Ridley Scott

by Rebecca Flint Marx film biography

One of the most promising directors of the late '70s, Ridley Scott displayed stylistic flair and remarkable storytelling abilities in such films as The Duellists (1977) and his landmark Alien (1979). Although he remained a respected director on both sides of the Atlantic, his career suffered repeated blows throughout the 1980s and '90s with a series of critical and commercial missteps, beginning with the costly and unsuccessful 1492: Conquest of Paradise.

Born in 1937, in Northumberland, England, Scott was educated at the West Hartlepool College of Art and London's Royal College of Art. After completing his education, he became a set designer for the British Broadcasting Company in the early '60s, eventually getting promoted to director of such popular BBC series as the long-running police adventure Z Cars. With the establishment of his own firm, Ridley Scott Associates, Scott was in on the ground floor of some of the most inventive European TV commercials of the 1970s.

The director's transition to the big screen came with his direction of 1977's The Duellists, a visually striking Napoleonic war film that won the Jury Prize for Best First Feature at the Cannes Film Festival. Further success followed with 1979's Alien, which established Scott as both an important director and a shining knight for horror and sci-fi devotees. In 1982, the director found himself at the center of a storm around his production of Blade Runner. After repeated clashes with studio executives over the film's complex content and downbeat finale, Scott added a voice-over narration and a more positive ending. The results sparked an outcry from film purists, and Blade Runner fell victim to negative reviews and poor box-office results. It wasn't until the early '90s that the director's cut was finally released, theatrically and on video cassette, and the film was recognized as a science fiction masterpiece.

In the meantime, Scott continued to direct such films as the 1986 fantasy Legend, starring Tom Cruise, and 1989's Black Rain, which featured Michael Douglas as a vice cop on a mission to Japan. In 1991, he encountered critical and commercial triumph with Thelma & Louise. Starring Geena Davis and Susan Sarandon, the film was nominated for six Academy Awards, including Best Director for Scott. After the film's success, it seemed that the director could do no wrong. Unfortunately, he did just the opposite with his next project, 1992's 1492: Conquest of Paradise. The film proved to be a complete flop, and for the next few years Scott relinquished his directorial duties in favor of producing such films as Monkey Trouble and The Browning Version (both 1994).

Scott returned to the director's chair in 1996, with White Squall, an action-adventure film set on a boat full of troubled teenage boys. Unfortunately, the film performed poorly among critics and at the box office, and Scott's next feature, G.I. Jane (1997), suffered a similar fate. He then returned to producing, working on the 1997 TV series The Hunger, which was based on the 1983 movie directed by his brother, Tony Scott, who was best-known for such action fare as Top Gun (1986) and Enemy of the State (1998). After producing the 1998 black comedy Clay Pigeons, Scott returned to directing with Gladiator (2000), a Roman epic starring Russell Crowe as its titular hero. Budgeted at 100 million dollars and weighing in at 154 minutes, the film was hailed by some critics who saw it as a return to grand-scale moviemaking, while others saw it as merely overblown. Regardless of the critics' opinions, Gladiator was undoubtedly wildly popular, earning five Oscars, including Best Picture, at the 73rd Annual Academy Awards.

In 2001, Scott applied his icy-cool visual style -- but little else of note -- to Hannibal, the much-anticipated sequel to 1991's Silence of the Lambs. Although the film broke the box-office record for the largest opening weekend for an R-rated film, critics were less than pleased with Hannibal's combination of smug, stuffy disaffection and vomit-bag-worthy gore. Scott's skills as a director of action were better put to the test later that year with Black Hawk Down, the account of the United States' unsuccessful 1993 attempt to take down the regime of a brutal Somalian warlord. Though there was no contesting the helmer's adroit camera and editing choices in the film's visceral, tactically challenging battle scenes, some critics objected to Black Hawk's simplified portrayal of the U.S. military involvement in the region. Still bruised from the tragic events of 9/11, however, the American public lined up in droves for the flag-waving Jerry Bruckheimer production, which would also garner Scott his third Best Director Oscar nomination.

Recoiling from the high-profile prestige projects for a spell, Scott turned his focus to the big-screen adaptation of Matchstick Men, a dysfunctional-con-man tale starring a tic-laden Nicolas Cage as well as up-and-comers Sam Rockwell and Alison Lohman. Though hardly a blockbuster, the heist comedy garnered mixed but generally positive reviews, most noting Scott's ability to evince vivid performances from his trio of actors.

In 2005, the director helmed the would-be epic Crusades historical film Kingdom of Heaven with a Gladiator-esque budget and all-star cast. Unfortunately, the film was a dud both with critics and audiences, so Scott returned to a more intimate kind of storytelling with the 2006 drama A Good Year. The film starred Russell Crowe as a hotshot broker who finds himself in the depths of a life-crisis when he inherits his beloved uncle's estate and discovers that the simple lifestyle it offers may give him more satisfaction than his fast-paced, high-power job.

filmography snapshot

1965

1970

1975

1980

1985

1990

1995

2000

Year	Title	Rating
1962	Z Cars [TV Series] Director
1977	The Duellists Director
1979	Alien Director
1982	Blade Runner Director
1985	Legend Director
1987	Someone to Watch over Me Director, Executive Producer
1989	Black Rain Director
1991	Thelma & Louise Director, Producer
1992	1492: Conquest of Paradise Director, Producer
1994	Monkey Trouble Producer
1994	The Browning Version Producer
1996	White Squall Director, Executive Producer
1997	G.I. Jane Director
1998	Clay Pigeons Producer
1999	RKO 281 Executive Producer
2000	Gladiator Director
2000	The Last Debate Executive Producer
2000	Where the Money Is Producer
2001	Black Hawk Down Producer, Director
2001	Hannibal Producer, Director
2001	The Alien Saga Interviewee
2002	AFP: American Fighter Pilot [TV Series] Executive Producer
2002	The Gathering Storm Executive Producer
2003	Matchstick Men Director, Producer
2004	The Cutting Edge: The Magic of Movie Editing Participant
2005	All the Invisible Children Director
2005	Ben-Hur: The Epic That Changed Cinema Participant
2005	Domino Producer
2005	In Her Shoes Producer
2005	Kingdom of Heaven Director, Producer
2005	Tristan & Isolde Executive Producer
2006	A Good Year Director, Producer
2007	American Gangster Director, Producer
2007	The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford Producer
2007	The Company Executive Producer
2008	Body of Lies Director, Producer
2008	The Andromeda Strain Executive Producer
2009	Cracks Executive Producer
2009	Into the Storm: Churchill at War Executive Producer
2009	Tell Tale Producer
2010	Cyrus Executive Producer
2010	Robin Hood Producer, Director
2010	The A-Team Executive Producer
2010	The Pillars of the Earth Executive Producer
2010	Welcome to the Rileys Executive Producer
2011	Gettysburg Executive Producer
2011	Life in a Day Executive Producer
2012	Prometheus Director, Producer
2012	Stoker Producer
2012	The Grey Producer
2013	Death Wish Producer
2013	Red Riding Producer, Director
2014	Untitled Blade Runner Production Producer, Director

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Chris Jackson/Getty Images Entertainment/Getty Images
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Music Genres

Stage & Screen

Movie Genres

Active

1962 - 2014

Born

11/30/1937 in South Shields, Tyne and Wear, England

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