From 'Black Rain' to 'White Squall': 5 Underrated Ridley Scott Films
Today sees one of cinema’s most ambitious and respected visual stylists return to theaters with possibly his biggest-scale movie yet — and certainly his most controversial. Over the last thirty-five years, Ridley Scott has given us Alien, Blade Runner and Gladiator, and now he’s going Biblical for Exodus: Gods & Kings, a mega-budget retelling of the story of Moses, and the first live-action big-screen take on the story since The Ten Commandments in 1956.
Exodus finds Sir Ridley operating with familiar elements, what with its huge canvas and superstar cast. But the prolific British helmer has had a diverse and fascinating career, with several smaller films — a few of them outright bombs — having been overlooked in favor of his bigger blockbusters. So, as Exodus hits theaters, we’ve marked the occasion by picking out five of Scott’s more underrated efforts:
The Duellists (1977)
Scott’s visually striking 1977 debut, an adaptation of a short story by Joseph Conrad, sees Keith Carradine and Harvey Keitel as Napoleonic officers embroiled in a bitter, decades-long feud with each other. Shot with a misty, painterly style evocative of Kubrick’s Barry Lyndon, it’s a rich and complex — if not always narratively satisfying — film, and one of Scott’s best.
Black Rain (1989)
Stripped-down cop movie Black Rain sees U.S detectives Michael Douglas and Andy Garcia in Tokyo attempting to track down the Yakuza gangster they let escape. The film’s admittedly rife in renegade-cop cliches, and a bit unrefined in its culture-clash themes, but it’s also an incredibly stylish, and rather thrilling, action flick: turning Tokyo into a hugely atmospheric neon-soaked, almost sci-fi backdrop, it’s the closest thing we’ve gotten to a Blade Runner follow-up from the helmer.
White Squall (1996)
Scott’s second hard flop in a row (following the turgid Gerard Depardieu-starring Christopher Columbus movie 1492: Conquest of Paradise), but his true-life tale of a sailing ship stuck in a storm in the 1960s — which prefigures movies like The Perfect Storm and All Is Lost — is better than its financial performance might suggest. Scott’s direction of the storm sequences give the film a visceral intensity, the film has a lot of heart, and it’s anchored by a mighty performance from Jeff Bridges.
Matchstick Men (2002)
Perhaps the director’s most atypical movie, this con caper sees him channeling Paper Moon and the Coens for the story of an OCD-suffering grifter (Nicolas Cage) who teams up with his newly discovered 14-year-old daughter (Alison Lohman). The two leads, along with the always-welcome Sam Rockwell, do some of their best work, and Scott has playful fun with the smart, sly screenplay, which includes real pain and pathos among the twists and turns.
Kingdom Of Heaven (2005)
It was hoped that Scott was returning to Gladiator territory with his Crusades-set epic, but the film, about a blacksmith attempting to defend Jerusalem from Saladin in the 12th century, was something of a flop. But a DVD director’s cut rightfully helped to restore the film’s reputation: Though it’s still hampered by the casting of Orlando Bloom in the lead role, it’s a smart, beautifully written and visually stunning look at a fascinating period, full of fine performances.
Watch the trailer for Exodus: Gods and Kings below:
Photo: Getty Images
