A Scanner Darkly (DVD) Reviews

Usually my view point is, when people say the book was better than the film I just say the film was better than the book, and you know why? Because I didn't have to READ it! I could never be right in this case as the book actually was so amazing especially compared to the film. I think the film was good though but the book is my ...  Read the complete review

As an intellectual ("nerd") I read a lot of science fiction, and have a particular fondness for Philip K. Dick. His work has often been targeted by Hollywood - Blade Runner, Total Recall, Minority Report, Paycheck - mostly for his vivid visions of the future. As a writer, Dick often creates a general tone of morose confusion, and though ...  Read the complete review

Richard Linklater is one of the most diverse working directors today, having worked in a wide variety of genres, from coming of age comedy (Dazed and Confused), comic farce (School of Rock), romantic comedy (Before Sunrise, Before Sunset), and now a drug thriller in A Scanner Darkly, a little known but supremely entertaining film that boasts ...  Read the complete review

This surreal psychological animated drama is an acquired taste. Its marmite. You either love it or you hate it - and I can understand why. It is quite a hard film to follow, and at times can be quite slow to those who don't fully appreciate the storyline. I am one of those people who loved it. I thought the rotoscoping technique the ...  Read the complete review

I muist admit that I may have missed the point of this film as I found it quite confusing at times. It is set in the not too distant future, in a society wher everyone is under surveillance by the authorities using a variety of bugs and satellites. Keanu Reeves plays an undercover agent involved in a world of drugs who loses the ...  Read the complete review

I'll start out with an apology there there isn't much substance to the review of this movie. Its because i found it very hard to follow but here goes. I haven't read the book/story this is based on & the actual plot of the film is a bit difficult to follow but still very good. The whole filmed then hand drawn shading thing is ...  Read the complete review

America is in the midst of a future, dystopian battle against drugs. Using an intrusive system of State surveillance, the cops have set up a myriad network of informants and undercover operatives to counter the distribution of the widely available Substance D. Bob Arctor (Keanu Reeves) is an undercover agent assigned to infiltrate the drug supply ...  Read the complete review

“What does a scanner see? Into the head? Into the heart? Does it see into me? Clearly? Or darkly?” Originally having gone to see this film at the cinema, I was debating about what to expect from Richard Linklater’s ‘A Scanner Darkly’. I had been utterly intruiged by the ghoulish advertising and darkly presented posters, ...  Read the complete review

There is something a bit boring about the average science fiction author. Lots of the time they are very intelligent blokes that do not always have the greatest social skills. However, some buck the trend and set out on their own path. One such author was Philip K. Dick. Why philosophise about the wonderment of future societies when you can ...  Read the complete review

I am always one for giving absolutely any film a go and especially those that look a little bit different from the normal drivel we get coming through. This is why when I saw the trailer for a scanner darkly I thought this looks a new concept for a film and the animation I have to say looked pretty spot on and so different to what you usually see ...  Read the complete review

"A Scanner Darkly" is based on the novel by Philip K Dick. Once again the work of this sci-fi writer is taken to the big screen. The story is set rather ambiguously "seven years from now" in a world where everyone seems to be spying on everyone else - the kind of place the UK will be like when they introduce identity cards and ...  Read the complete review