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Ranking Ridley Scott Films

Ridley Scott is one of the most famous directors working today as most people have at least seen a couple of his most iconic movies. He’s an interesting filmmaker who is known for two very different genres – science fiction and historical epics. He excels at both of those, but he also tackled different genres ranging from crime flicks all the way to romantic comedies, succeeding at some and failing at others. His filmography is the very definition of a mixed bag with movies that range from quite bad to downright amazing. Here is the ranking of all 29 Ridley Scott-directed films so far.

 

29. The Counselor

Ridley’s crime movies range from solid to downright terrible. The latter is the case with The Counselor. It’s technically well made and its cast was tremendous. However, they were all wasted on very mediocre roles not worthy of their talents. Couple that with a dumb plot and a serious lack of thrills and/or any genuine engagement and you’ve got such a poor, misguided attempt at a fun crime thriller of sorts. Of all the movies Scott has made so far this one takes the cake as his absolute worst, so it takes the last spot on this list.

 

28. Body of Lies

Body of Lies is one of the most forgettable Ridley Scott movies. It has solid performances from its talented cast, fine cinematography and a pretty good premise, but it forsake the geopolitical intricacies of its plot in favor of genre thrills and extensive action set pieces. The flick felt instantly dated due to its overly familiar approach to storytelling and a spy narrative that was tiresome and dull. The 2000s were quite middling when it comes to this director’s output and this represents the nadir of that period.

 

27. Black Hawk Down

Black Hawk Down is a war movie that is arguably more of a pro-war than an anti-war story. It is at least pro-military in its stance and I’ve had a huge problem with that. It looks and sounds great, but this was Scott exhibiting his worst tendencies as a director – it’s an action spectacle that forsakes any plot and/or characterization. I do realize that this one is among the most respected films from this director, but I am not an American and my pacifist stance is very strong, so this pro-war film really bothered me. It’s so problematic.

 

26. Exodus: Gods and Kings

Exodus is suitably epic in certain scenes (particularly the plague ones) and beautifully scored by Alberto Iglesias. The movie was not well shot at all as it felt too dark with a heavy use of unnecessary CGI. It is overlong, boring and lacking strong dialogue, acting and characterization as the plot just went through the motions. It’s a very messy movie that was a big flop at the box office and with the critics, but because it has its fun and epic scenes that I enjoyed, I simply could not rank it lower than this.

 

25. Robin Hood

Scott’s Robin Hood movie offered a uniquely realistic take on this often adapted tale, but just because it’s original doesn’t mean it’s good. This story has never been rooted in reality, so this project felt seriously misguided and pointless in the process. It has some strong action scenes and fine attention to detail, but it quickly grew tiresome due to its overlong runtime, an overly gloomy tone and forgettable characters and performances. This is one of his films that I really wanted to love, but sadly it was difficult to be enamored with any of it.

 

24. Legend

Fantasy was never Ridley’s forte as seen in 1985’s Legend. This movie had a terrific Disneyesque opening, absolutely gorgeous visuals and fantastic production design, but the character development was very slim and the plot was nowhere to be found. The film’s indecisive tone made it unsuitable for both adults and children, making this entire project pretty much doomed from the start. I am a fantasy/SF guy, so I did get some kick out of the visuals and world building here. Still, it’s a very mediocre movie overall, so it has to be ranked low.

 

23. Black Rain

The 1980s were not a good era for this director’s output at all with only one worthy movie produced. Black Rain is no such film. Its neo-noir atmosphere is delightful – the cinematography and score are both quite strong. The acting is also pretty good. But that’s pretty much it here as the plot is nonsensical, the action overwhelming and the third act is ridiculous. It’s a forgettable 80s action thriller that proves that Scott was never particularly adept at making thrillers no matter how much he tried.

 

22. Someone to Watch Over Me

Everything that I’ve said above also applies here as this is another of the director’s attempts at a neo-noir feature. He mostly failed at that task as the movie is so boring, slow and unexciting. The technical aspects are terrific as the film both looks and sounds fantastic, but it wasn’t enough to compensate for underwritten characters, a tediously familiar plot and a definite lack of thrills plaguing this supposed thriller throughout. Watching these two movies you’d never think that they were his directorial efforts.

 

21. A Good Year

A Good Year is a romantic comedy. Yes, Ridley Scott actually at one pointed directed a rom-com, which was quite a change in pace for this usually very masculine filmmaker. He made a movie that focuses on a gorgeous locale, fine wine and dine, and beautiful people having fun. The result wasn’t as terrible as you’d expect as Russell Crowe is so charming in the main role and Marion Cotillard is lovely as his love interest. Their scenes together truly sparkled. The movie is light and fun enough, but it also lacked humor and the overall storyline is this beyond dull, clichéd fluff. It’s uninspired, but far from his worst works.

 

20. Hannibal

Hannibal is a serviceable sequel that lacked the sophistication of the first film, instead focusing more on repulsing audiences with its frequently grotesque imagery. Gone was the terrific central dynamic from the original in favor of more gruesomeness, separating the main two players way too much. The movie was very well made from a technical standpoint and it had a strong atmosphere, but its weak plot, characterization and pacing were its main detractors. I get what he was going for here, but ultimately it did not work.

