A Scanner Darkly

Prof. Tor Coolguy · **Posted:** Thu Jul 06, 2006 1:05 am

I was watching TV recently when I came upon an ad for this. So I did what I always do when I don't know something, I searched Wikipedia for it. It turns out the movie is based on a sci-fi book of the same name written by Philip K. Dick (who also wrote Bladerunner).

Has anyone else heard anything about it?

extremejon09 · **Joined:** Mon May 10, 2004 10:28 pm **Posts:** 4675

I'm so going to see it, if not just for it's unique graphical style.

Prof. Tor Coolguy · **Posted:** Thu Jul 06, 2006 1:33 am

The only other place I've seen that style of graphics is in the recent Charles Schwab financial group commercials.

InterruptorJones · **Posted:** Thu Jul 06, 2006 1:57 am

Philip K. Dick is an incredible author (if you thought Blade Runner was good, read the novel it was based on, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?--ZOMG!), and it's rather a tragedy how poorly Hollywood has treated his works

I saw Richard Linklater's previous rotoscoped effort, Waking Life, and was impressed with the technique but not with the film (it was fairly dull and rambling). However, I think he's a reasonably good filmmaker so despite myself I have high hopes for A Scanner Darkly (which I admit to not having read yet). I'll probably try to catch it in theatres because I think that style will be particularly interesting on the big screen.

TCIndiana · **Joined:** Sun Jan 29, 2006 2:30 am **Posts:** 94

I don't know much about Philip K. Dick aside from a collection of his short stories I heard on tape (which were pretty flippin' awesome).

Spielberg ruined Minority Report.

Prof. Tor Coolguy · **Posted:** Thu Jul 06, 2006 2:42 am

I, myself am a bit dubious of Keanu Reeves' ability to convey this character without sounding a bit like a "pre red pill Neo". He sounds just about the same in the trailer but I'd like to think that I'm going to be wrong.

Extended Trailer (Quicktime Format)

InterruptorJones · **Posted:** Thu Jul 06, 2006 2:49 am

Prof. Tor Coolguy wrote:

I, myself am a bit dubious of Keanu Reeves' ability to convey this character without sounding a bit like a "pre red pill Neo"

You know, I read an article about that very subject yesterday that makes a few interesting points.

lahimatoa · **Posted:** Thu Jul 06, 2006 3:18 am

Quote:

You know, I read an article about that very subject yesterday that makes a few interesting points.

Hmm. Those are interesting points. I've never seen someone actually defend Keanu before. My favorite point is:

Quote:

35. To his everlasting credit, never made a cameo appearance on Will & Grace, which makes him only one of five movie stars in the world never to have done so.

bwave · **Posted:** Thu Jul 06, 2006 3:41 am

I heard about this movie about 4 months ago, on the 'waking life' wikipedia page.

Me and my friend john are huge fans of the director, richard linklater. The official site for his independant film company is http://www.detourfilms.com.

So yeah, a scanner darkly. It looks like is it going to be good in a 1984-ish kinda way. To back it up, I heard a while back that the family of philip k dick finds this to be the best film adaptations of his work yet, which is a great thing to look forward to.

My friend john also told me that if you zoom in on the headphones of the gil in the trailer, you see the name 'Phil D.", which is for philip dick, and probably a refernce to philips.

The rotoscoping in this movie is way more realistic that in 'Waking Life' (Another movie by Richard Linklater, which I suggest you all go see, because it is excellent.) A scanner darkly is the second completely rotoscoped feature film in movie history. (Waking life was the first.)

Basically, for those who do not know, the movie is about some people who are addicted to a drug called substance D, which has strong hallucinogenic side effects, and can cause split personalities. The scanners in these people are used to keep track of who is purchasing Substance D from whom.

The funny part about the main character is that he is an addict, which caused him to have multiple personalities. One is a cop, who is supposed to catch substance d abusers, and the other personality is a substance d addict and dealer.

IantheGecko · **Posted:** Thu Jul 06, 2006 4:43 am

This movie looks and sounds awesome. The premise is intriguing, while the visuals look amazing. I'm looking forward to it.

DESTROY US ALL! · **Posted:** Thu Jul 06, 2006 4:45 am

I'm a big fan of Linklater (School of rock anyone) and of rotoscoping. This sis a must see for me.

Prof. Tor Coolguy · **Posted:** Thu Jul 06, 2006 8:25 pm

InterruptorJones wrote:

Prof. Tor Coolguy wrote:

I, myself am a bit dubious of Keanu Reeves' ability to convey this character without sounding a bit like a "pre red pill Neo"

You know, I read an article about that very subject yesterday that makes a few interesting points.

I'm convinced, and not only that; I'm considering joining his religion and marrying him AT THE SAME TIME.

Great find, Jones. The pimp hatted one hath done well.

Capt. Ido Nos · **Posted:** Thu Jul 06, 2006 9:03 pm

This sounds very interesting,, if not only to satisfy the compuger graphics nerd that I am :3

Funkstar · **Posted:** Thu Jul 06, 2006 9:11 pm

Looks radical. It's a thriller, right? Because the wikipedia description about him trying to capture himself makes it seem like a comedy.

IantheGecko · **Posted:** Thu Jul 06, 2006 9:14 pm

Yeah, it's a thriller. The previews definitely confirm that.

Simon Zeno · **Posted:** Thu Jul 06, 2006 10:24 pm

It's just too bad the title is a grammatical nightmare...

InterruptorJones · **Posted:** Thu Jul 06, 2006 10:34 pm

Santa Zeno wrote:

It's just too bad the title is a grammatical nightmare...

Uh, please name one grammatical rule that titles are supposed to follow. Oh, that's right--there are no grammatical rules for titles.

And by the way..

Wikipedia wrote:

The "scanner" of the title is a holographic recorder/projector on which the main character views clips of his own life but doesn't recognize them. It is also a reference to a Biblical verse in 1 Corinthians 13 that includes "we see as through a mirror darkly", and thus refers to the main character's weak grasp on reality. Ingmar Bergman's 1961 film, Through a Glass Darkly, lifts its title from the same passage. Furthermore, the initials of Scanner Darkly are also the initials of Substance D.

bwave · **Posted:** Fri Jul 07, 2006 4:05 am

Funkstar wrote:

Looks radical. It's a thriller, right? Because the wikipedia description about him trying to capture himself makes it seem like a comedy.

It does seem to have an ironic touch to it, but it is a thriller. It will probably make more sense once the movie comes out. Hmm. Maybe I'll wait a few years, and pitch that idea to chris rock...

I'm still waiting for the book to show up at my library.

I'm glad to see that linklater has been getting lots of attention as of late, what with 'Fast Food Nation' coming out this year.

IantheGecko · **Posted:** Thu Aug 31, 2006 2:29 am

I saw "A Scanner Darkly" about a month ago. Loved it. My favorite part was actually Robert Downey Jr.'s performance. Reminded me of Jeff Goldblum's in "Jurassic Park".

I kept saying "whoa" the whole time, just over the visuals...they were amazing.

Code J · **Posted:** Thu Aug 31, 2006 5:09 am

I saw the 20 minute thing they had on IGN for it. Was pretty good for what I saw.

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