Ridley Scott films

Talk about films by Ridley Scott.

So far I've watched Gladiator and Kingdom Of Heaven. I found both of them to be really good.

Now I need to watch Blade Runner.

Did you watch the Director's Cut of Kingdom Of Heaven? It's 45 minutes longer and two times better than the regular version.

I'm a Scott fan myself. I found Blade Runner something of a bore, but Alien, Legend, Kingdom Of Heaven and Gladiator are all some of my favourites. Scott's Robin Hood had a lot of promising elements, but was too clichéd and bland to really stick out (very much like the theatrical Kingdom of Heaven).

edited 14th Jan '12 12:24:45 AM by Kerrah

Is the director's cut the one where the douchebag of a king challenges Belian to duel near the end of the film?

Black Rain is a good film to watch, if only as a reminder that once, there actually were films that played the 'lone cop who doesn't play by the rules' thing straight.

Yeah, that's the director's cut. In the regular, theatrical cut, the love interest has no subplot (and no son), the conflict between the hero and the villain has no resolution and the beginning is so super-condensed it boggles the mind.

Holy shit, that's a Ridley Scott movie? I had no idea.

edited 14th Jan '12 8:23:44 AM by Kerrah

Yeah. It was nicknamed 'Blade Runner 2' on release.

Watch Alien. It's the archtypical horror film.

I just got a copy of Blade Runner. I wonder if it's that good?

Just watch it and take it as it is. I personally really like it. Never expect a movie to shake your world before watching it or you'll be disappointed. This goes for all movies. All you should expect that the movie is worth seeing.

Out of curiosity, which cut of Blade Runner is it? There's several.

The original cut that was in cinemas always swings it for me. The other cuts, most notably the latest directors ultimate super special never before seen version were signs that Ridley had not just started to disappear up his own arsehole, he had pretty much succeded in it.

Otherwise known as Lucas Syndrome, after the "creator" of Star Wars. Witness his dogged refusal to kneecap the rumours that he had started that Deckard was also a replicant. No spoiler tags there, sorry. Deliberately so. Even Harrison Ford was dismissive of the idea.

I like Alien and Blade Runner. Like, a lot.

I am going to commit heresy here and say that Aliens was loads better. As was Black Rain. Only one of them was Ridley though.

The general opinion is that Aliens is superior to Alien.

No, it's not. The general opinion is that it is one of the few sequels to be as good as the primary film but it does this by being a different sort of beast.

I love Bladerunner, but my God, Ford's narration was awful.

Everything else was still pretty good, though.

That's why the Director's Cut is considered to be superior. I'm told the Final Cut is virtually identical, save for some CGI additions, which I didn't notice when I watched it.

I'm not sure which cut I'm watching. I didn't get to watch it yesterday. :/

I prefer the Final Cut myself, but I can definitely handle and recommend any version. Ford's narration in the theatrical is god-awful, but it's grown on me.

Oh, and check this out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbw8EIVlzM0

Expertly crafted and edited video that epitomizes Scott very well, as well as displaying his vast filmography.

EDIT: @d Roy and others: Use this to better understand the differences between the many versions of Blade Runner.

edited 28th Jan '12 5:21:02 PM by HerrKman

I really wouldn't compare Ridley Scott to George Lucas based on different cuts of Blade Runner, because most of them were him. The Final Cut uses mostly the material that was shot during the filming, including the unicorn dream, whereas the Star Wars Special Editions have completely new scenes created specifically for VHS/DVD/BD releases. Besides, if you don't count the 4 hour long rough cut -which was only seen by the production crew- The Final Cut is the only version in which Ridley Scott was personally involved. Joanna Cassidy's stunt woman's face was digitally replaced, because she had wrong kind of hair she looked too obvious, not because in the original script Zhora was supposed to look different in the chase scene. Cannot compared to changing Sebastian's head to to Hayden's in Return of the Jedi.

Well shit, by the time I had my DVD player fixed, the return date for the BR has come so I had to return it.

The good news, though, is that I got Black Hawk Down.

Don't overlook his first feature film, The Duelists from 1977.

I actually watched that film and read the book decades ago. North American actors playing European cavalry officers having protracted gunfights was actually better than it sounds.

Gunfights and multiple sword fights with different weapons, sometimes on horseback. The cinematography of the sweeping vistas is done particularly well.

While I really like Balde Runner, I understand why some people don't, and also why some people really prefer one version over another. I like both the theatrical version and the later versions. With Ford's narration, Blade Runner is partially a parody of film noir, without it it's a fairy tale. Both have their merit.

I enjoyed Kingdom of Heaven (the director's cut, obviously) as a story, but what really grated was the way Scott made twelfth century characters preach late twentieth century liberal dogma. Despite agreeing with most of the political message in the film, I can't ignore the anachronism of European and Arab noblemen talking about religious tolerance. The social innovation that was the result of the crusades was courtesy, not tolerance. The Arabs had codified rules for dealing with strangers. They had professional diplomats. The Europeans were impressed, started emulating the Arab courtly culture, and as a result western European culture became a lot less violent. They didn't give a toss about religious freedom. They cared about not getting their stuff smashed.