Blade Runner (1982)

Country: USA
Director: Ridley Scott
Screenwriters: Hampton Fancher, David Peoples
Stars: Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, Sean Young, M. Emmett Walsh, James Earl Jones, Daryl Hannah

In many ways, Blade Runner is one of the most accessible sci-fi movies of all time. Liberally adapting Philip K. Dick's short novel Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep?, director Ridley Scott fashioned the futuristic thriller as the most technologically advanced film noir, complete with "dames." It's the kind of gumshoe story Humphrey Bogart used to make, with Harrison Ford playing a retired detective on a mission to apprehend a shitload of fugitives. And who doesn't love a good, old-school crime saga?

The magic of Blade Runner is that it's technically anything but old-school. It's noir meets Ziggy Stardust, with stunning set design shown in great detail through sprawling aerial shots. The world of Blade Runner is kaleidoscopic, full of neon lights and glowing vehicles that zoom through the sky. As Ford gets his Dick Tracy on, Scott goes to extensive lengths to one-up Fritz Lang's Metropolis. —MB