The Best Movie Of Each Year From 1925-2025

Honourable Mentions: First Blood, The King of Comedy, The Thing

In some ways, it feels like a bit of a cheat to call Blade Runner the best film of 1982. It wasn't until 1992 that a version resembling Ridley Scott's original vision was given a wide release, and it took a further 15 years after that for the "Final Cut" - an edit of the film presided over by Scott, and widely considered to be the definitive version of the film - to premiere on home video. The original theatrical print, which included toned-down violence, a studio-imposed happy ending and a miserable narration from Harrison Ford, was, for lack of a better phrase, not it.

Of course, retroactively, that Final Cut does ensure that Blade Runner is the best film of 1982, shading John Carpenter's masterpiece The Thing by a whisker thanks to an impeccable set of performances from Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer and Sean Young; a magnetic composition from Vangelis; and a glorious fusion of science fiction and neo noir administered by Scott and an accomplished design team comprised of Syd Mead and Mark Stetson, among many others.

In short, Blade Runner typifies sci-fi at its very best - a story about the fantastical that cuts to the very core of our humanity.