6. Black Hawk Down


Scott’s war drama from 2001 may not be the most pleasurable movie in his filmography to sit through, but it’s unbeatable in terms of pure immersion. Featuring a cast of literally dozens of recognizable faces — including Josh Hartnett, Ewan McGregor, Hugh Dancy, Tom Hardy, Jason Isaacs, Eric Bana, and Orlando Bloom — Black Hawk Down details in agonizing specificity the U.S. military's disastrous 1993 raid in Mogadishu, Somalia. This depiction of modern warfare is one tangled in socio-political complexities that manages to avoid so many of the genre’s more trite or sentimental clichés. What Black Hawk Down drives home is the reality that, regardless of how much the tools or tactics change over the decades, war is, always shall be, and frankly should be absolute hell.

5. The Martian


Based on the novel by Andy Weir, The Martian was seen as something of a minor comeback for Scott, thanks to its major critical and commercial success, as well as the seven Oscar nominations it received (it also won the Golden Globe for Best Comedy/Musical, a decision that rightly seemed to baffle Scott). While one could argue over the semantics of this being a comeback for a director who has never really gone away, it is fair to say that The Martian is one hell of a movie. Combining a classic survival-and-rescue tale with a wider exploration of the awesomeness of science, the movie manages to be great fun without ever losing sight of its emotional center or the sheer terror of its central concept. This may be Matt Damon’s best performance as well as Scott’s funniest film (although its labeling by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association as a comedy is still somewhat suspect). It’s a much simpler tale than Blade Runner and a flashier one than Alien, but for everyone who wondered if Scott could still pull off that classic sci-fi movie magic, The Martian was all the proof they needed.

4. The Duellists


When Ridley Scott made his feature directorial in 1977 with the historical drama The Duellists, he was best known for making commercials, including one advert for bread that was later voted the UK's favorite commercial in a 2006 poll. He had a burgeoning talent for bringing the cinematic to the small screen in short narrative bursts, but now he had an opportunity to expand that into a full feature. The result was a gorgeous story of warring Napoleonic officers that earned Scott critical praise and several comparisons to none other than Stanley Kubrick. There’s a meticulous quality to The Duellists, especially in its production design and cinematography, that betrays the reality of this being Scott’s first-ever movie. Later on, Scott would be less concerned with fidelity to history, but The Duellists is remarkably authentic in every single detail (except for the American accents of Keith Carradine and Harvey Keitel). Forget being one of Scott’s best movies — this may be one of the best directorial debuts ever made.

3. Thelma And Louise


No film in Scott’s filmography matches the pure emotional punch that Thelma and Louise packs. Scott seemed like a curious choice for the movie at the time — a gruff English director best-known for sci-fi films who had had several flops in a row by the end of the ‘80s — yet he feels right at home in this modern-day Western centered on two best friends who try to outrun not just the law, but also the crushing agony of patriarchy. Turning the typically male-driven buddy comedy subgenre on its head, Thelma and Louise is uplifted by its vibrant portrayal of a loving, prickly, and deeply relatable friendship. Contemporary critics who sneered at the film by labeling it as “anti-male” missed the point: Living in a sexist world wears everyone down, but especially women, and their screams of freedom reverberate across the globe. It’s a film that embraces its Americana imagery (beautiful scenery! Country music! Brad Pitt shirtless in a cowboy hat!) while exposing the rot that makes misogyny so smothering to live with. That climax is also one of the true tear-jerkers of modern American cinema.

2. Blade Runner


Regardless of which cut you watch – and there are plenty of arguments in favor or against every single version available – Blade Runner’s majesty remains undefeated. Perhaps Scott’s most impeccably composed movie, as well as his most intricately designed, this adaptation of Philip K. Dick’s Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep was a critical and box office disappointment upon release in 1982. It took a few years before everyone caught up to its genius and rightly labeled it as one of the best sci-fi films ever made. Many of the movie’s critics derided the movie for its lack of humanity, but that assertion could not be further from the truth. Blade Runner is a story all about the complexities of emotion, be they organic or programmed, and the turmoil that those divides create. Scott would prefer that you watch The Final Cut – the only one he had any real control over – but regardless of which one you check out, Blade Runner endures as one of the greats.