Yes he is according to the Gospel of the anti-Hugh Grant.

Let's look -

2010 Robin Hood - shit. Boring nonsense on stilts.

2007 American Gangster - Boring. Let down. Disappointing.

2006 A Good Year - Doesn't work.

2005 Kingdom of Heaven - Mostly entertaining to be fair. But no masterpiece. Bloom is shit.

2003 Matchstick Men - Never seen.

2001 Black Hawk Down - A good film to be fair. I'll give him this one.

2001 Hannibal - I defend this film from the worst of the naysayers. But's it's no masterpiece.

2000 Gladiator - A good man's film. No doubt. But some hammy acting from the support. And some laughable dialogue.

1997 G.I. Jane - Fucking hell!

1991 Thelma & Louise - an average film made cult by those darned women people.

1989/I Black Rain - Never seen.

1987 Someone to Watch Over Me - Never seen

1985 Legend - Never seen.

1982 Blade Runner - Stylistic but overrated.

1979 Alien - Same as Bladerunner. Sorry.

Do people really talk him up that much these days? I know Alien and Blade Runner get a lot of love, but it seems generally accepted that he hasn’t made a really great movie in a while.

I really like Matchstick Men for what that’s worth. I forgot that was a Ridley Scott movie.

Yeah I have heard that Matchstick Men is a good film, but not yet seen it.

There's something I've never liked about R.Scott. His films have a kind of arrogant vacuousness about them. I can't quite put my finger on it.

Tony Scott on the other hand I do quite like.

I HATED Gladiator with a passion, how that shitfest won best picture, I will never know. American Gangster, Matchstick Men, Black Rain and Someone To Watch Over Me were all pretty average films.

G.I. Jane and Blackhawk Down I quite enjoyed, also not too crazy about Alien, honestly prefer the sequels. I too like Tony Scott better, as his films don't have that air of pretentiousness to them.

I'm not quite sure that he's overrated at this point in time. Most of his recent work has ranged from decently entertaining (American Gangster, Body Of Lis) to fairly forgettable (Robin Hood). But I strongly suspect that there's a general consensus among critics and moviegoers that he hasn't made an undisputed classic in a while.

Scott is one director who's at his best with sci-fi, war pictures or epic films or combinations of them. Alien and Blade Runner are undisputed classics. Gladiator is a decent ancient epic popcorn movie. But nothing more. Black Hawk Down is a better than average realistic modern war movie. Not on the level of Platoon. But I liked it better than Saving Private Ryan or We Were Soldiers or Tears Of The Sun. Matchstick Men is a pretty entertaining scaled down dramatic film and it works as a somewhat atypical Scott film. Thelma And Louise is decently entertaining. American Gangster, if viewed on its own, isvery good. If looked at in light of the likes of Goodfellas, it becomes more generic. So its good. But it's not a classic gangster film. And Robin Hood is another failed attempt at bringing the legend of Sherwood Forest to the screen. While Russell Crowe is a better Robin Hood than Kevin Costner, as a whole this Robin Hood was too similar to the attempt ttp reboot King Arthur that Antoine Fuqua made a few years prior.

So at this point I would say that No, Mr. Scott is not overrated. As a director, he's like Barry Levinson or Ron Howard in that he's hit anf miss. But when he hits, he can range from good to an occasional undisputed masterpiece.



Tony's a decent action film director. He's way ahead of Michael Bay in that regard. Yet he has yet to make a masterpiece. Aside from True Romance, Enemy Of The State and maybe Crimson Tide I can't think of a film of his I would give more than ***. Man On Fire and The Last Boy Scout are tow of my fave guilty pleasure movies.

Blade Runner is terrific. I suppose Alien is a good 'un as well. Beyond that, I've never really thought of him as exceptional, and I get the impression that most people don't think much differently.

Well, I guess people like Gladiator well enough.

Tony Scott is awful.

