Ridley Scott: Director Hall of Fame **VOTE HERE** (1 Viewer)

[Orange&Blue]

I'm not getting the Martian hate, thought it was a good movie.

 

[FreeBaGeL]

If Ridley doesn't qualify for the HoF, I can only think of like 3 directors that do.  Come on.

 

[Mr. Mojo]

I'm not getting the Martian hate, thought it was a good movie.

I don't hate it - I thought it was entertaining, but definitely not in the league of the others listed.

 

[facook]

Please admit your bias here. Troy Aikman is still the most accurate passer Ive ever seen. 

Certainly better than ANY QB who laced up for whatever theyre calling your team at this moment. 

Who do you think my team is? 

 

[wikkidpissah]

The shame of it is he may be the filmmaker of his generation

ETA: i know he's a decade older than Spielberg/Scorsese. his flix are def GenX

 

[Ramsay Hunt Experience]

If Ridley doesn't qualify for the HoF, I can only think of like 3 directors that do.  Come on.

I guess I'm kind of in the Eephus category. Except I'm not really sure what a Hall of Fame of directors would really entail.  I will say that nobody disputes that Ridley Scott has a very good eye.  Any of his pictures will be well filmed and framed.  But weirdly, I can think of a number of Ridley Scott films that I don't think are very well-made in other areas.  For some of those, my opinion is idiosyncratic (Gladiator).  For others, not so much (Legend, Robin Hood, Prometheus), I mean, even Blade Runner (which undoubtedly looks fantastic) has a bunch of different cuts none of which seems to quite work completely for me.  I think the editing is sometimes a mess.  

Contrast that with someone like Peter Weir.  Like Ridley Scott, Weir made his most interesting films early in his career.  Like Scott, Weir has his share of popular and acclaimed films that weren't really my cup of tea (Dead Poets Society, The Truman Show), but I can't deny that those movies, and even his more forgettable movies (Green Card, anyone) are well crafted.  And I don't think Scott has done anything in the last 15 years that can compete with Master and Commander: Far Side of the World as a matter of pure craft.  

 

[Don Quixote]

I actually don’t live Alien either but I know a lot of people who consider it the scariest movie ever made. Objectively speaking, he’s made a Best Picture winner and 2 of the most influential movies sci-fi movies ever made. The look and feel of Blade Runner was a massive influence. Also I think people are short changing how good Thelma and Louise is. Ridley is one of the few directors of his era that was really strong with his portrayal of women in movies. 
 

Also let’s keep in mind that The Lovin’ Spoonful and John Mellencamp are in The Rock and Roll HOF.

Thelma & Louise is a pretty solid flick too. The car flying over the cliff is pretty iconic.

Fair point on The Lovin' Spoonful and John Mellencamp. I guess I'm "small hall" and would say that does not make it right to include others. I'm not trying to distract from the topic at hand. I suppose if I accepted the premise that he was being inducted into a director HOF and what would be on the plaque, I'd say Alien. Not my favorite, but, if you asked me to name a Ridley Scott movie, that would be the first one to pop into my head and what I would associate him with.

 

[Andy Dufresne]

Directors are like presidents - they don't matter as much as we want them to.

What matters much more is a good script and good performances. George Lucas is a terrible director yet still managed to put out Star Wars. 

Martin Scorsese is a great director (not my cup of tea but I'm not dumb to his appeal), but even he couldn't make something entertaining out of Bringing Out The Dead.

 

[Ilov80s]

Directors are like presidents - they don't matter as much as we want them to.

What matters much more is a good script and good performances. George Lucas is a terrible director yet still managed to put out Star Wars. 

Martin Scorsese is a great director (not my cup of tea but I'm not dumb to his appeal), but even he couldn't make something entertaining out of Bringing Out The Dead.

Interesting and not sure I totally agree. The same script can be done so many ways and the director guides the performances. Plus directors often rewrite or rework a lot of the script. Just my 2 cents, I’ve never made a serious movie before.

 

[Andy Dufresne]

Interesting and not sure I totally agree. The same script can be done so many ways and the director guides the performances. Plus directors often rewrite or rework a lot of the script. Just my 2 cents, I’ve never made a serious movie before.

I don't mean to say they're UNimportant, just that there's more that goes into the success or failure of a project than the director. I guess it is closer to the QB analogy - too much credit/too much blame.

