\n\tThe sheer diversity in Sir Ridley\u2019s resum\u00e9 doesn\u2019t just apply to genres, however. It also extends to the subject of quality. Look back at his filmography, and you\u2019ll find masterpieces, cinematic car wrecks, and everything in between. In the spirit of admiration, we present our ranked list of the best and worst of Ridley Scott\u2019s features \u2014 the good, the great, and the not-so-great. All that\u2019s left to say is that we stand by our placement of his vastly underrated gem The Counselor and we will not be taking questions at this time.<\/p>\n
- \n
- \n
\t\u2018Exodus: Gods and Kings\u2019 (2014)<\/p>\n
\t\t\t
![\"001_t1_0480_v0260_left.1098_R2](\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/wp-content\/themes\/vip\/pmc-rollingstone-2022\/assets\/public\/lazyload-fallback.gif\")
\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Twentieth Century Studios\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\n\tLook, people, it\u2019s hard to make a biblical epic. It was hard in the 1920s and the 1950s, when movie audiences were likely more forgiving. And it was definitely hard in 2014, even if you can conjure up a cast of thousands with the click or a mouse. Scott may be one of the few modern filmmakers who can pull off period spectacle, as numerous entries on this list prove. But good lord \u2014 pun intended \u2014 this retelling of Moses leading his people out of slavery is atrocious enough to make audiences leave theaters in droves. You can\u2019t say that Christian Bale isn\u2019t 100-percent committed per usual to playing the prophet who goes from boyhood chum of Ramses II to B.C. revolutionary, though it\u2019s a mystery as to why, given the cinematic chariot wreck of a movie all around him. The cast includes an A-list\u2019s worth of stars \u2014 Joel Edgerton, Sigourney Weaver, Ben Kingsley, Aaron Paul, John Turturro, Ben Mendelsohn in high camp mode \u2014 and whether or not you think most of them should have been cast as Egyptians is a matter between you and your God(s). But the fact that they all have to say some truly cringeworthy dialogue in between crocodile attacks and avoiding giant CGI waves suggests there\u2019s no divine providence present or accounted for here. \u2014David Fear<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
- \n
\t\u2018Robin Hood\u2019 (2010)<\/p>\n
\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: David Appleby\/Universal\/Everett Collection\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\n\tGritty reboots were all the rage in the late 2000s, which still doesn\u2019t quite explain why anyone thought it would be a good idea to make a grimy historical epic about what Robin of Loxley was up to before he started robbing from the rich to give to the poor. Basically Gladiator without the crowdpleasing grandeur, Scott\u2019s dubiously \u201crealistic\u201d origin story drains all the color out of the legend in favor of plodding political intrigue and generically muddy battle scenes. Firing more stony stares than arrows, Russell Crowe offers an exceptionally unplayful take on the folk hero; his lumbering archer makes Kevin Costner look like Errol Flynn. In the end, the only thing this Robin Hood steals is your precious time \u2014 140 very long minutes of it. \u2014A.A. Dowd<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
- \n
\t\u20181492: Conquest of Paradise\u2019 (1992)<\/p>\n
\t\t\t
\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\n\tYou can totally understand why Scott would have wanted to mount a massive production centered around Christopher Columbus, even if it hadn\u2019t been the 500th anniversary of his inaugural journey to \u201cthe New World\u201d \u2014 he\u2019s a perfect subject for the lavish-costume-drama treatment. But the end result of Sir Ridley\u2019s exploration of Columbus\u2019s rise and eventual fall is as disastrous as the navigator\u2019s attempt to establish colonial rule on the island he dubs San Salvador, if not quite as violent. The interactions among the indigenous tribes don\u2019t seem to mesh with the palace intrigue happening back in Spain or the action sequences on land and sea; both Armand Assante and Michael Wincott\u2019s respective villains constantly seem to be one mustache-twirl away from tying a damsel to railroad tracks; and though you\u2019d have assumed that Gerard Depardieu would be the perfect choice to play the venerable captain, he seems oddly lost throughout. While we agree with Scott that American audiences should be more tolerant of European accents, the sheer indecipherability of much of his dialogue does not help matters. \u201cWhat [Columbus] found was an earthly paradise,\u201d the filmmaker said, \u201cwhich became his hell.\u201d His hell and, via this misbegotten project, moviegoers\u2019. \u2014DF<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
