Ridley Scott is known as part of a very elite group of directors who are often considered the greatest of all time. His films, which span various genres, have been lauded for everything from their artistic direction to their dialogue to their casting, and a lot of that comes down to the immense natural filmmaking talents of Ridley Scott.
As with all great artists, his career isn’t without its blemishes. As such, we’ve compared the five best films he ever made according to IMDb to the five which are considered to be the worst.
Best: Black Hawk Down (7.7)
Black Hawk Down is a bit of a stretch from Scott’s most famous work, but he managed to get away with it. He attracted an impressive ensemble cast and attained two Academy Awards for the war film.
Particular praise came for the way Scott turned the conventions of typical war films on their heads.
Worst: Alien: Covenant (6.4)
Despite distancing himself from the franchise after the release of the incredible original sci-fi horror world with the prequel, Prometheus. That film was relatively well-received, but, when he attempted to create a sequel to his prequel, things didn’t go so well. It wasn’t considered a terrible film, but most agreed that it didn’t live up to the rest of the franchise.
Best: The Martian (8.0)
One of Ridley Scott’s most recent efforts is the Matt Damon-starring The Martian. The grand, expansive film puts Damon’s character on Mars, alone.
It was the tenth highest-grossing film of 2015, received the Golden Globe for Best Picture, and it was a huge critical success. This proved that Scott was still capable of work at the absolute pinnacle of sci-fi, even when rapidly approaching his eightieth birthday.
Worst: Someone To Watch Over Me (6.1)
Named after the Gershwin song of the same name, Someone To Watch Over Me was ruined by its unnecessary love story. The neo-noir atmosphere and the thriller-crime storyline were interesting enough, but it was criticized for its strange romance that just doesn’t work well on screen. It also lost over $2 million at the box office.
Best: Blade Runner (8.1)
Grabbing a hold of Harrison Ford when he was in the middle of both Indiana Jones was an impressive move on the behalf of Ridley Scott. It’s like cinema in the early 80s existed exclusively with the hope of getting Harrison Ford involved.
The dystopia and unique universe Scott created based on the novel Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep? was so good that it eventually spawned a well-received sequel—that Scott didn’t direct—nearly forty years later.
Worst: Exodus: Gods And Kings (6.0)
At some point, every well-loved director attempts to create something on a scale so grand that even they can’t pull it off. This huge budget biblical epic was long, dull, and pretty much not noteworthy in any lasting way. Reviews were negative, and Scott himself was criticized for giving Middle Eastern characters to white actors.
Best: Alien (8.4)
One of, if not the greatest horror films of all time, is Ridley Scott’s massive success when it was released, and it has gone on to spawn a huge franchise full of films with various levels of success.
It is rightly considered to be one of the greatest films ever made thanks to its ahead-of-its-time visuals, brilliant acting and dialogue, and some of the most impressive atmospheres in filmmaking history.
Worst: G.I. Jane (5.9)
G.I. Jane might have been well-intended, but it just didn’t land in the way Scott was hoping it would. The film is nowhere near as gripping as anything he had done up until that point, and, with Demi Moore’s rather awful performance in the lead role—which she for some reason calls her proudest professional achievement—there isn’t much of a reason to bring it back from the dead.
Best: Gladiator (8.5)
It’s early to forget that Ridley Scott directed Gladiator. His name is so synonymous with his crowning achievement, Alien, that we forget he was also at the forefront of this historical drama at the turn of the millennium.
Both Scott and Russel Crowe were showered in praise at the Academy Awards, taking home Best Picture and Best Actor respectively.
Worst: The Counsellor (5.3)
The fact that Ridley Scott’s worst film came just two years before one of his finest works is rather confusing. This crime thriller has an incredibly impressive list of names on its cast list, but he was unable to pull off a film that showed off the talent he had involved. Despite being a thriller, it simply failed to be thrilling, a distinctive blunder in an otherwise fairly stellar filmography.
