts were “Hmm… this is a little racy. Nobody isn’t in the room, are they?”  Okay, it's not Game of Thrones, so it's not that racy. I actually didn’t get to see much of the first season when it was aired. I think I only saw a few episodes especially the season finale.  Talk about “Holy Crap!” Since it’s not on Netflix anymore, I’ve been finding the seasons for cheap in different places.

I know some were bothered by the changes to the reboot. Starbuck’s a woman? Tigh’s a white guy and a jackass? Boomer’s a pretty attractive Korean woman? I wasn’t as knowledgeable about the original series, so I wasn’t really bothered by the changes made. Heck, I’m still not bothered by them. Not a lot was changed though. If anything, stuff just got modernized and it looked less Star Wars-like. After all, BSG was a bit a riff on Star Wars. I didn’t recognize any of the actors at that time except for Edward James Olmos.

Battlestar Galactica takes place in another part of the galaxy. There, humanity lives in a group of planets known as the 12 Colonies. Beforehand, humanity was at war with the Cylons, a robotic species that they created. After the war, the Cylons went into deep space and stayed hidden for 40 years. In the present day, the come back much different and more powerful than ever. They strategically wipe out the 12 Colonies. About 50,000 humans remain from the attack and one Colonial fleet ship, the Battlestar Galactica, remains to keep them safe. Since their area of space is pretty much overrun by Cylons, humanity’s leaders decide to take the survivors and search for the mythical 13^th Colony known as Earth.