Brendan Michaels Being the Linklater fan that I am I was quite shocked to see him do a Science Fiction film. While I love him he doesn't seem like the type of director that could pull off a film like this when I think of Phillip K. Dick or Science Fiction in general. But surprisingly Linklater makes one of the most mind bendingly masterful science fiction films that I have ever seen. A Scanner Darkly is a film that before you go in you have to get prepared to have your mind blown. That's all I can really say because my mind is spinning after watching this.The animation is truly magnificent as it seems almost real because technically it is. Linklater shot all of this in live action and had an animation team animate over the actors. That's insane! Surprisingly even though this takes place in the future (2013 to be exact) it's quite shocking how Linklater realistically portrayed what the world would look like in that span of time. It isn't a grimy post apocalypse look or an Orwellian utopia, if anything it looks like how the present is.As expected the performances are great with some funny lines that Linklater always has. Keanu plays a character I can only describe as Neo in the present day but instead of leading the war on machines he's leading the war on drugs. Robert Downey Jr. feels reminiscent of Hunter T. Thompson with his erratic behavior and insane characteristics. Woody Harrelson is great as usual playing a pretty believable stoner which only makes me wonder if this is Woody in real life. Winona Ryder is great in her even more mind bending role in this film. I won't give away what's so mind bending about it so I'll just say this, Winona Ryder is very pretty.If I had to compare the complexities of the story A Scanner Darkly is as complicated as Inherent Vice but even more so at points and I think that's what Linklater was going for. You are Bob in this film. You're slowly losing your mind as you go down this rabbit hole of drugs and madness. Linklater captures Phillip K. Dick's paranoid mind set that is shown in his other work vividly. I know Kaufman was involved with the project very early on but surprisingly I'd say that no one could have done a better job than Linklater on this project. I think this is possibly Linklater's most profound piece next to Boyhood.If you seek for a Science Fiction film that will truly get you thinking look no further than A Scanner Darkly. Linklater's most under appreciated film proves that he can stretch beyond the bounds of what we're used to seeing with him (which I still love). Come for the brain churning visuals, stay for the mind twisting story.

Dolan Brula This is more of a 7.5 out of ten for me. It was a good drama but the plot could be at times just as confusing as Bob Arctor's life. It all however makes sense in the end but obviously throughout the movie you do not know that. In the end the characters and conversations were great, the twist at the end was great and the overall "D"-atmosphere (you'll get this reference when you watch it) was conveyed quite well and in which was complemented and even enhanced by the bold and daring visuals. As far as the visuals are concerned it is in my experience that people either love it or hate it. But don't let that discourage you! You will be pleasantly surprised even if the visuals aren't your thing. The only other issue I had was the lack of action. To compensate though this dark drama gives you rich and interesting characters and a mind-bending even disturbing plot. Enjoy!Dolan Brula

Red_Identity This is certainly very much like Waking Life, in the obvious, similar ways. But while both are sort of hard to get into in their own ways, the plot here is just way too complicated. Maybe rewatches are needed, but a plot still needs to engage even if we don't fully get it or understand it, we need to be engaged and interested enough to continue. I wasn't totally bored, but it was really hard. If anything, the animation style is what made me stay with it, and it does get better as it goes on, more interesting to the point that I can say I barely, mildly liked it. The performances are pretty fantastic, especially Winona Ryder, and Reeves is as unengaging as ever.

Stompgal_87 I first saw this film in 2007 when I hired it from my now-defunct local Blockbuster because I was interested in seeing what the rotoscoping technique looked like. I bought the DVD a year later. Upon seeing it, I was very impressed with the graphics and animation because they were rather lifelike due to them being traced over live-action footage. The funny thing about this film is that it was set seven years from its year of release (2006), thus making it take place in, wait for it... 2013 (although this fact may seem dated in many years to come).As well as the graphics and animation style, the other positive aspects are the well-known cast of Keanu Reeves, Woody Harrelson, Winona Ryder and Robert Downey Jr, although to me Rory Cochrane is a lesser-known addition to the cast since I hadn't heard of him prior to seeing this film. In spite of this, he played a decent Charles Freck but Reeves as Bob/Fred/Bruce and Ryder as Donna/Hank/Audrey were the standouts while Downey Jr was comical as James Barris. The dialogue had a fine mix of darkness, poignancy and humour while a few of the visuals were bizarre (a policeman shooting Freck's head off in his imagination and Freck encountering an alien-like creature with multiple eyes later on in the film) in a good way. I also liked the animation and appearance of the scramble suits. The story was hard to follow at times, but I know for sure its basic premise was Arctor being addicted to Substance D and eventually going to rehab under the name of Bruce.All in all, this is a visual treat that inspired me to make my own short rotoscoped film as part of my animation course at university. To summarise, the strongest points were the cast, the dialogue, animation and graphics. 8/10.