As we continue to mourn the shocking loss of director Tony Scott, let’s use today’s poll to remember his movies. Which are your favorites?
The interesting thing about Scott’s career is how consistent most of his films are. He was a remarkably reliable director of populist blockbuster fare, from the mega-hit ‘Top Gun’ right through to his last feature, the runaway-train thriller ‘Unstoppable’. Sure, he may have had a few duds in there (‘Revenge’ and ‘Days of Thunder’ aren’t terribly good), and we can quibble over the rankings of some of the others (even ‘Top Gun’ is pretty silly, really), but for the most part, when you went to see a Tony Scott movie, you knew what you’d get. Most of the time, that was a solidly entertaining movie.
Although Tony Scott may not have had any outright masterpieces in him like his brother Ridley’s ‘Alien’ or ‘Blade Runner’, nor were even the weakest of his films as bad as Ridley’s worst. I’d watch ‘Days of Thunder’ a hundred times before I’ll watch ‘Prometheus’ again.
Most viewers will probably agree that the Quentin Tarantino-scripted ‘True Romance’ stands out as Tony Scott’s best film. I can’t disagree with that. It’s a terrific movie. For the purposes of this poll, you can vote for as many of his movies as you’ve enjoyed. Personally, I’m partial to his debut, the glossy vampire thriller ‘The Hunger’ (which is available in high definition on VUDU), as well as ‘The Last Boyscout’ (yes, it’s supposed to be spelled as one word) and ‘Spy Game’.
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Alex
Crimson Tide remains one of my all-time favorite movies. We’ll miss you, Tony!!
lordbowler
My top 3 (in order) of his:
The Last Boyscout
Days of Thunder
Top Gun
My favorite is The Last Boyscout for the comedy, the action and Bruce Willis… Very similar to Beverly Hills Cop 2 in many ways.
Shannon Nutt
Crimson Tide is also my favorite Tony Scott film. Although The Hunger still gets my vote for best lesbian scene ever (in a non-porn movie, at least!).
Julian
I’m ashamed to say it, but I have only seen ‘Enemy of the State’. Which I didn’t really like. Hmm. Some major catching up to do, then.
Christian
Are you guys kidding me?!?! True Romance hands down the best. Gary Oldman, Val Kilmer, Christian Slater, Dennis Hopper, and Patricia Arquette. Throw in a sprinkle of Samuel L. Jackson, Brad Pitt, and Christopher Walken. Priceless!!
Jonathan Doan
Not to be a downer, but I hated The Last Boyscout; not for the quality of the production or direction, but the dialog and the whole “I can curse more than you, and beat you up more, so therefore I’m cooler than you” aesthetic.
That said, his movies were always well made and brilliant for their respective genres.
William Henley
“Top Gun” and “Man on Fire” for me. Man, “Man on Fire” was great, and the pairing of Denzel Washington and Dakota Fanning was genious!
Julian
Then again, you’re a big fan of Dakota (a fan(ning)), right?
William Henley
Yep. That being said, she has had a couple of bad roles here and there. But this was definately one of the better roles. And I just LOVE Denzel Washington as well. So with the pairing of those two, the greatness of Tony Scott, and just a great story, this is one of my top favorite movies.
Phil
True Romance! Not even a contest!
JM
Tony Scott left behind four films in development, which are now in limbo.
‘Top Gun 2’ and ‘Narco Sub.’
A Vince Vaughn drug dealer film, ‘Lucky Strike.’
And a remake of Sam Peckinpah’s ‘The Wild Bunch.’
I was looking forward to another 20 years of filmography from this guy…
Nicholas Herum
lol Josh, we both used the same True Romance picture for our Tony Scott pieces.
My favorite, hands down is True Romance.
Phil
I think Tony Scott was one of the most underrated guys in the business. That list is immense in terms of cinema going, popcorn buying, damn fine entertainment it’s surely almost insurmountable. My favourite by far is Days of Thunder because as a kid growing up in the UK all I had was Formula 1. I have never felt such excitement for a film as I did the day I saw a trailer for DoT. I have been a NASCAR fan ever since. Yes it was just Top Gun in cars but to me it gave me the film i dreamed of seeing at the cinema. Tony made it come true. Other mega favourites (I like everything on the list basically) are Crimson Tide, The Last Boy Scout, Top Gun and just beneath them Man On Fire. Not that his brother has done anything wrong but I’d only rate Gladiator in the same bracket of films that I enjoyed watching and was transfixed throughout.
Aaron Peck
‘Crimson Tide’ is the most thrilling thriller he made, but I also really dig ‘Man on Fire.’
Alex
I’ve always been curious which sections of Crimson Tide were written by Quentin Tarantino. I’ve heard the Star Trek discussion and the Silver Surfer dialogs were, but I’m wondering what else.
Ted S.
I remember reading somewhere that QT also wrote the final confrontation dialogue between Hackman and Washington. Particularly when Hackman’s character mentioned the differences between a white and black horse.
Ted S.
“I’d watch ‘Days of Thunder’ a hundred times before I’ll watch ‘Prometheus’ again.”
Wow Josh, you really hated Prometheus huh? LOL, Days of Thunder was fun but no way I’d watch it hundred times over Premetheus, which I thought was pretty great.
As for Tony’s best film? It’s a tie for me between True Romance and Enemy of the State. Two great films that share the same climax scene, a big shootout in a tight space.
Thulsadoom
I have to admit, I’d watch Prometheus again before Days of Thunder, but PURELY because I’m a junky for effects and design work. Forget the movie itself lol!
Any way… back to Tony… I must admit I’ve only got Top Gun in my collection, but I’ve enjoyed a fair number of his films over the years. Man on Fire sticks in my mind, and Unstoppable was surprisingly good.
He may never have reached Ridley’s success heights (Although given Ridley’s track record I hate to say that I wonder sometimes if it’s because he’s made a few more films and the odds simply tipped in his favour) but Tony definitely seemed more experimental and willing to try different things. Which counts for a lot in my books, when we have so many generic directors.
Luke Hickman
I’m surprised at how top heavy True Romance is. I love Scott and LOVE Tarantino, but it feels like a picture made by neither of them. It feels like someone trying to rip them both off. Don’t get me wrong – I like it, but I like a few other Scott movies even more.
I’m surprised that there isn’t more love for Spy Game. For me, that’s his best. I’ve seen it more than a dozen times and each viewing flies by like it’s the first. Story-wise, it’s smart, intelligent and engaging. Filmmaking-wise, it lies with Enemy of the State between Scott’s jump from traditional filmmaking to the hyper-edited and overly-exposed/saturated flashy rut that he ultimately got stuck in.