Blade Runner is a 1982 American science fiction film, directed by Ridley Scott and starring Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, and Sean Young. The screenplay, written by Hampton Fancher and David Peoples, is loosely based on the novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick. The film depicts a dystopian Los Angeles in November 2019 in which genetically manufactured beings called replicants – visually indistinguishable from adult humans – are used for dangerous and degrading work on Earth's "off-world colonies". Following a small replicant uprising, replicants become illegal on Earth and specialist police called "blade runners" are trained to hunt down and "retire" (kill) escaped replicants on Earth. The plot focuses on a brutal and cunning group of recently-escaped replicants hiding in Los Angeles and the semi-retired blade runner, Rick Deckard (Ford), who reluctantly agrees to take on one more assignment.

Blade Runner initially polarized critics: some were displeased with the pacing, while others enjoyed its thematic complexity. The film performed poorly in North American theaters. Despite the box office failure of the film, it has since become a cult classic. Blade Runner has been hailed for its production design, depicting a "retrofitted" future.Sammon, p. 79 The film is credited with prefiguring important concerns of the late 20th and early 21st centuries, such as overpopulation, globalization, climate change and genetic engineering. It remains a leading example of the neo-noir genre. Blade Runner brought author Philip K. Dick to the attention of Hollywood, and several more films have since been based on his work.Bukatman, p. 41 Ridley Scott regards Blade Runner as "probably" his most complete and personal film. In 1993, Blade Runner was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". In 2007, the American Film Institute named it the 97th greatest American film of all time in the 10th Anniversary edition of its 100 years... 100 Movies list.