The prodigious British director is still making bold, big budget, cult films like "Alien" and "Gladiator" that have marked his 45-year career.
Ridley Scott on the set of 'Black Rain' (1989) Image: picture-alliance/kpa
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Ridley Scott's cult films
British director Ridley Scott is a master of Hollywood cinema. His latest movie "All the Money in the World" is now coming to the cinemas.
Image: kpa/picture-alliance
Recast: "All the Money in the World"
After the American actor Anthony Rapp accused Kevin Spacey of abusing him three decades ago, Ridley Scott cut all of Spacey's scenes in "All the Money in the World" in November and had him recast with the Canadian actor Christopher Plummer. The unprecedented move did not jeopardize the December premiere of the movie and both Plummer's appearance and the crime drama have received good reviews.
Image: Giles Keyte/AP Photo/picture alliance
A good eye: Ridley Scott
His films burst with visual power and opulence, and even his more minor films boast stunning cinematography. In his best works, visual style and narrative depth complement each other perfectly. Ridley Scott, born in 1937, is an image magician — and has given modern cinema some unforgettable moments. He is pictured here on the set of "Black Rain" (1989).
Image: kpa/picture-alliance
Debut with historical drama: "The Duellists"
In 1977 Scott was 40 years old and making television shows and ads, so no one expected that he'd become one of the most sought-after directors in world cinema. But his feature film debut that year, "The Duellists," the story of two officers during the reign of Napoleon, showcased Scott's special talent: sumptuous images, a distinct visual style and cinema for all the senses.
Image: Courtesy Everett Collection/imago images
Shock on the big screen: "Alien"
The film to follow went to a whole new level: "Alien" was remarkable in for its perfect combination of science-fiction and horror, complete with breathless suspense, bold cinematography and Oscar-winning special effects. For the first time, a woman (Sigourney Weaver) was the lead in an action movie. "Alien" went on to inspire a new generation of sci-fi thrillers.
Ridley Scott went one better with the 1982 dystopian sci-fi film "Blade Runner," which featured more fantastic visuals and unique neo-noir atmospherics. Harrison Ford entered cinema history in his role as a replicant-hunter, and few films have inspired so many imitators — a sequel was also released in 2017. The original "Blade Runner" remains one of the greatest cult films of all time.
Image: Warner Brothers/courtesy Everett Collection/picture alliance
Girl power: 'Thelma & Louise'
After excursions into fantasy, action and thriller, Scott landed another coup in 1991 with "Thelma & Louise." The story of two very different friends who just want to escape their dreary everyday lives becomes a wild road movie stretching across America. It was another film with strong cinematography and a quirky story that also featured Brad Pitt in a breakout role.
Image: picture alliance/kpa
Ancient epic: "Gladiator"
Almost a decade later, Scott's next major international success came with "Gladiator," a grand Roman Empire epic. The blood and swords action drama won five Oscars (including Best Actor for Russell Crowe, who played the revengeful Roman general turned gladiator) and a nomination for Scott. It was another work with a compelling narrative and brilliant cinematography.
Image: Dreamworks/Mary Evans Achive/IMAGO
First war film: "Black Hawk Down"
Following his trip to antiquity, the following year Scott released his first war film, "Black Hawk Down" (2001), and proved he was able to create breathless tension in yet another genre. Tracing an episode involving US soldiers during the 1993 Battle of Mogadishu in Somalia, the film also created controversy for its "airbrushed" depiction of American military involvement in a civil war.
Image: Scott Free Productions/Mary Evans Achive/IMAGO
Diabolical: "Hannibal"
Scott's next project was the sequel to the worldwide hit, "The Silence of the Lambs." The serial killer Hannibal Lecter was in good hands with Scott, who pulled out all the stops in his return to the horror suspense genre. Nevertheless, Scott struggled to replicate the massive success of the original Hannibal movie, and the 2001 film is today regarded as one of his minor works.
Image: MGM/Courtesy Everett Collection/IMAGO
Bullseye: "Robin Hood
Scott took another trip into history with his 2010 action film "Robin Hood," a potent re-imagining of the legendary story of the do-gooder who helps the poor. "Grown-up but not too serious; action-packed but not juvenile…[it's] the Robin Hood movie we’ve been waiting decades for, it's also Ridley Scott and Russell Crowe at their most entertaining since 'Gladiator,'" said one critic.
