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Ridley Scott

 

TSPDT Rating

Director / Producer
1937 - 
Born November 30, South Shields, Tyne and Wear, England
Key Production Countries: USA, UK
Key Genres: Epic, Historical Epic, Science Fiction
Key Collaborators: Hans Zimmer (Composer), John Mathieson (Cinematographer), Pietro Scalia (Editor), Norris Spencer (Production Designer), Arthur Max (Production Designer), Russell Crowe (Leading Player), Sigourney Weaver (Leading Player), Harvey Keitel (Leading Player), Steven Zaillian (Screenwriter), Adrian Biddle (Cinematographer)
Highly Recommended: Blade Runner (1982)
Recommended: The Duellists (1977), Alien (1979), Thelma & Louise (1991), Gladiator (2000)
Worth a Look: Someone to Watch Over Me (1987), Matchstick Men (2003), American Gangster (2007)
Links: [ IMDB ] [ TCMDB ] [ All-Movie Guide ] [ Film Reference ] [ The Ridley Scott Fan Information Page ] [ IGN Featured Filmmaker ] [ Ridley Scott Profile ] [ Spliced Wire Interview with Ridley Scott ] [ Filmbug Biography ] [ DGA Interview ] [ Guardian Interview (2005) ] [ BBC Article (2001) ] [ BBC: Calling the Shots ]
Books: [ Ridley Scott: The Making of His Movies ] [ The Films of Ridley Scott ] [ Ridley Scott ] [ Ridley Scott: Interviews ] [ Ridley Scott (The Pocket Essential Series) ]
DVD's: [ Amazon ] 
1,000 Greatest Films: Alien (1979), Blade Runner (1982), Thelma & Louise (1991)
21st Century's Most Acclaimed Films: Gladiator (2000), Black Hawk Down (2001)
 
Blade Runner (1982)The Duellists (1977)Alien (1979)Gladiator (2000)
 
     
  "Though Scott has forged a style that is recognizably his own, his approach to filmmaking has a precedent in German Expressionist filmmaking. The Expressionists were among the first to use the elements of mise-en-scène (set design, lighting, props, costuming) to suggest traits of character or enhance meaning. Similarly, Scott's techniques are stunning yet highly artificial, a trait often criticized by American reviewers, who too often value plot and character over visual style, and realism over symbolism." - Susan Doll (International Dictionary of Films and Filmmakers, 1991)  
     
  "Although the films Ridley Scott chooses to make suggest a director of considerable ambition, he is unlikely to be taken very seriously until he overcomes an inability to tell a story clearly or to create credible, vivid characters. Too concerned with the look of things, his work is often predictable, even incoherent." - Geoff Andrew (The Film Handbook, 1989)  
     
  "Often derided by critics for his tendency to emphasise style over substance, particularly in the use of inexplicable, though atmospheric, light sources (a quality he shares with his brother Tony), Scott has created a vision of the past, present and, most dramatically, the future, that has influenced a whole generation of film-makers." - Ian Haydn Smith (Contemporary North American Film Directors, 2002)  
     
  "People say I pay too much attention to the look of a movie but for God's sake, I'm not producing a Radio 4 Play for Today, I'm making a movie that people are going to look at." - Ridley Scott  
     
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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"A film is a petrified fountain of thought." - Jean Cocteau   "If it can be written, or thought, it can be filmed." - Stanley Kubrick