October 8, 2000

BLADE RUNNER  U.S., 1982. Color. Rated R. 117 Minutes  Directed by Ridley Scott.  Starring Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, Sean Young, Daryl Hannah.

In this dark and disturbing vision of Los Angeles in 2019, a trench-coated, thoroughly alienated Harrison Ford plays a former "blade runner" (i.e., combination bounty hunter and android killer) who comes out of retirement to track a mutinous gang of "replicants" (i.e., androids created by genetic engineers) who have fled a space colony and returned to earth to seek a way to prolong their short life spans. Rutger Hauer is terrific as the androids' super-human leader, and Sean Young gives a poignant performance as a replicant who thinks she is human. Re-released in 1993 in a 117-minute "director's cut," minus its original voice over and with a different ending, Blade Runner has become a cult favorite. Named to the NFR in 1993, the 1982 version won the 1983 Hugo Award for best dramatic presentation, and received Oscar nominations for best art direction/set decoration and best visual effects.