Image: imago images/ZUMA Wire
Well staffed: "The Counselor"
Ridley Scott belongs to the handful of very powerful Hollywood directors who can freely choose their subjects and actors. So it proved with the A-list cast — Michael Fassbender, Penelope Cruz, Cameron Diaz, Javier Bardem, Brad Pitt — assembled for the British director's 2013 drug thriller "The Counselor." Top stars want to work with Scott. The film received a mixed response, however.
Image: 20th Century Fox/Mary Evans Achive/IMAGO
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"I've seen things that you people wouldn't believe." A final sentence uttered by an artificial human in the face of death to a replicant-hunter, Rutger Hauer's soliloquy to Harrison Ford in the finale of Ridley Scott's "Blade Runner" is still, 40 years after it premiered, ever-present in the minds of moviegoers.
Harrison Ford in Ridley Scott's cult classic film 'Blade Runner' Image: mago/AGD
Unlike later Oscar-winning blockbusters like "Gladiator," the dystopian thriller from 1982 was not immediately embraced by critics. Yet Scott's visionary sci-fi film is arguably best-remembered by fans of a director who has successfully tackled multiple movie genres across four decades.
His upcoming film will see Joaquin Phoenix as Napoleon
Scott learned his trade in television and advertising and only began directing at the age of 40. Since then he has been directing feature films in Great Britain and Hollywood for 45 years - that makes a total of 85. That's how old Scott will be on November 30, 2022. It's hard to believe, really, that he's still around and directing. Several projects are still in the works, such as the historical drama "Napoleon," co-produced by the streaming service Apple+.
The fact that a man of this age is still able to direct legions of people on a film set is an achievement in itself. His more recent films, "Alien: Covenant," "The Martian," "Exodus: Gods and Kings" and "House of Gucci" were anything but quiet works of old age. They offered what Scott is famous for: great sets and exquisite animation. They are star-studded films that know how to overwhelm, just by their visual brilliance.
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Cult masterpieces
Sir Ridley Scott — he was knighted by the Queen in 2003 — was born in South Shields, a small port town in northeast England. His rapid ascent into Hollywood's filmmaking elite, while based partly on box office successes like 1979's "Alien," was mostly founded on films with cult appeal. He also had to cope with a few commercial setbacks, but this did not harm his directing career in the long term.
Before "Blade Runner," the sci-fi horror epic "Alien" had already cemented Scott's reputation for bold cinematic innovation, a renown that continued with later works like "Thelma & Louise," "Kingdom of Heaven," and even the ancient action saga "Gladiator."
Russell Crowe in 'Gladiator,' which won 5 OscarsImage: imago
An unfeeling 'visual hypnotist'?
But Scott has often been accused of focusing too much on stunning visuals and innovative cinematic technique, including extended tracking shots with armies of extras. As a result, his films look incredible but are said to sometimes lack heart.
As a German critic put it once, Scott is "a beautiful but cold filmmaker." His "posthuman" stories can fail to connect with real human emotions.
Reviewing "Blade Runner," American critic Pauline Kael famously wrote that the film "has nothing to give the audience... it hasn't been thought out in human terms." Nonetheless, Kael had to admit that the director was a "visual hypnotist."
Whether one agrees with this aspect of Scott's filmmaking, few could dismiss the narrative density and visionary power of the Crusades epic "Kingdom of Heaven," or 2001's "Black Hawk Down" — and his ability to effortlessly switch between genres.
Ridley Scott on the set of 'Black Rain' (1989) Image: picture-alliance/kpa
Scott is known for shooting his often visually stunning films unusually quickly. It took him just 43 days to make the feature film "All the Money in the World," Scott told U.S. magazine Vanity Fair in October 2017. “I'm super fast," the director added.
A little later, Scott reacted with lightning speed to a scandal involving actor Kevin Spacey who was cast in the role of aging oil tycoon J. Paul Getty and was accused of sexual harassment. In an unprecedented step, Scott decided to cut Spacey's scenes from the film and reshoot them with a new actor, Christopher Plummer. The film was released on schedule in December of that year.
