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Plot:
Set in a future world where America has lost the war on drugs, an undercover cop, Fred, is one of many agents hooked on the popular drug Substance D, which causes its users to develop split personalit...( read more 
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Recent Reviews
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MCT:October 6, 2008This movie is great, it gives a very insightful view into the lives of addicts. Reeves was the best possible role for a "Substance D" addict. He played the part very well and a great voice for the atmosphere of the movie. Also the retro scoping of this movie is new and futuristic and I love it, it lets you see the movie to its full potential. It is an independent film that will warm the heart of any alternative kid who watches it and it also is very funny if you follow the story close, look for a few glitches in production as the furniture in the houses and the cars on the streets start to float away...
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MCT:October 5, 2008
While the animation overlay can be a little distracting there is no doubt this movie has something to say about the nature of drug use and societies response to the problem.
I have something to say too: if you need to take drugs try to take care of your mind. Nothing is more yours and more important then your sanity. -
MCT:October 4, 2008
Weird! Definitely haven't seen live action animation like this before and I still haven't quite decided if thats a good thing or not.
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MCT:October 4, 2008
The art style was cool, but like most movies with cool or different art styles, the plot sucks. If they did something else with this art style I might have liked it more.
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MCT:October 1, 2008it takes place 7 years from now just think about it.... druggies dont give a fuck and thats the way it should be if you think about it robert downy jr is fucking amazing in this "the best silcer in the world" "BOOM!" thats pertty silent man...." and makes you think about the way the world will be soon phil D noon how the world was going to be and derserved the nobal peace prize for his writing
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MCT:September 30, 2008
Utterly stunning. The animation style wasn't confusing at all and in fact added to the surreal nature of the film. The plot wasn't TOO complicated though some of the set-up was dense. The music was spot-on. The acting was perfect, usually from Downey or Harrelson. Apparently very close to the book as well, which is always good when talking about a Dick novel. One of the best films going.
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MCT:September 29, 2008
ENGLISH: This movie succeeds in showing a thorough gallery of paranoid characters. It is much less successful in its attempt to create new visuals by having animators drawing over real actors footage: the drawn-over characters become much less expressive than real actors and the potential added value of animation (for example, building fascinating scenarios that are impossible to create in the real world) is exploited in a very limited way.
ITALIANO: Questo film riesce a dipingere un'ampia galleria di personaggi paranoici. Ha molto meno successo invece nel suo tentativo di creare dei nuovi tipi di immagini, facendo disegnare a degli animatori sopra alle riprese dei veri attori: i personaggi diventano meno espressivi ed il potenziale valore aggiunto dell'animazione (ad esempio, costruire degli scenari suggestivi che sono impossibili da creare nella realta') e' sfruttato in modo molto limitato. -
MCT:September 13, 2008
it was somehow strange, the technic he used to make actors animation characters. but I didn't like the story.
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MCT:September 11, 2008When "A Scanner Darkly" was first released in 2006, I remember hearing an overwhelmingly negative response from friends and family. At the time, I hadn't seen much of Linklater's work outside of "School of Rock" so I assumed that the film was simply underwhelming and not worth a watch. After viewing masterpieces like "Waking Life" and "Before Sunrise"/"Before Sunset" and understanding what Linklater is capable of, I took great interest in this. For Linklater fans, a lot of this material is extraordinarily familiar but ultimately satisfying (although not nearly as insightful as his more philosophical films), but for Linklater virgins, the majority of this may be incredibly dry and inaccessible. This is essentially a cult indy film disguised as a mainstream Hollywood product.
"Seven years from now", we meet Charles Freck (Rory Cochrane), a man whose horrible dependence on a drug known only as "Substance D" has driven him to hallucinate about aphids crawling around his house and on his skin. While Cochrane has strong facial features without the rotoscoping effect, he looks remarkably more unsettling and disturbing with the surrealist "painting-esque" imagery. After this initial opening sequence, we don't run into Charles Freck too much throughout the rest of the film... we're simply introduced to what rotoscoping is capable of and the effects of this "Substance D" right as the opening credits roll.
Bob Arcter (Keanu Reeves) is a California native who spends his days taking hits of Substance D with his burnout friends in a fairly small but cozy home. However, things aren't exactly how they seem - as we come to find out that Arcter is really a narc that goes by codename "Fred", whose sole intentions are too sell out his housemates. Fred's identity is kept secret at work through a "scramble suit" - a suit that makes it's wearer become an indecipherable collage of different faces, body types, and clothes. His boss, "Hank", tells Fred that the most dangerous and suspicious man in the house is Arcter himself - and therefore Fred ends up working on a case that essentially exists to narc out himself. Unfortunately for Fred, things aren't nearly as simple to cover up as they should be, as he's also become addicted to Substance D.
