Ridley Scott famously claimed that he “found the novel too difficult to read”. Dick was infuriated with the first draft of the film, and absolutely hated it, writing very sarcastic comments about it.
However, after the script was reworked, and Dick read it, he said "you read the screenplay and then you go to the novel, and it’s like they’re two halves to one meta-artwork, one meta-artifact."
I especially like Special Effects Chief David Dryer's recollection of what Dick said after watching the first reels:
> Dick looks me straight in the eye and says, ‘How is this possible? How can this be? Those are not the exact images, but the texture and tone of the images I saw in my head when I was writing the original book! The environment is exactly as how I’d imagined it! How’d you guys do that? How did you know what I was feeling and thinking?’
> “Let me tell you, that was one of the most successful moments of my career,” Dryer concludes. “Dick went away dazed.”
I also particularly liked Dick's comments about what the film meant to him:
> I can only say that I did not know that a work of mine or a set of ideas of mine could be escalated into such stunning dimensions. My life and creative work are justified and completed by Blade Runer. Thank you … It will prove invincible.
However, after the script was reworked, and Dick read it, he said "you read the screenplay and then you go to the novel, and it’s like they’re two halves to one meta-artwork, one meta-artifact."
This makes for some great reading delving into what Dick thought of the film. https://soothfairy.com/2022/09/16/what-did-philip-k-dick-thi...
I especially like Special Effects Chief David Dryer's recollection of what Dick said after watching the first reels:
> Dick looks me straight in the eye and says, ‘How is this possible? How can this be? Those are not the exact images, but the texture and tone of the images I saw in my head when I was writing the original book! The environment is exactly as how I’d imagined it! How’d you guys do that? How did you know what I was feeling and thinking?’
> “Let me tell you, that was one of the most successful moments of my career,” Dryer concludes. “Dick went away dazed.”
I also particularly liked Dick's comments about what the film meant to him:
> I can only say that I did not know that a work of mine or a set of ideas of mine could be escalated into such stunning dimensions. My life and creative work are justified and completed by Blade Runer. Thank you … It will prove invincible.