Ridley Scott (born 1937) is an English director and producer who has created many memorable films. His early movies, "Alien" (1979) and "Blade Runner" (1982) are considered science fiction classics. "Black Rain" (1989), a New York police vs Yakuza movie, is famous for its scenes of urban Osaka. "Thelma & Louise" (1991) created a new spin on the buddy film, with two charming female characters who get into trouble against a backdrop of stunning scenes of the American west. "Gladiator" (2000), set in the days of the Roman Empire, featured amazing battle scenes and an Academy Award winning performance by Russell Crowe. "Black Hawk Down" (2001), about a disastrous American military mission in Somalia, earned praise for its realistic war scenes. "Matchstick Men" (2003), an often overlooked gem, is a great con-man film starring Nicholas Cage. Scott's science fiction movie, "Prometheus" (2012), a prequel to "Alien," has been praised for its visual imagery and for some great performances, but has received mixed critical reviews. A recent movie, "The Martian," starring Matt Damon, was nominated for Best Picture at the 2015 Academy Awards. "Alien: Covenant" was released in 2017, as was "All the Money in the World."
Ridley Scott has been nominated for Academy Awards for Best Director three times, for "Thelma & Louise," "Gladiator" and "Black Hawk Down." Though he has not won the Best Director award, his film "Gladiator" won the Academy Award for Best Picture.
Ridley Scott has directed over 20 movies over the last four decades and has worked with many of the great actors of our time. He is known for his impressive visual imagery, his strong female characters, and for his ability to succeed in various genres.
* "Black Rain" (1989), a movie partially filmed in Osaka, Japan, starred Yusaku Matsuda in his final acting role. He died of bladder cancer shortly after completing the film.
* Kate Capshaw, the actress who plays a nightclub hostess in "Black Rain" is the wife of director Steven Spielberg.
* Scott's recent (2017) movie, "All the Money in the World" is based on a true story about a kidnapping for money. When the movie was filmed, it starred actor Kevin Spacey as billionaire J. Paul Getty. However, after the film was almost complete, Spacey was named in a scandal, so they re-shot all of Spacey's scenes with actor Christopher Plummer. The trailer below will be a rare clip someday, because it shows the original actor, Spacey, not Plummer.
* "Thelma & Louise" (1991) is one of the greatest buddy movies of all time. It featured strong female characters who create chaos in ways that stretch our concept of gender roles. Susan Sarandon and Geena Davis were both nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress in this film, though neither won. This film is also notable for featuring Brad Pitt in an early performance that helped turn him into a star. Scenes of the American west are spectacular, and the movie holds up well despite the passage of time.
* Academy Award winning actor, Russell Crowe, has starred in five of Ridley Scott's movies: "Gladiator," "A Good Year," "American Gangster," "Body of Lies" and "Robin Hood."
* Ridley Scott's younger brother, Tony Scott, was also a prominent director. He was well-known for directing "Top Gun," "True Romance," "Crimson Tide" and "The Taking of Pelham 123" among other famous movies. He committed suicide in 2012.
Many of Ridley Scott's movies are available in the Tsurumi University Library.
[My personal thoughts and recollections about Ridley Scott and his movies were supplemented with details, dates and numbers from Wikipedia. - Kevin]
Ridley Scott biographies:
Wikipedia
IMDb
Biography.com
Links to trailers and clips of some of Ridley Scott's movies:
The Duellists (1977) - trailer; Scott's first feature film; starring Harvey Keitel
Alien (1979) - trailer; starring Sigourney Weaver
Blade Runner (1982) - trailer; starring Harrison Ford
Black Rain (1989) - trailer; starring Michael Douglas, Andy Garcia, Ken Takakura, Yusaku Matsuda
Thelma & Louise (1991) - trailer; starring Susan Sarandon, Geena Davis, Harvey Keitel and Brad Pitt
Early Brad Pitt clip from "Thelma & Louise" - 'A Real Outlaw' (1991) / PDF ⮜
Gladiator (2000) - trailer; starring Russell Crowe and Joaquin Phoenix
Black Hawk Down (2001) - trailer;starring Ewan McGregor, Josh Hartnett, Eric Bana, Orlando Bloom
Matchstick Men (2003) - trailer; starring Nicholas Cage
American Gangster (2007) - trailer; starring Denzel Washington and Russell Crow
Robin Hood (2010) - trailer; starring Russell Crowe and Cate Blanchett
Prometheus (2012) - trailer; starring Michael Fassbender, Guy Pearce, Charlize Theron
The Counselor (2013) - trailer; starring Michael Fassbender, Penelope Cruz, Cameron Diaz, Javier Bardem & Brad Pitt
Exodus: Gods and Kings (2014) - trailer; starring Christian Bale, Ben Kingsley, Sigourney Weaver
The Martian (2015) - trailer; starring Matt Damon
Alien: Covenant (2017) - trailer; a sequel to Prometheus and part of the Alien series
All the Money in the World (2017) - trailer; this trailer features the replaced actor, Kevin Spacey
The Last Duel (2021) - trailer; starring Matt Damon, Adam Driver and Ben Affleck / PDF ⮜
House of Gucci (2021) - trailer; starring Lady Gaga and Adam Driver
To Do List:
1) Watch as many Ridley Scott trailers as possible
2) Watch as many James Cameron trailers as possible.
3) Do the 2 listening exercises (PDFs) for Brad Pitt clip from Thelma & Louise and The Last Duel above. ⮜
