Review Ridley Scott

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Sir Ridley Scott (born 30 November 1937) is an English film director and producer. Following his commercial breakthrough with the science-fiction horror film Alien (1979), further works include the neo-noir dystopian science fiction film Blade Runner, historical drama Gladiator (which won the Academy Award for Best Picture), and science fiction film The Martian.

Scott's work has an atmospheric, highly concentrated visual style.[1][2] Though his films range widely in setting and period, they frequently showcase memorable imagery of urban environments, whether 2nd century Rome (Gladiator), 12th century Jerusalem(Kingdom of Heaven), Medieval England (Robin Hood), contemporary Mogadishu (Black Hawk Down), the future cityscapes of Blade Runner, or the distant planets in Alien, Prometheus, The Martian and Alien: Covenant. His films are also known for their strong female characters.[3]

Scott has been nominated for three Academy Awards for Directing (for Thelma & Louise, Gladiator and Black Hawk Down).[1] In 1995, both Ridley and his brother Tony received a BAFTA for Outstanding British Contribution To Cinema.[4] In 2003, Scott was knighted for his "services to the British film industry".[5] In a 2004 BBC poll Scott was named the tenth most influential person in British culture.[6] In 2015 he received an honorary doctorate from the Royal College of Art in London. In 2018 Scott received the BAFTA Fellowship for lifetime achievement.



 

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Early films

The Duellists

Main article: The Duellists

The Duellists (1977) marked Ridley Scott's first feature film as director. Shot in Europe, it was nominated for the main prize at the Cannes Film Festival, and won an award for Best Debut Film. The Duellists had limited commercial impact internationally. Set during the Napoleonic Wars, it follows two French Hussar officers, D'Hubert and Feraud (Keith Carradineand Harvey Keitel) whose quarrel over an initially minor incident turns into a bitter extended feud spanning fifteen years, interwoven with the larger conflict that provides its backdrop. The film has been acclaimed for providing a historically authentic portrayal of Napoleonic uniforms and military conduct.[27][28] The 2013 release of the film on Blu-ray coincided with the publication of an essay on the film in a collection of scholarly essays on Scott.





Alien

Main article: Alien (film)

Scott had originally planned next to adapt a version of Tristan and Iseult, but after seeing Star Wars, he became convinced of the potential of large scale, effects-driven films. He accepted the job of directing Alien, the 1979 horror/science-fiction film that would win him international success. Scott made the decision to switch Ellen Ripley from the standard male action hero to a heroine.[30] Ripley (played by Sigourney Weaver), who appeared in the first four Alien films, would become a cinematic icon.[30] The final scene of John Hurt's character has been named by a number of publications as one of the most memorable in cinematic history.[31] Filmed at Shepperton Studios in England, Alien was the sixth highest-grossing film of 1979, earning over $104 million worldwide.[32] Scott was involved in the 2003 restoration and re-release of the original film. In promotional interviews at the time, Scott indicated he had been in discussions to make a fifth film in the Alien franchise. However, in a 2006 interview, Scott remarked that he had been unhappy about Alien: The Director's Cut, feeling that the original was "pretty flawless" and that the additions were merely a marketing tool.[33] Scott later returned to Alien-related projects when he directed Prometheus and Alien: Covenant three decades after the original film's release.





Blade Runner

Main article: Blade Runner

"Outside Star Wars, no sci-fi universe has been etched into cinematic consciousness more thoroughly than Blade Runner. Ridley Scott's definitive 1982 neo-noir offered an immersive dystopia of rain-soaked windows and shadowy buildings adorned with animated neon billboards, where flying cars hum through the endless night."
— Eric Kohn, IndieWire, 2017.[35]

