The All-Time Best Films Directed By Ridley Scott

Sir Ridley Scott is one of the best filmmakers of all time with a career spanning over five decades in the industry and with countless iconic films to his name from the crime, historical, and sci-fi genres. Although it may seem that some of his newer work, like Exodus: Gods and Kings, Napoleon, and House of Gucci, can be disappointing, he continues to push forward his vision even in his late 80s.

Having directed over 28 films since his debut feature in 1977, Ridley Scott is not showing any signs of pumping the breaks on delivering quality cinema. There’s something for everyone to love in each of his movies, and his work is one of the most Oscar-nominated for a reason, so here are the best parts of his legacy.

12

All The Money In The World

All the Money in the World is one of Scott’s most underrated films that’s now become a hidden gem among his more popular favorites. The film follows the true story of the kidnapping of oil tycoon Jean Paul Getty’s grandson, John Paul Getty III, by the Italian mafia in 1973 and his reluctance to pay the ransom despite being the richest man in the world.

The film follows the long and arduous efforts to safely secure J. Paul Getty’s grandson, headed by Getty Oil investigator Fletcher Chace and the boy’s mother, Gail Harris, and also serves as a character study on the stubborn and ruthless figure J. Paul Getty was. It shows how cruelty plays a role on both sides, and all of that is a credit to Christopher Plummer in one of his final Oscar-nominated performances.

11

Prometheus And Alien: Covenant

Ridley Scott was back in the director’s chair of the Alien series in 2012, though he steered things in a new direction with prequels rather than what Fede Álvarez did with Romulus, and it left fans and critics largely divided. With Prometheus, Scott achieves an original vision that attempts to explain some of the lore leading up to the original Alien movie while also posing a significant question about humanity, AI, and the act of creation in general.

Despite the harsh criticism aimed at the story, Prometheus is a highly enjoyable film with stellar atmosphere, characters, performances, and some of the best-looking visual effects and cinematography that can put even most films today to shame. Alien: Covenant is its direct sequel, which continues the journey of Michael Fassbender’s synthetic villain, David, while introducing new Xenomorph variants and delivering plenty more memorable moments.

10

American Gangster

Prior to starring in Ridley Scott’s Gladiator 2, actor Denzel Washington first got to work with the acclaimed director in the 2007 film American Gangster, where he portrays the real-life drug kingpin Frank Lucas. Scott going all Scorsese and directing a nearly three-hour gangster epic probably wasn’t on anyone’s bingo card, but it turned out to be one of his highest-rated films.

American Gangster follows Frank Lucas’s criminal heroin empire and personal life during his reign in Harlem amid the Vietnam War and the detective taking him down, played by Russell Crowe. The script is written by the Oscar-winning writer of Schindler’s List, Steve Zaillian, who also wrote The Irishman and Gangs of New York for Martin Scorsese, so that tells you already it’ll be a powerhouse crime story.

9

Kingdom Of Heaven Director’s Cut

There are too few notable movies exploring the Crusades, but Ridley Scott’s is perhaps the most famous one. Kingdom of Heaven stars Orlando Bloom in a new historical outing after Pirates of the Caribbean and Troy, and his character even feels like a mix of those two former roles. He plays Balian de Ibelin, a recently widowed blacksmith who murders a priest and evades justice by embarking on the Crusade with his estranged father.

The drama unfolds once Balian reaches Jerusalem, where a war between Christians and Muslims for control of the holy city is set to begin. During the conflict, he forms a friendship with the leprosy-afflicted King Baldwin IV, who is portrayed by Edward Norton, while also falling for the king’s sister, Sibylla, who’s married to the antagonist. Its themes remain relevant today, and the battle scenes can only be achieved through the careful direction of Ridley Scott.

The lengthier Director’s Cut of Kingdom of Heaven is considered the definitive film, as the edits in the Theatrical version make it hard to follow the characters and plot, and Scott himself disowned it.

8

The Last Duel

After All the Money in the World, Ridley Scott delivered The Last Duel, one of the best historical dramas from him in years. This film is based on the book by Eric Jager, which recounts a true story from history about an infamous use of Trial by Combat in 14th-century France involving a knight fighting to restore his wife’s honor after his once friend and trusted squire stands accused of raping her.

What ultimately makes The Last Duel so captivating is how it’s framed. The story is split up into three chapters, which show the events from the differing perspectives of the husband, Jean de Carrouges, the accused villain, Jacques le Gris, and the wife, Marguerite de Thibouville. You also have some of the best performances ever from Adam Driver, Matt Damon, and Jodie Comer, and the film’s premise continues to echo in our modern-day society.

7

The Martian

In 2015, Ridley Scott returned to the sci-fi genre outside of Alien and brought the book by Andy Weir to life on the big screen, starring Matt Damon in the lead role. Weir is one of the great hard sci-fi literary minds of the modern age (also the author of Project Hail Mary), and The Martian is one of the most unique stories told in the genre.

