10 Best Ridley Scott Movies, According to Letterboxd

Throughout a career spanning six decades, Ridley Scott has proven himself one of cinema’s greatest visual storytellers and an exceptional master of tone and genre. With a filmography consisting now of 28 feature films (and counting) as director, he has amassed a body of work as vast and imaginative as it is incredible, featuring defining ’70s classics and underrated gems of modern times as well.

In addition to receiving three Academy Award nominations for Best Director throughout his career, Scott has also become a hot topic of debate among film lovers. The Letterboxd community has been especially active in discussing his oeuvre, ranking his greatest films rather interestingly. From time-tested classics like Alien and Blade Runner to more overlooked movies like Matchstick Men, Letterboxd’s top 10 Ridley Scott movies mimic his legendary career’s genre-bending variety.

10 ‘Matchstick Men’ (2003)

Average Letterboxd User Rating: 3.6

When it comes to Ridley Scott’s greatest ever films, not many would have Matchstick Men featuring prominently in their rankings, but the underrated con artist comedy is undeniably brilliant. It follows Roy (Nicolas Cage), a depressed, obsessive-compulsive schemer with Tourette syndrome. His plot to carry out a massive scam on a rich businessman is compromised when his teenage daughter reaches out to him. Roy reluctantly agrees to teach her his craft and include her in the con.

The film breezes by on the back of its fantastic cast, with Cage and Alison Lohman absorbing their roles, while Sam Rockwell is typically outstanding as Roy’s partner and understudy, Frank Mercer. With Scott’s directorial prowess on full display, Matchstick Men thrives as a deft commentary on parenthood, an enjoyable con caper, and character comedy as well.

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9 ‘Black Hawk Down’ (2001)

Average Letterboxd User Rating: 3.6

Stripped-back and raw, Black Hawk Down is a hard-boiled military movie boasting an all-star cast and exceptional albeit confronting combat sequences defined by their striking authenticity. Based on real events that transpired in Somalia in 1993, it tracks the American soldiers sent into Mogadishu to apprehend two lieutenants of a warlord, only to find themselves being ambushed by a strong militia force.

A disciplined directorial display from Scott, Black Hawk Down has a sparseness that resists showmanship or glorification. Instead, it functions as a profoundly powerful depiction of combat, which uses its chaotic desperation, as well as its rare quiet moments, to harrowing results. Black Hawk Downis a deeply sympathetic war movie that strays away from sensationalism and entertainment value in favor of grim reality.

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8 ‘The Martian’ (2015)

Average Letterboxd User Rating: 3.7

While he always had the ability to excel across many genres, Ridley Scott’s contributions to science fiction have become somewhat defining of his career. 2015’s The Martian, based on Andy Weir’s eponymous novel, follows Mark Watney (Matt Damon), a botanist and mechanical engineer stranded on Mars after his crew fled the planet thinking he died in a storm- Left to utilize his knowledge and his limited resources to survive, Mark waits while scientists on Earth work to find a way to rescue him.

The Martian might not be as flashy as his other sci-fi triumphs, but it remains one of Scott’s strongest films thus far. The understated yet epic picture mixes awe-inspiring visuals with an intelligent story and an impressive commitment to scientific accuracy to boot. A thrilling, hard sci-fi adventure, The Martian offers plenty of scintillating fun and shows the veteran director at his best.

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7 ‘The Last Duel’ (2021)

Average Letterboxd User Rating: 3.7

A somewhat surprising focus that has been present since the beginning of Ridley Scott’s career has been his intense thematic dealing with issues of feminism and misogyny. His 2021 output was overawed by the star-studded biopic House of Gucci, but his period epic The Last Duel deserved all the praise and popularity. It depicts the true story behind France’s last duel, focusing on two knights whose friendship is decimated when one’s wife accuses the other of sexually assaulting her.

Despite being set in the 14th century, the film has a vested interest in modern culture, using the narrative to frame a story about and criticism of systemic misogyny being used to silence women speaking out against their abusers. While not easy to watch, The Last Duel is a compelling picture that stands among Scott’s very best in recent years.

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6 ‘The Duellists’ (1977)

Average Letterboxd User Score: 3.8

A remarkable achievement, especially for his feature directorial debut, The Duellists was nominated for the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival in 1977 and won Best Debut Film. A period drama based on Joseph Conrad’s short story “The Duel,” the film transpires during the Napoleonic Wars, following the many duels between Armand d’Hubert (Keith Carradine), an aristocratic, and Gabriel Feraud (Harvey Keitel), a hot-headed Bonaparte loyalist.

