This style of movie is very much something I would have expected from a PKD short story/film translation. I looked this movie up on IMDB specifically to see if this was one of his original works.
sharePK Dick's vision was never broad enough to consider 'machines embedded in men'. His boogeymen were either intelligent human-like machines(Blade Runner) or a chemical(A Scanner Darkly)/surgical(Paycheck)/genetic(Minority Report) alteration of humans to achieve a desired or accidental effect.
Very much a reflection of his times, when contraptions(chips) small enough to be embedded in a human were unknown. And unforeseen, at least in literary circles.
I disagree with your opinion of Dick's vision. I believe he had the vision but opted to remain within the realm of chemicals. From what I have read, he sank more and more into LSD imagery the more he used it. I think your logic is somewhat flawed by citing lack of the technology during his writing years. For example, Lester Del Ray wrote a novella titled "Nerves" in 1942. It was a bout an accident in a nuclear plant that predated 3 Mile Island and Chernobyl by some 40 years. The fact that the technology doesn't exist doesn't mean it can't be imagined.
share> The fact that the technology doesn't exist doesn't mean it can't be imagined. <
I agree, but it very much depends on the academic background, and interest frankly, of the author in question. In Dick's era many of the sci-fi writers were amateur scientists of sorts. Assimov, for instance, was an actual scientist. Dick's formal academic interests were mostly in languages.
Dick, in my opinion, ran somewhat counter to the prevailing mindset of sci-fi writers of his era. Most authors of the day were very wrapped around the axle about 'the science' or 'the politics'. And the plausibility of what the future would bring, figured heavily into their plots. Dick was never burdened by that. Because I don't think he was terribly interested in it. As you say, he seemed to be more interested in the personal and social ramifications of the alteration of a single human mind. And MOST importantly, for me, he carried no scientific or political agenda. He wasn't promoting space exploration, militarism, or a better world through technology, as were many of his peers.
This, in my opinion, is what made his stories stand out, and what gives them a timeless quality (although interestingly, none were very popular at the time). You compare the adaptability of a Dick story in a modern framework, with Assimov, or Heinlein, or Bradbury, and there is no comparison. Which is why Dick is still a favorite source of film adaptation. The story doesn't get bogged down with the hokiness of imagined gadgetry and science, because he never went into it. You're just asked to buy into an idea, like Androids, or the mutated human mind, and he never bothers to explain exactly how it came to be. Because in the context of the way he created a story, it didn't matter.
Don't forget about Alfred Bester's The Stars My Destination/ Tiger Tiger (1956). Gully Foyle has his nervous system hardwired at one point, along with a few other technologically forward thinking ideas. You could say it's one of the first cyberpunk novels.
Besides, in Ubik didn't Dick bring up the idea of communication with cryonically suspended bodies which for all intents and purposes were dead (rather than simply viewing life through their eyes). Pretty much recordings of the personality of the individual in life housed in the husk of their body, and weren't all of the specimens connected via a sort of intranet? Pretty forward thinking beyond the chemical imagery he used.
Trying to remember the specifics. Great book, need to go read it againl
I think you might be misjudging, misinterpreting or underestimating PKD's work or intent. He was very much about the examination/manipulation of one's perception of reality - for instance, one of the more successful film adaptations of his work (which you didn't mention), Total Recall. To PKD, as far as I can tell from his actual work, the device wasn't always necessarily relevant. He was more interested in the results. And his "times" covered upward of 30 years.
shareI'm not sure you meant to respond to me.
My broader point was that it was PKD's tendency to set the mechanics or science aside, that makes his stories very adaptable. A good example would be Paycheck, where the screenplay writer chooses technology that a current viewer would buy into for memory erasure.
Of course, the other thing not often stated, is his stories tended to be very short. Hollywood loves that. With a PKD story, you fill it out to get a screenplay. Vice the normal nightmare in going from books to movies, of figuring out what exactly to leave out and still retain the story.
Your focus in the comment I responded to just seemed to be more on the technology or mechanics he employed when, to Dick, that was less important than the effect on society and his characters.
sharescanned some comments here: life is short, not reading all - but i TOTALLY felt a PKD alt-future/psych vibe watching this.
Bruce Campbell:[When asked what he would want with him if stuck on a deserted island] A continent.