"To be honest, I asked Ridley Scott if some of the ideas in my book were actually included in this movie, and he replied that no."-Philip K. Dick
As the origin of cyberpunk movies, "Blade Runner" has become a monument after 37 years, and the director Ridley Scott has also been enshrined and worshipped by countless science fiction fans. But when the film was first released in 1982, the feedback from the critics was completely the opposite. It was almost completely criticized and criticized. Even Harrison Ford was reluctant to mention this movie.
However, to what extent is the so-called " bad reviews "? Below, in order to give everyone the most intuitive impression, I found a 79th issue of "Roaring Metal" published in September 1982 in Paris . This revolutionary comic magazine was published shortly after the release of "Blade Runner". A film review manuscript. Faced with seven editions of "Blade Runner" and Ridley Scott himself and gave ruthless criticisms, even offering " Philip K. Dick's second death " and " Moebius's first death" "Such a sensational title.
The critique style of "Roaring Metal" magazine is as arrogant as their cartoons. This review shows the bitter and mean side of the French character to the fullest. However, to say who is really qualified to comment on "Blade Runner", then "Roaring Metal" is really doing my part.
This SF comic magazine, which was born in France, has epoch-making significance. The French name Métal Hurlant means " roaring metal " and was published in 1975-1987. The magazine published convenient is the famous " human-Union " ( Les Humanoïdes Associés ), a cartoonist Moebius (Mœbius) joint cartoonist Philippe De Lvye (Philippe Druillet) , edited by Jean-Pierre Dionay (Jean-Pierre Dionnet) was founded in Paris in 1974 by Bernard Farkas, the financial director , with the intention of breaking the stale style of French comic magazines at that time and dropping a bomb on the art world.
"Roaring Metal" focuses on publishing the most subversive science fiction comics and adult comics. This group of unruly artists created countless classics with the help of this platform. As everyone knows, the magazine landed in the United States in 1977 as the bible of sci-fi comics and influenced a number of Hollywood sci-fi movies, including but not limited to "Star Wars" , "Alien" , "Blade Runner" and "Electronics". World War for Hegemony . It is no exaggeration to say that for Hollywood in the 1970s and 1980s, this magazine was their film concept design manual.
The purpose of this article is not to judge which is right or wrong. Any adaptation will attract criticism from the original work, but as time goes by, some adaptations become new classics, and some original works may change due to media changes. Decline. In any case, it is interesting enough to be able to find a little connection with the current world from a set of comic magazines more than 40 years ago. We are all living in the results of the past. From the following commentary, we may be able to glimpse how those who were determined to forge ahead in the science fiction world viewed "new" things, imagined at a certain historical bifurcation node, certain The birth or destruction of a classic.
There is another point to note. The following film reviews are for the early 1982 "Blade Runner", not the remake that can be seen in most places now, because of the technological leap and the director's in-depth exploration of the script, two The version has a huge difference in plot and screen.
Below, I will try my best to translate the film reviews as they are. If you think the language is too crude, believe me, the original text is like this.
The original article was published in the 79th issue of "Roaring Metal" magazine in 1982
Translation: +Lock
The copyright belongs to the original author, please do not use for commercial
The second death of Philip K. Dick
Philippe Manavor Philippe MANOEUVRE, born in 1954, is a French journalist, presenter, music critic, and comic book reviewer. He was the editor-in-chief of the French music magazine "Rock & Folk".
Philip Manaver went to watch "Ugly Punishment" twice and faced the "Philip K. Dick style" which was presented to the audience by Hollywood, or by Ridley Scott, or simply by them. "Movie", he gave a firm evaluation without any leeway: a bunch of bastards!
poor
Everyone knows how Boris Vian (Boris Vian, 1920-1959, French writer, poet, jazz musician, had an important influence on the development of French jazz, translator's note) died. He was invited to watch a movie of the same name based on his controversial novel "I Will Spurn on Your Graves", as the author of "Beijing Autumn" (by the way, since he started his transition to rock and roll, he has Turned into a damn and reactionary idiot), he got a heart attack in a darkened theater.
At that time, he tried to regain his consciousness, only crying out: "This is their adaptation? It's disgusting, disgusting!" Then he died in pain.
Philip K. Dick, who has telepathy, is lucky. He should be grateful that he did not see his novel-"Will a Bionic Man Dream of an Electronic Sheep?" "Murdered by Ridley Scott, a shameful advertising contractor, on the 70mm film big screen. Because before the movie was released, he had already left us.
Faced with such a disaster. Naturally, science fiction fans don't feel much. So should they blow up the theater? Or take your own "Robot Blues" (the original title of "Do Bionics Dream of an Electronic Sheep", translator's note) that you read carefully and read again, one by one, wrapped in mud and sent to the director?