Ridley Scott (right) has cut Kevin Spacey from his latest film, 'All The Money in the World'Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo
Where is the Oscar for Ridley Scott?
Despite many films and awards, Ridley Scott is yet to win an Oscar. He has already been nominated three times in the directing category — in 1992 (for his road movie "Thelma & Louise"), in 2001 (for "Gladiator") and in 2002 (for the war thriller "Black Hawk Down"). At the moment, Ridley Scott is in the middle of post-production — and the film industry is puzzling over whether Apple TV+ will bring the eagerly awaited prestige project to theaters before the end of the year. That would be a prerequisite for "Napoleon" to be in the 2023 Oscar race.
'Blade Runner 2049' brings a cult hit back to the big screen
For many film fans, "Blade Runner 2049" is the most anticipated release of 2017. But the new movie's roots go back to 1982, when director Ridley Scott created the original science fiction cult classic.
Image: Sony Pictures Releasing GmbH
News stars for a new decade
Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, Sean Young: Those were the "Blade Runner" stars of 1982. "Blade Runner 2049" features Canadian Ryan Gosling and Cuban Ana de Armas in the leading rolls (pictured above in a spaceship). The new film links back to its predecessor, though it enlivens the story with new elements in hopes of attracting a new generation of movie-goers that is not familiar with the original.
Image: Sony Pictures Releasing GmbH
The cult classic from 1982
Surprisingly, "Blade Runner 2049" is even gloomier than its predecessor. Despite its dark setting, the 1982 version also featured noticeably bright colors, such as in the above scene with artificial humans and puppets. The 2017 version is radical in its cool-toned visual construction. Pale yellows, blues and grays dominate, and there are many foggy and nighttime scenes.
The plot of "Blade Runner 2049" picks up 30 years after the events of its prequel. In the intervening years, the world was struck by atomic catastrophes and nuclear fallout. The viewer once again meets a Blade Runner (Gosling) – an officer who hunts artificial humans known as replicants. And, as in the 1982 film, the same question arises: What is the value of a human? And of a replicant?
The stakes are high when filming a movie sequel some 35 years after the original cult hit that, meanwhile, has earned millions of global fans. But in this instance the gamble paid off. The producers of "Blade Runner 2049" chose well in picking world-renowned French Canadian director Denis Villeneuve to make the film. Ridley Scott, director of the 1982 original, served as an executive producer.
Image: Imago/APress
Humans of the future in the Future Museum
The story that "Blade Runner 249" tells is as complex as it is simple. Complex, because the story picks up plot threads from the old film, varying them and developing them further. But also simple, because the new film fundamentally addresses the same questions as in 1982: How do humans deal with artificial intelligence? And how humanely do they interact with replicants?
Image: Sony Pictures Releasing GmbH
'Blade Runner 2049': a darker and more dangerous world
In 1982, "Blade Runner" set the standard for artistic design and special effects, primarily through its imaginative vision of a near future set in global super cities. Far less of human life in such cities can be seen in the new film, in part because environmental pollution and nuclear catastrophes have wrapped the earth in an impenetrable fog.
Image: Sony Pictures Releasing GmbH
Harrison Ford is back
Harrison Ford was at the pinnacle of his career in 1982. Five years before "Blade Runner," the American actor starred as Han Solo in "Star Wars," and in 1981 he played Indiana Jones in "Raiders of the Lost Ark." The producers and director of "Blade Runner 2049" placed a visibly older Ford once more before the camera, giving him a perfectly tailored role that leaves behind a strong impression.
Image: Sony Pictures Releasing GmbH
Ryan Gosling on the side of Ford
However, the lead actor of "Blade Runner 2049" is Canadian Ryan Gosling, who is some 40 years younger than Ford. The two have to flee side-by-side more than once in the new film. Gosling most recently showed off his acting chops as a sensitive musician in the worldwide hit "La La Land." He gives a similarly convincing performance in "Blade Runner 2049" through reduced, sparse expressivity.
Over the past years, many experts and film connoisseurs warned against a "Blade Runner" sequel. Hollywood's attempts at new film installments often ended up as artistic shipwrecks. But the new "Blade Runner" is anything but the typical, heartless sequel spawned by the commercial machinery of Hollywood's biggest studios. It qualifies as a singular artistic cinematic work.