Ridley Scott: The Making of His Movies

by Paul M. Sammon

Ridley Scott won the 1977 Cannes Film Festival prize for his debut feature The Duellists, dazzled audiences with Alien, created the futuristic noir of Blade Runner, and then hit the road with 1991's Academy Award nominee Thelma and Louise. This entertaining biography and informative reference captures Scott's individual style of movie making.

Genres: Film, Biography

Paperback

Published February 17, 2000

About the author

Paul M. Sammon has written for The Los Angeles Times, The American Cinematographer, Cahiers Du Cinéma, and Cinefantastique. His fiction has appeared in many collections and he is editor of the best selling American Splatterpunks series. As a film maker Paul M. Sammon has produced, edited and directed dozens of documentaries on films such as Platoon, Dune, and Robocop. He is the author of Future Noir: The Making of Blade Runner and his latest book is about the making of the movie Starship Trooper directed by Paul Verhoeven (Robocop).

Reviews

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

From the same line (Directors Close Up) as the George Lucas book I read earlier this year by Chris Salewicz (but infinitely better), this is written by someone who clearly not only knows the director but has interviewed him on several occasions in the past. With a very brief biography element (which was interesting), this follows Scott as he moves through advertising and into film with “The Duellists” in 1977. With a separate chapter for each film, Sammon goes into how the project came about, behind the scenes information on the filming (and, in the early ones at least, some of the conflicts Scott got involved in) and then the films reception (it still amuses me how poorly “Blade Runner” was rceived, bearing in mind how it’s viewed now). Unfortunately, due to the series’ apparently strict word count (Sammon mentions he’s fast approaching 45k at one point), the films following “Thelma & Louise” (“1492”, “White Squall” and “GI: Jane”) are very briskly dealt with, which is a shame, though it does end with comments about the forthcoming “Gladiator” (which, of course, would become a huge hit for the director). One of the things this did highlight was how prolific Scott has become - I thought that had always been the case but he made 10 films in the 20 years catalogued here and has directed 13 in the following 19 years. Thorough and informative, this is well written and structured and definitely worth a read. Recommended.

[Nathan]

Awkwardly hagiographic but thankfully concise overview of Scott’s life and career. Written while Gladiator was early in production, so 1492 and White Squall are considered late-career missteps rather than a slump before the Scott renaissance or whatever. It’s a shame the internet has all but killed this kind of thing — I’d much rather read a chapter than trawl a search engine for trivia and information of often questionable provenance.

[Tony · Rating 2 out of 5]

OK, but peppered with a few silly errors.
What's this film "One Who Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest"?
Who are Scarman Crothers and Sherry Landing?
The book finishes at the point where "Gladiator" is just starting production.

[the Autistic rabbi · Rating 5 out of 5]

I definitely give this 5 stars, but then my opinion is a bit biased. Ridley Scott is in the #1 spot on my favorite directors list. Even if that weren't the case, this would get high markings.
The author explains that he's interviewed the director and reviewed his movies over the past several years, and it shows big time with all of the in depth information on the director.
Covering his career since the very beginning, you get a first hand look into the path he followed that lead to Ridley becoming a successful director. The book gives plenty of behind the scenes details covering things like obstacles faced, his collaboration with various actors, and what people consider his breakthrough movies that made him famous in the industry. It is an older book, so the information only covers his career up to a certain point, but this is a "must read" for any Ridley Scott fan.

[Joakim Gustafsson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Filled with small interesting tidbits from the directors career but sadly lacks info on anything after GI Jane.
The author several times makes arguments for Scotts greatness but never really back them up.

[Kristīne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cerēju uz lielāku informācijas apjomu. Apraksti par filmām līdz Gladiatoram, par ko loti žēl, arī Blade Runner vāji apskatīts. Mudina paskatīties filmas hronoloģiskā secībā.