The best films of Ridley Scott’s career

As of today, audiences can finally see Ridley Scott’s new film The Martian, which is one of my favorites of the year so far. Moreover, it’s a return to form for Scott, who has been on a bumpy road for quite some time. I had been all but ready to write him off as a director, but he’s certainly gotten back in my good graces here. That got me thinking about the best movies of his career. He’s made over 20 flicks over the years (without a Best Director win incidentally, despite a handful of nominations), but below you’ll see what I feel to be his ten best, including The Martian, of course. Enjoy! Here now are Scott’s ten best, at least according to yours truly: 10. Hannibal – Not a great film, by any stretch, but there’s a silly bit of fun to have with this sequel to The Silence of the Lambs. Scott stepped in for Jonathan Demme and gave returning player Anthony Hopkins room to ham it up. It’s not his Oscar winning performance, nor anything close to it, but it’s enjoyable in its own way. If nothing else, it looks beautiful. 9. G.I. Jane – A slightly underrated title that doesn’t fully become much more than a Demi Moore star vehicle, it still has its heart in the right place. I do wonder if this would have been better liked had it come out these days instead of when it did…not that it matters that much. Scott would do better work with military characters later on (see below in this list), but this is far from a bad flick. 8. The Duelists – Scott’s first film is about as different as anything else he’s made since. Closer to Barry Lyndon than his own work, the young director is paying homage to Stanley Kubrick every which way that he can. At times it does seem more like an impression than an homage, but it does work far more often than not. One of his least seen works, it’s well worth checking out. 7. Gladiator – This movie is a bit on the overrated side to me, especially considering the fact that it won Best Picture, but Scott’s direction is excellent, Russell Crowe is strong, and it’s a throwback to a type of movie Hollywood rarely made anymore. His other attempts at this sort of thing (Kingdom of Heaven and Exodus: Gods and [...]