Ridley Scott cut his cinematic teeth directing advertisements for TV - his most famous are the 'Hovis' adverts - quickly creating a distinctive visual style which he developed in his first full length movie The Duelists in 1977. It was two years later in 1979 that Scott made the big time with the stunning sci-fi realisation Alien which created a whole genre of sci-fi movies. There followed a list of successful and characteristically idiosyncratic movies from Blade Runner to Thelma and Louise.
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Critics have always had a problem with Ridley Scott. In this volume, remarkably the first ever book-length study of Scott's films, Paul M. Sammon puts this down to the director's links with commerce: "many pundits view Ridley Scott as too successful, too technical, or too mercantile to take seriously". In this slim volume, the author--who has also written books on Blade Runner and the Alien Trilogy--attempts to demonstrate that Scott is in fact an auteur worthy of critical recognition.
Sammon takes a chronological approach to his subject, beginning with the director's youth and his early success in television advertising, before moving on to a film-by-film analysis of Scott's work from The Duellists to G.I. Jane. Each film is afforded a brief description of its writing, casting and production, together with details of its critical and commercial reception. Anxious to counter claims of "style over substance", Sammon also draws the reader's attention to important themes in the director's work and features of his style. On the whole, Sammon succeeds in persuading the reader that there is more to Scott's work than many critics allow, even if the writer's friendship with the director does sometimes cloud his judgement. With this in mind, the reprinting of the Variety reviews for each of the films offers a welcome sense of critical balance, as well as providing useful lists of cast and crew. --John Oates
About the Author
Paul M. Sammon has written for The Los Angeles Times, The American Cinematographer, Cahiers Du Cinema and Cinifantastique. 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 (Robocop) Verhoeven.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
This book gives the reader the rare chance to see how one of the biggest and most successful film directors made his way from art college to making 'Alien'. The book takes you through all of Scott's films up to G.I. Jane and is compiled from 100's of hours of personal interviews with the writer and close friend Paul M. Sammon. Scott himself talks about the actors, actresses, and the atmosphere on the sets. The book has a great sense of humour and the writer has great literacy skills to get so much information on Ridley Scott into such a deceivingly small book.
I recomend anyone should buy this book at this price especially if you have even a glancing interest in the film industry "then and now" or just enjoy watching movies.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
A nice, handy pocket book. Not a real biography but more than enough things you want to know about worlds (at least I think so) best film director. It covers all his work up to 1998 so Gladiator is not reviewed for it was being filmed at that time. Nicely written with many quotes of the master himself! It also gives a clou what his very first film was, made at the Royal academie of Arts: Boy and Bicycle. 30 minutes black and white. The book said it cant be seen for it is property of the institution that sponsored Ridly, but nower days you can find a complete version of it on the internet! (I did so myself.) Maybe it's time for a real comprehensive (auto)biography?
By Lininho
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My son needed this book as part of his G.C.S.E. Film Study course. He managed to get the information he needed
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