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Minority Report
Apr. 21st, 2006 09:37 pmHmmm... I just read Philip K. Dick's story Minority Report -- the one that was turned into the recent Steven Spielberg/Tom Cruise film. I was surprised how much they changed the story. I shouldn't have been, I guess. His novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep was changed so much as to be unrecognisable for the film Bladerunner. And the story We Can Remember It For You Wholesale was changed pretty radically for the film Total Recall. I wonder if We Can Build You was used to make the film The Sixth Day. I haven't read that one yet.
What surprised me about the differences between the film version of Minority Report and Philip K. Dick's original story is how they altered some of the basic premises for the story -- even the basis for the name! I can understand film makers altering a story a bit... but such radical surgery?? Some of the changes were strange. In the written story a drug-free Anderton seemed to reflect Philip K. Dick's overuse of drugs in his quickness to paranoia. In the film Anderton did abuse drugs (perhaps as a salute to Dick), but was quite rational. The film was reverent of the precogs who were beautiful people, but in the story they were ugly, deformed, gibbering idiots.
I have to admit I liked a lot of aspects of the film more than Philip K. Dick's original story though. The original was a product of its time, as, of course, everything we do must be. It would be interesting to one day remake Minority Report and Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep and We Can Remember It For You Wholesale faithful to the originals. He had some very cool ideas.
What surprised me about the differences between the film version of Minority Report and Philip K. Dick's original story is how they altered some of the basic premises for the story -- even the basis for the name! I can understand film makers altering a story a bit... but such radical surgery?? Some of the changes were strange. In the written story a drug-free Anderton seemed to reflect Philip K. Dick's overuse of drugs in his quickness to paranoia. In the film Anderton did abuse drugs (perhaps as a salute to Dick), but was quite rational. The film was reverent of the precogs who were beautiful people, but in the story they were ugly, deformed, gibbering idiots.
I have to admit I liked a lot of aspects of the film more than Philip K. Dick's original story though. The original was a product of its time, as, of course, everything we do must be. It would be interesting to one day remake Minority Report and Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep and We Can Remember It For You Wholesale faithful to the originals. He had some very cool ideas.