Rating: 
Summary: Mainly for the newcomers
Review: "The Gospel According to Philip K. Dick" targets newcomers to Philip K. Dick and doesn't seem to offer much to us fanatics. I hoped the film would include some actual footage of Philip K. Dick along with some in-depth analysis of the strange claims that obsessed Dick in the final years of his life. Instead the DVD resembles an A&E or History Channel show with interspersed interviews from writers Paul Williams and Robert Anton Wilson, one member of a Gnostic organization, and some friends and fans of Philip K. Dick. (Not surprisingly the only conclusion made was that Philip K. Dick's death was a tragic loss.)
I personally get a better sense of Philip K. Dick from his novels than from this DVD. I realize this film was a labor of love and the creators could only utilize what was available however the poor audio on Dick's recordings was a disappointment. With such a fascinating subject, this film should have offered more.
Rating:
Summary: Mainly for the newcomers
Review: "The Gospel According to Philip K. Dick" targets newcomers to Philip K. Dick and doesn't seem to offer much to us fanatics. I hoped the film would include some actual footage of Philip K. Dick along with some in-depth analysis of the strange claims that obsessed Dick in the final years of his life. Instead the DVD resembles an A&E or History Channel show with interspersed interviews from writers Paul Williams and Robert Anton Wilson, one member of a Gnostic organization, and some friends and fans of Philip K. Dick. (Not surprisingly the only conclusion made was that Philip K. Dick's death was a tragic loss.)
I personally get a better sense of Philip K. Dick from his novels than from this DVD. I realize this film was a labor of love and the creators could only utilize what was available however the poor audio on Dick's recordings was a disappointment. With such a fascinating subject, this film should have offered more.
Rating:
Summary: Under Appreciated Unreality
Review: ... Just about a week before its release on video, I spotted an advertisement for "The Gospel According to Philip K. Dick" and pre-ordered it without having read anything about it. And I was not disappointed. Although the production values perhaps could have been better, considering the budget, they are not bad. This documentary is an endeavor of love, not profit, much as the entire writing career of PKD was. The interviews are poignant and heartfelt, and personable, which is something that reading transcripts of interviews is not. The care and admiration is evident in the faces and voices of those people remembering the author; from personal friends to fellow authors to notable guerilla ontologist Robert Anton Wilson (whose comments about himself possible being a perfect android created by the CIA alone made this film worth watching). There are features available which include a "Dicktionary" of reoccurring words and phrases in PKD's writings (what is "kibble"?), and animated pieces showing Phil at his typewriter, as if speaking to us about key elements of his philosophy. The audio tracks to these sequences being culled from interviews with him over the years. For a newcomer to PKD, this film may be an invaluable resource into the mindset of the author following a deeply personal experience he had in 1974. This experience dominated his last half dozen books and could be defined as a philosophical-religious epiphany, or the result of a complete mental breakdown. Phil himself never satisfactorily came to any firm conclusions about it. And this documentary, instead of attempting to be a biography of his life, focuses on his thoughts and endless theories about this experience. It provides a unique perspective on what lead up to this event and how much its profound influence on his later writings. For a veteran reader of PKD, this documentary offers a glimpse behind the some of the realities of the master of creating unrealities. Some of those people interviewed include Ray Nelson (author of the story on which "They Live" was based),
Robert Anton Wilson, Paul Williams (journalist/writer and former literary executor of PKD), & Jay Kinney (former editor of Gnosis magazine). In all, this low-budget documentary is much like the cheap paperbacks of the 1950s & 60s which Phil Dick wrote. The quality could be better, the production level could be flashier, the music could be more diversified, the animation could be smoother. But the subject matter could also be something more shallow than the mind-twisting beliefs of Philip K. Dick. What *is* this documentary? It is like sitting down and reminiscing about an author with his dear friends. It is a funny, tragic, hip, deranged, and darkly delightful film about one of the greatest writers and philosophers in any universe.
Rating:
Summary: Under Appreciated Unreality
Review: ... Just about a week before its release on video, I spotted an advertisement for "The Gospel According to Philip K. Dick" and pre-ordered it without having read anything about it. And I was not disappointed. Although the production values perhaps could have been better, considering the budget, they are not bad. This documentary is an endeavor of love, not profit, much as the entire writing career of PKD was. The interviews are poignant and heartfelt, and personable, which is something that reading transcripts of interviews is not. The care and admiration is evident in the faces and voices of those people remembering the author; from personal friends to fellow authors to notable guerilla ontologist Robert Anton Wilson (whose comments about himself possible being a perfect android created by the CIA alone made this film worth watching). There are features available which include a "Dicktionary" of reoccurring words and phrases in PKD's writings (what is "kibble"?), and animated pieces showing Phil at his typewriter, as if speaking to us about key elements of his philosophy. The audio tracks to these sequences being culled from interviews with him over the years. For a newcomer to PKD, this film may be an invaluable resource into the mindset of the author following a deeply personal experience he had in 1974. This experience dominated his last half dozen books and could be defined as a philosophical-religious epiphany, or the result of a complete mental breakdown. Phil himself never satisfactorily came to any firm conclusions about it. And this documentary, instead of attempting to be a biography of his life, focuses on his thoughts and endless theories about this experience. It provides a unique perspective on what lead up to this event and how much its profound influence on his later writings. For a veteran reader of PKD, this documentary offers a glimpse behind the some of the realities of the master of creating unrealities. Some of those people interviewed include Ray Nelson (author of the story on which "They Live" was based),
Robert Anton Wilson, Paul Williams (journalist/writer and former literary executor of PKD), & Jay Kinney (former editor of Gnosis magazine). In all, this low-budget documentary is much like the cheap paperbacks of the 1950s & 60s which Phil Dick wrote. The quality could be better, the production level could be flashier, the music could be more diversified, the animation could be smoother. But the subject matter could also be something more shallow than the mind-twisting beliefs of Philip K. Dick. What *is* this documentary? It is like sitting down and reminiscing about an author with his dear friends. It is a funny, tragic, hip, deranged, and darkly delightful film about one of the greatest writers and philosophers in any universe.
