Ridley Scott. Sir Ridley is certainly still working adding films to his archives like The Martian from 2015 and All the Money in the World in 2017. Scott probably isn’t in the top 100 at all without Blade Runner. He’s the lowest ranking auteur with a top 10 all-time film (we’re talking Ozu, Ford, Dreyer, Kubrick, Scorsese, Coppola, Welles, Tarkovsky, Hitchcock). That’s incredible company. This becomes one of the tougher parts of doing this list. How many films like say Gosford Park (to pick one) is Blade Runner worth? How many films like Moonrise Kingdom is Blade Runner worth? Perhaps more important than just merely directing a top 10 film, Scott’s Blade Runner is exceptionally well directed. Scott is the star of Blade Runner. I know that may seem obvious but I have lofty places in and around my top 100 of all-time for Casablanca and say City Lights and Scott’s work as director is far beyond Curtiz in Casablanca (it’s a top 5 all-time screenplay and probably the best performance from 2 of the best 5-6 screen actors of all-time) and Chaplin’s work as director in City Lights (City Lights is also the greatest performances from one of cinema’s greatest performers…not directors). After all that, he does have 12 archiveable films and he has a second film, Alien, that rates as a masterpiece and proves that Blade Runner was no fluke or happy coincidence of an extremely talented cast and crew at their peak (which it was).
Best film: Blade Runner. Easy choice here for me. One of the greatest films of all-time. Simply put it’s an expressionistic masterpiece and perhaps the greatest example of production design and mise-en-scene in film history. Has many roots in noir and detective/crime films and fiction—the fire bursting from the city reminds me of Walsh’s White Heat with James Cagney in 1949. Every scene is pouring with steam from the streets and cigarette smoke (noir). It’s perpetual rain and perpetual night just like noir. Harrison Ford has more screen time but it’s Rutger Hauer’s film. Hauer is in roughly 32 minutes and it may be the greatest 32 minute performance of all-time. Ford’s performance isn’t transcendent but it isn’t bad either- he’s doing Bogart here- meeting with seedy club owners and falling for the damsel in distress. He keeps it all internalized with a handed outer sheen. Sean Young is very good here—it’s a strong performance. Features an absolutely brilliant synthesizer score and main motif by Vangelis. Gorgeous advertising production design with the Coke, Atari and Pan Am logos. The reflected eye (you can see the city and fire) and reflected window/glass use it’s hard not to think of the helmet shield in 2001. The architectural miniatures are truly part 2001 and part Metropolis from Fritz Lang. Ford’s driving narrative is largely a slow-burn detective film looking for clues but there’s existential questions, largely in subtext, throughout. I think there’s an underlying racist element in the dystopian word. This is just an observation—but the world here is a melding of worlds and language- very Japanese heavy of course but we also hear German “danke” in the elevator, there’s the snake maker (this could be a nod to Casablanca as well), a Spanish language movie house, etc. There’s a Christ allegory I hadn’t realized until now. Hauer’s Roy is the “prodigal son” and near the end of the film he puts a spike through his hand as he’s dying. It’s a bit of a stretch to say he spares Ford or that he’s somehow dying for him but the “Father/God” character of Tyrell is very real. Very “Why has thou forsaken me” in some of Hauer’s musings. Two perfect endings in one- we have the tears in the rain death of Hauer and then the unicorn escape epilogue with Ford and Young with the open ending and the jump to the faster score- pitch perfect. Douglas Trumball—special effects designer has both this and 2001 to his name not to mention a special consultant mention in Tree of Life…. Yamma. Lawrence G Paul is the production designer, he worked in Back to the Future– which is really well done as well-l but I don’t see anything else in his history here to suggest that Ridley Scott is NOT the genius behind the production design—Scott is the auteur. A wonder of film miniature work and establishing shots. Countless still-frame hang-on-wall photography shots including Tyrell in bed doing stocks and has about 50 candles going in his room. Haha. Much tighter than Blade Runner 2049. It’s weird- it’s a very tight film but it’s also a slow-burn mood piece. The scene where Hauer’s Roy kills Tyrell is so magnificently operatic. It reminded me here of the Joaquin Phoenix killing of Richard Harris in Gladiator (obviously also by Scott)– vengeful son killing father. Literally people smoking and/or drinking whiskey in every scene (very noir/detective). Clearly influenced by Bertolucci’s the conformist in lighting and set design. The film is as influential as any film in post 1980’s cinema—there’s no AI from Spielberg without this film. It’s a very short scene but the scene where Ford interrogates the snake-maker is shot entirely through glass with logos on it and it’s utterly stunning to look at. The lighting of the umbrellas is so inspired—ditto with the lining of the interior of the bus. The Joanna Cassidy broken glass slow-mo shooting/death sequence is another stunner—fake snow and reflected neon glass. Countless beautiful dank dark shots of Ford’s cluttered apartment and there’s always exterior light pouring in from every window—the darkness and busy disheveled mise-en scene reminds me of some of Tarkovsky’s work—JF Sebastian’s large house/set piece reminds me of it as well. A Masterpiece and top 10 all-time film.
