In an environmentally devastated future, anyone who has the means to leave Earth has.  In this world, a professional android-killer otherwise named a "blade runner" is forced to hunt for six escaped "replicants," androids that are virtually indistinguishable from normal people.

Based loosely on Philip K. Dick's "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" Blade Runner was the first big budget movie to bring the tennets of cyberpunk to the North American big screen. Starring Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, and then-unknowns Sean Young, Darryl Hannah and Edward James Olmos (waaaay before Battlestar Galactica), it opened to mixed reviews and an unfortunate opening summer: E.T. opened two weeks prior to Blade Runner. Blade Runner became a footnote in the year's theatrical releases.

With most movies, that would be the end of the story. But Blade Runner was no ordinary film. The movie was fraught with controversy that made the "behind the scenes" details legendary. Ego clashes, heavy studio editing and a supposed curse continue to generate interest to this day. Harrison Ford still refers to making Blade Runner as one of his worst filmmaking experiences, and Ridley Scott refers to Ford as the most difficult actor he ever had to work with. Sparks flew on set daily. Of course, stories like this just fueled public interest.

As more people watched the movie, Blade Runner evolved from cult classic to just pure classic, making it onto the lists of top movies around the world. It's not surprising. Controversy aside, Blade Runner remains a thought-provoking and groundbreaking movie.

For one thing, the special effects were so brilliant that they are still unmatched over twenty years later. The acting is excellent, particularly Rutger Hauer's haunting role as the leader of the replicants.

And the story? Who are you if your memories are not your own? That unsettling concept is at the core of a gritty, nihilistic story that is fascinating from beginning to end.

There are seven different cuts of Blade Runner. My recommendation is the 1997 Director's Cut.

Watch it.

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