McGrady has posted threads about Stanley Kubrick and Martin Scorsese recently and wanted to know what people thought about Ridley Scott. Personally, he has become my 2nd favorite movie director of all-time behind Kubrick and just barely in front of Hitchcock (Scorsese is in my top 5). I need to see more of his movies but I have seen 6: Alien Blade Runner Thelma and Louise (been a long time and only watched it once) Matchstick Men Gladiator Robin Hood Alien and Blade Runner are in my top 10 greatest movies ever. Gladiator is in my top 20. Only saw Thelma and Louise once, so I can't really rank it. Matchstick Men was highly underrated, IMO and Robin Hood was somewhat of a disappointment but enjoyable, nonetheless. To me, Robin Hood almost came across as your typical big budget Hollywood action movie and not a work of art like most Ridley Scott movies are. What are people's favorite Ridley Scott movies?
To me, Ridley Scott never had movies with the exception of Gladiator that felt special. They all felt like Spielberg-lite movies. Nothing in his movies made me admire the camera work, the story, or the acting.
Of the ones I've watched, here's how I'd rank them: Matchstick Men Kingdom of Heaven (DC) Robin Hood Black Hawk Down American Gangster The Gladiator Body of Lies
This might sound incredulous but I would put Alien and Blade Runner against any 2 Spielberg movies whether that is Close Encounters of the 3rd Kind and Saving Private Ryan or Schindler's List or any of his others.
I wouldn't. I'd agree with the generally a step below comment, though occasionally coming out with some awesome stuff. Gladiator obviously can compete with anything. As a male with a pulse, I loved Black Hawk Down and watch it when it's on. I liked American Gangster. I liked Kingdom of Heaven. Blade Runners a classic. Heck, I even enjoyed White Squall for what it was. But generally, Speilberg's movies are just a notch better, a notch more iconic. Even the "less iconic" ones, the ones that clearly aren't his masterpieces, I'd put above Scott's 2nd level films. Munich, War of the Worlds, Catch Me If You Can, Minority Report, Amistad, Empire of the Sun.
Saw all except for Matchstick Men and the last 30 minutes of Edward James Olmos' greatest acting job in BLADE RUNNER (sorry, Señor Deckard). Also, I saw Robin Hood last night, and its ending SUCKED.
Alien is such a wonderfully made film, love watching it everytime. I'm a big fan of Scott and his films.
NO ONE can make an action movie like this guy. Not even James Cameron. He's my favorite. I don't hate any of his movies, even the 'chick flick' ones.
Gladiator Alien Black Hawk down.. Guy's a great Director. I actually have never seen Blade Runner...its on Netflix streaming, may have to check it out soon
Alien and Blade Runner were far and away his best work. The other stuff if good but I think those two are incredible for how much they suck you into the world he created.
While I prefer Gladiator and Black Hawk Down slightly better, Alien and Blade Runner are great great movies. That said, to the person comparing to James Cameron above, I think Aliens is for sure better than Alien and I like Terminator 2 better than them all. I can understand somewhat hating on Cameron cause he doesn't come out with movies very often and then when he does while they typically are very entertaining, do either Titanic or Avatar really deserve to be the top grossing flicks of all time? No...they both benefited from incredible buzz and hype beyond what they deserved. Nonetheless, from a business perspective, it's amazing, and the quality of his work otherwise is stellar. As I noted, Aliens and Terminator 2 are unbelievable movies. And I've always been a huge Abyss fan. As far as action flicks go, don't forget John McTiernan. Nothing lately, but he had a 3 movie string that was as good as any: Predator, followed by Die Hard, followed by The Hunt for Red October (an awesome movie). That said, I still think Spielberg tops them all. just my opinion.
This is the best movie nobody has ever seen. It is on par with his best stuff, and is one of the best "period" movies out there.
