All 29 Ridley Scott Movies, Ranked From Worst to Best (original) (raw)

Image by Federico Napoli

Updated Nov 25, 2024, 5:21 PM EST

Jeremy has more than 2500 published articles on Collider to his name, and has been writing for the site since February 2022. He's an omnivore when it comes to his movie-watching diet, so will gladly watch and write about almost anything, from old Godzilla films to gangster flicks to samurai movies to classic musicals to the French New Wave to the MCU... well, maybe not the Disney+ shows.
His favorite directors include Martin Scorsese, Sergio Leone, Akira Kurosawa, Quentin Tarantino, Werner Herzog, John Woo, Bob Fosse, Fritz Lang, Guillermo del Toro, and Yoji Yamada. He's also very proud of the fact that he's seen every single Nicolas Cage movie released before 2022, even though doing so often felt like a tremendous waste of time. He's plagued by the question of whether or not The Room is genuinely terrible or some kind of accidental masterpiece, and has been for more than 12 years (and a similar number of viewings).
When he's not writing lists - and the occasional feature article - for Collider, he also likes to upload film reviews to his Letterboxd profile (username: Jeremy Urquhart) and Instagram account.
He has achieved his 2025 goal of reading all 13,467 novels written by Stephen King, and plans to spend the next year or two getting through the author's 82,756 short stories and 105,433 novellas.

Sign in to your Collider account

There are many things that can be said about Ridley Scott as a filmmaker, and his immense body of work. He's been making feature films for close to 50 years now, and is well-known for his ability to put out a new movie every one to two years, and for his willingness to make movies across very different genres. Not every foray into every genre has been a success, of course, but the variety makes Scott's filmography a very interesting one to explore and dissect.

Since 1977 (when Scott himself was already 40 years old), he's worked at a steady enough rate to direct a total of 28 feature films, and the 2020s has shown no indication that Scott will slow down any time soon, given the first half of the decade has seen the release of four major films directed by him,. His filmography is filled with entries both good and bad, and everything in between. Below are his finest films, ranked from great to greatest.

29 'Exodus: Gods and Kings' (2014)

Starring Christian Bale, Joel Edgerton, Ben Kingsley

Joel Edgerton as Ramses in Exodus: Gods and Kings

Image via 20th Century Fox

Ridley Scott has proved himself capable of making plenty of action-heavy historical dramas and epics, meaning Exodus: Gods and Kings was an unfortunate and dramatic stumble for the director. It's a two-and-a-half-hour-long retelling of the biblical story of Moses, and fails to do anything that other movies with the same premise already did (both 1956's The Ten Commandments and 1998's The Prince of Egypt are much better).

Exodus: Gods and Kings had an epic scale and some talented actors attached to it, but certain casting choices by Scott were criticized. It's probably a film that a good many people have forgotten about, perhaps not for the worse, as it came and went from theaters way back in 2014, with Ridley Scott's career thankfully picking up steam again in the years that followed, demonstrating it was a relatively brief hiccup. Still, if you look at Exodus: Gods and Kings within the context of Scott's filmography, nothing else really demonstrates the inconsistency of it overall when judged against some of his better (and soon-to-be-mentioned) films.

28 'Robin Hood' (2010)

Starring Russell Crowe, Cate Blanchett, William Hurt

Image via Universal Pictures

Just as there was a case that a new Moses movie in 2014 wasn't necessary, so too is there an argument that another Robin Hood movie in 2010 wasn't needed. The legend of the titular character is one most people are already very familiar with, and as a result, this 2010 movie failed to excite either critics or general audiences.

Still, at least it's another team-up between Scott and frequent leading man Russell Crowe, as the two have collaborated on some very good projects in the past. Then again, that can have the unintended effect of making anyone watching Robin Hood wish they were watching a better Scott + Crowe movie instead. Those who are continually looking for a good Robin Hood movie beyond the Disney animated version and 1938's The Adventures of Robin Hood ought to keep searching.