 

19. All the Money in the World

All the Money in the World is a hastily put together crime flick. It has its powerful sequences and the story is fascinating, but the film never explored any of its interesting themes at all and the shifts in genre approach are not handled well. Michelle Williams is actually much more memorable here than Christopher Plummer whose Oscar nomination is purely political and ludicrous. This is one of Scott’s praised films when in actuality it’s one of his most forgettable projects.

 

18. G.I. Jane

I’d expected terrible things going into G.I. Jane, but the movie ended up being serviceable. Demi Moore got the Razzie for this role, but she didn’t deserve it as she was pretty good and surprisingly believable in it. The movie is genuinely entertaining throughout in spite of many things going against it – the cinematography is weak, the score is overwrought, some characters are ridiculous, the dialogue is very corny and the third act is quite contrived. It is riddled with flaws for sure, but it’s fun and enjoyable enough, so it’s far from terrible in my book.

 

17. Matchstick Men

Matchstick Men is an underrated Ridley Scott flick that is very messy, but undeniably charming and fun. He here tried to tackle different genres, best working as a comedy and working the least as a heist crime story due to too many plot holes, though the twist ending was unquestionably memorable. The highlights here are strong humor and dialogue as well as terrific performances from Alison Lohman, Sam Rockwell and especially Nicolas Cage in what is actually one of his best roles.

 

16. American Gangster

American Gangster is a perfectly solid epic crime movie that has a very familiar plot and an overlong runtime that made it a slog to sit through at times, but it was successfully elevated by strong acting performances from both Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe and a terrific dynamic between their characters. It would have been a much more effective movie had it had more streamlined pacing and runtime, but it’s still a reasonably solid flick that is technically well made and surprisingly well directed. This is one of Scott’s best crime films for sure.

 

15. 1492: Conquest of Paradise

1492: Conquest of Paradise is a polarizing movie for me. It’s nowhere near as bad as most would make you believe, but it’s not great either. The first half is actually fantastic and thrilling, but the third act was flawed due to overwhelming violence and a lack of a clear narrative and themes. It is very difficult to do a Columbus movie as no matter how you approach it, it’s going to be problematic. Still though, this movie is worth seeing for the terrific Gerard Depardieu central performance and amazing audio-visuals – the cinematography and production design are immaculate and Vangelis’ score is simply iconic.

 

14. White Squall

One of the most underrated and forgotten Ridley Scott movies for me has to be White Squall, this is this coming-of-age flick that is quite clichéd and populated with archetypal characters. The courtroom drama third act itself was highly cheesy. But the movie’s cast was quite charismatic and Scott’s assured direction elevated the material throughout. The highlight was its cinematic nature – the rousing score and gorgeous cinematography are the standouts. The movie was at its best during the thrilling disaster and survival scenes.

 

13. Alien: Covenant

I really liked Alien: Covenant when I first saw it, but in retrospect it’s far from great. It has those horror trappings that annoy me so much with the group getting separated being stupid and everyone touching everything on the planet being ridiculous by now, but it is still a solid ‘Prometheus’ sequel and a very competent Alien film that is pretty creepy and atmospheric at times while also being intriguingly mysterious throughout. It had a great concept and excellent ensemble, but the overall execution is only serviceable.

 

12. Gladiator II

Gladiator II is pretty much the same movie as the original one, functioning more as a remake than a sequel. The visuals are much better, but the score is quite inferior. Paul Mescal is no Russell Crowe, but Denzel Washington is the clear MVP and the movie is worth seeing for his deliciously scheming character alone. The film has too many slavish callbacks to the original and a plot that is pretty much a repeat of said movie, but it also has more entertaining action scenes, numerous interesting plot points and it’s very entertaining. Most would rank this one much lower, but because I have never been a huge fan of the original, I find the two movies pretty similar in quality.

 

11. The Martian

Now we come to one of Scott’s most overrated movies. The Martian is a technically polished movie with superb direction, stunning photography, good score and amazing acting with each and every actor delivering a strong performance. It also has good and very likable characters, some moving parts and a meticulous approach to its storytelling. But I did not love this movie due to weak characterization, a predictable plot and an overly comedic, silly tone that negatively affected the otherwise present realism throughout. I liked this one quite a bit watching it in the theater back when it was released, but in retrospect it feels overly praised.

 

10. Gladiator

Yes, as I’ve already stated above, I have never been a fan of the original Gladiator movie. It surely is a spectacle to watch and is actually surprisingly moving in its emotional ending. Russell Crowe’s performance was fantastic and Scott’s directing was top-notch. The movie is also immensely engaging in spite of its staggering length. The effects and sound are especially terrific while the highlight is its rousing and very memorable score. However, it also has dialogue that is immensely clichéd and at times even cringe-worthy in its inspirational trappings. The overall narrative is also a bit too simple for its own sake. I like this movie, but I simply never loved it, which is why it barely ended in my top ten here.

