Ridley Scott is an Enigma

Ridley Scott is probably the only director who I haven't managed to entirely like or dislike. Let me explain what I mean, no other director, especially one of such stature has been able to create a crop of good to great movies surrounded by a field of dull, dreary films which fail to ignite any excitement in me.

R Scott has some great films under his belt, from Alien to Gladiator and American Gangster but too often he has strayed into the path of average movie making, prime examples being Hannibal and Black Hawk Down. There are of course, the watchable ones such as Kingdom of Heaven, Black Rain and A Good Year. Sadly all that is book ended by such rubbish as Robin Hood or Prometheus.

There's another bone I have to pick with Scott, why is he always complaining about not being allowed to direct and edit movies the day he wants when they don't do so well critically or commercially, both Kingdom of Heaven and Blade Runner are prime examples. Blade Runner is a very good film bordering on great but it's countless cuts show a director who's not sure of himself or his subject matter.

What are your opinions about Ridley Scott?

You found A Good Year watchable?! Really?

Obv. I love Gladiator. I quite liked Robin Hood and American Gangster was good but not my thing. I don't really go in for Sci Fi, so I don't care for Alien. Really didn't like Black Hawk Down or Kingdom of Heaven.

As far as him being an enigma, eh. For me, a lot of directors are hit or miss and make movies that run the gamut from great to terrible.

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Relying too much on yourself leads to this. That's more or less all there is to it. You can see it in a myriad of other people, fields, blah

Agreed. When a director is early on in his or her career, they lean on other creative minds to help them, allowing them to reign in their over-indulgent impulses and make better filming/editing decisions. After a while, the acclaim and popularity can get to their head, and so they start to believe that they don't need anyone's help or advice, and their "vision" becomes wild and unruly.

William Hjortsberg, the writer of Legend, mentioned how Scott would come up with really stupid ideas (like making Jack a green-skinned dryad) and he and others would have to confront him. Finally he'd admit that it was crappy idea and back down. You'd be surprised just how many directors are like this, except they don't listen to anyone.

2012 Prometheus

2010 Robin Hood

2008 Body of Lies

2007 American Gangster

2006 A Good Year

2003 Matchstick Men

2001 Black Hawk Down

2001 Hannibal

2000 Gladiator

1997 G.I. Jane

1991 Thelma & Louise

1982 Blade Runner

1979 Alien