After a year working on the film adaptation of Dune, and following the sudden death of his brother Frank, Scott signed to direct the film version of Philip K. Dick's novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Re-titled Blade Runner and starring Harrison Ford, the film was a commercial disappointment in cinemas in 1982, but is now regarded as a classic.[36][37] In 1991, Scott's notes were used by Warner Brothers to create a rushed director's cut which removed the main character's voiceover and made a number of other small changes, including to the ending. Later Scott personally supervised a digital restoration of Blade Runner and approved what was called The Final Cut. This version was released in Los Angeles, New York City and Toronto cinemas on 5 October 2007, and as an elaborate DVD release in December 2007.[38]

Today, Blade Runner is ranked by many critics as one of the most important and influential science fiction films ever made,[39]partly thanks to its much imitated portraits of a future cityscape.[40] It is often discussed along with William Gibson's novel Neuromancer as initiating the cyberpunk genre. Scott has described Blade Runner as his "most complete and personal film"



 
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"1984" Apple Macintosh commercial

Main article: 1984 (advertisement)

In 1984, Scott directed a big-budget ($900,000) television commercial, "1984", to launch Apple's Macintosh computer.[42] Scott filmed the advertisement in England for about $370,000;[43] which was given a showcase airing in the US on 22 January 1984, during Super Bowl XVIII, alongside screenings in cinemas.[44] Some consider this advertisement a "watershed event" in advertising[45] and a "masterpiece".[46] Advertising Age placed it top of its list of the 50 greatest commercials.[47]

Set in a dystopian future modelled after George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four, Scott's advertisement used its heroine (portrayed by English athlete Anya Major) to represent the coming of the Macintosh (indicated by her white tank top adorned with a picture of the Apple Macintosh computer) as a means of saving humanity from "conformity" (Big Brother), an allusion to IBM, at that time the dominant force in computing.





Legend

Main article: Legend (1985 film)

In 1985, Scott directed Legend, a fantasy film produced by Arnon Milchan. Scott decided to create a "once upon a time" tale set in a world of princesses, unicorns and goblins, filming almost entirely inside the studio. Scott cast Tom Cruise as the film's hero, Jack, Mia Sara as Princess Lili and Tim Curry as the Satan-horned Lord of Darkness.[49] Scott had a forest set built on the 007 Stage at Pinewood Studios in Buckinghamshire, with trees 60 feet high and trunks 30 feet in diameter.[50] In the final stages of filming, the forest set was destroyed by fire; Jerry Goldsmith's original score was used for European release, but replaced in North America with a score by Tangerine Dream. Rob Bottin provided the film's Academy Award-nominated make-up effects, most notably Curry's red-coloured Satan figure. Though a major commercial failure on release, the film has gone on to become a cult classic. The 2002 Director's Cut restored Goldsmith's original score.



 
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Subsequent films

1987–1992

Scott made Someone to Watch Over Me, a romantic thriller starring Tom Berenger and Mimi Rogers in 1987, and Black Rain (1989), a police drama starring Michael Douglas and Andy García, shot partially in Japan. Both achieved mild success at the box office. Black Rain was the first of Scott's six collaborations with the composer Hans Zimmer.[52][53]

Road film Thelma & Louise (1991) starring Geena Davis as Thelma, Susan Sarandon as Louise, in addition to the breakthrough role for Brad Pitt as J.D, proved to be one of Scott's biggest critical successes, helping revive the director's reputation and receiving his first nomination for the Academy Award for Best Director.[54][55] His next project, independently-funded historical epic 1492: Conquest of Paradise, was a box office failure. The film recounts the expeditions to the Americas by Christopher Columbus (French star Gérard Depardieu). Scott did not release another film for four years.

1993–1999

In 1995, Ridley and his brother Tony formed a production company, Scott Free Productions, in Los Angeles. All Ridley's subsequent feature films, starting with White Squall and G.I. Jane, have been produced under the Scott Free banner. In 1995 the two brothers purchased a controlling interest in the British film studio Shepperton Studios. In 2001, Shepperton merged with Pinewood Studios to become The Pinewood Studios Group, which is headquartered in Buckinghamshire, England.[56]

2000–2005

Scott's historical drama Gladiator (2000) proved to be one of his biggest critical and commercial successes. It won five Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Actor for the film's star Russell Crowe, and saw Scott nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director.[1] Scott worked with British visual effects company The Mill for the film's computer-generated imagery, and the film was dedicated to Oliver Reed who died during filming – The Mill created a digital body double for Reed's remaining scenes. Some have credited Gladiator with reviving the nearly defunct "sword and sandal" historical genre. The film was named the fifth best action film of all time in the ABC special Best in Film: The Greatest Movies of Our Time.





