A blend of science fiction and
noir detective fiction, Blade Runner (1982) was a box office and critical
bust upon its initial exhibition, but its unique postmodern production
design became hugely influential within the sci-fi genre, and the film
gained a significant cult following that increased its stature. Harrison
Ford stars as Rick Deckard, a retired cop in Los Angeles circa 2019. L.A.
has become a pan-cultural dystopia of corporate advertising, pollution and
flying automobiles, as well as replicants, human-like androids with short
life spans built by the Tyrell Corporation for use in dangerous off-world
colonization. Deckard's former job in the police department was as a
talented blade runner, a euphemism for detectives that hunt down and
assassinate rogue replicants. Called before his one-time superior (M. Emmett
Walsh), Deckard is forced back into active duty. A quartet of replicants led
by Roy Batty (Rutger Hauer) has escaped and headed to Earth, killing several
humans in the process. After meeting with the eccentric Eldon Tyrell (Joe
Turkel), creator of the replicants, Deckard finds and eliminates Zhora
(Joanna Cassidy), one of his targets. Attacked by another replicant, Leon (Brion
James), Deckard is about to be killed when he's saved by Rachael (Sean
Young), Tyrell's assistant and a replicant who's unaware of her true nature.
In the meantime, Batty and his replicant pleasure model lover, Pris (Darryl
Hannah) use a dying inventor, J.F. Sebastian (William Sanderson) to get
close to Tyrell and murder him. Deckard tracks the pair to Sebastian's,
where a bloody and violent final confrontation between Deckard and Batty
takes place on a skyscraper rooftop high above the city. In 1992, Ridley
Scott released a popular director's cut that removed Deckard's narration,
added a dream sequence, and excised a happy ending imposed by the results of
test screenings; these legendary behind-the-scenes battles were chronicled
in a 1996 tome, Future Noir: The Making of Blade Runner by Paul M. Sammon.| Harrison Ford | Rick Deckard |
| Rutger Hauer | Roy Batty |
| Sean Young | Rachael |
| Edward James Olmos | Gaff |
| M. Emmet Walsh | Harry Bryant |
| Daryl Hannah | Pris |
| William Sanderson | J.F. Sebastian |
| Brion James | Leon |
| Joe Turkel | Tyrell |
| Joanna Cassidy | Zhora |
| James Hong | Chew |
| Morgan Paull | Holden |
| Kevin Thompson | Bear |
| John E. Allen | Kaiser |
| Hy Pyke | Taffey Lewis |
| Robert Okazaki | Sushi Master |
| Kimiko Hiroshige | Cambodian Woman |
| Charles Knapp | Bartender |
Genre/Type Science Fiction, Tech Noir, Sci-Fi Action
Produced by Ladd Company / Warner Brothers
Running time - 114 min.
The Matrix Reloaded (2003, Andy Wachowski, Larry Wachowski)
Minority Report (2002, Steven Spielberg)
A.I.: Artificial Intelligence (2001, Steven Spielberg)
Armitage III (1994, Hiroyuki Ochi)
Metropolis (1927, Fritz Lang)
The Wicked City (1992, Peter Mak, Yuen Woo Ping)
Ghost in the Shell (1996, Mamoru Oshii)
Mad Max (1979, George Miller)