- \n
\t\u2018Legend\u2019 (1985)<\/p>\n
\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Universal\/Everett Collection\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\n\tScott endured a few critical and commercial bombs in the early and mid-1980s. But whereas, say, Blade Runner has since been hailed as visionary, the director\u2019s follow-up film has not \u2014 and for good reasons. There are commendable things about Legend, including its impressive practical effects and wizardly production design. But this stilted fantasy \u2014 full of elves, fairies, and a babyfaced Tom Cruise decked out in long hair as Jack O\u2019 the Green \u2014 remains a confused jumble of different comic-book and fantasy influences. True to form, Scott would eventually release a longer director\u2019s cut, but even that couldn\u2019t save this honorable misfire. Just don\u2019t tell Scott: \u201cLegend still plays today,\u201d he insisted in a 2015 interview<\/a>. \u201cSomebody said to me, \u2018Why don\u2019t you come to your senses and do something normal?\u2019\u201d Scott laughed. \u201cI said, \u2018I thought that was normal!\u2019\u201d \u2014Tim Grierson<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
- \n
\t\u2018Someone to Watch Over Me\u2019 (1987)<\/p>\n
\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: \u00a9Columbia Pictures\/Everett Collection\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\n\tPolice detective Mike Keegan (Tom Berenger) is tasked with protecting wealthy socialite Claire Gregory (Mimi Rogers) after she witnesses a mob boss murder. Despite his happy home life with his wife (played winningly by Lorraine Bracco) and a boisterous son, Mike falls for Claire, entangling himself in a nonsensical, morally ambiguous affair concocted by Scott and screenwriter Howard Franklin. It\u2019s a generic neo-noir, with the kind of aesthetic that embodies late Eighties thrillers \u2014 from steam billowing from the grates as Mike strolls the late-night NYC streets to a soundtrack of nonstop jazz sax. No one seems to have been watching over this whatsoever. \u2014Emily Zemler<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
- \n
\t\u2018Body of Lies\u2019 (2008)<\/p>\n
\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Francois Duhamel\/Warner Bros.\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\n\tThis adaptation of David Ignatius\u2019s 2007 novel was Scott\u2019s attempt to offer a more nuanced portrait of the Middle East in the midst of post-9\/11 tensions, while also interrogating the morally murky higher-ups who run the CIA. \u201cThese people play golf at the weekend,\u201d the filmmaker said at the time<\/a>. \u201cThey don\u2019t walk around wearing suits of armor.\u201d Casting frequent collaborator Russell Crowe as the untrustworthy handler of Leonardo DiCaprio\u2019s virtuous field agent trying to catch a dangerous terrorist, Body of Lies epitomized Scott\u2019s knack for riveting, efficient thrillers. But despite a welcome attempt to avoid demonizing the region, the plot ends up being too much of a jumble. As a result, Scott strands several fine actors \u2014 including Mark Strong as a savvy Jordanian agent and Golshifteh Farahani as DiCaprio\u2019s romantic interest \u2014 in a well-meaning, disposable political potboiler. \u2014TG<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
- \n
\t\u2018White Squall\u2019 (1996)<\/p>\n
\t\t\t
\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\n\tPart coming-of-age movie, part disaster flick, and part super-intense J. Crew commercial, Scott\u2019s take on a real-life tragedy \u2014 in which a sailboat carrying a number of students was hit by a white squall in 1961 and suffered numerous fatalities \u2014 benefits from some serious leading-man star power and one of the more appealing baby-faced ensembles of the Clinton era. You know that Scott Wolf, Ryan Phillippe, Jeremy Sisto, and the rest of the under-21 ragtag gang will learn a few rough life lessons onboard the good ship Albatross before being chucked headfirst into adulthood. And, given the way that Scott gives Jeff Bridges a true hero\u2019s entrance, that his Mr. Chips of the sea is the embodiment of a tough but empathetic father figure, which only makes the third act\u2019s catastrophe all the more gutting. The squall itself allows Scott to flex his directorial muscles in a way that makes it a stand-out set piece. Everything else will feel very familiar. Very, very familiar. \u2014DF <\/p>\n<\/li>\n