Scott then turned to Hannibal (2001) starring Anthony Hopkins as Hannibal Lecter. The film was commercially successful despite receiving mixed reviews. Scott's next film, Black Hawk Down (2001), based on a group of stranded US soldiers fighting for their lives in Somalia, saw him receive a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Director.[1] In 2003, Scott directed a smaller scale project, Matchstick Men, adapted from the novel by Eric Garcia and starring Nicolas Cage, Sam Rockwell and Alison Lohman. It received mostly positive reviews, but performed moderately at the box office.





In 2005, he made the modestly successful Kingdom of Heaven, a film about the Crusades. The film starred Orlando Bloom, and marked Scott's first collaboration with the composer Harry Gregson-Williams.[58] The Moroccan government sent the Moroccan cavalry as extras for some battle scenes.[59] Unhappy with the theatrical version of Kingdom of Heaven(which he blamed on paying too much attention to the opinions of preview audiences in addition to relenting when Fox wanted 45 minutes shaved off), Scott supervised a director's cut of the film, the true version of what he wanted, which was released on DVD in 2006.[60] The director's cut of Kingdom of Heaven has been met with critical acclaim, with Empiremagazine calling the film an "epic", adding: "The added 45 minutes in the director’s cut are like pieces missing from a beautiful but incomplete puzzle."[61] "This is the one that should have gone out" reflected Scott.[61] Asked if he was against previewing in general in 2006, Scott stated: "It depends who's in the driving seat. If you've got a lunatic doing my job, then you need to preview. But a good director should be experienced enough to judge what he thinks is the correct version to go out into the cinema."
 
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Recent and upcoming films

2006–2011

Scott teamed up again with Gladiator star Russell Crowe, for A Good Year, based on the best-selling book by Peter Mayle about an investment banker who finds a new life in Provence. The film was released on 10 November 2006. A few days later Rupert Murdoch, chairman of studio 20th Century Fox (who backed the film) dismissed A Good Year as "a flop" at a shareholders' meeting.[63]

Scott's next film was American Gangster, based on the story of real-life drug kingpin Frank Lucas. Scott took over the project in early 2006, and had screenwriter Steven Zaillianrewrite his script to focus on the dynamic between Frank Lucas and Richie Roberts. Denzel Washington signed on to the project as Lucas, with Russell Crowe co-starring. The film premiered in November 2007 to positive reviews and box office success, and Scott was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Director.[1]

In late 2008, Scott's espionage thriller Body of Lies, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Russell Crowe, opened to lukewarm ticket-sales and mixed reviews. Scott directed a revisionist adaptation of Robin Hood, which starred Russell Crowe as Robin Hood and Cate Blanchett as Maid Marian. It was released in May 2010 to mixed reviews, but a respectable box-office.


Scott speaking with Prometheusstars Charlize Theron and Michael Fassbender at Wondercon 2012 in Anaheim, California on 17 March 2012
On 31 July 2009, news surfaced of a two-part prequel to Alien with Scott attached to direct.[34][64] The project, ultimately reduced to a single film called Prometheus, which Scott described as sharing "strands of Alien's DNA" while not being a direct prequel, was released in June 2012. The film starred Charlize Theron and Michael Fassbender, with Noomi Rapace playing the leading role of the scientist named Elizabeth Shaw. The film received mostly positive reviews and grossed $403 million at the box office.[65][66]