Tony Scott has made some undiluted liquid shit (Top Gun) but also some hugely enjoyable stuff (True Romance, Man on Fire)

I can't think of a hugely enjoyable Ridley Scott film.

There isnt'a single Tony Scott film you like? Not even True Romance?

I personally consider Domino a classic film, so make of that what you will

Have you seen the director's cut? It's actually very good.

The directors cut version of Kingdom of Heaven is quite good, I have never seen the regular version though so can't compare.

I do like Blade Runner, but in all honesty can't tell you what version I saw since it seems like there are a million different ones.

The original Alien to me is awesome, far superior to the sequels in atmosphere.


Overall I have enjoyed some of his movies, but I don't think he's overrated because no one seems to gush over him. Although with Prometheus on the horizon everyone is going to start saying how awesome he is at sci-fi and whatnot.

True Romance is acceptable, and it isn't because of Scott's direction.

Well if you think Alien is overrated, I think you need to get your head examined. But with that said, there's no question Ridley hasn't done anything worthy in a decade.

Matchstick Men is quite good. Nicholas Cage is good for once, as is Sam Rockwell, but Alison Lohman is the real eyeopener. It's too bad she hasn't made a film since she got married.

I liked Kingdom of Heaven partly because I'm interested in the historical period and the movie gets a surprising amount right (especially given of Bloom's character's background is utter fiction). Yes, Guy de Lusignan really was that stupid a tactician, and a lot of the history of late 12th century Jerusalem was an attempt to keep him off the throne, an effort spoiled by Sibylla.

I agree A Good Year doesn't quite work, but it still has quite a bit of charm, especially since it has Marion Cotillard. I liked Crowe and Abby Cornish as well. I respect Scott for trying to do something different.

On the other hand, I hate Body of Lies and I'm not all that fond of Thelma and Louise, but I rather liked G.I. Jane.

You are fortunate to have missed Legend.

I completely agree that Ridley Scott hasn’t made a “great” film in a long time, but he has directed two of my favourite films of all time (Alien and Blade Runner), so I couldn’t label him overrated. Since those two films, however, Scott’s material has clearly dropped quite a few IQ points - maybe some bizarre attempt to match his brother…

THANK YOU! Someone besides me, Roger Ebert and one of the critics at my local newspaper didn't like Gladiator. It was just a one note action flick with no adrenaline or interest whatsoever. Everyone I talk to thinks I'm a lunatic for not liking it, but "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" was much better by far.

Vexy, why is it that we agree on just about EVERYTHING on here? Sooooooo weird!

Well I listened through the entire director's comment tracks on the Alien and Matchstick Men DVD's. There is no denying that the man is very knowledgeable. I even quoted him on my web site (but that's off topic).

Anyway: Alien, Blade Runner, Black Rain, Thelma and Louise, Black Hawk Down and Matchstick Men, are all great movies. I would add Hannibal as a very good (but not quite great) movie.

That's qute a portfolio! Nah, the man isn't overrated IMHO. I don't hear any worshippinig or over-praising. I actually hear some bashing here and there especially regarding Kindom of Heaven and Gladiator (I don 't like either) - and that criticism seems to come down fast and ugly. So I don't think he is overrated.

Oh, and he started with tv commercials. I work in this business as a musician (among other productions) - so I know how it works. So the man really learned the hard way to please people who call the shots but have no clue - without hurting his own rep. That's more than enough to convince me the man is great!

Ugh if you agree with Vexer on everything, you might as well just stop watching films

And you might as well start watching them

Can I hijack the thread to talk about how awesome Prometheus looks? Because the trailers so far have been pretty sweet.

Care to back these two claims up with a little more substance? I think Blade Runner is a flat out masterpiece (as do a lot of people) so I'd like to hear why someone would call it "stylistic but overrated". I certainly agree with the stylistic part, just not the overrated. I can actually see someone thinking that about Alien, even if I strongly disagree.



Dude, have you fucking seen Domino? Fucking classic, bro!



Please do because I think the trailers look pretty terrific as well.