The best thing about the film is unquestionably the stoner layabout friends of Arcter, played by Robert Downey Jr. And Woody Harrelson. They bring a great deal of comedic relief to their roles, and we have a blast tagging along with them for completely asinine discussions on whether or not a "come on in" note should've been left on the door or if they were cheated out 11 speeds on a bicycle. Keanu has never been known for his acting talents, but he serves as very good foil to Downey Jr. especially, who is absolutely delightful as always.
The problem with the film, oddly enough, is that it becomes increasingly bogged down by it's plot. I wasn't at all fascinated with the ideas of government surveillance, "bad cops", and the overall drug culture. This is all such incredibly familiar material that has already been explored as much as it really needs to be. Near the end of the film, especially, where things start turning into a "bad trip", I found myself completely disconnected from the material. Personally, I found this to be at all times entertaining and interesting, however it's not exactly compelling or even involving in any way.
Rotoscoping arguably served better purpose in "Waking Life" as the surreal images were visualizations of a dream and animation was used to differentiate it's constantly moving characters, however that effect certainly looked primitive to what Linklater and his team accomplished for this film. The only problem with the particular effect was that it became incredibly apparent that the film wouldn't have been nearly as interesting had this been shot normally, and therefore it almost exposed what a dull story was being told with such extravagant visuals.
Although "A Scanner Darkly" is fairly fulfilling, I don't think it even scrapes the surface of what Linklater can do as a director. The material is rehashed and the rotoscoping technique becomes little more than a gimmick. That being said, sub-par Linklater is certainly more enjoyable than most other stuff out there. I would give this a fairly solid recommendation, however there are much better Linklater films out there. -
MCT:September 10, 2008
I had such a hard time with this movie. I wanted to at least love it for its art style but after a while that even ended up bothering me. A Scanner Darkly is one of those confusing independent movies that try's so hard to show off it's intellect that it just ends up souring over everyone's head. Let me put it a different way. "A Scanner Darkly" gives Robert Downey Jr. the freedom to use big words in an independent setting. Have you ever seen any of Downey's independent, big-word-using roles? I sure can't think of a good one...
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MCT:September 9, 2008
an incredibly interseting movie; quite funny, a lot of intrigue... and it's rather good sci-fi... also the animation style is incredbly interesting too. seeing bob/fred doubt who he really is... is truly interesting as a concept
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MCT:September 3, 2008how can a movie that looks so cool, and has such big names, be so very bad? we turned it off after 45 minutes of introspective philosophical rambling and ranting...
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MCT:September 2, 2008
A Scanner Darkly is about the future where everyone is taking drugs -- even the undercover cops are taking drugs.
Perhaps this is why the movie can't decide if it wants to be animated or real-life. It takes a while to get comfortable with the style of the movie, but hang in there, it gets interesting near the end.
Oh yeah, Winona Ryder sure looks different than her normal roles. -
MCT:August 27, 2008
Excellent animation. A very good, odd, clever and intruiging story. I laughed several times at Rory Cochrane's paranoid character. But the best thing is the provocative part that makes good points about humans and the supervision that takes place in todays society. Some scenes took my breath away and the ending left me thinking for a long while.
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MCT:August 25, 2008
The best part is the rotoscopic animation, which fits the story perfectly. However, the plot is not too good until the (genius) ending.
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MCT:August 24, 2008
This was excellent. The animation added to the notion of drug taking and what is does to your brain.
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MCT:August 23, 2008
A very odd movie. I really wasn't interested through the movie. It was very aimless, and a little to weird. Not necessarily bad, just too odd.
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MCT:August 22, 2008
an interesting philip k dick adaptation
the animation is a little difficult to get used to but it still manages to be one of the better takes on his work -
MCT:August 21, 2008
not entirely sure hat to say about this...
here goes; this is a hard thing to watch. Just like how some other films that tries to marry an animation style and live action film, the end result here is something that is hard to follow because of the way it looks and this isn't helped by an overly complex yet sparsely detailed plot.
If that sounds confusing, that's because that is what the film is like. For some reason, there is a feeling of knowing that there is something significant going on that has an important message but you're never entirely sure what it is being said.
Instead, you end up looking at the film thinking that it's quite a cool effect but you wonder what it adds to the film. If anything, if it weren't for the effect, the rest of the film is just another try hard. -
MCT:August 17, 2008
absolute genius , tells the blatant obvious truth about humans , drugs and the government that everyone from junkies to conservative party members forces themselves to ignore.