While it runs as a sweeping epic covering the full duration of the Napoleonic Wars, the film is incredibly efficient and is contained to a runtime of just 101 minutes. Propped up by staggering visual beauty and lauded for the historically accurate approach to its combat, The Duellists is an engrossing early film from Scott holding some of the best sword fights ever filmed.

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5 ‘American Gangster’ (2007)

Average Letterboxd User Rating: 3.8

As a biographical crime drama, American Gangster received high praise and performed well at the box office but has struggled to remain a front-of-mind favorite for many as the genre has erupted in recent years. The shame in that is the film is both brilliant and intelligent, following Frank Lucas (Denzel Washington), a Harlem crime boss whose drug trade thrives during the Vietnam War, and Ritchie Roberts (Russell Crowe), the hard-nosed detective who fights against corruption in his ranks to bring Lucas down.

It is clear to see that Scott was inspired by many of the gangster flicks of the 1970s, and he was wise to give complete attention to Washington and Crowe, with both actors exceptional in their respective roles. Additionally, the film’s engagement with its central characters outperformed expectations, making American Gangster a compelling, character-driven drama – even if DEA agents did file lawsuits against NBC Universal for defamation regarding how they were portrayed.

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4 ‘Gladiator’ (2000)

Average Letterboxd User Rating: 4.1

While Ridley Scott has been prolific throughout his career, directing dozens of pictures over the decades, public consensus would state that four of his films stand tall above the rest. The significant leap in average Letterboxd users’ ratings would highlight that, starting with Gladiator. The film follows Maximus Decimus Meridius (Russell Crowe), a Roman commander betrayed by the new Emperor and sold as a slave. Fighting his way through the arena as a gladiator, Maximus vows to get back to Rome and avenge his murdered family.

A revered historical epic that appealed to mass audiences and critics alike, Gladiator wonBest Picture at the Academy Awards among five Oscar wins in total. The film is a spellbinding tale of honor and revenge, benefitting from stellar performances from Crowe and Joaquin Phoenix. Gladiator remains one of the greatest epics released this century and is a defining picture within Scott’s illustrious career.

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3 ‘Blade Runner’ (1982)

Average Letterboxd User Rating: 4.1

Taking the grit of film noir and bringing it to the wonder and bleak beauty of a perfectly realized dystopian future, Blade Runner was a pioneering film in its genre as well as being a true timeless classic. Set in a future where androids known as “replicants” have been created to work on off-world colonies, it follows a specialist police officer as he tracks down a small gang of robots who have returned to Earth in search of longer lives from their creator.

The film has become such a celebrated sci-fi hit for a number of reasons, running from the visually astounding and immersive cyberpunk world Scott created to the contemplative, philosophical intrigue that builds from the characters. While its legacy sequel, Blade Runner 2049,was a criminally underrated triumph, the original Blade Runner film simply stands unequaled in terms of its cultural impact and surprisingly human core.

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2 ‘Thelma & Louise’ (1991)

Average Letterboxd User Rating: 4.1

As triumphant as it’s provocative, Thelma & Louise is a fun-filled, fist-pumping, feminist road adventure that was decades ahead of its time. It follows Thelma (Geena Davis), a housewife, and Louise (Susan Sarandon), a waitress, as they embark on a brief fishing trip together, only to find themselves being pursued by the law when Louise shoots and kills a would-be rapist.

The film flies by comfortably on the charm and chemistry of its two starlets, both of whom were nominated for Oscars for their performances – two of six nominations the film would receive, with Callie Khouri winning for her original screenplay. Engrossing, empowering, and entirely entertaining, Thelma & Louise broke new ground in mainstream Hollywood and remains one of the best and bravest movies in Scott’s filmography.

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1 ‘Alien’ (1979)

Average Letterboxd User Rating: 4.3

A masterful meshing of science-fiction and horror, which remains an influential pillar in each of those genres to this day, Alien can only be viewed as one of the greatest movies of all time. It follows the crew of the Nostromo as they respond to a mysterious distress call on a moon in deep space, where they encounter a horrific alien life form that rapidly grows and starts killing the crew one by one.

It is a testament to the film’s brilliance that, after nearly half a century, it remains just as confronting and atmospherically chilling as it was upon release, while its renowned standing has only grown over time. With Sigourney Weaver’scinematic icon Ellen Ripley leading the way, Alien is undoubtedly Ridley Scott’s masterpiece, which in itself is incredible as it was only his second feature film.

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NEXT: Every Ridley Scott Movie, Ranked from Worst to Best