The summary and note for this entry were completed with participation from the AFI Academic Network. Summary and note were written by participant Austin Hodaie, a student at Oregon State University, with Jon Lewis as academic advisor.

The film begins with the following prologue: “Early in the 21st Century, the Tyrell Corporation advanced Robot evolution into the Nexus phase – a being virtually identical to a human – known as a Replicant. The Nexus 6 Replicants were superior in strength and agility, and at least equal in intelligence, to the genetic engineers who created them. Replicants were used Off-world as slave labor, in the hazardous exploration and colonization of other planets. After a bloody mutiny by a Nexus 6 combat team in an Off-world colony, Replicants were declared illegal on earth – under penalty of death. Special police squads – Blade Runner Units – had orders to shoot to kill, upon detection, any trespassing Replicant. This was not called execution. It was called retirement.” A title card follows which reads: “Los Angeles, November, 2019.”
       End credits contain a “thanks” to William S. Burroughs and Alan E. Nourse “for the use of the title Blade Runner.” Credits conclude with the following: “This film is dedicated to the memory of Philip K. Dick.” Dick passed away on 2 Mar 1982, roughly three months prior to the film’s release.
       A 6 Jan 1975 DV news item announced that Herb Jaffe would produce a feature film based on Philip K. Dick’s novel, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? An 11 Jul 1980 DV report later announced that Ridley Scott was attached to direct Blade Runner, which would be based on the same novel, but Jaffe was not mentioned. At the time, Filmways was attached to produce and Scott was set to receive a percentage of the film’s gross. According to a 26 Dec 1980 HR brief, Dustin Hoffman was considering the lead role as a bounty hunter, and the story was reportedly set in 1999, though the year eventually changed to 2019.
       In an interview published in the Feb 2007 issue of Los Angeles magazine, Scott stated that he and Hampton Fancher wrote the screenplay for Blade Runner in eight months. Working titles included Dangerous Days and Mechanismo. Fancher eventually thought of the William S. Burroughs book, Blade Runner: A Movie, and producer Michael Deeley decided Blade Runner was the best title for the project. While Scott was initially interested in Hoffman for the role of “Deckard,” Fancher imagined Robert Mitchum while writing the character, and stated that he wanted “an over-the-hill…alcoholic guy.” Actor Harrison Ford was cast as “Deckard,” after Deeley became frustrated with Hoffman’s creative input.
       According to the 26 Dec 1980 HR brief and a 19 Jul 1981 LAT article, the budget for the film was $22 million. However, Var later reported the budget as $30 million in a 16 Jun 1982 review.
       The film was shot at The Burbank Studios lot, where an old New York set was re-dressed as an “unnamed, Asian-dominated metropolis of the not-so-distant future,” as stated in the 19 Jul 1981 LAT article. $1.5 million was spent on set design, and Syd Mead was brought in to design futuristic cars. Mead also drew backgrounds which intrigued Scott and production designer Lawrence G. Paull. Mead commented that his designs for Blade Runner were based on the “social theory” that inhabitants of the film’s futuristic world would detest the look of the rundown city so much that they would travel in tank-like vehicles, and windows would be boarded up or replaced with television screens showing footage of exotic locations. Some Los Angeles, CA, locations were used, including The Bradbury Building downtown, the location for J. F. Sebastian's apartment, as stated in the 16 Jun 1982 Var review. An 11 Sep 1992 Washington Post review of a theatrical reissue also noted that Frank Lloyd Wright’s Ennis House, located in Los Angeles’ Los Feliz neighborhood, served as the location for Tyrell’s home as well as Deckard's apartment building.
       In an interview two days before the 25 Jun 1982 release, Harrison Ford defended his voice-over narration in the film, saying it had always been planned; however, several sources “close to the production” claimed it was a last-minute addition to make the plot more cohesive, as stated in a 23 Jun 1982 LAT item. When a reporter asked Ford whether he liked the film, he responded, “That’s not a fair question.”
       Critical reception was mixed. Praise was reserved for the film’s performances and technical aspects, while the screenplay was criticized as confused and messy. In a 25 Jun 1982 NYT review, Janet Maslin called the film “muddled yet mesmerizing,” and described the special effects as “superb.” Also on 25 Jun 1982, Sheila Benson of LAT described the script as “frail and unhelpful” but “drenched in atmosphere.” The 15 Jun 1982 Var review lauded director of photography Jordan Cronenweth and composer Vangelis, and claimed that, despite its narrative flaws, the film was “nevertheless a major entry in the futuristic genre.”
       Blade Runner was nominated for two Academy Awards: “Best Art Direction” and “Best Visual Effects.” The film won three British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) awards for best “Costume Design,” “Production Design,” and “Cinematography.”
       According to a 13 Feb 1992 HR article, a “70mm version of the director’s cut of Blade Runner,” without the voice-over, was scheduled to be released in the fall of 1992. Warner Bros. planned to distribute 100 prints, encouraged by the success of “two record-breaking engagements” in Oct 1991 when the film took in $184,000 in box-office receipts at a San Francisco, CA, theater over two weeks, and $230,059 at a Los Angeles, CA, theater in twenty-seven days. A subsequent release was announced on 26 May 2006 in DV, when Warner Bros. stated that a new “Director’s Cut,” which Scott began working on in 2000 and promised to be the final version, would appear in theaters in 2007. Scott was reportedly disappointed by the 1992 version, although it had been praised by critics as an improvement on the original motion picture. A home video version was set for a Sep 2006 release and would sell for only four months before being “placed on moratorium.” Following the planned 2007 theatrical release of the new director’s cut, a special edition DVD would be released, featuring the three versions of the film in addition to an “expanded international theatrical cut” and bonus materials.
       A 22 Jun 1995 HR brief reported that Bantam Books planned to release a sequel to Blade Runner in the form of a novel, titled Blade Runner 2: The Edge of Human, written by K.W. Jeter. A web series tied to the film was later announced in a 4 Jun 2009 NYT news item. The series, titled Purefold, would be produced by Scott���s RSA Films, with a story set in 2019. Because the producers had not obtained rights to Dick’s novel, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, the series would refrain from direct references to certain characters and situations from Blade Runner but would address similar themes, exploring, as in the film, “what it means to be human and understanding the notion of empathy.”
       A 19 Aug 2011 HR news item announced that Alcon Entertainment was producing an as-yet untitled “follow-up” to Blade Runner, with Scott attached to direct. Though it was unclear whether the project would be a prequel or a sequel, Alcon’s co-founder, Andrew Kosove, asserted that the film would definitely not be a remake. Alcon partnered with producer Bud Yorkin to produce the follow-up in addition to “TV and interactive productions based on” Blade Runner.
       Blade Runner was ranked 97th on AFI's 2007 100 Years…100 Movies--10th Anniversary Edition list of the greatest American films.