Robin Hood

Release Date

May 12, 2010

Cast

Cate Blanchett, Russell Crowe, Max von Sydow, William Hurt, Mark Strong, Oscar Isaac, Danny Huston, Eileen Atkins, Mark Addy, Matthew Macfadyen, Kevin Durand, Scott Grimes, Alan Doyle, Douglas Hodge, Lea Seydoux, Jonathan Zaccaï, Robert Pugh, Gerard McSorley, Velibor Topic, Ciaran Flynn, Simon McBurney, Denise Gough, John Nicholas, Thomas Arnold, Pip Carter

Runtime

140 minutes

Director

Ridley Scott

27 'G.I. Jane' (1997)

Starring Demi Moore, Viggo Mortensen, Anne Bancroft

Demi Moore in G.I. Jane

Image via Buena Vista Pictures

G.I. Jane was a movie that had essentially been relegated to the dustbin of history, even if it's probably not bad enough to call genuine trash. It rocketed back into public consciousness briefly some 25 years after release, after Chris Rock used it to make a joke during the 2022 Oscars that Will Smith didn't exactly appreciate.

G.I. Jane was a movie that had essentially been relegated to the dustbin of history...

The film itself has an interesting premise, revolving around a military program set up to allow women to join the U.S. Navy, only for the film's execution to be less-than-amazing. Like many other Ridley Scott movies that weren't critically well-received, it was quickly forgotten about, perhaps overshadowed in hindsight by the better movies the director has put out.Rent on Apple TV

26 'A Good Year' (2006)

Starring Russell Crowe, Albert Finney, Marion Cotillard

When Ridley Scott and Russell Crowe work together on a movie, the end result is usually something that can be definable as an action movie. That's not the case at all for their 2006 film, A Good Year, which stands out - particularly within Scott's filmography - as being the filmmaker's attempt at making a romantic dramedy.

It's primarily set in a picturesque vineyard, and revolves around two people who believe they've inherited said vineyard from a family member. Is A Good Year a good movie, though? It's alright, but not super impressive or anything. A Good Year gets the job done as far as romantic comedies go, and its existence means that it's possible to say, "Yes, Ridley Scott has, in fact, made a rom-com."

Rent on Apple TV

25 'The Counselor' (2013)

Starring Michael Fassbender, Penélope Cruz, Brad Pitt

Michael Fassbender and Javier Bardem share a toast in The Counselor

Image via 20th Century Fox

The Counselor is a grim and somewhat disappointing film, but it's only classifiable as the latter because it really should've been better than it was. It had a great deal going for it, what with it being Ridley Scott directing a screenplay by Cormac McCarthy, and having a cast that includes Michael Fassbender, Penélope Cruz, Cameron Diaz, Javier Bardem, and Brad Pitt.

It's about a lawyer getting tangled up with drug traffickers, and the consequences that ensue from being involved with such a business. The Counselor is a messy and inconsistent crime/thriller, and though some parts of it work - and it is an interesting, far-from-boring watch - there's a sense that it overall should've been much better than it was, though its extreme elements and oddball sensibilities have enabled it to be a film with a collection of defenders. It's dark in the way you'd expect something Cormac McCarthy-related to be, but doesn't satisfy as much as some of the other films that carry the legendary author's name.

24 'Hannibal' (2001)

Starring Anthony Hopkins, Julianne Moore, Ray Liotta

Like The Counselor, made 12 years later, Hannibal is a dark crime/thriller movie that should be better than it is. It may well have always been doomed, given it's a sequel to the beloved The Silence of the Lambs, and though it gives Anthony Hopkins the chance to reprise the role of Dr. Hannibal Lecter, Clarice Starling is distractingly played by Julianne Moore this time around, instead of Jodie Foster.

The plot is built around the two reuniting years after the events of The Silence of the Lambs, though things are noticeably less exciting than they were before. Seeing Hopkins as Lecter once again ensures Hannibal isn't a total waste of time, and it's a competent enough film if it's not compared too directly to the 1991 film it follows, but as a sequel, it is more than a little disappointing. Nothing was ever going to top that first Anthony Hopkins Hannibal movie, after all.

23 'Someone to Watch Over Me' (1987)

Starring Tom Berenger, Mimi Rogers, Lorraine Bracco

Image via Columbia Pictures

Someone to Watch Over Me certainly isn't the worst movie Ridley Scott's ever directed, but it's a contender for the most obscure. It's one that's hard to come across without specifically digging into his filmography, and is a romantic thriller about a woman who witnesses a high-profile murder, and gets assigned a detective who's to protect her.

Maybe the zeitgeist just wasn't right for a romantic thriller surrounding women who needed protecting, and men hired to do it, given that five years later, the creatively titled The Bodyguard became a huge hit. Or maybe Someone to Watch Over Me just needed more Whitney Houston songs in the soundtrack. In any event, it's not bad, and certainly proves more watchable than some other Scott-directed movies.