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MCT:August 15, 2008
A scanner darkly takes a few minutes to get use to. This movie didn't draw me in immediately with its storyline because its a bit hard to untangle. What did draw me in was the way in which it was filmed. Filmed in live action and then animated the film is visually arresting. I often spaced out of the storyline and sat in awe in the way in which it was filmed. Keanu reeves plays a spy who is trying to track users of substance d, a new deadly drug. He is also one of the people strung out on that very drug. what follows is a bit confusing at times but when the end comes, its pretty much spelled out for you and that awesome but then the movie ends and you don't see the final results of all of his effort. This is one nude scene with keanu, animated none the less but its full frontal. Robert downing Jr gives a really great neurotic performance ans woody harrelson plays strung out like no one can. A scanner darkly is a great movie and is worth seeing.
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MCT:August 4, 2008
I enjoy films that bring a new idea to the table. the Animation is a bit disorientating at first but it works well. Especially with the special suits that constantly change. A scanner darkly is a film with many ideas but not many of them play out to their fullest potential. Alot of twists and turns especially toward the end.
Keanu Reeves is cast well as the addict that lost his suburban life to drugs. Robert Downey Jr. as his ever knowledgeable room mate, And Winona Ryder as his girlfriend who is addicted to every drug under the sun. Along with Woody Harrelson and Robbie Cochrane the cast is a good mix of characters. The idea of constant government surveillance is a good concept but isn't explained enough.
All together a good film, A little confusing at times but a good film none the less. -
MCT:August 4, 2008
disclaimer: I am not familiar with the writings of Philip K Dick and therefore cannot compare this film to the novel.
Coherent sentences to describe A Scanner Darkly seem to be eluding me. Descriptive wording flows easily after one viewing of this film. Words such as brilliant, weird, strangely haunting, thought provoking, clever, intriguing, trippy and the list could go on and on. Bottom line being, A Scanner Darkly is a cult film which could easily be a masterpiece.
Although visually stunning, the performances of Keanu Reeves, Robert Downey, Jr., Woody Harrelson, Rory Cochrane and Winona Ryder make this film the mindboggling experience film fanatics love.
A Scanner Darkly has many depths below its surface. The view must maintain focus at all times. If you get the messages in this film, you will be blown away. -
MCT:August 3, 2008
A strange, even weird movie. Half-way across it I started to wonder: "what's the plot? what's the idea?" By the time the movie ended, I was yet to find out.
The film is entertaining, but confusing - mostly because there doesn't appear to be a strong plot in it. Things and people just pretty aimlessly move about, going on about things that don't really click together. Sure, there is a main thread they follow - paranoia, drug abuse - but it isn't plain or clear enough.
Nice plot twist in the end that explains things a bit, but in my opinion it comes too late. -
MCT:July 31, 2008
This was a great adaptation of the classic novel by Philip K. Dick. The acting is brilliant, the visual look and style are sweet, and fit the material perfectly, and the film does a great job of capturing the book's tone, mood, and sense of paranoia. Like the book though, the biggest problem with the film is that it's not very accessible, and may be too bizarre for most people to tolerate. Despite this, it's worth checking out, if only for the purpose of experiencing something truly trippy and out there.
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Comments
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darkwatson2posted 224 days ago -
Yes! Very good movie, and FYI this was was written by the same man who wrote the book Bladerunner was based on (Philip K. Dick)....as mentioned below.....
posted 496 days ago -
Am I the only one who wants to see this because it's based on a Philip K Dick story? Come on, stoner movie, druggie author, whatever- Dick was a sci-fi genius
posted 578 days ago -
i dont get it, its just a stoner movie - random people get stoned, get paranoid & cant remember stuff, just dressed up with some felt tip pens of the film cells.
posted 614 days ago -
The style of animation is called roto-scoping. They film the actors playing the parts, and then basically paint over them.
posted 640 days ago -
Is this movie taking the whole drawn over (i.e. Waking Life) approach or is this computer animation. Looks interesting, but I found Keanu pretty unwatchable.
posted 645 days ago -
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It was a great film to see. It really shows how drugs can be, also how messed up life can be too.
posted 796 days ago -
I dunno about you guys. But hoorah for stoner flicks. I wanna watch this movie so badlyyy.
posted 808 days ago -
I watched the first 24 minutes of this film online...
[http://media.filmforce.ign.com/media/670/670907/vids_1.html]
... and I have to say I wasn't too impressed from what I saw. I know it's only a little clip of the film, but it didn't look like my kind of flick.
I'll wait for the DVD, thank you.posted 810 days ago
