Top 5 Ridley Scott Movies

 

Ridley Scott has a great kick-starter for movie franchises.  He will always direct the first or second movie in a franchise before handing it off to somebody else to take care of. Scott has also made a few great solo movies.  As one of the greatest movie directors around, here is a list of the top five Ridley Scott movies.

 

#5: Thelma & Louise (1991)

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Two everyday women decide to leave their homes and just drive to see where live takes them.  They are thrown for a loop when Louise shoots a suspected rapist.  The two women decide to run to Mexico while being tracked down by the American police.  Winner of the Best Screenplay Oscar in 1992, Thelma & Louise brought Ridley Scott back to relevance after a rough second half of the 1980s.

 

#4:  Blade Runner (1982)

Arguably Scott’s last great movie before Thelma & Louise, Blade Runner was a unique movie that attracted a lot of attention in the early 80s.  Based in a cyberpunk future in 2019, humans have developed an advanced cloning system creates replicants to help with work on off-world colonies. One blade runner (Harrison Ford), police that dispose of replicants after they have served their duty, is forced out of retirement to hunt down four replicants that escaped their planet.  It is a must-see movie that still holds up today.

 

#3:  Black Hawk Down (2001)

Based on the disastrous mission in October of 1993 during Desert Storm, Black Hawk Down is a great movie that will keep viewers on the edge of their seats.  Eric Bana and Ewan McGregor star as soldiers caught up in the firefight as two Black Hawk helicopters get shot down by a Somalian militia force who works to protect their warlord.  Before this, nobody thought it was even possible for anybody to take down a Black Hawk, but here is the scene where the first helicopter is shot down: http://bit.ly/1E2tNgK

 

#2:  Gladiator (2000)

The early 2000s were great for Ridley Scott.  Gladiator, Hannibal, and Black Hawk Down help restore the reputation of the director who had faltered a little in the second half of the 1980s and late 1990s.  Russell Crowe started as a former Roman general who is betrayed and forced to fight as a gladiator in the Coliseum.  The historical fiction fused a great score and brilliant direction to make it one of the best movies of the early 21st century.

 

Honorable Mention:

American Gangster (2007)

Hannibal (2001)

 

#1:  Alien (1979)

Although the market may be over-saturated with alien movies today, none of them would have existed without this movie. Alien was the first movie to make aliens scary.  Although the graphics may be outdated, the movie had of the most terrifying trailers of its time when released: http://bit.ly/SCqSH4  Almost everybody has seen it, but those of you who haven’t should definitely check it out.

 

Which director/actor should I do next?  Let me know who you think would make a great top five list.

Top 5 Movie Soundtrack Composers of All-Time

Movie soundtracks can be one of the most underrated parts of a movie.  Few people realize the difference a good soundtrack can make a movie versus a bad one (imagine watching the fellowship march through the mountains in Lord of the Rings without that epic music).  I decided to show my appreciation of these unsung heroes with a list of the top 5 composers in movie history.

#5: Howard Shore

Best Known For:  Lord of the Rings Trilogy

Speaking of that epic Lord of the Rings Music, Shore was slingshot into the mainstream after his work with Peter Jackson to create one of the most memorable soundtracks of all-time.  Along with the Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit franchises, Shore has composed the music for The Aviator and Ed Wood, two other movies known for their great soundtracks.  Although he has been working on movies since the 1970s, he is finally getting the recognition he deserves here in the 2000s.

#4: Bernard Herrmann

Best Known For:  Psycho

The man behind the Twilight Zone theme and Taxi Driver, Herrmann has helped create some of the most haunting recognizable scores.  Not to mention, who doesn’t imagine the shower scene in Psycho every time they hear that high pitch horror track.  Alfred Hitchcock originally wanted the famous shower scene without music before he heard Herrmann’s track.  He launched himself to popularity with his first soundtrack–Citizen Kane.  Considered one of the greatest movies every created, Citizen Kane‘s soundtrack is one of the many great aspects of the movie.

#3: Alan Silvestri

Best Known For:  Back to the Future

Silvestri’s accomplishments stretch far beyond the Back to the Future trilogy.  Forrest Gump, The A-Team, The Polar Express, and multiple movies from the Avengers Marvel Cinematic Universe are only some of the musical masterpieces penned by Silvestri.  He has shown his broad diversity covering all genres of movies.  Silvestri is definitely one of the best musical composers of all-time.  Starting his career in the 1970s, Silvestri continues to compose great soundtracks to this day.

#2:  Hans Zimmer

Best Known For:  The Dark Knight

Considered the best modern musical composer, Zimmer has created a plethora of great scores.  Pairing up with Christopher Nolan, Zimmer has created the scores for The Dark Knight trilogy, Insterstellar, Inception, and The Prestige.  He has experienced great success outside of Nolan as well.  He won an Oscar for his work on The Lion King and has been behind the scenes for many great movies:  Gladiator, Castaway, Man of Steel, Black Hawk Down, Pirates of the Caribbean, The Bee Movie, and Sherlock Holmes.  He started his musical career assisting the The Buggles with the first MTV music video “Video Killed the Radio Star” and his career has shot off from there.  He is by far currently the best in the business.

#1: John Williams

Best Known For: Star Wars

Williams has been at the helm of some of the greatest movie franchises to ever be produced.  Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Jurassic Park , Harry Potter, Jaws, Superman, and Schindler’s List are just the tip of the iceberg.  Williams has been creating music for movies since the mid-1950s.  While he has slowed down his pace, Williams is far and away the greatest composer ever.  His work is unrivaled.  Almost anybody could hear some of his work and immediately recognize the movie.  It will be a long time before somebody tops Williams as the greatest of all-time.