The Direction of Ridley Scott - Movies Good Enough to Eat

Ridley Scott has never received an Oscar. A lone nomination, for Thelma & Louise way back in 1991, is the closest the man has ever got to true recognition of his work. Despite this, a number of his films have been huge box-office successes, and his status as a safe bet is as good as cemented in the world of Hollywood – quite an achievement for a man born in South Shields.

Scott is often accused of being more invested in creating a world than in creating the characters, a problem stemming all the way back to his advertising background. The idea goes that Scott knows how to sell things – you see Rome in Gladiator, you want to buy it – but he doesn’t know how to make you emotionally invest in the characters. Another reason for this criticism comes from Scott himself – he constantly talks about creating a world rather than the people in it. His philosophy has always been that if you cast well, then creating the nuances of the characters can take a back seat as good actors will do it for you.

A problem Scott has repeatedly run into is the industry’s habit of handing out Oscars only to films released in the preceding year. A lot of his greatest works, especially Blade Runner and Kingdom of Heaven, were critically slammed originally – only to be re-evaluated years later. Blade Runner especially is now considered a masterpiece – but Scott will never receive any formal recognition of this.