Sir Ridley Scotthas had an incredible filmmaking career, and several of his movies define his place as Hollywood royalty.Scott got his start directing filmsin the 1970s. He quickly established his name withtwo of the greatest science fiction movies in history,and he didn’t let that define him, as the best was yet to come.
After six decades in the business, starting as a crew member in 1963, Scott has earned four Oscar nominations, won two honorary BAFTA Awards, and even took home two Emmy Awards.His movies have earned over $5 billion, ranking among thehighest-grossing movie directors in history,and his influence is undeniable.
10The Duellists (1977)
The Duellistswas Ridley Scott’s first movie in his directorial career. This was a 1977 historical drama thatfocused on a series of duels between two rival officersin France during the Napoleonic Wars. The two offers were the Bonapartist Gabriel Feraud (Harvey Keitel) and the royalist Armand d’Hubert (Keith Carradine).
Based on the short story by Joseph Conrad, the movie spans 20 years, and the series of duels is used to show the political turmoil in 19th-century France. The movie was an instant success, winning the Best Debut Film Award at Cannes, showing that Scott was a filmmaker with a bright future ahead of him.
The historical epic was also a genre that Ridley Scottwould thrive in over the years, both with fictional outings, such asGladiator, and his return to the Napoleonic Wars over 40 years later withNapoleon, starring Joaquin Phoenix as Napoleon Bonaparte.
9Alien (1979)
While it might seem shocking to know, the iconic and groundbreaking sci-fi horror movieAlienwas only Ridley Scott’s second filmthat he ever directed. The movie is a haunted house story in space, set on an abandoned spacecraft where a monster known as the Xenomorph lies in wait to kill the crew who find the ship.
This film was a monster success and spawned a franchise that saw three sequels follow it. However, Ridley Scott didn’t return for anotherAlienmovie for 33 years when he directed the seventh movie in the series,Prometheus.Instead,other directors like James Cameron, David Fincher, and Jean-Pierre Jeunet took his place.
Despite this, Ridley Scott created this world, and theAlienfranchise owes its existence to Scott’s direction, design approvals, and the world he created.
8Blade Runner (1982)
The third movie that Ridley Scott directed has an even bigger legacy thanAlienfor science fiction fans.In just his third directed film, Scott madeBlade Runner.This movie starred Harrison Ford as Rick Deckard, a law enforcement officer who is sent out to take down human clones known as Replicants who get out of control.
This was the first time Scott had seen significant interference in one of his movies, and it was not a pleasant experience. This is a big reason why there are at leastseven different versions ofBlade Runnerthat exist, including a director’s cut and a Final Cut, which is the only one Scott had artistic control over.
This hasn’t stopped the film from being a critically beloved release, added to the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress in 2007. A sequel was released in 2017, but Scott passed it off to a new director, Denis Villeneuve.
7Thelma & Louise (1991)
By 1991, Ridley Scott had directed two science fiction masterpieces, a beloved fantasy film (Legend), and a pair of thrillers. In 1991, he upped his game and releasedThelma & Louise,a movie that earned him his first Oscar nomination.This was a crime drama, but it was more a drama about a relationship between the closest of friends.
Susan Sarandon and Geena Davis starred as the titular characters who stood by each other during moments of intense sexual assault. When Louise (Sarandon) shot and killed a man who tried to rape Thelma (Davis), they went on the run from the police. The ending remains one of the mostmemorable final shots sinceButch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.
Not only did Scott earn his first Best Director Oscar nomination, but both Davis and Sarandon earned nominations for acting, and Callie Khouri won for Best Original Screenplay. The Library of Congress addedThelma & Louiseto the National Film Registry in 2016.
6Gladiator (2000)
It took nine years before Ridley Scott was back at the Oscars. Four movies after makingThelma & Louise,Scott directed the historical epic,Gladiator.This film was based on the real-life classic gladiatorial battles in Ancient Rome, but with a fictional character named Maximus, a former general reduced to the role of an enslaved man.
