When we start talking about PHP heroes, we always look at some of the films that have influenced PHP projects. When you start looking at some of the films some have something in common with others. What you will find is that if you look at the SciFi films, you will find Philip K Dick a common link in these films. However, many of you will not know who he is. Now don't get us wrong, there is a strong faction that knows exactly who he is and is mad that I don't just make fun of those that don't. However, there are a lot of people who love films based of his writings and have no idea that they do. This is not uncommon now and sadly was not uncommon when he was alive.
Dick wrote 44 novels and 121 short stories. Most were SciFi and published in SciFi magazines. He had problems with substances and was married five times. He even wrote a novel where it ended up that he himself was the main character. He did not fairly see the fruits of his labor as the first of his stories to become a successful film was released shortly after he died of a stroke at 52. That film.....Blade Runner.
Ridley Scott and Harrison Ford take his story, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, and mix the classic Film Noir/Detective Genre with Science Fiction and basically create the Future Noir Genre.
Most of his stories, as well as the stories of his contemporaries were of a dystopian future where man's greed and technology make the world almost not worth living in. Its dark and dirty and always out to get you. Right when you think you have it won, surprise, life was ahead of you the whole time.
Next up was Arnold's classic Verhoven film Total Recall.
A Future horror/scifi flick in Screamers
Tom Cruise with one of Dick's most famous stories, and something that is scarily accurate in today's world, Minority Report
A John Woo/Ben Affleck under appreciated film, Paycheck
A Gary Sinise film that was way better as a short film that was lengthened and made it a bit choppy.
Matt Damon in Adjustment Bureau
A Scanner Darkly
Nicholas Cage's Next
Amazon's Man in the High Castle
Amazon's Electric Dreams is all based off of the stories of Dick
Would there be a Matrix franchise without the influences of Dick's writings? Would there be a Terminator franchise? Christian Bale's Equilibrium also could be straight out of one of his stories. Christopher Nolan said when he rebooted the Batman series that Batman Begins would take some influence from Blade Runner. Now that may have more for Nolan in a Ridley Scott influence kind of way but the feel and the guts all come from Dick's sensitivity to the city and the world trying to get to you and can you get it back before it does.
PHP owes a debt to Philip K Dick and the influence on PHP projects and writing. It is too bad he couldn't make a few more years to see how much his writing would become beloved.
Thank you
Josh Engleby - Head PHP writer
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