From the beginning, science fiction fans smelled something strange, what? Dick’s universe is put into a city that keeps raining? How can the calm and dry world created by the great writer who wrote "Ubik" become like a damp silkworm cocoon, with rancid mist floating everywhere?
The rain is getting more and more! Always! 24 hours non-stop! Harrison Ford’s poor head has been baptized by rain in three dimensions: length, width and height!
When the picture emerges from the tacky blue steam, we will find that this science fiction movie is dim and rusty? No, I exaggerated it. The film did not start in the rain. Rather: the first act (you will see the nonsense of the script) is reflected from the dilated pupils of the actor. Then he stopped abruptly and moved on, because this scene was insane. In February 2020, Los Angeles was lit by thousands of flames. Suddenly, a huge flame spurted from the forest of skyscrapers, and then another spurted out in the distance. Oh! For a beautiful story composed of robot killers and fearless police, such a setting is not bad. Oh! A gloomy gong returned the audience's ass to their seats. This is just a deep and ear-piercing music made by a man named Van Gillis. All this happened thirty and twenty-three percent of the second after the beginning of the movie, reminding us that it is not that simple, beware!
The curiosity of the audience was aroused, and then deceived. I rarely come across a movie like this one, which can boast the audience when it is screened! Normally, the guys who were sincerely invited by the film company would leave before the end of the film, but this time we stayed because of Philip Dick and because of Harrison Ford. We embarrassedly hope that the flawed makeup in the movie will eventually break, or embarrassedly hope that the inconsistencies in the movie will eventually be corrected, or, who knows, we even hope that the evil monster in "Alien" will quickly change from Someone got out of his chest, screamed while running, and hid in a certain warehouse.
No.
No.
Nothing at all.
Dumb
However, the crappy Scott had planned everything from beginning to end. This time he painted his advertising armor perfectly. We have seen the promotion of the movie, and we have seen a photo of him with Philip Dick in New Musical Express magazine. Everyone predicts that this cooperation will give birth to the next "Star Wars."
It seems we are careless.
When Scott came to the office of "Roaring Metal", it was not long before "Alien" was released. He was just to meet our unknown creators. It was us, impressively, in three days. The success of this incredible horror movie was predicted months ago. Ridley Scott admitted that he has a dream, which is to put the comic "Long Tomorrow" co-produced by Moebius and Dan O'Bannon on the big screen.
These things have paid a price, right.
The red-haired British realized early on that if he could erode a project that he could use from the inside out, it would be done once and for all. He entered the "Dune" crew, and then worked hard. After being frightened by the huge difficulty of "Dune", he returned to his previous idea, which was to make a film that plagiarized "Roaring Metal" (he actually shamelessly published it in "Fantastic Movie" magazine, issue 30, page 17 Recognized in China). In order to do this, he came up with a project adapted from a novel by Philip Dick out of thin air. In fact, he gave up this project two years ago. Because of the great success of "Alien", Ridley Scott thought he was the master of the world. He suddenly wanted to understand: Dick is an old fool, a writer who is not well-known in the United States. The "Humanoid League" or "Roaring Metal" magazine owed him everything, or almost everything. Why not make a Hollywood-style adaptation of this old paranoid writer's book and make a metal-style movie that doesn't owe anyone anymore?
Shoddy
The first obstacle to be overcome is nothing more than the writer Philip K. Dick himself.
This is how Ridley Scott operated. He first found a group of Hollywood’s worst screenwriters to adapt Dick’s extraordinary original work, and then sent the first version of the remake to Dick. He was attacked by Dick. He tore this version to pieces in the TV Guide. After that, the film studio became more aggressive. For example, Ridley Scott hated the " Androids " in the title of the book. He felt it was too clichéd. Dick responded, "My book is called this. Should I be sorry for Ridley Scott for that?"
The second screenwriter is dedicated to the script. This job is really not easy. Scott wants to have absolute control of the script, forcefully enter the original clear plot, and hopes (to create a future private investigator and eliminate those bionics who return to earth and try to mix into humans) will "Heilman" , "Closed Garage" and All the elements in "Long Tomorrow" are collected. Finally, in the third version of the first version of the story, he achieved his goal, which is a version adapted by David Peoples . This bearded drunkard and two knives ruined Dick’s novels in a literary way, which is why we can see such scenes in the movie: the protagonist Dyke runs on that psychedelic and bizarre road, and then he actually Passed by two punks from 1977!
Punk appears in a movie based on a novel by Philip K. Dick! ? Now you can understand how nonsense and weird this terrible movie is?
We need a bit of spicy ink to wipe Ridley Scott’s eyes, give him some bleach, and then bring this idiot into a certain TV studio, and then this guy can calm down for cheap stockings and perfume. Produce advertising. Because you are the best at being flashy, full of craftsmanship, superfluous and playing with neon light bulbs in dense fog, Scott!
