I've decided Ridley Scott is my favorite director of all time: DISCUSS...
 

I always thought of Tarantino, Scorsese or even sometimes even James Cameron as my favorite directors, as they've been responsible for several of my all time favorite films/movies. However, after reading through this Grantland.com article ( http://www.grantland.com/blog/hollyw...n-horse-career ) it dawned on me. Blade Runner, Alien, Legend, Kingdom of Heaven, Promethius... these are literally almost ALL unanimously in my all-time Top 20, some are even in my all-time top-5!! Even Hannibal and American Gangster are fantastic. All in all then, upon reflection I think I have to pass favorite director credits to Ridley.

Am I way off base here to put him above grit masters like Tarantino and Scorsese, or genre-creating folks like Cameron or Spielberg? What do y'all think of Ridley Scott? Where would you rank his filmography?

Why discuss with those who never listen? Anyway, regardless, you're wrong.

Happy weekend.

Well to each his own, but Tarantino, grand master?!

I did not know Ridley's younger brother Tony scott (The Hunger, Top Gun, Beverly Hills Cop II, True Romance, Enemy of the state, Man On Fire) committed suicide by jumping off a bridge. man.

I know, its fucking sad. Plus Tony Scott made some great fucking films of his own, I love Enemy of the State, Man on Fire, Crimson Tide, Deja Vu, The Last Boyscout.. At least we can always celebrate his life and work. Its a tragic loss, especially to Denzel Washington's career.



GRIT master. There is a difference, but who is honestly more consistently grittier in their films than Tarantino?





"..quiet you!"



How can I be wrong about my own opinion? Did I say, "Ridley Scott is THE best director of all time?" NO. I said, "Ridley Scott is MY favorite director." Duh. But much like dead_battery, sometimes your reading comprehension skills fall well short of the Gifted and Talented Education benchmarks so I'm not at all surprised :cool:


Thank you kindly, same to you.

Oops. Well I guess it depends what you mean by grit, Tarantino makes fantasy films in my book and grit is a term I would use to describe rough realistic stories, like Ken Loach or someone. As for Scorsese sure Taxi Driver and Raging Bull are gritty, but these days he makes daft stuff like Gangs of New York and Shutter Island.

I agree with that synopsis of Tarantino films, but I think grit is very much part of the fantasy. In fact, through the fantasy the grit is almost exaggerated or caricatured, as in Dusk Till Dawn, Pulp Fiction, or Reservoir Dogs. With Inglorious, Jackie Brown, or Kill Bill the grit is highly stylized and almost fashionable, but its still there. We're talking about movies about drug dealers and assassins, what could possibly be grittier than that? While Taxi Driver is definitely the prototype and origin point of this kind of film-making, I think Tarantino embodies what a kind of almost "mainstream" or "pop" grit might look like. Its fashionable enough for the masses, gritty and noir enough for low-lives like ourselves.

Not sure he's a fave of mine but I do think he's underrated, maybe cos he's not really associated with a specific kind of film. Studio's obviously love him for that very reason. His name's a byword for quality regardless of if he's making a sci fi epic or a road movie.

wrong, dead wrong. categorically, ontologically, terminally wrong. and then again wrong.

why explain things to the cognitively closed?

If anybody else would have directed Blade Runner, it would have likely been awful. He honestly earns his cred on that and Alien alone.

Yeah, and yes.

I appreciate him because he's one of the few directors who make massively-budgeted Hollywood fare that still has an intelligence behind it. He makes really solid genre flicks, and I can sort of see him as a modern-day version of some of the classic Hollywood directors.

EXACTLY.

i don't know that "anybody else" would have fucked it, but he did an awesome job with those two. alien is one of the best horror movies ever, and blade runner made a huge mark in the culture-- all 20 different cuts and workprints and remasters of it. william gibson said he had to walk out of the theatre because it was too much like the stuff he was writing and he didn't want to be overly influenced. which means pkd/fancher/peoples<--2 screenwriters/scott got there first.

Those of us from the UK, and of a certain age will remember this early Ridley Scott piece.

hot damn, yes (although in '82 he was still making cheap movies).

or...



and as much as i hate the guy, james (barf) cameron might have rendered it correctly also. and while he fucked up dune



nah, he did fuck it up. or was it delaurentiis? guess we'll never know.

