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Gladiator Colosseum Hollywood spectacle Russell Crowe

Top 5 Best Ridley Scott Movies, Ranked

While a few recent misses gave fans concern, Gladiator II proves Ridley Scott can still make hits. The director has an eclectic filmography, from genre defining science fiction to historical dramas. Here are our picks for Ridley Scott’s top five best movies.

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5. Black Hawk Down

Official Still of Soldiers Near a Crashed Helicopter in Ridley Scott's Black Hawk Down

Black Hawk Down is a bit of an anomaly among director Ridley Scott’s filmography. While the filmmaker is no stranger to military dramas – see Gladiator and Napoleon – it’s unlike him to cover something so grounded in the modern world. At the time Black Hawk Down released, the true events of the Battle of Mogadishu had transpired less than a decade ago. Therefore, the film was a bit controversial.

That being said, with Black Hawk Down, Ridley Scott made an epic military drama that still inspires other media today. The film has intense, highly stressful action which takes the true conflict seriously. It also has a few great characters, with soldiers portrayed by would-be stars such as Josh Hartnett and Ewan McGregor. Black Hawk Down also houses Tom Hardy’s very first role in a major movie.

All that being said, it is important to note that Black Hawk Down has a major flaw. The film has a dated and at times offensive portrayal of the Somali people. It also ignores some of the larger context of the war and other nation’s involvement in it.

All that being said, the movie is still important to film history and Ridley Scott’s body of work. Roger Ebert noted that films like Black Hawk Down are standouts in the military drama genre which “help audiences understand and sympathize with the actual experiences of combat troops, instead of trivializing them into entertainment”.

4. Gladiator

Russel Crowe faces off against a Champion and a lion in the arena in Gladiator

Ridley Scott has spent much of the 21st century pulling from history rather than creating sci-fi worlds. This started at the turn of the millennium with the epic Roman drama, Gladiator. The film has remained iconic for over two decades, with the recently released Gladiator II drawing in audiences in spite of releasing at the same time as Wicked.

As for the original Gladiator, the film is epic. It features incredible action, backed by a deeply personal story about loss and vengeance. The production value is impeccable, with really great costumes and sets which transport audiences back to the peak of Ancient Rome.

Gladiator is one of those movies that has just become a pop culture staple, with several memorable scenes and quotable lines. This is in large part thanks to Russel Crowe as the titular Gladiator Maximus, as well as Joaquin Phoenix’s portrayal of Emperor Commodus. Each delivers their own iconic moments, with Maximus’s “Are you not entertained?!” and Commodus’ infamous thumbs down.

3. The Martian

Matt Damon in The Martian Key Art from Max

While Ridley Scott’s classic sci-fi movies invented iconic worlds, The Martian seeks to portray a more believable, near-future science fiction story. Based on an Andy Weir novel of the same name, The Martian stars Matt Damon as an astronaut stranded on Mars.

After he’s presumed dead in a massive storm, astronauts leave Mars, unknowingly abandoning Mark Watney behind. What ensues is a tense but uplifting journey for survival. Mark uses his scientific genius to grow food and water to survive while he waits for rescue. The Martian is a fairly believable tale about human perseverance in an extraordinary circumstance. A sense of optimism radiates from Matt Damon and an excellent supporting cast of NASA crew who strive to get him home.

The Martian has a great story at its core, easy to root for characters, excellent production design and great visuals to sell the stakes of being stranded on a foreign world.

2. Alien

Sigourney Weaver as Ellen Ripley with the cat from Alien (1979) via IMDb

Alien points a completely opposite picture of space. This classic late 70s horror movie introduced viewers to the terrifying Xenomorph, and the incredible woman who could stop it in Sigourney Weaver’s Ellen Ripley.

Alien is a masterclass in tension and suspense. The blue-collar crew of the Nostromo is isolated in a massive spaceship with a terrifying menace they can barely understand, which reveals itself as a rapidly evolving Alien. The several stages of this apex predator are all uniquely terrifying. From the chest burster to the face hugger to the full-blown Xenomorph, every iteration of the creature presents a new nightmare.

What really sells Alien the hardest is the incredible visuals and audio. Alien has impeccable direction, with an incredible vision from H.R. Giger designing an Alien creature which is unfamiliar yet believable. The sets are incredible as well and go a long way to build a tense atmosphere. The Nostromo’s interiors are absolute retro-future classics, and the Alien ships appear almost organic.

1. Blade Runner

Harrison Ford in the poster for Blade Runner

Picking a favorite among Ridley Scott’s catalogue is a tough choice for sci-fi fans, but ultimately Blade Runner triumphs. Blade Runner stars Harrison Ford as Rick Deckard, a detective who searches and destroys androids who have become self aware enough to resist the society that ties them down.

Blade Runner is a wonderful merging of several genres, combining the tone and energy of classic 1940s noir thrillers with a bold cyberpunk aesthetic which envisions a future of grimy, rain-soaked megacities. That being said, Blade Runner is a classic for many reasons. Not only is it a visual marvel, but the storyline that plays out is gripping and makes the viewer ponder some really interesting hypotheticals.

Blade Runner has some really fascinating themes about what it means to be human, what makes a relationship real and meaningful, and presents the suffering can happen to people in an unchecked late-stage capitalist society. While it is admittedly amusing to have such a futuristic movie set in 2019, Blade Runner has aged incredibly well as technology expands and the use of AI is becoming a hot button issue.


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Author
Image of Haiden Lovely
Haiden Lovely
Contributing Writer
Haiden is a Contributor at The Escapist who has been writing about games since 2023. They love a good live-service shooter, especially Call of Duty: Zombies and have a complicated relationship with Madden Ultimate Team. Haiden brings experience in writing about games and entertainment, video production and podcast hosting from Strangely Awesome Games.