Someone to Watch Over Me

Release Date

October 9, 1987

Cast

Mimi Rogers, Tom Berenger, Lorraine Bracco, Jerry Orbach, John Rubinstein, Andreas Katsulas, Tony DiBenedetto, James E. Moriarty, Mark Moses, Daniel Hugh Kelly, Harley Cross, Joanne Baron, Anthony Bishop, David Berman, Sharon K. Brecke, Meg Mundy, Harlan Cary Poe, Marilyn Rockafellow

Runtime

103 minutes

Director

Ridley Scott

Watch on Tubi

22 'Body of Lies' (2008)

Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Russell Crowe, Mark Strong

Image via Warner Bros. Pictures

Body of Lies reunited Ridley Scott and Russell Crowe once again, but in this instance, they were also joined by Leonardo DiCaprio. DiCaprio is the film's lead overall, with him playing a CIA agent who's placed in constant danger when he's sent by the organization to pursue and take down the mastermind behind a series of deadly terrorist attacks.

Crowe's character has a far more comfortable time, providing intel to DiCaprio's character largely from the comfort of his own home, thanks to satellite technology. Crowe also probably had the cushier job as an actor here, at least compared to what DiCaprio had to do. Maybe that's one of the perks of working with Ridley Scott for longer than your co-star. Anyway, the movie itself is fine.

21 'White Squall' (1996)

Starring Jeff Bridges, Caroline Goodall, John Savage

Image via Buena Vista Pictures Distribution

White Squall is many things at once, being a survival film, an adventure/drama film, and even a coming-of-age movie. It follows what happens when a group of young sailors and their instructor have a training voyage spiral out of control, after their old-fashioned sailing ship sails directly into a storm.

White Squall is a solid film, and executed in a typically workmanlike fashion (few Ridley Scott movies are sloppy enough to feel fundamentally broken, after all), and like any movie with Jeff Bridges in it, it benefits from having Jeff Bridges in it. But the fact it's now fairly obscure means that it's somewhat underrated at best, and a little forgettable at worst. White Squall also had a particularly poor run at the box office, only making about a quarter of its budget back domestically.

White Squall

Release Date

February 2, 1996

Cast

Caroline Goodall, Jeff Bridges, John Savage, Scott Wolf, Jeremy Sisto, Ryan Phillippe, David Lascher, Eric Michael Cole, Jason Marsden, David Selby, Julio Oscar Mechoso, Željko Ivanek, Balthazar Getty, Ethan Embry, Jordan Clarke, Lizbeth MacKay, Jill Larson, James Medina, James Rebhorn, Nicole Ann Samuel, Becky Ann Baker, Camilla Overbye Roos

Runtime

129 minutes

Director

Ridley Scott

Watch on Hoopla

20 'House of Gucci' (2021)

Starring Lady Gaga, Adam Driver, Al Pacino

Lady Gaga and Adam Driver in 'House of Gucci'

Image via MGM Studios

For a good chunk of its ridiculously long runtime (158 minutes!), House of Gucci is a pretty good crime movie. It has some explosively over-the-top performances from the likes of Lady Gaga, Adam Driver, and Jared Leto, and is a fictionalized retelling of a true story involving fame, money, and murder among the ultra-rich in Italy. Everyone seems to be having fun going over-the-top with their performances throughout, and that can make House of Gucci fun at times.

At a point, though, it just wears out its welcome, and there's a case to be made that House of Gucci is almost an hour too long, which really isn't something that can be said about many movies. There's enough campy silliness (the jury's still out on how intentional House of Gucci's comedy is) to still make this a fun watch for more than half its runtime, but that lengthy runtime does ultimately hold the movie as a whole back considerably. It can be given a cautious recommendation, but tread lightly.

House of Gucci

Release Date

November 24, 2021

Cast

Lady Gaga, Adam Driver, Al Pacino, Jeremy Irons, Jared Leto, Jack Huston, Salma Hayek Pinault, Alexia Murray, Vincent Riotta, Gaetano Bruno, Camille Cottin, Youssef Kerkour, Reeve Carney, Florence Andrews, Mehdi Nebbou, Miloud Mourad Benamara, Andrea Piedimonte Bodini, Vincenzo Tanassi, Mauro Lamantia, Nicole Bani Sarkute, Mia McGovern Zaini, Clelia Rossi Marcelli, Pietro Ragusa, Alessandro Pess, Al Mariotti

Runtime

158 minutes

Director

Ridley Scott