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Post by martinw8686 on Jan 12, 2023 22:11:41 GMT
I think Alien and Blade Runner are two of the greatest films ever made, I also have a soft spot for Gladiator. Ridley Scott is prolific with the amount of films he's made but I feel he's always been hit and miss with the quality of the films he's released,
Following Blade Runner, he made a couple of average films before releasing Thelma and Louise, then again several average films before Gladiator, following that some average films and some outright flops before The Martian. I thought Prometheus had potential but was let down by poor writing and plot logic, nothing he's made in recent years has caught my eye.
No doubt Ridley has made some amazing films, I just wonder why so many average films and in recent years more flops. Maybe it's just me and I'm sure there are films I consider average that others love, Does anyone know anything about Ridley Scott, he seems quite outspoken and confident, perhaps people are afraid to question his idea's.
I'm not looking to heavily criticise him, it's just his hit (well received) record isn't as consistent as say Spielberg, Nolan or Scorsese.
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shutupbanks
Castellan
There’s a horror movie called Alien? That’s really offensive. No wonder everyone keeps invading you.
Likes: 5,669 
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Post by shutupbanks on Jan 12, 2023 23:36:15 GMT
I honestly think Scott’s films look amazing but are frequently decent films by accident. A good director has to know a fair bit about acting in order to get a performance out of their cast. Scott frequently populates his films with actors who lift the script (the entire cast of Alien, Ford in Blade Runner, Sarandon and Davis in T & L, Damon in Martian) and do that work for him. He’s also excellent at putting together scenes with lots of emotion or action. But while I love Gladiator (it’s as close as I think we’ll ever get to a David Gemmell novel on screen) a lot of the quieter scenes plod because they don’t have great emotion or plot behind them. I think Scott is an artist with the camera, but I don’t think he has the understanding of what people do in ordinary, everyday moments in the same way that Spielberg or Hitchcock or Scorsese do.
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Post by Digi on Jan 13, 2023 1:49:06 GMT
I don't think this is hugely unusual...a lot of directors have at least one terrible film on their resume, even the greats. Making a film is such a massive undertaking that you're bound to have a few not quite work out the way you'd like.
Ridley Scott is an interesting case though. Even among the films of his that I adore, it's no secret that the pacing in his films is very...um...deliberate, shall we say. If you're not in the right headspace to enjoy it, they can be a bit of a challenge to get through.
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Post by martinw8686 on Jan 13, 2023 21:53:45 GMT
I've always found his films to be visually impressive with great scores. I was really looking forward to Prometheus, I again liked the visuals, the score and the concept but there were many plot holes and most of the characters were under written.
I loved the premise, the Engineers were a breath of fresh air, I was really dissapointed with Alien:Covernant, everything original about the previous film was stripped away to make a generic Alien movie.
My problem may be I'm so awed by his early classics that the newer films pale in comparison.
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Post by Digi on Jan 14, 2023 1:15:13 GMT
I've always found his films to be visually impressive with great scores. I was really looking forward to Prometheus, I again liked the visuals, the score and the concept but there were many plot holes and most of the characters were under written. I loved the premise, the Engineers were a breath of fresh air, I was really dissapointed with Alien:Covernant, everything original about the previous film was stripped away to make a generic Alien movie. My problem may be I'm so awed by his early classics that the newer films pale in comparison. Agreed on Prometheus/Covenant.
I've heard many good things about The Martian though, but I haven't seen it yet myself.
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Post by martinw8686 on Jan 14, 2023 1:45:42 GMT
I've always found his films to be visually impressive with great scores. I was really looking forward to Prometheus, I again liked the visuals, the score and the concept but there were many plot holes and most of the characters were under written. I loved the premise, the Engineers were a breath of fresh air, I was really dissapointed with Alien:Covernant, everything original about the previous film was stripped away to make a generic Alien movie. My problem may be I'm so awed by his early classics that the newer films pale in comparison. Agreed on Prometheus/Covenant.
I've heard many good things about The Martian though, but I haven't seen it yet myself.
I enjoyed The Martian very much, I believe some of the science in the film has been stretched or ignored for dramatic purposes but it's a very entertaining film with a likable lead performance. If I score Alien and Blade Runner 5/5, I'd give The Martian 4/5. |
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shutupbanks
Castellan
There’s a horror movie called Alien? That’s really offensive. No wonder everyone keeps invading you.
Likes: 5,669
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Post by shutupbanks on Jan 14, 2023 4:52:20 GMT
I've always found his films to be visually impressive with great scores. I was really looking forward to Prometheus, I again liked the visuals, the score and the concept but there were many plot holes and most of the characters were under written. I loved the premise, the Engineers were a breath of fresh air, I was really dissapointed with Alien:Covernant, everything original about the previous film was stripped away to make a generic Alien movie. My problem may be I'm so awed by his early classics that the newer films pale in comparison. Agreed on Prometheus/Covenant.
I've heard many good things about The Martian though, but I haven't seen it yet myself.
The Martian was fantastic. The novel it was based on is superb but - and I remember from interviews with Andy Weir when it was released - he tried to make sure that everything that happened could be done and as plausibly as possible. The film followed that but skimmed over a few moments because they weren’t thrilling enough: there’s a lot more duct tape in the film than the book because proper repairs and investigations into how they went wrong take too long in a film. |
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Post by masterdoctor on Jan 14, 2023 5:30:48 GMT
Agreed on Prometheus/Covenant.
I've heard many good things about The Martian though, but I haven't seen it yet myself.
The Martian was fantastic. The novel it was based on is superb but - and I remember from interviews with Andy Weir when it was released - he tried to make sure that everything that happened could be done and as plausibly as possible. The film followed that but skimmed over a few moments because they weren’t thrilling enough: there’s a lot more duct tape in the film than the book because proper repairs and investigations into how they went wrong take too long in a film. Yep, both the film and the book are fantastic! |
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