The film follows an astronaut named Mark Watney on a NASA Mars mission called Ares 3, who ends up being stranded on the planet after surviving an accident involving debris during an evacuation. The smart botanist and engineer Watney is, he develops systems to cultivate and survive on Mars until he is rescued, and it’s a triumphant movie packed with drama and innovation.

6

Black Hawk Down

Although you’ve probably seen the more well-known and popular war movies like Saving Private Ryan, Full Metal Jacket, and Dunkirk, you’ve never seen one quite like Ridley Scott’s Black Hawk Down. This film captures the pure chaos and mayhem of urban warfare in astonishing ways, as it depicts the actual 1993 Battle of Mogadishu in Somalia.

US army units were tasked with capturing the two right-hand advisors of ruthless warlord Mohamed Farrah Aidid. As soon as they’re dropped into combat, rockets take out the helicopters and whiz by the soldiers on the ground, military vehicles explode, there’s no escape from enemies, and it’s a harrowing and brutal all-out assault. The cast ensemble is also pretty fantastic, with even the likes of Nikolaj Coster-Waldau before he was known for Jaime Lannister.

Ridley Scott was nominated for the Best Director Oscar for Black Hawk Down.

5

Gladiator 2

Gladiator 2 was everything you could’ve asked for from a sequel to one of the most iconic historical fiction films about the Roman Empire and more. Paul Mescal does an exceptional job as Lucius, the grown son of the fallen gladiator and former Roman general, Maximus, but it’s Denzel Washington who really amazes you in the villainous role of Macrinus, with all his evil scheming in a quest for total power.

The arena battles are bigger and better than ever with all the modern visual effects, including a variety of animal-themed battles from giant rabid monkeys to rhinoceros and sharks. Where the film truly shines, however, is its pacing, story direction, and characters. There are shocking twists and turns, you can’t fathom where the plot goes next, and you feel every moment of triumph and every moment of loss and defeat. It’s quite the spectacle to see in a theater and has a perfect ending.

4

Gladiator

Aside from probably Spartacus (both the Kubrick film and the Starz TV series), there hasn’t been a definitive gladiator epic lauded by all until Ridley Scott’s Gladiator, which also won five Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Actor for Russell Crowe. Russell Crowe indeed gave an outstanding performance as Maximus and had one of the most iconic scenes of his career, shouting “Are you not entertained?” from the arena.

The story is almost similar to Spartacus. The main character is a former Roman general who was supposed to succeed to the throne until the emperor’s son, Commodus, a chilling figure played by Joaquin Phoenix, kills his father, Marcus Aurelius, as well as Maximus’ wife and child, sending the decorated general to the gladiator games to fight to the death.

Ridley Scott was nominated for the Best Director Oscar for Gladiator.

3

Thelma & Louise

Thelma & Louise is a modern outlaw tale like no other. It starts like a friendly road trip movie about two ordinary women taking a break from their lives for a fun and innocent weekend getaway. But then things quickly descend into a nightmare after Thelma is sexually assaulted by a man she’s just met, and her friend, Louise, ends her attacker’s life.

Now, what was supposed to be a figurative escape turns into a literal one from the law, with the duo fleeing to Mexico. The chemistry between Susan Sarandon and Geena Davis as the titular characters is the cornerstone of Thelma & Louise, and the story and other characters are very well-written, the film even winning the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay.

Ridley Scott was nominated for the Best Director Oscar for Thelma & Louise.

2

Blade Runner

Love it or hate it, Blade Runner is one of the most incredible sci-fi films ever made and nothing but a classic. Yes, it can be unbelievably slow-moving, dreary, and nowhere as exciting as other sci-fi movies, but that’s the precise aesthetic it’s achieving. It’s a neo-noir cyberpunk film set in the ‘future’ of 2019 Los Angeles, where LAPD detectives hunt synthetic androids known as replicants (which thankfully wasn’t a reality).

The creative vision and design for Blade Runner’s 2019 Los Angeles, with all the architecture, digitized billboards, and flying vehicles, is a wonder to take in, especially if you were experiencing this movie for the first time in 1982. While the plot may lose you at times, Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, and Sean Young deliver mesmerizing performances that immerse you along with the setting.

1

Alien

Alien was released in 1979, and the rest was history for Ridley Scott. He proved his mettle in the realm of sci-fi after coming off his first feature film, which was a historical drama, and that opened the door to develop Blade Runner and all his future films down the line. Alien was a groundbreaking sci-fi horror endeavor, with Sigourney Weaver’s Ellen Ripley and the Xenomorph quickly solidified as the most iconic characters in cinema.

The story follows the crew of the USCSS Nostromo on their way back home to Earth before their ship’s AI system, Mother, diverts them to a planet known as LV-426 to investigate a derelict spacecraft filled with possible alien life. The creature concept and visuals by H.R. Giger, coupled with the layout and set design of the Nostromo, indeed create a suspenseful and terrifying cat-and-mouse experience in space, where “no one can hear you scream.”