The 10 best Ridley Scott movies of all time - RANKED

Sir Ridley Scott is one of the most legendary directors of all time and has helmed some truly iconic movies.

With critical success usually comes box office success for Scott, as his movies have grossed around $4.5 billion in his career so far.

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He has been nominated on three occasions for the Best Director Award at the Oscars - for Thelma and Louise, Gladiator and Black Hawk Down respectively. In 2003, he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II.

Scott remains one of the most sought-after directors in the world and has worked with A-listers like Harrison Ford, Russell Crowe, Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Sigourney Weaver, Charlize Theron, Denzel Washington, Christian Bale, Leonardo DiCaprio and Sir Anthony Hopkins.

Within our MovieMeter community, there are naturally various Ridley Scott movies that have received hugely positive responses. By subscribing to become a member of the MovieMeter community HERE, you can rate all of your favourite movies - and some of your least favourite ones.

According to our community, Scott's best movie is Gladiator. The 2000 historical epic told the story of Maximus Decimus Meridious, a Roman army general who seeks revenge on the Emperor of Rome after his family is murdered. Interestingly, his next project will be a sequel to Gladiator, with Paul Mescal taking on the lead role of Lucius, who featured as a young boy in the original.

Alien is in second place. Recognised as one of the greatest sci-fi movies in history AND one of the greatest horror movies in history, it gave us perhaps the best female movie hero of all time, Ellen Ripley.

American Gangster, Blade Runner and Black Hawk Down make up the top five.

Best Ridley Scott movies

1. Gladiator

4.18 (10841)

Gladiator (2000)

Roman general Maximus (Russell Crowe) is sentenced to death by Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix), the evil heir to the throne of Marcus Aurelius (Richard Harris). Maximus narrowly escapes, but his wife and son are brutally murdered. After burying their soulless bodies exhausted, he is found by slave traders who sell him on to the gladiatorial master Proximo (Oliver Reed). Proximo manages to get Maximus to fight in the Colosseum as a gladiator, and soon Maximus begins to realize that this may be the only chance to take revenge on the emperor.

Directed by: Ridley Scott
Stars: Russell Crowe, Joaquin Phoenix and Connie Nielsen

2. Alien

3.92 (4684)

Alien (1979)

On an uninhabited planet, the crew of an intergalactic freighter discovers a spaceship that sends out a distress signal. Crew members Kane (John Hurt), Lambert (Veronica Cartwright ) and Dallas (Tom Skerritt) board the unknown ship and Kane finds an unknown organism in the catacombs that immediately attaches itself to his face. Not long after, he gives birth to a terrible monster that systematically hunts the terrified crew members, including Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver).

Directed by: Ridley Scott
Stars: Tom Skerritt, Sigourney Weaver and Veronica Cartwright

3. American Gangster

4. Blade Runner

3.75 (3435)

Blade Runner (1982)

Los Angeles, 2019. Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford) is a Blade Runner: a police officer who is deployed to take out 'replicants' because our planet is off limits to them after a violent insurgency. He wants to quit, but has to go back to his job when five replicants hijack a spaceship and return to Earth.

Directed by: Ridley Scott
Stars: Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer and Sean Young

5. Black Hawk Down

3.69 (3436)

Black Hawk Down (2001)

The true story of the Battle of Mogadishu, the longest ground battle with US forces since Vietnam. An elite team of 120 US soldiers is dropped in Mogadishu on October 3, 1993 to kidnap 2 Somali lieutenants. Intended as an hour-long operation, however, things get out of hand.

Directed by: Ridley Scott
Stars: Josh Hartnett, Ewan McGregor and Tom Sizemore

6. The Martian

3.59 (2529)

The Martian (2015)

Six days ago, astronaut Mark Watney became one of the first humans to set foot on Mars. Now he is sure that he will be the first to die. After a sandstorm, he is left alone. His team thinks he's dead and Mark can't contact Earth to let them know he's still alive. And even if he did succeed, by the time a rescue crew reached him, his life supplies would be long depleted. But the chance that he will die of starvation is small: the damaged machine, the merciless environment or a simple human error are more than likely to kill him.

Directed by: Ridley Scott
Stars: Matt Damon, Jessica Chastain and Chiwetel Ejiofor

7. Thelma and Louise

3.59 (1666)

Thelma & Louise (1991)

Thelma is married to Darryl who prefers to see his wife behind the kitchen sink so he can watch TV undisturbed. Louise, ten years her senior, works as a waitress in an eatery; her musician friend is rarely at home. To break the routine, the two friends spend a few days in Louise's old open 1966 Ford Thunderbird convertible. Things accelerate when Louise shoots a man at a bar.

Directed by: Ridley Scott
Stars: Geena Davis, Susan Sarandon and Harvey Keitel

8. Matchstick Men

3.55 (2016)

Matchstick Men (2003)

Roy, a neurotic man who has made a career out of scamming, is about to take on a lucrative job with his partner in crime, Frank. However, his life is turned upside down when he first comes into contact with his 14-year-old daughter through his therapist. At first she threatens his neurotic lifestyle, but soon he begins to enjoy fatherhood. However, his daughter is increasingly interested in Roy's work.

Directed by: Ridley Scott
Stars: Nicolas Cage, Sam Rockwell and Alison Lohman

9. The Last Duel

3.5 (720)

The Last Duel (2021)

France, the 14th century. A knight named Jean de Carrouges returns from a military expedition and learns from his wife that she has been raped. She points out the squire, an old friend of the knight, as the perpetrator. The squire claims he is innocent. The friends are in a duel for the truth: the Carrouges-Legris duel, the last judicial duel in France.

Directed by: Ridley Scott
Stars: Matt Damon, Adam Driver and Jodie Comer

10. The Duellists

3.43 (250)

The Duellists (1977)

Strasbourg in 1800 at the time of Bonapartes consulate. Lieutenant Gabriel Ferraud injured the mayor's nephew during a duel. Lieutenant Armand d'Hubert is ordered by his superiors to arrest Ferraud. Ferraud, however, refuses to be "humiliated" in front of his girlfriend, Madame de Lionne, and a violent argument ensues between the two men that ends in a duel.

Directed by: Ridley Scott
Stars: Keith Carradine, Harvey Keitel and Albert Finney