 

9. Napoleon

Yes, I am putting Napoleon this high on the list because I was moved and wholly entertained by this undeniably messy, but mostly effective spectacle. Joaquin Phoenix was certainly miscast, but he still delivered a solid performance. Vanessa Kirby fared much better as the well developed Josephine. The crux of the film is the relationship between the two and this is where the movie truly shined. Had it focused just on their story, it would have been much stronger. The rest of the movie consists of superbly crafted battle sequences and at times cringey humor where Napoleon himself was ridiculed way too much. The tone certainly did not work, but I still appreciated Scott’s wild swings here. And I was entertained, which is the most important thing.

 

8. House of Gucci

Speaking of fun, watching House of Gucci and its titular family spiral toward imminent doom was wildly entertaining. This is a mess of a film with insanely uneven acting – Jared Leto was horribly cartoonish with his atrocious accent. But Adam Driver was pretty good himself and Lady Gaga stole the show with her most memorable performance to date. The movie is also technically polished, but Scott’s directing is indecisive and lazy here. This is certainly a hugely uneven effort, but I myself am all in when it comes to this hectic and campy era that Scott is currently in.

 

7. Blade Runner

This is going to be the most contested placement on this list, but even after second viewing, I still do not love Blade Runner and it is one of only a few acclaimed science fiction films which I deem to be very overrated. Certainly the score is highly iconic, the visuals are mesmerizing, the sci-fi elements are great and its ending is simply remarkable and immensely moving in its score and emotion. But unfortunately the rest of the movie is not as great with an unfortunate emphasis on neo-noir instead of science fiction. The crime elements are weak here, the action is overwhelming, the characters are mostly bland and boring and the film is mostly just a blockbuster masquerading as serious science fiction. I respect it more than I love it.

 

6. Thelma and Louise

Thelma and Louise is easily the best movie Ridley Scott has ever made that isn’t a SF story or a historical epic. It’s a feminist drama that also functions as a wonderful road trip adventure tale. Gorgeously shot and scored and superbly directed, this is a technically polished, moving film that was powered by an iconic bittersweet ending and two outstanding performances from Geena Davis and Susan Sarandon in their most signature roles. It’s not often regarded when his best films are mentioned due to it being a drama and a woman’s picture, but it deserves this high placement undoubtedly.

 

5. Kingdom of Heaven

Owing to its butchered theatrical release, Kingdom of Heaven’s reputation is still somewhat tainted, but there’s no denying the power of the director’s cut. Though ringing false in its overly hopeful ending, the rest of the film is admirably realistic and raw in the honest depiction of this time period. The performances are uniformly great, some of the characters are very interesting and the movie explores some excellent themes too. It has way too much action in its third act, but the spectacle is impressively mounted, especially in terms of VFX, production design, score and many authentic period details. This is by far Scott’s most underrated film.

 

4. Prometheus

This ‘Alien’ prequel definitely deserves more love. When I saw it in the theater when it first came out, I loved it. Watching it for the second time later, I loved it once again. Prometheus is a sophisticated, engrossing and fascinating film that deals with its thought-provoking existential questions in a very unique way and it perfectly works as a prequel that is set in the same world, but has a different genre approach and story, but still ties it up wonderfully. This is the film where Scott came closest to true hard science fiction reminiscent of Arthur Clarke and it’s such a shame that he would never continue this story or revisit these intriguing ideas in the future.

 

3. The Last Duel

The Last Duel is a recent film for Scott, but it deserves this very high placement for various reasons. One is the acting. Adam Driver is reliably excellent, Matt Damon disappeared in his role admirably and Jodie Comer entirely stole the show with her incredibly subtle performance in a far from wordy role. Just looking at her face spoke volumes about her conflicting emotions. The film’s technical aspects are also impeccable. But its true power lies in its themes as the movie cleverly deconstructs the epic genre by not only focusing on its feminist message, but also by heavily criticizing the machismo, the foolishness of egos and the concept of “honor” as well as the horrendous scientific ignorance of the period. It’s a truly phenomenal period piece.

 

2. The Duellists

The second place belongs to Ridley Scott’s directorial debut – The Duellists. This is a film where he showed from the start just how meticulous he is when crafting his historical epics – the production design is incredible, the cinematography is gorgeous and the costumes are historically accurate. The central conflict was psychologically fascinating and all the more crazy when you realize that it was based on true events. This is a wildly underappreciated movie that deserves more love for everything that Scott did right. From the very first film, he showed great potential as a filmmaker and in this debut you can see just how talented he is.

 

1. Alien

And the number one spot is the obvious but right one. Alien is a timeless masterpiece, the best sci-fi horror film and one of the finest blockbusters of all time. Ash the android is such a great character as is Ripley of course who is so well played by Sigourney Weaver in her most famous role. The film is mysterious and atmospheric in its first half and so intense and creepy in the second half. The direction is phenomenal, the acting is strong, the story is simple but brilliant and the tone is effectively ominous. Add to that truly amazing special effects and a perfectly conveyed setting and a sense of claustrophobic terror and you’ve got one unforgettable viewing experience and one of the best horror as well as science fiction films of all time. There is no doubt about it, this is Ridley Scott’s magnum opus.