Moar Bladerunner please
May 23, 2018 4:32 PM Subscribe
I have only watched the original director's cut of the film and seen the new sequel. What else should I be watching/reading/playing that takes place in the same world? I assume there's fanfiction galore, novelizations, and spin-offs. What's truly good/worth checking out?
Best answer: "Total Recall 2070" is technically in the "Total Recall" Franchise, but it's only because they couldn't afford to license Blade Runner. It's not super-duper, but it's blade runner in all but name.
"A.D. Police Files" is a short-lived Anime series set in the "Bubblegum Crisis" universe, but is thick with Blade Runner references. 3x 30-minute OVAs; there was going to be more, but there was a rights dispute between the maker and the owner of the BC universe, and that was that. In the BC universe, the city's labor force is partly composed of "boomers," robots that fill the same roles as BR's replicants, but they're not so humanoid in appearance. The AD Police is a special SWAT unit dedicated to policing boomer-related crimes.
posted by Sunburnt at 5:06 PM on May 23, 2018 [1 favorite]
"A.D. Police Files" is a short-lived Anime series set in the "Bubblegum Crisis" universe, but is thick with Blade Runner references. 3x 30-minute OVAs; there was going to be more, but there was a rights dispute between the maker and the owner of the BC universe, and that was that. In the BC universe, the city's labor force is partly composed of "boomers," robots that fill the same roles as BR's replicants, but they're not so humanoid in appearance. The AD Police is a special SWAT unit dedicated to policing boomer-related crimes.
posted by Sunburnt at 5:06 PM on May 23, 2018 [1 favorite]
Best answer: Paul WS Anderson's _Soldier_, which is not a bad film, is technically sorta set in the same universe if you pay attention. Sort of. Two of Todd's previous assignments had been the Shoulder of Orion and the Tannhauser Gate.
Of course, he'd also been involved in the Antares Maelstrom war, sort of kinda maybe putting him in the Star Trek universe, and he'd received the Plissken Patch, putting him in the Escape from New York timeline, but also received the MacCready Cross which puts Blade Runner, Star Trek, Escape from New York, and The Thing all in the same universe if you choose to believe that instead of that his file is full of random easter eggs.
But it really does fit as a Blade Runner sequel/prequel/side quest given that it too is about disposable slaves being fucked over by supposedly "real" humans.
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 5:06 PM on May 23, 2018 [2 favorites]
Of course, he'd also been involved in the Antares Maelstrom war, sort of kinda maybe putting him in the Star Trek universe, and he'd received the Plissken Patch, putting him in the Escape from New York timeline, but also received the MacCready Cross which puts Blade Runner, Star Trek, Escape from New York, and The Thing all in the same universe if you choose to believe that instead of that his file is full of random easter eggs.
But it really does fit as a Blade Runner sequel/prequel/side quest given that it too is about disposable slaves being fucked over by supposedly "real" humans.
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 5:06 PM on May 23, 2018 [2 favorites]
The 1997 PC game was well received, though it's a little difficult to obtain.
posted by J.K. Seazer at 5:16 PM on May 23, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by J.K. Seazer at 5:16 PM on May 23, 2018 [2 favorites]
Best answer: Here's a Let's Play of the game if you decide you don't want to play it yourself.
posted by J.K. Seazer at 5:17 PM on May 23, 2018
posted by J.K. Seazer at 5:17 PM on May 23, 2018
You might enjoy Steven Spielberg's Minority Report, or Ridley Scott's Alien. Also Scott is very articulate, so watching the film with director's commentary is also worthwhile. Scott also made a few British commercials during the BR period that recreate that world.
posted by effluvia at 5:52 PM on May 23, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by effluvia at 5:52 PM on May 23, 2018 [2 favorites]
Y'all. Kim Wilde (Yes, "Kids in America" Kim Wilde) is clearly a fan.
posted by thebrokedown at 6:34 PM on May 23, 2018
posted by thebrokedown at 6:34 PM on May 23, 2018
Ghost In The Shell has influences from it. The original film is spectacular.
posted by nickggully at 7:32 PM on May 23, 2018
posted by nickggully at 7:32 PM on May 23, 2018
Best answer: K. W. Jeter wrote a series of "sequels" to the original film in the late-90s. I have no idea if they are any good. There's also a handful of comics.
The 1997 Westwood adventure game, however, is excellent. I do not know if this will work but could be a good starting point.