total archiveable films: 12
top 100 films: 1 (Blade Runner)
top 500 films: 2 (Blade Runner, Alien)
top 100 films of the decade: 3 (Blade Runner, Alien, Thelma and Louise)
most overrated: None- he has 3 films in the top 1000 – my top 3 below—and none are overrated.
most underrated: Prometheus. The starts off with an absolute stunner of an opening and credit sequence- such beautiful photography is pretty rare in cinema. There’s a lot under the surface with the Fassbender character. I’ve seen this film 3 times now and wish they had expanded a little on the 2 years of travel or whatever when everyone else was in hibernation and Fassbender’s David was awake—learning about others, watching and copying Lawrence of arabia, etc- I wonder if there’s a Ridley Scott directors cut out there like blade runner or kingdom of heaven. The fassbender character name is David- just like AI, The storm set piece is an absolute stunner as well. The film is flawed. There much that is questionable if not improbable, even in the world of the film, but I think one of my biggest beefs is Logan Marshall Green’s character. The actor is fine, but I just think he’s completely miscast and functionary to propel the narrative and nothing more. He doesn’t seem intellectual, he’s overly reactive and cocky without intelligence. It’s a “good ideas” screenplay but not great dialogue. Many great films call into this category though. Very strong score. The surgical machine set piece sequence is a highlight as well. Great actors but not great performances here which is telling. The film is filled with homages and winks to 2001 but one I didn’t notice until this viewing was that Guy Pearce’s old man looks just like the old man in 2001. The effects Scott uses are set design drive and not special effect driven- I think this is what elevates this film above almost every superhero film.
gem I want to spotlight: Alien. Certainly seems like the offspring off 1951’s the thing from another world and kubrick’s 2001. Weaver had one other role and her debut in a quick shot as woody’s date I believe in annie hall but what a tremendous casting find here. I absolutely love the first 45 minutes. It’s patience, building tension and gorgeous production design and mise-en-scene. Clearly, Ridley Scott is not Kubrick but visually he’s closer to Kubrick than George Lucas. There’s some similarities between the ship, also the Mother/HAL and Ian Holm’s icy “ash” character. Anyone calling this a straight B-movie as an insult to its grandeur ideas and themes is wrong- there’s quite a bit going on here.This is the 2nd finest example (blade runner) of Scott’s superior (even amongst great auteurs) craftsmanship and skilled photography. The ending shutting down of the ship again mirrors 2001 – there’s so much going on with the lighting and mise-en-scene… it certainly reminds me of some german expressionism. There’s shadow work, fantastic lighting, sirens going off, flames, yellow/green coloring that is quite beautiful (there’s a reason Fincher would do the 3rd aliens film), strobe lighting as well. It’s the 4th best film of 1979 but that’s no insult- we’re talking about career-best work from Woody Allen (Manhattan), Tarkovsky (stalker) and Coppola (apocalypse now). Masterpiece.
stylistic innovations/traits: When I think of Scott I think of absolutely wonderful photography first. He’s a photographer first by trade. He’s known for spectacular visual composition and production design (which highlight both of his masterpieces). His detractors always say the “style over substance” but those are cinema’s great artists. Scott himself says: “People say I pay too much attention to the look of a movie but for God’s sake, I’m not producing a Radio 4 Play for Today, I’m making a movie that people are going to look at.” Haha. Again if you go back to his 1-2 with Blade Runner and Alien he’s the artist—the production designer for Blade Runner is Lawrence Paul, DP is Jordan Croneweth and music by Vangelis. For Alien it’s Michael Seymour as the production designer, Derek Vanlint as the DP and Jerry Goldsmith doing the great score.
