The peculiar directorial career of Scott is one that you cannot help, but respect. The legendary English-born filmmaker turned 85 today. Happy Birthday to Sir Ridley.
Scott isn’t just a workaholic, churning out almost one movie per year, but in his nearly five-decade career he’s managed to release as many great films as he has mediocre ones. The fact that he still remains active, having survived the tumultuously monopolized changes in the industry, feels like some kind of small miracle.
In all, Scott’s directed 26 features since his underrated 1977 debut “The Duellists, but he hasn’t really bookmarked a specific auteur-driven style in his filmography either. He operates on a minute-to-minute efficiency, specifically switching gears with every movie.
Scott managed to strike lightning almost a dozen times in his career — “Alien”, “Blade Runner”, “American Gangster”, “The Duellists”, “Thelma and Louise”, “Gladiator”, “Black Hawk Down”, “Matchstick Men”, “The Last Duel,” “All the Money in the World,” “Prometheus”, “The Martian”, and “Kingdom of Heaven”.
The glossiness of a Scott production cannot be overemphasized.; crossing through various different genres, he is and has always been about classicist cinema. The lighting. The meticulously accurate attention to set design and detail. Ridley Scott is first and foremost a top craftsman.
Scott’s next film is “Napoleon,” which is said to be great. I’m hearing it’ll get a summer 2023 release.