Yes! "Sometimes," a special effects person said: "Because there are too many light effects in all directions in the set, the computer can't respond, so you have to manually operate the switch back and forth."
Perhaps because of this, our director is always not connected to Philip K. Dick?
Sorry for not holding back complaints, but Philip K. Dick’s work is one of the few things I still admire on this planet. I even broke up with a girlfriend because she said she hated "The Man in the High Castle" .
In Batlis Brown Franke’s radio show "The Wolf of Gaul", I started to talk about science fiction, but I never succeeded in explaining even one Dick's work.
Think of it this way: The machines Dick created are so huge, unbelievable, and luxuriant. They operate in their own lives and resist trying to invade the outside world. I have racked my brains to try to explain even a small concept in "The Man in the High Castle" , "Blind Eyes" or "Solar System Lotto" , but it is too difficult.
Want to make things like "To Your Scattered Bodies Go" (1971) by Philip José Farmer (To Your Scattered Bodies Go, 1971) or "Eternal Life" by Jack Vance ( To Live Forever, 1956) The dexterous rebirth of such works is not difficult. But once it comes to Dick's novels, even if he chooses his shortest works, it is difficult to explain its infinite connotation.
Once, when the producers really needed a photo to brag about the project, they lured Dick and Ridley Scott to a small reconciliation meeting, shortly before Christmas in 1981. Dick did show up, but he had to explain it shortly afterwards: "To be honest, I asked Ridley Scott if some of the ideas in my book were actually included in this movie, and he answered me Say no."
shame
What is wrong with this movie?
Of course these bastard bionics!
For Philip K. Dick, these bionics are despicable. Although they have sophisticated structures, they are just a parody of human beings. They are cruel, cold, and heartless objects. This explains why there are tests in the novel to reveal their demi-identity.
For Ridley Scott, this group of bionics is simply admirable. These superhumans are stronger, smarter, and faster than humans. Generally speaking, acid civilization will violently collide with alkaline civilization, and now it seems that the latter has the upper hand. Dick died while Ridley was making a huge profit.
Yes, but!
Poor Dyke (Harrison Ford), his job is to hunt down bionics, which is so stupid! Many times in the movie, Ridley Scott unconsciously wanted to erase this character. I mean in the real movie! Before this movie, has anyone heard of a director who has such a deep hatred for his protagonist? Harrison Ford was really tortured. His mouth was broken, his fingers were broken, and his image was destroyed for no reason.
Ridley Scott hates Harrison Ford!
That's why he was asked to hunt down those neo-Nazi bionics!
The purpose is just to humiliate him!
That's right, Harry Sunford still had a small life in the end, the reason is simple, because he wanted to be with the bionic Rachel, who is like a "solidified sea lion", full of sex. She always tries to make herself appear hazy and confused, just like Lauren Bacall (Lauren Bacall) in those famous detective movies. But she almost aroused the greatest laughter in the theater.
Rachel is played by Sean Young. She "luckily" met the French subtitle translation of the film that looked like a god. This funny guy named Robert Louis actually said "I'm going to kill you, Fucker" !" Translated into "I'm going to kill you, Dad!", this act directly snatched the film festival trophy from Sean Yang.
Thank you, Robert!
(I still remember the famous translation in the French version of "A Scanner Darkly". The unfortunate protagonist in the book wanted to use "reds" (American slang for tranquilizers) to commit suicide because of dependence on the addictive When the "medicine" was gone, he was tortured by "cold turkey" (that's how the French version is translated!). Maybe you know that John Lennon has a song called "cold turkey", but all addicts We must give William Burroughs a little respect, because only he knows the true meaning of "cold turkey", that is, the unpleasant experience of sudden withdrawal after drug addiction. People get goose bumps like cold turkey.)
Dick, this is always the case, will he be ruined forever?
madness
But it must be reiterated that we should perhaps forgive Ridley Scott for this series of antics and his horrible adaptation of Dick, because if this movie is outside of the monotonous, miserable, dirty, and nasty plagiarism , What is left in some places?
We advise ourselves that Scott, a mediocre badger, will eventually have the greatest respect for Dick. Because this great writer who was unknown in his own country during his lifetime will eventually win the support of the public. Because his work, under the promotion of the film, will eventually swear its importance and expand to a wider audience.
This film is like a slow-crawling snail, dragging a sticky line on the ground, and also wants to convey a huge narrative in it. Is it a mediocre work that you want to think too much? Dick, among the countless works he wrote with faith and enthusiasm, does he even once bore his readers?
Because in the two hours of "Blade Runner", the whole movie is telling you, this is really no joke!