- \n
\t\u2018Kingdom of Heaven\u2019 (2005)<\/p>\n
\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: \u00a920thCentFox\/Everett Collection\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\n\tPerhaps none of Scott\u2019s films was helped more by an extended director\u2019s cut than this flawed but fascinating widescreen epic set during the Crusades. Orlando Bloom plays Balian, a common French blacksmith who travels to Jerusalem, becoming a hero of the people in the process. The original version, released in theaters in May 2005, has the scope of a towering historical drama, but it shortchanges the character dynamics that would have given this would-be blockbuster an emotional underpinning. Later that year, Scott unveiled a longer version that stretched across more than three hours, allowing a massive ensemble \u2014 which included Eva Green and Edward Norton \u2014 more room to breathe. It\u2019s the superior investment, although the director\u2019s cut doesn\u2019t entirely erase the original\u2019s pacing problems or Bloom\u2019s sturdy but uninspired lead performance. \u2014TG<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
- \n
\t\u2018A Good Year\u2019 (2006)<\/p>\n
\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: \u00a920thCentFox\/Everett Collection\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\n\tWere Scott\u2019s unlikely romantic comedy \u2014 which reunited the director with Gladiator star Russell Crowe \u2014 released today, it would almost certainly top the streaming-content charts. The Oscar-winner plays a fast-talking, high-wealth London banker whose life is upended when his uncle dies, leaving him a run-down chateau and vineyard in Provence. The movie has everything you\u2019d expect: a local love interest (Marion Cotillard), a surprise cousin who might upset the inheritance (Abbie Cornish), a secret wine vintage being sold on the black market, requisite scenes of the chateau\u2019s makeover. There\u2019s a genuine sweetness here that you rarely see from a filmmaker better known for his spectacles. It\u2019s arguably the best Netflix film not made by Netflix. \u2014EZ<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
- \n
\t\u2018Hannibal\u2019 (2001)<\/p>\n
\t\t\t
\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\n\tJodie Foster might have moved on, declining to reprise her Silence of the Lambs role and taking all the emotional complexity of that Oscar-winner with her. But thankfully, Scott\u2019s baroque sequel has a decadent flavor all its own. Racing through the lurid twists of its Thomas Harris source material, this globetrotting thriller presents a whole world gone as mad as on-the-lam Lecter (played, once more, by Anthony Hopkins, hammier than his literally porcine costars) once again plays cat-and-mouse games with FBI agent Clarice Starling, now played by Julianne Moore. Scott wheels out one excess after another: disfigured pedophiles, opulent Italian scenery, a Grand Guignol climax so hilariously gross it threatened to turn every popcorn bucket into a makeshift barf bag. If Lambs was Hollywood haute cuisine, Hannibal is like greasy fast food served on the good china. Sickos, at least, ate good. \u2014AAD<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
- \n
\t\u2018Black Rain\u2019 (1989)<\/p>\n
\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Paramount Pictures\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\n\tPop quiz: What was Ridley Scott\u2019s only legitimate box-office hit of the 1980s? It was this super-stylish, ultra-cool, fairly superficial crime-thriller, which starred Michael Douglas as Nick, a hardened New York detective, who travels to Osaka with his partner (Andy Garcia) to deliver a Yakuza hit man to local authorities. The hand-off goes badly, however, leading to a kinetic fish-out-of-water action film in which Nick must acquaint himself with how law and order works in Japan. Scott wasn\u2019t trying to beat the allegations that he was all flash and no substance, but despite its obvious shortcomings, the neon-flecked Black Rain has its B-movie kicks while confidently putting butts in seats. \u2014TG<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
- \n
\t\u2018House of Gucci\u2019 (2021)<\/p>\n
