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Ridley Scott criticizes superhero films

Helix

Helix

Mayor of Clown Town
Member
Jun 8, 2019
23,790
User warned: clickbait thread title
Ridley Scott when speaking to Deadline about the upcoming release of his movie, House of Gucci was asked what his main gripe was with Superhero movies was:

DEADLINE: Your main gripe about superhero movies?

SCOTT: Their scripts are not any fucking good. I think I've done three great scripted superhero movies. One would be Alien with Sigourney Weaver. One would be fucking Gladiator, and one would be Harrison Ford…
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DEADLINE: Blade Runner…

SCOTT: They're superhero movies. So, why don't the superhero movies have better stories? Sorry. I got off the rail, but I mean, c'mon. They're mostly saved by special effects, and that's becoming boring for everyone who works with special effects, if you've got the money.
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deadline.com

Ridley Scott Won’t Let Age Or Pandemic Slow A Storytelling Appetite That Brought ‘House of Gucci’ & ‘The Last Duel;’ Napoleon & More ‘Gladiator’ Up Next

Read an exclusive Q&A with Ridley Scott about 'House of Gucci,' 'The Last Duel,' his Napoleon epic, 'Gladiator' sequel and more.
deadline.com deadline.com
 
Buckle

Buckle

Member
Oct 27, 2017
41,097
A NEW CHALLENGER APPROACHES.

Disagree about those movies of his being superhero movies. Thats abit of a stretch.
 
ginger ninja

ginger ninja

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
3,060
The guy who directed Alien: Covenant is now the authority on good scripts...

I like shitting on superhero movies as much as the next contrarian but this dude needs to sit the fuck down for what he has done to the Alien franchise.
 
rsfour

rsfour

Member
Oct 26, 2017
16,767
I'm personally a big fan of Covenant and Prometheus, I think we need more of them. Also an origin story about Bryant, how he rose through the ranks, was he a Bladerunner as well?
 
YamchasRevenge

YamchasRevenge

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,819
Fanboys

avengers-assemble.gif

Defend the megacorps at all cost
 
KingM

KingM

Member
Oct 28, 2017
4,479
ginger ninja said:
The guy who directed Alien: Covenant is now the authority on good scripts...

I like shitting on superhero movies as much as the next contrarian but this dude needs to sit the fuck down for what he has done to the Alien franchise.
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He's made dozens of great movies over the past 50 years. There's going to be a dud here and there.
 
Ocarina_117

Ocarina_117

Member
Oct 26, 2017
9,571
ginger ninja said:
The guy who directed Alien: Covenant is now the authority on good scripts...

I like shitting on superhero movies as much as the next contrarian but this dude needs to sit the fuck down for what he has done to the Alien franchise.
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Kingdom of Heaven. Alien. Gladiator. Blade Runner.

He can say as he pleases when commenting on movies.
 
krazen

krazen

Member
Oct 27, 2017
13,145
Gentrified Brooklyn
He's right, but that's the same flaw to any Hollywood 'blockbuster'. While a Logan or even a Joker are nice changes of pace, at the end of the day you've got Disney and Warner Brothers telling investors these are tentpole films...kinda hard to make deep themes regarding aging and mental illness when you're trying to get asses in 20 dollar seats, or get families to pay another fifteen bucks a month for another channel
 
Biske

Biske

Member
Nov 11, 2017
8,270
He's not wrong. I can't think of any of the Marvel movies that have stuck with me in really any capacity. Just popcorn movies, enjoyable but that's it.
 
That1GoodHunter

That1GoodHunter

My ass legally belongs to Ted Price
Member
Oct 17, 2019
10,863


Kettle, meet....

RS' movies vary wiiiiiiildly in quality depending on how well he is paired with a writer

That being said, he is my favorite director of all time, so he gets a pass 🙂
 
Wrexis

Wrexis

Member
Nov 4, 2017
21,247
Maturin said:
I knew one of the first comments would be this kind of cherry picking.

The director of Alien, Blade Runner, Thelma & Louise, Gladiator, Kingdom of Heaven etc.
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Absolutely true. His output is amazing, and you haven't even mentioned The Martian, Black Hawk Down, etc.

That said, his misses are awful.

