Set in a futuristic Los Angeles, California, Blade Runner (1982) combines the genres (categories) of science fiction and the detective story. Director Ridley Scott (1937–) helmed this high-tech thriller about humans, androids (robots that look like human beings), and the relationships between them.

Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford, 1942–) is a former cop and an expert "blade runner"—someone who hunts down renegade androids and destroys them. The androids, known in the movie as "replicants," are almost human. They are stronger and faster but are made with strictly limited lifespans. Replicants were originally created to be slave labor "off-world," but some rebel, which is why blade runners exist.

The film opens with Deckard being pressed back into service by the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD). Five murderous outlaw replicants have returned to Los Angeles, their location and purpose unknown. Deckard is ordered to find and terminate them.

As he carries...