With Robin Hood hitting theatres, Movies.ie looks back on the best of director Ridley Scott.
With Robin Hood hitting theatres this week, Movies.ie looks back on the best of director Ridley Scott. In a career spanning over 30 years, Scott has helmed everything from war pic, to road movie, from comedy to sci-fi classic. Here we take a look at seven of the best Scott pictures.
Blade Runner
Three years later after Aliens, Scott returned with another sci-fi project. This time the helmer brought Harrison Ford on board as Deckard, a man who hunts down and terminates replicants (artificially created humans). Though a box office flop, the film went on to be praised by academics and earned cult status on DVD.
Alien (1979)
Following on from his debut The Duellists, Scott brought us a sci-fi masterpiece with this tale of Ripley (Sigourney Weaver), a crewmember aboard a deep space mining ship that answers a distress SOS from a distant planet. Creepy, claustrophobic and certainly cinematic, sci-fi has never looked back since.
Thelma & Louise
The director courted controversy in the early ‘90s with a road movie following two women on the run from unruly men and unfair laws.. Susan Sarandon and Geena Davis are perfect as the two leads, and Scott scored his first Oscar nod for the flick.
The Duellists
Set during the Napoleonic age, Scott’s directorial debut was based on a Joseph Conrad novel; it focused on a long-running feud between two French soliders, D’Hubert (Keith Carradine) and Feraud (Harvey Keitel). The film went on to be an official selection at the Cannes Film Festival.
Gladiator
After a series of misfires in the 90s, Scott returned to form with this epic tale about power and betrayal in ancient Roman society. Robin Hood star Russell Crowe delivers a ferocious performance in the lead role-the start of a director-actor relationship and Scott scored his second Oscar nod for directing.
Matchstick Men
An often overlooked gem, Scott helms a comedy/drama piece following a phobic con artist (played by Nicholas Cage) whose life is thrown into tumult when his teenage daughter unexpectedly arrives on the scene. A dramatic departure for the director, the film also saw one of Cage’s best performances of the past decade.
American Gangster
Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe deliver strong performances that elevate this highly entertaining movie about a ‘70s drug kingpin (Washington) and the cop on his trail (Crowe) to a higher level. Scott earned a Best Director Golden Globe nomination for his efforts.
ROBIN HOOD is in Irish cinemas from May 12th 2010.