Is Scott to blame for the failure of The Last Duel? It's probably better said that he shouldn't have done the project to begin with, but people need to work. In guessing when it was green lit four or so years ago, in the height of MeToo Mania, they probably (rightly) thought, that it would be relevant and of interest. Couldn't predict how quickly those winds would change.

 

[Ilov80s]

I don't mean to say they're UNimportant, just that there's more that goes into the success or failure of a project than the director. I guess it is closer to the QB analogy - too much credit/too much blame.

Is Scott to blame for the failure of The Last Duel? It's probably better said that he shouldn't have done the project to begin with, but people need to work. In guessing when it was green lit four or so years ago, in the height of MeToo Mania, they probably (rightly) thought, that it would be relevant and of interest. Couldn't predict how quickly those winds would change.

Fair comparison with the QB. I can’t comment on Last Duel. I haven’t seen it but audiences and critics seemed I really like it. I’m not sure it’s failure has anything to do with swings in #MeToo. It seemed poorly marketed. They didn’t even put Affkeck in the promos.I’ve read some speculation Disney intentionally tried to tank it.

 

[AAABatteries]

Of course he'd be in a mythical Director's HOF. We're not talking about Zack Snyder or a Mount Rushmore here.

What's our cut off for # of directors in our mythical HOF?    I could be off base, but if we are talking top 100 directors I could see him not being on that.  200-300?  Probably, but I could also still see him not making that cut.  

As a reminder - Andy drafted Scott for modern director and it appears you ranked him 13 out of 16.

Scott on Mt. Rushmore is kind of ridiculous, IMO but I have no issue with the idea that he’s HOF material.

ETA - in Tim’s Great Movie Draft -I know we’ve had other drafts.

 

[KarmaPolice]

As a reminder - Andy drafted Scott for modern director and it appears you ranked him 13 out of 16.

Scott on Mt. Rushmore is kind of ridiculous, IMO but I have no issue with the idea that he’s HOF material.

ETA - in Tim’s Great Movie Draft -I know we’ve had other drafts.

Way to dig up the past like that! 

Yeah, that sounds about right.   like you said, Mt Rushmore- 0 chance.    Not that I am going to do a list, but even top 100 seems high when we are talking the history of movies.   HoF, top 300 or so, I am guessing that's the sweet spot. 

 

[AAABatteries]

Way to dig up the past like that! 

Yeah, that sounds about right.   like you said, Mt Rushmore- 0 chance.    Not that I am going to do a list, but even top 100 seems high when we are talking the history of movies.   HoF, top 300 or so, I am guessing that's the sweet spot. 

You’re welcome GB.  

Honestly, I had no clue who drafted him and who ranked him and where.  I just remember he was drafted and after all the debate decided to look it up.  Granted Andy could have been way out there selecting him but I don’t think so and further, him being selected tells me he’s probably a HOFer.

 

[Eephus]

Since @Ilov80s conveniently included a link to this in the Kubrick thread, I'll post my quick thoughts on The Last Duel.  The multiple perspectives storytelling gimmick has been done before.  It helped with development of the main characters and to underscore the inequality of medieval gender roles. But it became a chore to watch everything three times. 1 1/2 hours of plot was stretched to 2 1/2 hours.  Pacing was my main problem with The House of Gucci too.  The acting in The Last Duel was solid across the board but anachronistically modern at times. Jodie Comer did the best with the most interesting character to work with.  Ben Affleck's blonde hairdo deserves an Oscar for technical achievement.

Nothing about this picture has even a hint of Hall of Fame in it.  The most interesting bit for me is that Scott chose to return to the theme of his first feature The Duellists (1977).  Swap out the Napoleonic Wars for the Hundred Years War and bring in Keith Carradine and a very young Harvey Keitel but the core story is identical.  The Duellists has a fantastic painterly style made on a budget that was tiny compared to The Last Duel.  Young Ridley was able to resolve the conflict between two bullheaded male characters in a tidy 100 minutes, almost a full hour less than The Last Duel.  The Last Dull amirite?

 

[TripItUp]

Ridley is a shoe in for the HOF, easily a top 20 Director.

The Martian was a great movie.

 

[Eephus]

Wouldn't make my top 100