LEGEND (1986), SOMEONE TO WATCH OVER ME (1987), BLACK RAIN (1989) After Blade Runner, Scott decided to do "a real-life fairy story, with all the Disney ingredients." The result was Legend, a lush, peculiar fantasy starring Tom Cruise. He then shifted gears, crafting the underrated Hitchcockian romance Someone to Watch Over Me, starring Tom Berenger, and Black Rain, a slick action thriller starring Michael Douglas as a New York cop in Japan. "My first four movies are pretty exotic, but only [Alien] was a financial success. So someone finally said to me, 'Why don't you do normal films about normal people?' So I made films that people now associate with the 'dark period' in my career. Someone to Watch Over Me was only in theaters for 10 days. Black Rain did better than the others. We badly wanted to shoot it in Tokyo but just couldn't get permission. The governor of Osaka ended up helping us out, so we shot it there."
THELMA & LOUISE (1991) Scott says Geena Davis begged him to cast her opposite Susan Sarandon in this drama about two outlaw women who've been wronged by men. Her instincts were good--soon after, the Clarence Thomas hearings sparked a national discussion of sexual harassment, and the feminist road trip earned six Oscar nominations (it won for Best Original Screenplay). It also introduced a certain scruffy matinee idol to mass audiences. "Ahh! Pitt-y. Brad! Well, we looked and we looked and we looked. And Brad was just naturally great. George Clooney auditioned for that part. I remember his audition. So does he, in fact. He reminds me when I see him, 'I can't believe you passed me up, mate!'"
1492: THE CONQUEST OF PARADISE (1992) Scott again followed creative success with an epic that fizzled--this time, a critically savaged Christopher Columbus biopic starring Gerard Depardieu. "I don't know why it didn't connect. It was an independently financed $47 million movie, which was a lot of money then. Paramount was distributing it but didn't really push it. They put their movies first. It was understandable, but a tough lesson."
WHITE SQUALL (1996), G.I. JANE (1997) If White Squall--a nautical coming-of-age tale with Jeff Bridges--ranks as one of Scott's most overlooked films, G.I. Jane is another story altogether. Demi Moore brought the drama about a woman trying to join the all-male Navy SEALs to Scott. She hasn't made another major movie since. "The reaction to her and the film was very, very harsh. I thought the film was good! I have no apologies to make. Though I regret that I took out a sequence in White Squall. The film was originally [bookended] by Scott Wolf going to the funeral of his sea captain [Bridges]. At the end, instead of Bridges walking away from the courtroom, you'd go back to Scott all grown up, putting his ashes out to sea."
GLADIATOR (2000), HANNIBAL (2001), BLACK HAWK DOWN (2001) With two Best Director nominations and three films grossing more than $100 million each, Scott's in the middle of an unholy roll. "It has been a period of intense creativity. I looked up and saw I had done 10 films in 21 years, which isn't enough. So I just started. Gladiator: Why not? Hannibal: Well, why not? Black Hawk Down: Why not? I'm on a 'why not?' kick. I have been developing a subject that I've wanted to do for years: the Crusades. That will be next year [after making the North African epic Tripoli]. And you can't d--- around with that subject. But secretly, for the first time in a few years, I'm going to take a holiday."
You Might Also Like
- Movie Review 1492: The Conquest of Paradise (1992) | Owen Gleiberman
- Video Review 1492: Conquest of Paradise;Christopher Columbus: The Discovery
- Movie News Coming to America (1992) | Meredith Berkman
- Movie Commentary Parents' guide: October 1992 (1992) | Jeff Menell
- Movie News Ridley Scott awaits the Oscars -- again (1992) | Daniel Fierman
- Movie Review La Vie en Rose (Jun 08, 2007) | Owen Gleiberman