In the extremely detailed model made by Douglas Trumbull , in this heavily-funded Los Angeles, you don’t need to notice it, otherwise you will find that the whole movie is like a huge model in your refrigerator. It was shot. Not to mention the last part of the film, it seems to be picked up frame by frame directly from the beginning of "The Shining" . Can we yawn! Can you pinch yourself! Can I ask my neighbor for a gum! Can you confirm whether the emergency passage is unblocked! Can you pick your teeth!
There is no fart on the screen, anyway, the picture is technically unattractive. So for the scenes of Harrison Ford drinking whiskey absentmindedly, does it show the audience the fascination of the movie? Don't mention this "perfect storm" to me again. He looks like a Dick hero, but here, he is destroyed and forgotten. He is lost and unruffled, running for survival.
Look, our future private detective has appeared!
He walked out of the office, rushed to the future version of the car (rusty, dirty, a pile of real mud), and then forced the friendly group of bionics to the ends of the world, but in fact they never offended him.
If these bionics are the fantasy dream of a deeply addicted drug addict, then this old Dyke is a complete freak. In his squishy brain, all his thoughts were in a mess. He dropped the gun regularly (but it’s okay, this poor weapon has not successfully killed any bionics. The bionics has not been able to send him to hell. In the end, he did not disappoint the producer Ladd&Co, Harry Sen Ford overtook and wiped out his enemies.)
For the first bionic person, we can still bear it, because the film has just begun. But when it comes to the sixth bionic person, I assure you that the click of the chairs in the auditorium reminds me of the thawing iceberg in the spring fjord.
When watching "Blade Runner", the audience does not yawn, they just sleep and snore, as I said, the audience die of boredom or anger.
And Philip K. Dick died of shame before the movie was released.
A few years ago, also on Howling Metal, two film critics posed a big question about Star Wars: We put science fiction on the screen in the form of an old space opera. Okay, but when, when will Hollywood adapt the works of Spinner (Norman Spinrad), Farmer (Philip José Farmer) or Philip Dick into a movie?
Now we see it.
Hollywood turned this extraordinary novel into a space special effects manual.
Ridley Scott thaws Douglas Trumbull. He was called into the rescue of the crew. He produced more than 90 effects from scratch, and then connected them endlessly. Any sense of rhythm, just to make the movie look good?
Yes, really, you guys, together, plagiarize, misappropriate, assemble, repair, paste, make these miniatures, and then shoot puppet-like figures in the cold scene of neon lights. You are not making a movie, you are murdering Philip K. Dick!
Mobis' first death
Joe Stalin Joe Staline, shared pseudonym "growled Metal" magazine, edited by Jean - Pierre Dionay and Moebius have used that name.
A disgusting city, like a bunch of burger kings, in the depressive atmosphere of a detective novel, the sky flies across dirty flying taxis. The Chinese were playing ball, and the obese Americans who grew up eating soybeans were in ragged clothes. Even if there was a shooting nearby, they would not be moved and didn't even look at it. The walls are covered with graffiti and posters, and there are open doors leading to other places, which are also covered with graffiti and posters. No, what I am describing to you is not a scene from the comics "Long Tomorrow" or "l'Incal" , I am talking about "Blade Runner".
Catch the thief! Mobis did work for Ridley Scott in "Alien", but now Scott believes that he can plagiarize Mobis directly without specifying the source...
You'll tell me that Scott's movie is not plagiarized throughout, and there are some demonic furniture in the movie that look more like Giger 's handwriting. But the problem is, although Giger has also been in the "Alien" crew, but similarly, he did not participate in any "Blade Runner" visual design, but let's forget Giger...
The movie industry has been stealing the concept of Mobis for a long time, but it has never been so blatant. I have even seen a few sketches in Ridley Scott's hands. They use pens, have careful lines, and have beautiful curves and points. That's right, they are the manuscripts of Moebius.
But God, all these did not make a good movie. In order to collect all the elements he wanted, Scott left the movie itself in the middle. Although the whole film looks beautiful, it is meaningless. Poor Harrison Ford was embarrassed as if he had walked straight out of Pétillon 's caricature. From the beginning to the end of the movie, he hardly said anything, yet he was caught by thousands of raindrops. Slap on the face: I even felt that during the entire shooting process, there seemed to be a machine that had been pouring his head with a watering can.
When we accuse someone of stealing, it is always necessary to provide some evidence. Here is a painting by Moebius, which can tell you everything: a dirty city, a man dressed in the fifties, with Harry left With the same hairstyle as Sen Ford, he is running, and some non-human enemies are chasing him behind. This painting has been around for more than twenty years. All the elements of "Blade Runner" are in it, and it's better:
I won't bother you anymore.
FIN.
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