In August 2009, Scott planned to direct an adaptation of Aldous Huxley's Brave New World set in a dystopian London with Leonardo DiCaprio.[67] In 2009, the TV Series The Good Wife premiered with Ridley and his brother Tony credited as executive producers. On 6 July 2010, YouTube announced the launch of Life in a Day, an experimental documentary executive produced by Scott. Released at the Sundance Film Festival on 27 January 2011, it incorporates footage shot on 24 July 2010 submitted by YouTube users from around the world.[68] As part of the buildup to the 2012 London Olympics, Scott produced Britain in a Day, a documentary film consisting of footage shot by the British public on 12 November 2011
 

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2012–present

In 2012, Scott produced the commercial for Lady Gaga's fragrance, "Fame." It was touted as the first ever black Eau de Parfum, in the informal credits attached to the trailer for this advertisement. On 24 June 2013, Scott's series Crimes of the Century debuted on CNN.[70] In November 2012 it was announced that Scott would produce the documentary, Springsteen & I directed by Baillie Walsh and inspired by Life in a Day, which Scott also produced. The film featured fan footage from throughout the world on what musician Bruce Springsteen meant to them and how he impacted their lives.[71] The film was released for one day only in 50 countries and on over 2000 film screens on 22 July 2013.[71]

Scott directed The Counselor (2013), with a screenplay by author Cormac McCarthy.[72][73] On 25 October 2013, Indiewire reported that "Before McCarthy sold his first spec script for Scott's (Counselor) film, the director was heavily involved in developing an adaptation of the author's 1985 novel Blood Meridian with screenwriter Bill Monahan (The Departed). But as Scott said in a Time Out interview, '[Studios] didn't want to make it. The book is so uncompromising, which is what's great about it.' Described as an 'anti-western'..."[74] Scott directed the biblically-inspired epic film Exodus: Gods and Kings, released in December 2014 which received mixed-to-negative reviews from critics while earning $268 million on a $140 million budget. Filmed at Pinewood Studios in Buckinghamshire, the film starred Christian Bale in the lead role.[75]


Scott participates in a question and answer session about NASA’s journey to Mars and his film The Martian, 18 August 2015
In May 2014, Scott began negotiations to direct The Martian, starring Matt Damon as Mark Watney.[76] Like many of Scott's previous works, The Martian features a heroine in the form of Jessica Chastain's character who is the mission commander.[77] The film was originally scheduled for release on 25 November 2015, but Fox later switched its release date with that of Victor Frankenstein, and thus The Martianwas released on 2 October 2015.[78][79] The Martian was a critical and commercial success, grossed over $630 million worldwide, becoming Scott's highest-grossing film to date.






A sequel to Prometheus, Alien: Covenant, started filming in 2016, premiered in London on 4 May 2017, and received general release on 19 May 2017.[83] The film received generally positive reviews from critics, with many praising Michael Fassbender's dual performance and calling the film a return to form for both director Ridley Scott and the franchise.





In August 2011, information leaked about production of a sequel to Blade Runner by Alcon Entertainment, with Alcon partners Broderick Johnson and Andrew Kosove.[86] Scott informed the Variety publication in November 2014 that he was no longer the director for the film and would only fulfill a producer's role. Scott also revealed that filming would begin sometime within 2015, and that Harrison Ford has signed on to reprise his role from the original film but his character should only appear in "the third act" of the sequel.[87] On 26 February 2015, the sequel was officially confirmed, with Denis Villeneuve hired to direct the film, and Scott being an executive producer.[88] The sequel, Blade Runner 2049, was released on 6 October 2017.[89]

From May to August 2017, Scott filmed All the Money in the World, a drama about the kidnapping of John Paul Getty III, starring Mark Wahlberg and Michelle Williams.[90][91] Kevin Spacey originally portrayed Getty Sr. However, after multiple sexual assault allegations against the actor, Scott made the decision to replace him with Christopher Plummer, saying "You can't condone that kind of behaviour in any shape or form. We cannot let one person's action affect the good work of all these other people. It's that simple."[92] Scott began re-shooting Spacey's scenes with Plummer on 20 November, which included filming at Elveden Hall in west Suffolk, England.[92] With a release date of 25 December 2017, the film studio had its doubts that Scott would manage it, saying: "They were like, 'You'll never do it. God be with you.'"
 
