BRmovie.com: Blade Runner Souvenir Magazine - Official Collector's Edition

Los Angeles, the year 2019

Millions of people in recent years have colonized on other planets due to the over-population and pollution of Earth. Those who remain behind live in huge cities with skyscrapers as high as 400 stories. A vivid street life with its flashing neon and bizarre traffic jams, clogs the city as it's drenched by the continual rainfall.

The police maintain control through the spinner - a flying car that allows them to hover above traffic and speed to building tops, and the esper - a super computer that enables them to search a room without even being there.

Genetic engineering has become one of the Earth's biggest industries. When most of the world's animals became extinct, the genetic boom hit big by creating a line of artificial animals for use as pets. The industry was soon supplying genetically engineered humans, called replicants, to the Earth's colonies as slave labor and to the military for use in deep space.

Tyrell Corporation, the top replicant manufacturer, recently introduced the Nexus 6 model - the "ultimate" replicant with super-human strength. These replicants, however, are virtually identical to real humans, causing a major problem.

Replicants are outlawed on Earth but some manage to return and try to pass as human. That's when the police call in the Blade Runners, special detectives who use an elaborate type of lie detector (called the Voight-Kampff) to tell the difference between humans and replicants. It is the Blade Runner's job to track down the replicants and eliminate them.

The police have received an emergency report - four Nexus 6 replicants have returned to Earth after taking over a space shuttle by killing its crew. The police captain sends for the one man best able to find them: Rick Deckard (HARRISON FORD), an ex-cop and expert Blade Runner. (Note: Six replicants took over the space shuttle, but only four are left at the point where the movie starts - Netrunner.)