Philip K Dick movie triple bill

July 6, 2012 6:41 PM

I need suggestions for the optimal order in which to watch Blade Runner, Total Recall (Verhoeven) and Minority Report. Mixed crowd, but all action / SF appreciators. All movies on Blu-ray. Will be eating oriental take-out. My instinct is Total Recall as desert. Is that best?
posted by Hugobaron to Media & Arts (12 answers total)

I'd go Total Recall -> Blade Runner -> Minority Report. As far as sheer fun, Total Recall is the clear winner. It'll get you pumped to make it through Blade Runner which is a masterpiece but also something of a slog. And after you're done with that, some Minority Report to rinse your brain out, like some pickled ginger after sushi or watching Wheel of Fortune after Jeopardy.

Also, juts for larfs, you should watch Paycheck after Minority Report.
posted by griphus at 6:46 PM on July 6, 2012 [2 favorites]

Best answer: (Also, if everyone passes out after two movies and dinner, you'll be missing a mediocre Tom Cruise sci-fi film and not one of the best science fiction films ever made.)
posted by griphus at 6:47 PM on July 6, 2012 [7 favorites]

Response by poster: " if everyone passes out after two movies and dinner, you'll be missing a mediocre Tom Cruise sci-fi film and not one of the best science fiction films ever made "

Funny griphus, and that may well happen! The the theme is locked on Hollywood does PKD, and these are the best IMHO. I really want to watch Robocop, but it missed the brief.
posted by Hugobaron at 6:56 PM on July 6, 2012

Best answer: Start Minority Report before anyone arrives, and let it play in the background as everyone settles in.
posted by Ardiril at 6:57 PM on July 6, 2012 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Well, shoot, if you're going for a PKD movie-fest, there are a lot of movies you could add. I think that Adjustment Bureau fits better with Blade Runner and Minority Report than Total Recall. And Scanner Darkly is kind of a wildcard there.

Vanilla Sky or Abre los Ojos isn't a PKD story, but damned if it doesn't feel like a riff on Ubik. It would fit right in too.
posted by adamrice at 6:57 PM on July 6, 2012

Best answer: I would do Blade Runner --> Total Recall --> Minority Report. You continue to advance in tech/FX as you go. No stepping backward in terms of production values and FX. After Minority Report - whether you like Tom Cruise or not - the other two seem a bit dated.

On the other hand, if you don't already own the Blu-Ray, you could ditch Minority Report altogether and keep a few pennies out of the hands of the L. Ron Hubbard fan club/church. Some family will never know to thank you for it, but your pillow will feel better.
posted by skypieces at 7:05 PM on July 6, 2012 [2 favorites]

Best answer: If that's the theme I'd go with A Scanner Darkly over Minority Report, so you get a sampling of adaptation of his work across three genres. Total Recall is an action-comedy, Blade Runner is a noir, and A Scanner Darkly is a character study. Minority Report is neither particularly emblematic of PKD, nor has that much on Total Recall and missing the element of critique-of-the-modern-world-via-SF that both Dick and Verhoeven had/have a nearly virtuosic grasp of.
posted by griphus at 7:09 PM on July 6, 2012 [7 favorites]

I would show them in the order they were made.
posted by jeffamaphone at 7:28 PM on July 6, 2012

Total Recall, Blade Runner, and skip Minority Report.
Or if you must, as Ardiril said.
posted by Rash at 8:21 PM on July 6, 2012

Best answer: I think you should make it a Verhoeven night instead, Robocop, Total Recall and Starship Troopers. Anybody that stays beyond that gets subjected to Showgirls.
posted by furtive at 8:34 PM on July 6, 2012 [6 favorites]

If you put blade runner other than first no one will make it through. Take out is not going to last long against the four hours needed for just of these films, unless you all do 3 feature viewings on a regular basis I would suggest you select the two you want to see and wrk on the basis that you will not get to the third.

As an aside, blade runner came up at dinner last night, I asked my SO if she had seen it. "Is that the one with the vampires?" The shame.
posted by biffa at 12:17 AM on July 7, 2012

Blade Runner first, because it is by far the best of the three and deserves reasonably sober/alert viewing. Total Recall next because it's loud and silly but kinda fun so it will lighten the mood after Blade Runner and any fatigue or lack of sobriety will matter less. Minority Report last because it ain't that good and so eh, who cares if you're still capable of maintaining attention or not?
posted by Decani at 2:38 AM on July 7, 2012 [1 favorite]