You're right about James Cameron, but I am too damned attached to the first two Terminator movies, it biases my interpretation of his work. As to Spielberg, Jaws, E.T., Poltergeist, Jurassic Park, Schindler's List, Amistad, Saving Private Ryan, as well as the producer of dozens of other fantastic movies? Mainstream, yes, DUH. Not a master of film making? Are you kidding me? Is that even debatable?

I probably for personal reasons should replace Cameron with Christopher Nolan, because I like most of his work, including the Batman movies, Inception, and especially Memento. As to folks like Kubrick, Scorsese, or Coppala, I thought those go with out saying. Sorry if my list is too mainstream, I don't really watch a lot of movies or films, mostly PBS kind of shit instead. Your more than welcome to give me a more indie list and recommendations rather than joining the troll party ;)

he admits ignorance!

a small step for mankind, but a great leap for rastaman.



one of these days, just one of these days, you'll see, he might just admit error.

anyway, check out KENNETH ANGER.

Whatever it takes to be a 'master filmmaker' I can't think of anyone in the indie scene that'd qualify over Spielberg. It's one thing not to like the kinds of movies he tends to make but to question his ability even at the very highest level is absurd. Jaws, ET, Raiders, Close Encounters. When it comes to a certain kind of movie the guy's a flat out genius. End of.

Incidentally in the first posts I never called Spielberg or Cameron masters, I called them genre-defining, but as I mentioned in my reply think with Spielberg master can apply yes. I called Tarantino a "grit master" and I stand by that statement. Really, name a more consistently gritty director?

technically he's a genius from the get-go (e.g., "duel"), thematically however he often picks up crap stuff that targets middle america ("hook"), and his casting choices aren't my favorite either (e.g. tom hanks or tom cruise or robin williams). then again, he's made 50 movies. 50.

once i watched "empire of the sun" expecting some shitballs but he blew me away. it was j.g. ballard's writing though, and john malkovich, etc. oh, and a very tiny christian bale, ha ha ha. i used to hate spielberg until i watched that and made peace with the fact that he can make some amazing shit. i hate jurassic pork and e.t. and a lot of other of his stuff. surprisingly though, i liked a.i.

Agree about Duel.

Fair enough if you're not a fan of stuff like ET but I think they're ultimately his forte. He's never done 'serious' well for me, but give him any old bygone b movie scenario and he's in a league of his own.

Which means he wouldn't have been offered it but it's the period in his career when I think he'd have probably done the most interesting job.

Schindler's List
Munich
Lincoln
Saving Private Ryan

I'm sorry but to not call Spielberg a genius is just silly. That guy changed cinema and no that isn't an overstatement.

Spielberg's shown he can make any kind of movie. I just think there are directors out there better suited to some of his more serious projects, whereas I don't think there's ever been one more perfectly suited to stuff like Raiders, Jaws, Jurassic Park, etc. I only wish he'd have a crack at a superhero movie. It's almost perverse that he's never made one.

Schindler's List

^

Geez, yeah. I guess so. In a way. But if that's a superhero movie, it's obviously the best one ever made and I can't imagine what superhero flick is in second place.

---

Could Ridley Scott have directed Schindler's List?

Maybe. Maybe not.

I personally don't think so, and maybe that's the difference between Spiel and Scott.

I was joking, but nevermind. Anyway I feel Ridley Scott only did a handful of great films. A lot of his stuff was just ok. Oh and Gladiator must rank as one of the most over-rated films in recent history.

Gladiator is a load of overblown crap, with maybe the worst ending to any film I've ever seen.

gladiator is fucking TERRIBLE.

sure it sold a lot of popcorn though.


his non-serious stuff is awesomely done. just look at the editing of some jeep fight on indiana jones. i mean look at it shot by shot.

i guess what can be said of spielberg is that he's not so much an artist as a GENIUS CRAFTSMAN. which is a perfectly honorable thing to be. shit. his level of achievement is tremendous.

BUT he's never going to change the way i look at the world…

anyway riddley scott is a good craftsman too. and he had 2 great movies between 79-82. which he directed but didn't write. this is the guy who wrote it: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0639321/b..._=nm_ov_bio_sm

I only watch cartoons.