\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Fabio Lovino\/Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures Inc.\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\n\tPart biopic and part crime drama, House of Gucci finally saw Scott documenting the Gucci dynasty after acquiring the rights to Sara Gay Forden\u2019s 2001 book The House of Gucci: A Sensational Story of Murder, Madness, Glamour, and Greed years prior. And boy, did he go big, casting Lady Gaga as Patrizia Reggiani, the eventual wife of the fashion label\u2019s heir Maurizio Gucci (Adam Driver, doing his absolute best with an unwieldy accent). The costumes, hair and makeup and sets are as ornately-wrought as the acting, and there is no question that Scott brought the absolute maximalist sense of dramatic camp to the production. It\u2019s sensationalist filmmaking in the best possible way, even if it does feature one of Jared Leto\u2019s most annoying performances to date. \u2014EZ<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
- \n
\t\u2018All the Money in the World\u2019 (2017)<\/p>\n
\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Giles Keyte\/TriStar Pictures\/Everett Collection\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\n\tScott film about the infamous kidnapping of John Paul Getty III \u2014 and his grandfather J. Paul Getty\u2019s refusal to pay the ransom \u2014 is probably better known for the drama that happened behind the scenes than what\u2019s onscreen. He\u2019d originally cast Kevin Spacey as the elder Getty; sexual misconduct allegations were then made against the actor shortly after production wrapped. Scott was forced to recast the role with Christopher Plummer and reshoot all of the character\u2019s scenes in only eight days. Yet the result is uncannily seamless, and serves as evidence of Scott\u2019s dexterity as a filmmaker. Plummer is powerfully captivating in the role, for which he was nominated for an Oscar, BAFTA, and Golden Globe. But it\u2019s Michelle Williams, as the kidnapped Getty\u2019s mother Gail Harris, who steals the show. \u2014EZ<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
- \n
\t\u2018Napoleon\u2019 (2023)<\/p>\n
\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Aidan Monaghan\/Apple\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\n\tIn his later films, Scott has expressed profound misgivings about the Great Man Theory, turning works like All the Money in the World and House of Gucci into sly critiques of ambitious, morally blinkered men. There\u2019s a sharp sense of satire coursing through this biopic as well, which views Napoleon Bonaparte as a tyrant ruled by his grievances and insecurities. Joaquin Phoenix is perfect casting: The Oscar-winning star resists playing Napoleon as any kind of stirring leader, instead seizing on the man\u2019s miserly, petty demeanor. Not that Scott has lost any of his formidable skill at staging epic battle scenes, but even here Napoleon seeks to undercut the myth of the brilliant military tactician. If anything, the movie works best as a tart dark comedy, with Vanessa Kirby venomous as Napoleon\u2019s faithless beloved Jos\u00e9phine, who proves to be the more coldblooded strategist of the two. \u2014TG<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
- \n
\t\u2018Matchstick Men\u2019 (2003)<\/p>\n
\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Warner Bros\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\n\tFizzy entertainments aren\u2019t exactly a Ridley Scott specialty \u2014 which makes this funny, twisty Nicolas Cage vehicle a welcome exception. Not that it\u2019s a perfectly natural pivot: The freeze frames and jittery transitions come across like a labored impersonation of Ocean\u2019s-era Steven Soderbergh, even if they\u2019re just meant to evoke the OCD of Cage\u2019s character, a con man whose big score is complicated by the appearance of a daughter (Alison Lohman) he didn\u2019t know he had. But even a little overdirection can\u2019t spoil the pleasures of a caper that pulls the rug out from under the audience without making us feel like suckers for investing in its relationships. For all his indulgent twitchiness and typically outsized line readings (\u201cHave you ever been dragged to the sidewalk and beaten till you\u2026 PISSED BLOOD<\/a>?\u201d), Cage provides an aching humanity that Scott\u2019s genre exercises sometimes lack. \u2014AAD<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
- \n
\t\u2018Alien: Covenant\u2019 (2017)<\/p>\n
