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Blade Runner is a 1982 American science fiction film, directed by Ridley Scott and starring Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, and Sean Young. The screenplay, written by Hampton Fancher and David Peoples, is based on the novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick. The film depicts a dystopian Los Angeles in November 2019 in which genetically manufactured beings called replicants—visually indistinguishable from adult humans—are used for dangerous or menial work on Earth's "off-world colonies". Following a replicant uprising, replicants become illegal on Earth and specialist police called "blade runners" are trained to hunt down and "retire" escaped replicants on Earth. The plot focuses on a brutal and cunning group of recently-escaped replicants hiding in Los Angeles and the semi-retired blade runner, Rick Deckard, who reluctantly agrees to take on one more assignment. Blade Runner initially polarized critics: some were displeased with the pacing, while others enjoyed its thematic complexity. The film performed poorly in North American theaters. Despite the box office failure of the film, it has since become a cult classic. Blade Runner has been hailed for its production design, depicting a "retrofitted" future. It remains a leading example of the neo-noir genre. Seven versions of the film have been shown, for various markets, and as a result of controversial changes made by film executives. A rushed Director's cut was released in 1992 after a strong response to workprint screenings. In 2007, Warner Bros. released in select theaters and on DVD/HD DVD/Blu-ray, the 25th anniversary digitally remastered definitive Final Cut by Scott. (more...)

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• A suicide bombing kills 22 people, including three ministers of the Transitional Federal Government, in Mogadishu, Somalia.
• Rwanda becomes the first country to be declared landmine-free under the Ottawa Treaty.
• In the process to revalue the North Korean won, current banknotes cease to be legal tender, and businesses throughout the country shut down until new notes are released on 7 December.
• José Mujica (pictured) is elected President of Uruguay.
• Porfirio Lobo is elected President of Honduras in the first election since the 2009 Honduran constitutional crisis.
• In a referendum in Switzerland, voters approve a ban on the construction of minarets in the country.
• Rwanda is admitted under the Edinburgh criteria into the Commonwealth of Nations, becoming its second member without any formal historical ties to the United Kingdom.
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December 4: Navy Day in India

• 1639 – English astronomer Jeremiah Horrocks made the first observation of a transit of Venus (2004 transit pictured).
• 1676 – Scanian War: Forces led by Swedish Field Marshal Simon Grundel-Helmfelt defeated the invading army of Denmark–Norway under the command of King Christian V in an area north of Lund, Sweden.
• 1829 – The practice of sati was formally abolished in British India after years of campaigning by Ram Mohan Roy against the Hindu funeral custom of widows immolating themselves.
• 1909 – The Montreal Canadiens ice hockey club, the oldest professional hockey franchise in the world, was founded as a charter member of the National Hockey Association.
• 1977 – Jean-Bédel Bokassa, the President of the Central African Republic, had himself crowned as Emperor Bokassa I.
• 1992 – Operation Restore Hope: One day after the United Nations Security Council passed Resolution 794, U.S. President George H. W. Bush ordered American troops into Somalia to help provide humanitarian aid and restore order after the dissolution of the country's central government during the ongoing Somali Civil War.

More anniversaries: December 3 – December 4 – December 5