Russell Crowe stars as Maximus, the gladiator who helped start a revolt and rise among the enslaved gladiators. The movie was one of Scott’s biggest, with a $465.5 million box office,and aGladiatorsequel that arrived 25 years later,directed by Scott, with the child from this first movie grown up and thrown into the gladiator ring.
Gladiator was a massive success at the Oscars, with 12 nominations. It ended up with five Oscar wins, including Best Picture and Best Actor (Crowe). Scott didn’t win (he lost to Steven Soderbergh,Traffic), and the filmmaker has still not won Best Director at the Academy Awards.
5Black Hawk Down (2001)
In 2002, Ridley Scott received his second consecutive Oscar nomination for Best Director, marking the third of his career. This was for the war movieBlack Hawk Down.The film isbased on the non-fiction novel by Mark Bowdenabout the rescue of a crew shot down in a Black Hawk helicopter during the Battle of Mogadishu.
The cast was impressive, with young stars including Josh Hartnett, Ewan McGregor, Eric Bana, and Tom Sizemore as the crew trying to stay alive during a dangerous firefight. The film earned four Oscar nominations, winning for Best Film Editing and Best Sound.
4Kingdom Of Heaven (2005)
Kingdom of Heavenhas a very similar situation for Ridley Scott asBlade Runnerdid. However, this film’s status was a lot more complicated because Scott was fresh off two Oscar nominations for Best Director. Just likeBlade Runner,thestudios released a version into theaters that differed significantlyfrom what Scott had planned during filming.
The movie received negative reviews and was a box office disappointment, with a very low domestic take. However, Scott got a chance to release his director’s cut version of the film when it hit home video. Once Scott released his director’s cut, things changed, and critics changed their tune concerning the movie, and it remains a respected historical epic.
3American Gangster (2007)
Two years after releasingKingdom of Heaven,the movie that a studio took away and stripped down, Ridley Scott turned around and made a fantastic historical drama starring Denzel Washington.American Gangsterbrought Scott into the world of the gangster genre,telling the story of real-life gangster Frank Lucas.
The movie follows the rise to the top of the food chain for Frank Lucas and his eventual downfall, thanks to the work of Newark Detective Richie Roberts. Russell Crowe rejoined Scott for this role, following his Oscar-nominated performance inGladiator.
American Gangsterwas highly acclaimed,sitting at 81% on Rotten Tomatoes. It earned two Oscar nominations, including Best Supporting Actress for Ruby Dee, who played Frank’s mother.
2Prometheus (2012)
In 2012,Ridley Scott returned to theAlienfranchisefor the first time since 1979. After several directors took the franchise in very different directions from Scott’s first movie, the filmmaker decided to bring things back around to his original plans, and he created prequels to show the origin of the Xenomorphs.
This was a huge part of Scott’s career, as for the first time, he focused on a franchise, planning big things for the sci-fi horror movie he created. InPrometheus,he never connected it toAlienuntil he revealed what the space travelers were discovering in the end. He then made a more connected prequel withAlien: Covenant.
For Scott, it took five years totransition from oneAlienprequel to the next,but then the studio shut things down before he could make the third movie in his story.
1The Martian (2015)
In between makingPrometheusandAlien: Covenant,Ridley Scott made three other movies. In 2013, he directed the crime thrillerThe Counselor,in 2014, the historical fantasyExodus: Gods and Kings,and in 2015,the sci-fi drama thrillerThe Martian.Of these three movies,The Martianwas the best and one of Scott’s best late-era movies.
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Best Picture
The Martian
Based on the Andy Weir novel, The Martian tells the story of an astronaut stranded alone on Mars after an accident keeps him from returning with his crew. The film then shows how this man (Matt Damon) survives on the Red Planet, while NASA tries to find a way to get back and rescue him.
The Martianearned seven Oscar nominations, including Best Picture (withRidley Scottas one of the producers), Best Actor (for Matt Damon), and Best Adapted Screenplay (by Drew Goddard), although it didn’t win any. Regardless, this was Scott’s last trip to the Oscars, and at 87, he might not have many chances left in his amazing career.