top 10
- Blade Runner
- Alien
- Thelma and Louise
- Gladiator
- The Duelists
- Prometheus
- Kingdom of Heaven
- Blackhawk Down
- The Martian
- American Gangster
By year and grades
| 1977- The Duelists | R |
| 1979- Alien | MP |
| 1982- Blade Runner | MP |
| 1991- Thelma and Louise | HR |
| 2000- Gladiator | HR |
| 2001- Black Hawk Down | R |
| 2003- Matchstick Men | R |
| 2005- Kingdom of Heaven | R |
| 2007- American Gangster | R |
| 2012- Prometheus | R |
| 2015- The Martian | R |
| 2017- All the Money in the World | R |
*MP is Masterpiece- top 1-3 quality of the year film
MS is Must-see- top 5-6 quality of the year film
HR is Highly Recommend- top 10 quality of the year film
R is Recommend- outside the top 10 of the year quality film but still in the archives
Right now ryan coogler is like sir Ridley scott without The Blade Runner. Lets see if he gets a blade runner.
@Bobby- thanks for the comment here. It’s been a great start to the career for Coogler. What a talent. I hope he gets a “Blade Runner”, too. I’m not sure he has an “Alien” yet though either. Do you think he’s made anything that good yet? I don’t.
Drake, have you seen the Kingdom of Heaven directors cut? It’s a totally different (and better) movie
@Haider — Yes, I have– it is much better- agreed. I’m skeptical of director’s cuts but with Ridley Scott it’s different.
Is the Director’s Cut still a mere R to you, or is it anything more?
@Zane- yes — I’ve only caught the director’s cut of Kingdom of Heaven once– was impressed- currently have it as a “recommend” level film. You think it is better?
I would consider it HR for that year. It is on the level of Gladiator in my opinion if not greater.
Blade runner is his best film for sure. Many people consider him a commercial sellout these days, but he will always still have this great film.
@D.WGriffith– — hmmm “sellout” feels like overdoing it on Ridley Scott. I know this isn’t you saying it- but “some people”- I think Ridley Scott has always been a director of popular/commercial films.
Long time away from this site… but i want to affirm that Blade Runner is one of my favorite films and i believe it has THE best use of lighting in cinema history, along with apocalypse now!, although i find this film more enjoyable and watchable than the latter. and the Vangelis soundtrack is one of the best soundtracks ever. i have only seen the 2007 version which ebert claims is one of the best worlds ever created on film (paraphrasing). harrison ford is my favorite actor but the thought of him doing a voice over seems to kind of ruin the film. it isn’t a camp film or an outdated cult film but a serious contemplative masterpiece on how humans have souls and are not just bodies. That is one of the core tenets of the Christian religion i am a believer in Jesus Christ Of Nazareth, THE Lord. The problem is every … single… movie.. has a ‘christ figure…’ but there are other very interesting aspects of the king james bible that should be explored on films.. Sean Young is great in the film and Hauer who i don’t know from any other film i don’t believe. I think Ford is quite underrated in the film. I like the use of blue but the use of the golden yellow tint in Tyrell’s bedroom and inside the halls of his corp are the best use of color in the film.
Drake some consider it as an allegory for slavery. i don’t know if youve ever considered that. i never thought of it as the deepest film besides the humanity renee descartes speculations…… and i don’t believe ford is a ‘replicant’ but it wouldn’t really bother me…
(also i’m trying to get to it again this weekend followed by the new one with gosling which i have not seen)
i don’t mean to sound self righteous but i don’t really like to watch films that say G-D or omg or Jesus as an exclamation, which blade runner 2007 does not do as it takes place in the future (2019….)… another film i love is space odyssey and the original six star wars films, terminators, and metropolis. And Planet Of the Apes… i love science fiction films. but none of those films is quite as good technically as br. Planet of the Apes is a great story but the story is its main strength and metropolis is more about exploring those themes and a minimalist technical masterpiece. the star wars films especially the prequels which are underappreciated i really respect on a technical level but the use of digital and they just don’t seem as ‘painterly’ as blade. 2001 is of course probably the greatest technical achievement on film but there is something about its ‘polished’ nature that just doesn’t quite compare to the ‘graininess’ of blade. it is almost like 2001, as great as it is, is the Chess Computer who knows all the right moves perfectly whereas the blade runner is the fallible player who has an ‘artistry’ to his chess matches…
i’m not a fan of alien and don’t find it to contain my interests but this is a great film a masterpiece and i agree one of the best films ever created… good job. and ill say i can’t think of any flaws in the 2007 edition of the film except for i didn’t care for a few of the costumes like the asian gentleman’s who beatty attacked or the woman who fought Ford. And i also don’t like the SHAMELESS glaring product placement of the Coca Cola Advertisement….
