Ridley Scott is one of the most legendary directors of all time. Throughout his career, he’s made some of the most iconic and memorable movies ever, across a litany of genres to boot.
His latest movie, a post-apocalyptic sci-fi adaptation of The Dog Stars, is set to release in theaters this week. The new movie stars Jacob Elordi, Josh Brolin, and Margaret Qualley. It’s yet another high-profile blockbuster from Scott.
In celebration of his new movie coming out, we’re taking a look at some of Scott’s best movies ever. Every movie here is a classic, so it’s hard to decide, but we’ve narrowed it to five for the purposes of this list.
5 Best Ridley Scott movies, ranked
5) The Last Duel
The fifth-best movie on this list was a tough one to pick from. There’s so many incredible Scott movies to pick from, including things like The Martian, Black Hawk Down, Matchstick Men, and more. For me, though, The Last Duel is a return to form of sorts from Scott. Released in 2021, The Last Duel was Scott getting back into the world of a gigantic, historical epic, and even though it does have some flaws, it felt like we were watching a master at work again.
The movie is based on the 2004 book The Last Duel: A True Story of Crime, and tells the story of a knight who challenges his former friend to a duel after the latter is accused of raping his wife. The Last Duel utilizes three separate POVs to tell the different perspectives of each story, and features some absolutely incredible performances by Matt Damon, Adam Driver, and Jodie Comer, the latter of whom steals the show. In terms of action, it also feels like peak Scott, as the final duel is gross, grimy, muddy, and everything you’d expect from a fight taking place in this time period.
4) Thelma & Louise
Scott’s 1991 buddy comedy movie, written by Callie Khouri, is one of the best movies of the 1990s. The film tells the story of two friends, played by Susan Sarandon and Geena Davis, who embark on a road trip that very quickly spirals out of control when one of the pairs shoots a man who was trying to rape one of them, and leads the two of them on a wild adventure.
While the movie is a buddy comedy film at its heart, it is also a great thriller toward the final act of it. Sarandon and Davis are flawless in it. Sarandon’s more serious and aggressive Louise matches perfectly with the more toned down Thelma, and the cast of characters they meet along the way make the movie even better. Thelma & Louise has also transcended the world of movies and come to be known in shorthand, which is the sign of a true classic.
3) Gladiator
While some might have this lower on a list of Scott’s best movies, Gladiator is simply too much of a classic to really keep off of it. Featuring a who’s who of stars in the form of Russell Crowe, Joaquin Phoenix, Connie Nielsen, Oliver Reed, and more, Gladiator is one of Scott’s crowning achievements, and follows the story of a Roman general who is betrayed and reduced to a slave, and then becomes a gladiator to try and avenge what happened to him.
Gladiator is an epic in every sense of the word. The locations, action, acting, and violence are all turned up to the next level, and Crowe delivers one of the best performances of his career, complete with one of the most famous monologues in movie history. The movie has stood the test of time in every single way, and remains one of the first projects you think of when you think of classic films about ancient Rome.
2) Blade Runner
One of Scott’s earliest films, Blade Runner is another film that has transcended the world of movies. Based on Philip K. Dick’s Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, Blade Runner is set in a dystopian Los Angeles in 2019, in which synthetic humans known as replicants work amongst humans. When a fugitive group of replicants come back to Earth, it’s up to former cop Rick Deckard to hunt them down.
Simply put, Blade Runner is a near-perfect movie. It has not only given future sci-fi movies a lot of material and inspiration, but features stellar performances from Harrison Ford as Deckard, and the late Rutger Hauer as Roy Batty, the leader of the replicant fugitives. The way Scott presents the dystopian version of Los Angeles, and presenting the movie as a futuristic noir, help set the stage for what is one of the best science-fiction movies ever created.
1) Alien
Of course, what else could be number one on this list? Scott’s second directorial feature is the movie that will always be seen as his best. 1979’s Alien follows the story of a starship crew who investigate a seemingly abandoned space vessel, and quickly find themselves hunted by an extraterrestrial, terrifying creature.
Between Sigourney Weaver’s incredible performance as Ripley, the amazing design of the set and Xenomorph, and the mysterious elements of the movie that don’t get explained until further along the series, Alien is just about the perfect horror movie. It works on a number of levels, but does a great job tapping into the simple fear of what’s behind the next corner, and remains Scott’s crowning achievement.
