BLADE RUNNER (1982) C widescreen 114m dir: Ridley Scott

w/Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, Sean Young, Edward James Olmos, M. Emmet Walsh, Daryl Hannah, William Sanderson, Brion James, Joseph Turkel, Joanna Cassidy

From The Movie Guide: "One of the most visually influential science fiction films ever made, BLADE RUNNER has a history as labyrinthine as any of its futuristic film noir sets. A fascinatingly contemplative detective story about a world-weary android-killer and his renegade prey, it has attracted a sizable cult audience and retains a unique place in cinema.

"Los Angeles, year 2019. Cynical ex-cop Deckard (Harrison Ford) is a retired assassin of rogue androids (called 'replicants'). His former boss, Bryant (M. Emmet Walsh), presses him into service: he is to kill a group of physically superior replicants that are on the loose after escaping from an 'off-world' colony. Deckard visits the Tyrell Corporation, where he encounters mogul Eldon Tyrell (Joseph Turkel) and his assistant, Rachael (Sean Young). Tyrell informs Deckard that Rachael is a new breed of replicant --- implanted with memories, she believes herself to be human. Bent on speaking to Tyrell in order to find out what their 'termination dates' are, two of the replicants --- Roy Batty (Rutger Hauer) and Pris (Daryl Hannah) --- insinuate themselves into the home of geneticist J.F. Sebastian (William Sanderson), who created the replicant design for Tyrell. In the meantime, two more of the replicants have been disposed of and Deckard has become romantically obsessed with Rachael.

"A critical and commercial flop in its initial, 116-minute domestic release, BLADE RUNNER has been shown in numerous versions in the years since. Most notable are the original theatrical cut, an 'unrated version' (featuring additional violent footage) prepared for home-video release, and director Ridley Scott's official 'director's cut,' which offered some key variations on the original theatrical version of the film. Whatever the version, and for all its stylistic achievements and excesses, this 'future noir' contains performances as stunning as its look: Ford's pained, taciturn Deckard; Hauer's doomed, dangerous, tragic Batty; Sanderson's naive yet knowing Sebastian; and Young's icily cool yet terrified Rachael. The moody musical score [by Vangelis] evokes classic noir without sinking into caricature, and the pre-computer animation special effects seem more lifelike than their sometimes sterile-looking counterparts in films made a decade later.

"BLADE RUNNER stands as a tough, idiosyncratic, and highly original vision of the future that asks meaningful questions about the nature of being human. [The film is based on the novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep by Philip K. Dick.] Despite its imperfections and occasionally muddy plot points, BLADE RUNNER successfully combines and transcends the sci-fi and detective genres to forge a serious drama that stands head-and-shoulders above the cartoonlike approach of many of its popular genre brethren."

BLADE RUNNER was nominated for two Oscars: Best Art Direction (Lawrence G. Paull, David L. Snyder, Linda DeScenna) and Visual Effects (Douglas Trumbull, Richard Yuricich, David Dryer).