6 Philip K Dick Movies That Any Blade Runner Should See

A list of 6 Philip K. Dick movies that any blade runner should see is important for any would-be blade runner; it's also important if you love sci-fi movies, since many of the best movies to come out in the last 30 years have been based on works by Philip K. Dick. So strap into your empathy machine, consult your I Ching, and cancel your appointment with Dr. Futurity because here are Philip K. Dick movies that any blade runner should see.

"Blade Runner"

This is the movie that started it all, in case you couldn't tell from the title of the article. Based on Dick's novel with the funnier but less cool title of "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?," "Blade Runner" is a future-noir masterpiece, taking many of the hallmarks of classic detective movies like "The Maltese Falcon" and transporting them to a dark future dystopian Los Angeles with flying cars, more-human-than-human replicants and building-sized holographic billboards.

"Total Recall"

One of the reasons Philip K. Dick is such a popular writer is his stories have such great sc-ifi "hooks" and "Total Recall," based on the short story "We Can Remember It For You Wholesale," has a great one. In the not-too-distant future, a company known as Rekall as an inexpensive alternative to a globe-trotting vacation: memory implantation. Instead of actually going on a vacation, you go into the Rekall clinic and come out with memories as if you had. Something goes terribly wrong with the procedure when Doug Quaid ends up tangled in the world of interplanetary espionage after a Rekall memory implantation. Dick probably never imagined the kind of over-the-top action and violence that director Paul Verhoeven specializes in, but this is a great Philip K. Dick movie all the same.

"Minority Report"

A common theme in Philip K. Dick's work is the theme of memory. In "Paycheck," this theme is explored via a story about a man who agrees to give up three years of his life to a corporation under the agreement that his memory of those three years will be completely erased after the project is completed. Director John Woo turns the story of this man's search for the truth after being forced on the run by insidious forces into a Hitchcockian thriller, which also hits that sci-fi sweet spot between "exciting" and "thought-provoking."

"A Scanner Darkly"

Phillip K. Dick didn't just write exciting action stories, though. "A Scanner Darkly" is an exploration of southern California drug culture, told through the eyes of Robert Arctor, an undercover drug investigator whose assignment is to infiltrate the social circles of users of the popular and deadly drug Substance D. The movie, directed by Richard Linklater and featuring Robert Downey Jr., Keanu Reeves and Woody Harrelson, nails the tone and substance of the novel. It's also a rotoscoped feast for the eyes, especially Arctor's "scramble suit," which allows him to work as a drug operative without blowing his cover.

"Next"

Jessica Biel. It might not be as crazy as "Vampire's Kiss" or "Bad Lieutenant," but it'll do in a pinch.