There is also 9732, which is a VR exploration of Deckard's apartment, and is super-cool if you have the kit. It has been DCMA'd by a bunch of sooks but I imagine you could torrent it with little hassle.
Official or not, for my money the Alien movies (and therefore the Predator and, ugh, Prometheus movies) are all set in the same universe. Therefore the (wonderful) game Alien: Isolation is set in the Blade Runnerverse. Beneath A Steel Sky is another excellent old game that doesn't have anything to do with Blade Runner, but is similarly-themed.
posted by turbid dahlia at 7:57 PM on May 23, 2018 [2 favorites]
The 1997 Westwood adventure game, however, is excellent. I do not know if this will work but could be a good starting point.
There is also 9732, which is a VR exploration of Deckard's apartment, and is super-cool if you have the kit. It has been DCMA'd by a bunch of sooks but I imagine you could torrent it with little hassle.
Official or not, for my money the Alien movies (and therefore the Predator and, ugh, Prometheus movies) are all set in the same universe. Therefore the (wonderful) game Alien: Isolation is set in the Blade Runnerverse. Beneath A Steel Sky is another excellent old game that doesn't have anything to do with Blade Runner, but is similarly-themed.
posted by turbid dahlia at 7:57 PM on May 23, 2018 [2 favorites]
Personally I suggest the Final Cut over the Director's Cut.
Most of Gibson's stuff feels very Bladerunner to me, and if you want a derivative of that there's always the Shadowrun novels.
Anime-wise there's also Battle Angel Alita.
posted by evilmonk at 9:00 PM on May 23, 2018 [1 favorite]
Most of Gibson's stuff feels very Bladerunner to me, and if you want a derivative of that there's always the Shadowrun novels.
Anime-wise there's also Battle Angel Alita.
posted by evilmonk at 9:00 PM on May 23, 2018 [1 favorite]
Going way, way back to 1975, The Long Tomorrow was a short comic, written by Dan O'Bannon and illustrated by Moebius, that was a big influence Blade Runner (and a whole lot of other SF as well).
If you're interested in a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the movie, I enjoyed Future Noir: The Making of Blade Runner.
posted by Bron at 8:56 AM on May 24, 2018
If you're interested in a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the movie, I enjoyed Future Noir: The Making of Blade Runner.
posted by Bron at 8:56 AM on May 24, 2018
If you are looking for a fix of more dystopian cyberpunk, I recommend Richard Stanley's Hardware (1990)
Also, "The Ballad of Roy Batty" by Grumbling Fur features everyone's favourite replicant's famous last words.
posted by fregoli at 11:22 AM on May 24, 2018
Also, "The Ballad of Roy Batty" by Grumbling Fur features everyone's favourite replicant's famous last words.
posted by fregoli at 11:22 AM on May 24, 2018
Oh! And there is a recent game called >observer_ that, while a first-person psychological horror-type game, for me really captures the feel of what it would be like at "street level" in the Blade Runnerverse. AND the protagonist is played by Rutger Hauer (i.e. Roy Batty).
posted by turbid dahlia at 2:29 PM on May 24, 2018
posted by turbid dahlia at 2:29 PM on May 24, 2018
Both Paycheck and Minority Report are based on Philip K Dick's stories.
Not his, but one movie I really like is Moon with Sam Rockwell. (and of course, The Fifth Element)
posted by Enid Lareg at 4:46 PM on May 24, 2018
Not his, but one movie I really like is Moon with Sam Rockwell. (and of course, The Fifth Element)
posted by Enid Lareg at 4:46 PM on May 24, 2018
I'm pretty sure I own the 1997 game and would be willing to mail it to you if you wanted. I haven't tried playing it in a long time, so I don't know how hard it would be to get it running on a modern PC.
posted by tacodave at 5:04 PM on May 24, 2018
posted by tacodave at 5:04 PM on May 24, 2018
The Bladerunner game was indeed awesome, but there are timing issues on modern hardware where a required action sequence to advance is completely unplayable.
Absolutely not in the same universe, but the recent 'Altered Carbon' tv series has a similar feel. Going into it as a fan of the novels, I'm deeply conflicted about the show.
posted by porpoise at 10:53 AM on May 25, 2018 [1 favorite]
Absolutely not in the same universe, but the recent 'Altered Carbon' tv series has a similar feel. Going into it as a fan of the novels, I'm deeply conflicted about the show.
posted by porpoise at 10:53 AM on May 25, 2018 [1 favorite]
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by sexyrobot at 5:02 PM on May 23, 2018 [4 favorites]