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Future projects

In January 2016, Scott was in early negotiations to direct the screen version of the 1968 British TV series The Prisoner.[94] In May 2016, it was announced that Scott and Drew Goddard (who had worked together on The Martian) would be reteaming to adapt the book Wraiths of the Broken Land by S. Craig Zahler. It is described as a piece of fiction that combines elements of "horror, noir, and Asian ultra-violence."[95] In April 2017, 20th Century Fox lined up Scott to direct a film about the Battle of Britain from WWII, where the Royal Air Force defended the country from German Luftwaffe attacks, which is described as a "passion project" for the director.[96] Scott has said that a sequel to Alien: Covenant would film 14 months from May 2017. It will be the final film in his prequel series to his original film, Alien.[97] On 4 January 2018, it was reported that Scott is in talks to direct a Disney film adaptation of The Merlin Saga, which is based on a 12-book series written by T. A. Barron, with a screenplay from Philippa Boyens.[98] On 15 March it was reported that Scott is in talks to adapt Greg Rucka's graphic novel Queen & Country for 20th Century Fox.[99]

Television projects

Ridley Scott and his brother Tony produced CBS series Numb3rs (2005–10), a crime drama about a genius mathematician who helps the FBI solve crimes; and The Good Wife(2009–2016), a legal drama about an attorney balancing her job with her husband, a former state attorney trying to rebuild his political career after a major scandal. The two Scotts also produced a 2010 film adaptation of 1980s television show The A-Team, directed by Joe Carnahan.[100][101]

Ridley Scott was an executive producer of the first season of Amazon's The Man in the High Castle (2015–16).[102] Through Scott Free Productions, he is an executive producer on the dark comic science-fiction series BrainDead which debuted on CBS in 2016.

On 20 November 2017, Amazon struck a deal with AMC Studios for a worldwide release of The Terror, Scott's series adaptation of Dan Simmons' novel, a speculative retelling of British explorer Sir John Franklin's lost expedition of HMS Erebus and HMS Terror to the Arctic in 1845–1848 to force the Northwest Passage, with elements of horror and supernatural fiction), with the series set for release in 2018.
 

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Approach and style

Appearing in the lead role in Scott's Gladiator and Robin Hood, Russell Crowe commented, "I like being on Ridley's set because actors can perform [...] and the focus is on the performers."[117] Paul M. Sammon, in his book Future Noir: The Making of Blade Runner, commented in an interview with Brmovie.com that Scott's relationship with his actors has improved considerably over the years.[118] More recently during the filming of Scott's 2012 film, Prometheus, Charlize Theron praised the director's willingness to listen to suggestions from the cast for improvements in the way their characters are portrayed on screen. Theron worked alongside the writers and Scott to give more depth to her character during filming.[119]

Scott's work is identified for its striking visuals, with heroines also a common theme.[1][3][8][120] His visual style, incorporating a detailed approach to production design and innovative, atmospheric lighting, has been influential on a subsequent generation of filmmakers.[1][2] Scott commonly uses slow pacing until the action sequences. Examples include Alien and Blade Runner; the LA Times critic Sheila Benson, for example, would call the latter "Blade Crawler" "because it's so damn slow". Another technique he employs is use of sound or music to build tension, as heard in Alien, with hissing steam, beeping computers and the noise of the machinery in the space ship. Scott claims to have an eidetic memory, which he says aids him in visualising and storyboarding the scenes in his films.[121]

Scott has developed a method for filming intricate shots as swiftly as possible: "I like working, always, with a minimum of three cameras. [...] So those 50 set-ups [a day] might only be 25 set-ups except I'm covering in the set-up. So you're finished. I mean, if you take a little bit more time to prep on three cameras, or if it's a big stunt, eleven cameras, and – whilst it may take 45 minutes to set up – then when you're ready you say 'Action!', and you do three takes, two takes and is everybody happy? You say, 'Yeah, that's it.' So you move on."