When I think of Prometheus, all I can think of are the dumb as shit scientists.
When I think of Covenant, all I can think of is the dumb script.
 
ezekial45

ezekial45

Member
Oct 25, 2017
6,751
Fanboys: "lol this guy made Prometheus and Alien Covenant, this dude doesn't know anything."

Ridley Scott's filmography:
Alien
The Duelists
Legend
Thelma and Louise,
Gladiator
The Martian
Blade Runner
Matchstick Men
Kingdom of Heaven

CaptainKashup said:
Why do "prestige" directors like to dunk on super-hero stuff so much lol
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In my view, the Marvel movies are a hyper commodification of "cinema", and some prestige filmmakers evidently don't like being reminded that films are, in fact, a part of a large scale business.
 
alr1ght

alr1ght

Member
Oct 25, 2017
10,050
Ridley Scott's filmography is better than whatever superhero director you're going to throw out. Just stop.
 
CesareNorrez

CesareNorrez

Member
Oct 25, 2017
5,521
ginger ninja said:
The guy who directed Alien: Covenant is now the authority on good scripts...

I like shitting on superhero movies as much as the next contrarian but this dude needs to sit the fuck down for what he has done to the Alien franchise.
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Great artists can produce bad shit. It's not disqualifying for greatness. He is a master filmmaker. Once a master always a master. Also don't have to agree with their opinions on any art.

Furthermore the 3 movies he mentioned do have good scripts.
 
jph139

jph139

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 25, 2017
14,378
Honestly, yeah, poor scripts are my biggest problem with most superhero movies. The writing is just not there. It could be - there's nothing structurally that makes the genre incapable of good writing, and you occasionally get one that slips through the cracks - but clearly it's not something necessary for success, so it's the first thing they'll cut to make a more marketable product.

Scott directs a lot of mass-market, blockbuster type fare - he's not exactly an "avant garde" filmmaker - so frankly this kind of thing is in his wheelhouse.
 
Vault Boy

Vault Boy

Member
Nov 2, 2017
2,396
Imagine announcing on an Internet forum that Ridley Scott doesn't know what he's talking about when it comes to movies.
 
aerts1js

aerts1js

Member
May 11, 2019
1,384
He's right? The movies have a lot of cool moments but there hasn't been a single time I've pondered/thought about the story afterwards.
 
onpoint

onpoint

Neon Deity Games
Verified
Oct 26, 2017
14,951
716
This guy has the nerve to talk about story in other movies when he made Prometheus? Not saying he isn't entitled to an opinion, and maybe he even has a point, but glass houses and all.
 
KingM

KingM

Member
Oct 28, 2017
4,479
CaptainKashup said:
Why do "prestige" directors like to dunk on super-hero stuff so much lol
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It's not much of a dunk, most of what they say is what people enjoy about them. They are movies that are cool to look at for 2 hours, but they're tentpole movies that can't really rock the boat in regards to writing, direction, or acting.
 
julia crawford

julia crawford

Took the red AND the blue pills
Member
Oct 27, 2017
35,271
blade runner is a super hero movie?

Scuttlefluff said:
Ridley just had a decent film that bombed whilst Eternals is cleaning up. Nothing anyone can say will convince me that it's not box office jealousy.
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???

Ridley Scott is extremely successful and extremely historically relevant in cinema, he has no reason to be jealous of anything
 
Nappuccino

Nappuccino

The Fallen
Oct 25, 2017
13,018
The scripts do tend to be lacking, and pointing out his own poor films doesn't really change that.

Ridley can both make the argument that superhero scripts tend to be bad and be a filmmaker whose made a number of films on bad scripts.
 
Lobster Roll

Lobster Roll

signature-less, now and forever
Member
Sep 24, 2019
34,368
I enjoy superhero movies myself, but I'm never really there for the story. The only time I had my expectations subverted plot-wise was when I was too unfamiliar with the source material to realize that the villain in Far From Home was exceedingly obvious to those in the know.
 
liquidtmd

liquidtmd

Avenger
Oct 28, 2017
6,132
I get the image of what he's going for, but it's kinda unfair in clumping the 'entire' lot together

Superman The Movie. Logan. Iron Man 1 was a pretty good heroes journey script wise.

It depends on the movie. There's a lot of 'averageness' in the MCU fare which is what I assume he's referring, but there's some sharp character work amongst the grind.
 
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