Rating: 
Summary: Amateurish on every level
Review: A one star rating if not for the fact that anything about Dick must have some value. The production values are abysmal: poor sound, boring & repetitive animation, the lighting is nearly non-existant and there is never a cutaway, nor more than one camera angle per interview subject. Structurally the film is a disorganized mess. The first half rambles hither and yon with no apparent structure while the second half fixates on Paul Williams reportage. (Williams discusses at length a break-in to Dick's house and Dick's various unusual theories as to who was responsible). It was a fine approach for Williams to use as a means of focusing on Dick but it is just that, one author's tool, and not remotely the definitive event of his life. Get your own point of view guys. I don't think that this film is a good starting point for new Dick fans as it does not present a good autobiographical overview and is so poorly made as to be off-putting. I do believe that long-time fans will be interested in what Ray Nelson and certain others who were actually there have to say (as opposed to the interviews with teenage webmasters whose idolization of Dick is fine but their third hand info feels, well... third hand).
I absolutely want to see good documentary work on SF literature, but this ain't too good. (If you want to see a truly excellent doc on Dick, the BBC's Arena series produced one some years back).
Rating:
Summary: Good Introduction to the Subject
Review: For those who are only familiar with Philip K. Dick's writings, this collage of interviews is a good introduction to the bizarre and controversial events of the author's later life. The film combines interview clips of Dick's friends with selections from tape recordings of PKD, shown with a cartoon figure of Phil miming the words. For those who have read the Lawrence Sutin biography (Divine Invasions) or any of the extensive biographical material that has been published since Dick's death, there isn't much that's new in this film. However, Robert Anton Wilson (author of the Illuminati Trilogy), Ray Nelson (SF author, best known for the story on which "They Live" is based) and Paul Williams, former Rolling Stone writer and literary executor of Dick's estate, are especially fascinating to listen to, and the material is compelling even though it may be familiar. For those interested in more details of Dick's life, the Lawrence Sutin biography is by far the best resource, but this film is an excellent place to start.
Rating: 
Summary: Just re-read the stories and watch the movies
Review: I bought this (without reading the reviews) because I thought it would provide some real context to the genius whose work spawned so many excellent movies, but was I ever disappointed.
I read PKD's stories back when he was alive, and was hoping for some insight into how his mindset influenced his work. There was very little of that. This was a movie that cried out for some critical synopis of Dick's work, and should have tied his eccentricities or psychosis to his output. Instead, we are left with reminicences, some of which are interesting, but very little insight into this artist. A big disappointment--even for a fan.
Rating:
Summary: Might have made a good undergrad film thesis project.
Review: It's difficult to imagine for whom this film was intended. Focusing as it does exclusively on the last decade of Philip K. Dick's life, and with virtually no discussion of his fiction, it would be incomprehensible to a newcomer. But since it contains nothing that hasn't been widely known about PKD's life for many years, longtime fans will find most of it boring. But besides this, the entire film is hindered by amateurish production values. As many have already pointed out, the film is padded by repetetive, crude animations which serve no real purpose, and features an electronic soundtrack that sounds like it was lifted from a PBS special, circa 1985. While watching it, I finally lost all hope of improvement during the sequence when the librarian at California State University (where many of PKD's manuscripts are kept) painstakingly explains the procedures for checking out materials from Special Collections. (And then, ironically, not a single page of any of PKD's manuscripts is displayed in the film.) The people who are interviewed (with the exception of the librarian) all have something interesting to say, but due to the filmmakers' total lack of editing skills, the film is painfully slow to watch. And most of the audio clips of PKD himself speaking were from the cassette issued fifteen years earlier by the PKD Society and widely available. I actually felt the deleted scenes section of the DVD contained more interesting material than anything that was left in the film, such as Ray Nelson discussing PKD's friendship with Bishop Pike. One wonders what led the filmmakers to conclude that watching their little animation of PKD at a typewriter for the sixth time made for better cinema than this material. Spend your time wisely and read (or reread) one of PKD's books instead of watching this.
Rating:
Summary: Do Not Buy This DVD
Review: Philip K. Dick fans will find nothing new or interesting in this documentary. People unfamiliar with PKD will not learn anything about him. About 85% of this documentary is garbage. The other 15% is merely boring. Read the other reviews to learn more about the repetitive use of animation. Not worth owning, even for free.
Rating: 
Summary: Yeah, yeah, - all that and more. Even an electric cooled
Review: pony harness, pony harness, pony harness. Who cares. It is Phil. And even if incomprehensible to anyone not familiar with Phil, there are enough of us out there who are that it is worthwhile for us. You want a documentary that will introduce - really introduce Phil to the great unwashed? It ain't gonna happen. If one is not exposed to Phil's work at an innocent enough age then it will not become the life-changing, life-enhancing, life-affirming experience it could and should be. This doesn't imply any lack of greatness. Just that a certain greatness can't be apprehended after a level of cynicism has set in. And even with an open mind, the writer certainly won't be understood without reading the books. I find the low-tech, geek-oriented aesthetic rather charming and down to earth. (Hmm. THAT's a weird thing to have said about Phil.) You'd rather see Jurassic Park-level visual quality in a documentary about Michael Crichton? Don't think so. And, of course, there were references to The Dark Haired Girl....
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