\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Mark Rogers\/Twentieth Century Studios\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\n\tYes, it\u2019s more of an Alien movie, in the traditionally gnashing sense, than Prometheus was. In fashioning a second prequel to his seminal cosmic nightmare, Scott delivers the obligatory multi-mouthed mayhem the franchise-branded title promises. But he also reaches back much further than 1979, tracing the roots of the series he launched to the origins of science fiction itself: By the time another doomed crew stumbles upon a downed ship with the ambience of a gothic manor, it\u2019s clear that the director is putting a modern spin on The Modern Prometheus. He even finds a Frankenstein figure in David, one of two synthetics \u2014 identical in appearance but not motivation \u2014 played by Michael Fassbender. Much more than the uptick in Xenomorph fan service, it\u2019s the star\u2019s kinky double turn that doubles the fun here. \u2014AAD<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
- \n
\t\u2018The Last Duel\u2019 (2021)<\/p>\n
\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Patrick Redmond\/20th Century Studios\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\n\tFour decades after his celebrated debut, Scott circled back to French duellists \u2014 this time, by dramatizing the legendary conflict between a knight (Matt Damon) and a squire (Adam Driver) who fight to the death over the allegations leveled by the former\u2019s wife (Jodie Comer). The screenplay by Damon, costar Ben Affleck, and indie filmmaker Nicole Holofcener retells this true story from, well, dueling perspectives, offering three versions of events and essentially allowing the actors to essentially deliver three distinct performances. Though the structure superficially recalls Rashomon, the film is less a riff than a rebuttal, dismissing the notion that truth is inherently subjective \u2014 because who does that really serve but those hoping to obscure it? The trial-by-combat climax is brutal (a vintage Scott knock-down, drag-out set piece), but no more so than the spectacle of a woman dragged through the court of he-said, she-said skepticism. \u2014AAD<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
- \n
\t\u2018Prometheus\u2019 (2012)<\/p>\n
\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: 20th Century Fox\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\n\tAfter watching a few too many directors try their hand at Alien sequels, the man behind the unimpeachable original returned to the franchise he birthed \u2014 and delivered a grand, somber prequel. Set roughly 30 years before Scott\u2019s 1979\u2019s sci-fi landmark, Prometheus takes its time unveiling the frightening xenomorphs we\u2019ve come to love and dread. But that elegant delay just permits Scott the space to build tension as we meet a wholly new crew, highlighted by the haughty, strangely soulful android David, played by a Peter O\u2019Toole-channeling Michael Fassbender. Then comes the terror, which is as steely and visceral as in the first Alien. Rarely has a filmmaker so comfortably revisited a past triumph, bringing an older, warier perspective on humanity\u2019s eternal hubris and endless capacity for self-destruction. \u2014TG<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
- \n
\t\u2018G.I. Jane\u2019 (1997)<\/p>\n
\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: \u00a9Buena Vista Pictures\/Everett Collection\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\n\tLieutenant Jordan O\u2019Neill never asked to be a pawn in a political power struggle \u2014 this intelligence analyst is simply trying to get through the American military\u2019s toughest, most brutal training course and become a member of an elite unit that bears a striking resemblance to the Navy SEALs. If she happens to break glass ceilings in a notoriously misogynist environment (embodied by Viggo Mortensen\u2019s gung-ho Master Sergeant), so be it. Scott\u2019s torn-from-the-headlines drama about female integration in the armed services is best remembered as the film in which Demi Moore shaves her head onscreen. But it\u2019s really a testament to the star\u2019s overall commitment to give 100-percent to matching the character\u2019s physical endurance; watching Moore do one-armed push-ups and rapid pull-ups, you can see the lines blur between the onscreen groundbreaker and the woman playing her. You wouldn\u2019t call Sir Ridley\u2019s take on the then-controversial subject of gender equality in the military subtle, but it is effective. And the last 20 minutes, in which O\u2019Neill and her team must save trapped soldiers in Libya, plays like a dry run for what Scott would do a few years later in Black Hawk Down. \u2014D.F.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
- \n
\t\u2018Gladiator II\u2019 (2024)<\/p>\n
\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Aidan Monaghan\/Paramount Pictures\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n - \n