Is better to watch theater cut, or the director`s cut of Blade Runner?
The final cut is considered vastly superior by nearly all accounts, and the easiest to find. Note that the final cut is significantly different than the theatrical cut and slightly different than the version named “the director’s cut,” which, despite its misleading name, was not created by Ridley Scott. The final cut is the only version that matches Scott’s intended vision for the film.
@RujK – I have only seen the Final Cut so maybe I’m not the best person to say but I will say that I only watched Blade Runner for the 1st time about 1-2 years ago and it’s one of my favorites and an all time great in my opinion so I don’t think you can really go wrong watching the Final Cut.
Here is one article that ranks all the versions (apparently there are 7):
https://screenrant.com/blade-runner-every-version-original-ranked/
Anyone seen The Last Duel yet? It’s another really solid entry from him. The whole narrative structure is really strong and rigorous and you have great performances from Adam Driver and Jodie Comer at least. Not much good cinematography but really nice work on the mise en scene (some scenes with nothing but candle light are amazing). Scott also does great work in the editing room I thought.
R/HR for me, leaning R
I just caught this today. For the first half hour or so I thought it was a decent R, but man, that narrative structure is something. Such great form in the variation between each perspective, a definite Rashomon influence there. With less than a day’s distance away from it I’m still gathering my thoughts, but I’m also thinking R/HR, maybe leaning HR.
HR for me.
I totally agree with Declan… I went into the cinema knowing next to nothing about Last Duel so I had no idea the story would be structured like that – and not even what the story essentially was about. I just thought it would be a violent medieval film.
{Spoilers}
When Chapter II started, and lots of things started to happen again – but in Adam Driver’s POV – I actually literally got on the edge of my seat, hahah.
@Drake-Have you seen House of Gucci(2021) and The Last Duel(2021)? Are both of them achievable?
@Anderson- I have seen both– The Last Duel will be in. House of Gucci is not bad- but did miss the cut.
[…] 55. Ridley Scott […]
I’m surprised The Counselor isn’t in the archives for Ridley. I just caught the extended cut and was pretty impressed. Very stacked cast, memorable monologues all written by the great Cormac McCarthy, some nice mise en scene setups and tense Hitchcock/De Palma/Polanski paranoia filmaking in spots. R/HR from me.
@Harry- Interesting. I should give it another shot. I saw it in theater in 2013- it was a colossal disappointment with the of the talent involved. I agreed with the 48 on metacritic consensus. But I have not revisited and we’re coming upon a decade here. I should take a closer/second look. Thanks for the recommendation.
You’re welcome. Give the extended cut a shot like I did, that might make the difference.
Drake,
I finally caught a viewng of Alien (1979) and was very impressed with the incredible set design
and pacing which takes a page from the Hitchcock motto:
“surprise is when two people are sitting in a coffee shop and a bomb goes off under the table; suspense is when we see a man place a bomb under the table and watch the two people meet to have coffee”
The slow build up and tension is masterfully done.
With all that said o you consider Scott’s career to be somewhat of a disappointment post Blade Runner?
He obviously got off to an incredible start with Alien and Blade Runner but after that I would probably say his next best film is Gladiator (2000) which I watched again recently and though I think it’s a strong film (for me probably HR maybe even HR/MS) I used to think much higher of it when I was younger. Before rewatching I might have said it was near MP level and it is certainly not that.
@James Trapp- Very nice! Alien is one we all have to see. Yes, I mean he has had a great solid career since Blade Runner- but out of his best films (I’m not 100% The Duellists isn’t his third best) are now forty years in the rearview and he has been a major player that entire forty years and prolific since then.
@Drake – I mean I try to be positive in general and appreciative of what a particular auteur/actor/actress gives us rather than complain about what could have been but at the same time expectations are relative so with someone capable of a couple of MPs including a huge MP in Blade Runner (my # 34 all time and moving up with each additional viewing) it is difficult not to lament a little.