Ridley Scott is the fifth person in our Director highlights series 

The 30th of November 2017 marked the 80th birthday of one of the greatest – if not, the greatest – British directors in the film industry. Sir Ridley Scott, a true visionary.

“I love different themes, different venues, different movies. I love to jump about and tackle different subjects. I have no intellectual master plan.”

Ridley Scott on the set of Alien: Covenant

The renowned filmmaker sits comfortably on a throne of blockbuster classics spanning from the Alien franchise, Blade Runner (our personal favourite), Gladiator and the all time classic, Thelma and Louise. Is there a genre that he can’t master? His catalogue of films certainly says otherwise, if you forget a couple duds; *cough* Hannibal *cough*.

Scott and Harrison Ford filming Blade Runner (1982)

2017 didn’t go without hiccups, though. Scott’s All the Money in the World hit the headlines for reasons both good and bad. As we all know, Hollywood actor, Kevin Spacey – originally cast as the film’s protagonist – fell foul of the sexual misconduct accusations of recent times.

So, what do you do? You reworked the whole movie (despite released trailers) with actor Christopher Plummer in Spacey’s place. All within the initial release date, we might add.

Christopher Plummer as John Paul Getty III in All the Money in the World 

“I sat and thought about it and realised, we cannot. You can’t tolerate any kind of behaviour like that. And it will affect the film. We cannot let one person’s action affect the good work of all these other people. It’s that simple.”

Yes, Sir Ridley Scott, that’s the way to handle it!

Without a doubt, Scott truly is as productive and focused as he is creative. Perhaps that’s one of the biggest catalysts to this gentleman’s prolonged success as a filmmaker.

Scott directing his debut feature The Duellists (1977)

“There’s a little thing on your shoulder called intuition and it whispers in your ear. Everyone has that, there is a voice telling you to do something. Most people ignore it – but you must listen to it. I do it every day, all day.”

A young man determined to join the Army, encouraged to tap into his artistic side, only to become the walking film buff he is today, Sir Ridley Scott is certainly someone who listens to intuition. And, by the looks of his recent upcoming projects, his film making career is far from slowing down.