Ridley Scott, who entertained cinema goers with his outstanding silver-screen direction for over five decades, has revealed the bitter truth of his career.
In a recent episode of The Director’s Cut podcast, the 87-year-old recalled the toughest period in his life, saying: “There’s only one film worked out of all of that lot.”
The Napoleon director faced backlash as his early films including Alien, Blade Runner, The Duellists and Legend were not initially considered masterpiece.
He remembered being satisfied with all his four films and slamming a studio executive who told him to change his movie subjects.
“Somebody at one of the studios said to me, ‘Why don’t you do a film about normal people?’ I went, ‘What the f— does that mean?’ Because no one’s normal unless you’re totally boring, right?”
The House of Gucci cinematographer, made his first film, The Duellist in 1977 and won a prize at Cannes, yet he felt the studio didn’t go far enough in helping the film reach audiences.
Then came Alien which did well to some extent, but Blade Runner suffered a major blow from a legendary film critic Pauline Kael, who according to Scott “destroyed” him.
“[She] destroyed Blade Runner in four pages. I didn’t even meet her,” he said.
Scott explained what it felt like reading the review, “To me, it almost walked in the column of industrial espionage, because you’re destroying a product before it’s out.”
His forth film Legend also failed to hit the mark.
Despite of harsh reviews, Scott’s “best attitude” towards “loving his work” made these films as some of the best in career.
Scott’s Oscar winning 2000s film sequel, Gladiator II, has been a major success in box office since its release in November 2024.
