Established Hollywood director who is responsible for a fair amount of modern classics, but has made just as much throw-away junk. Scott can get a little too caught up in his own work, leading to overly long films, but overall an oeuvre worth exploring.
Movies
Nice piece of war insanity. The first half hour is a little slow, but once the action starts it just doesn't let down anymore. The film feels claustrophobic and tense, doing well in translating the threatening situation on screen. One of Ridley Scott's best and one of the best war films overall.
A surprisingly charming film by Ridley Scott. Extremely kitsch at times, but Scott's direction is so confdient it doesn't even matter. The art direction is great, the effects don't look too cheap and the fantasy foundation feels unique enough. Would've loved this as a child, but it's still holds up today.
Alien used to be a top personal favorite of mine when I was younger, but with every consecutive viewing, the film has gotten worse. Not the Giger/industrial design part, that's still pretty great. Everything around it though is really starting to show its age, and it has come to a point where I just can't call it a personal favorite anymore. The xenomorph is still one of my all-time favorite creatures, but Scott's film doesn't do Giger's designs justice. The performances and characters are rather tepid, the music is a little silly, the editing is rough, and the tech designs are often nonsensical. And then there's the ending, which is a total disgrace. There are still moments of genius, the lighting and interior design are pretty rad, but it's not enough anymore to ignore the film's faults.Read all
Ridley Scott's attempt to shine some light on the kidnapping of Paul Getty, the grandson of the richest man in the world. I wasn't really familiar with the case and based on the framing by the film ("based on ..." etc) it's probably best to not see this as a very factual report of the events, then again who'd expect that from a Hollywood film. Performances are decent but nothing special, the color palette's a bit grim and the soundtrack is too pompous. The film is also way too long, then again that's probably an attempt to give the project some extra weight. Can't say it worked, on the other hand it's not a terrible film either.Read all
One of the few remaining Scott films I'd still had to see. Or revisit, as I'd already watched this one as a kid. The ending is by far the most memorable part of Thelma & Louise, not in the least because it's been referenced so often since the film was released. It's probably also the single reason why it's considered a classic, as the rest isn't all that special. Louise is in a loose relationship, Thelma is stuck in an unhappy marriage. The two friends plan a weekend out of town, but after their first stop in a bar, things take a turn for the worse. The rest of the film sees the two women on the road, trying to remain out of the clutches of the police. The Sarandon/David tandem isn't that great, the soundtrack is terrible and the film's a bit long-winded. Certain scenes stand out and showcase Scott's skill as a director, sadly it's not enough to actually save the film. The ending still stands though, I just don't think it's enough to sit through the rest of the film.Read all
Ridley Scott tries to score with another Medieval drama. There's not a lot of interest in this particular niche these days, the 150-minute runtime is more than a bit off-putting and a UK/USA cast for a France-based story isn't exactly a smart choice either. It's no surprise this film bombed, though Scott clearly found other excuses. Scott clearly things he's making great cinema, but the bland plot, the horrible casting choices and the old-fashioned cinematic language make this is a film of the past. It's pretty obvious why this film got such a lukewarm response at the box office. Looking at The Last Duel and House of Gucci, I think it's time for Scott to consider retirement.Read all
All the Invisible Children
Ridley Scott's Napoleon biopic is exactly what I feared it would be. You've got a stern, single-expression Joaquin Phoenix running through the highlights of Napoleon's life, and that's all there is to it. Drama is alternated with some battlefield scenes, while all of that is stretched well beyond the 2-hour mark. I didn't care for Phoenix's performance, the cinematography was quite dull and dreary, the score was generic and the film had major pacing issues. It's an extremely old-fashioned biopic in every sense of the word, but that's par for the course when looking at Scott's oeuvre. Forgettable.Read all
If you're truly interested in the story behind the Gucci brand and people, you're no doubt better off looking somewhere else. When a British expat and a bunch of American actors with fake-Italian accents decide to adapt a true story for Hollywood, the result is bound to be more than a little iffy. No matter how impressive Jared Leto's make-up is, I find little pleasure in Americans playing Italians. The mix of drama and comedy doesn't really work, the budget was there, but Scott didn't know what to do with it and the 2.5-hour runtime is completely unnecessary. A film that screams for Scott's retirement.Read all
I didn't like the original Gladiator one bit, but this film is definitely worse. My main gripe is that it could've been released in 2001 and nobody would've noticed the difference. It's like the last 24 years of cinema never even happened, and Scott just made an alternate version of his 2000 success. It's no surprise then that this sequel won't be remembered in the same way. The story is predictable, the drama is cheesy and I couldn't care less about the setting. There's not enough material to fill 2.5 hours so the film feels stretched and lump. Not a day has passed and I'm already having a hard time separating both films. Yuck.Read all