Artificial intelligence is a unifying theme throughout Scott's career as a director, particularly in Blade Runner, Alien, and Prometheus.[122] The recent book The Culture and Philosophy of Ridley Scott identifies Alan Turing and John Searle, a professor at the University of California, as presenting relevant models of testing artificial intelligence known as the Turing test and the Chinese Room Thought Experiment, respectively, in the chapter titled "What's Wrong with Building Replicants," which has been a recurring theme for many of Scott's films.[123] The chapter titled "Artificial Intelligence in Blade Runner, Alien, and Prometheus," concludes by citing the writings of John Stuart Mill in the context of Scott's Nexus-6 Replicants in Blade Runner (Rutger Hauer), the android Ash (Ian Holm) in Alien, and the android David 8 (Michael Fassbender) in Prometheus, where Mill is applied to assert that measures and tests of intelligence must also assess actions and moral behaviour in androids to effectively address the themes which Scott explores in these films.
 

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Ridley Scott: Quality TV Is A Problem For Film


ridley-scott-quality-tv-is-a-problem-for-film-696x464.jpg


Filmmaker Ridley Scott remains one of the busiest men in Hollywood, and one of the few who has fingers squarely in the separate pies of film and television.

Not only did he direct two films last year, and produce at least four more, he also serves as executive producer on numerous TV series including “The Good Fight,” “Taboo,” “Jean Claude Van Johnson” and “The Terror”.

Now, in a new interview with IndieWire, he spoke about the advantages of TV over film these days and is seriously considering following an increasing trend of filmmakers directing a whole season of event television. Asked how he feels about working on TV, he says:

“I really enjoyed it. I love the speed. I like working fast. I would certainly go ahead and do a show. Probably just a pilot, but you know, once you bite off a little bit you want to do the lot. I think doing the lot becomes pretty challenging if you’re doing a limited series. Six would be doable. Ten starts to get rather long.”

In fact Scott says as more and more viewers seek out and revel in all the ridiculous amount of quality series on TV, they’re less likely to go to cinemas:

“There’s so much original, inventive, innovative stuff coming out of television as well. It’s really presenting a big problem for the feature film business.”

Scott himself for example has most recently been bingeing on the series “Killing Eve”: “I just finished a show called ‘Killing Eve.’ Really good. Great writing, but great casting. [Sandra Oh] is fantastic. I love her. She’s got such a great sense of humor and I think the rare psychopath is extraordinary. There’s a dark humor to it all, which is what I really liked.”
 

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Jerry Goldsmith's original score was used for European release, but replaced in North America with a score by Tangerine Dream.



0:00:00 - Once Long Ago
0:01:22 - Main Titles
0:04:15 - Nell's Cottage
0:07:33 - Unicorn Theme
0:10:54 - Apocalypse
0:12:41 - Goblins
0:15:40 - Fairies
0:18:34 - Forgiveness
0:21:40 - The Fairy Weapons
0:23:57 - Legend
0:31:02 - Blue Room
0:34:25 - The Dance
0:36:46 - Darkness
0:39:49 - Kitchen Fight
0:43:08 - Jack the Champion [Unicorn Theme Reprise]
0:44:41 - Jack Versus Darkness
0:48:26 - Loved By The Sun [Vocal version -Jon Anderson]
0:54:19 - Horn Returned
1:01:21 - Is Your Love Strong Enough [Bryan Ferry]
1:06:29 - Unicorn Saga (Bonus)
1:10:25 - United Goblin Parade (Bonus)
1:19:06 - Autumn (Bonus)
1:20:34 - Unicorn Song [Suzanne Pawlitzki] (Bonus)
1:23:44 - My True Love's Eyes-The Cottage [Suzanne Pawlitzki] (Bonus)



 
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