Ridley Scott criticizes contemporary films: ‘Much of it is rubbish’

Ridley Scott Critiques Modern Filmmaking

Veteran filmmaker Ridley Scott didn’t hold back when discussing the current landscape of cinema. In fact, he summed it up in a rather blunt way: “shit.”

The 87-year-old director, known for classics like “Alien,” “Black Hawk Down,” and “Gladiator,” expressed his views during a recent Q&A session in London with his son, Luke.

He commented on contemporary films, indicating that many rely heavily on digital effects, often at a high cost. “I think a lot of movies today are preserved through digital effects and are more expensive, because what they didn’t get was something great on paper first,” he said.

When asked about his thoughts on recent movies, Scott remarked that he finds a lot of mediocre work out there, stating, “We’re drowning in mediocrity.”

Creative Missteps

He acknowledged that his bluntness might come off as a bit pretentious, but it feels warranted given the number of misguided films recently released. He mentioned examples like “The Smurfs” and the criticized live-action “Snow White” remake, which featured “CGI dwarfs” that he described as resembling “a half-melted CGI gonk.”

During the event at the British Film Institute Southbank, he noted that, despite the vast number of films being produced today—literally millions—most are not worth viewing.

“The amount of movies being made around the world today is literally in the millions. It’s not thousands, it’s millions, and most of them are crap,” he asserted.

The Numbers Behind Quality

Scott elaborated on his perspective, sharing some statistics about the filmmaking industry. “80% to 60%, the rest is 40%, and 25% of that 40% is okay, 10% is pretty good, and the top 5% is great,” he calculated, almost as if sketching out a formula. He compared this to the 1940s, when around 300 films were made, with 70% being of similar quality.

Looking Inward

In a somewhat humorous admission, Scott revealed his solution to the lack of good films: watching his own work. “What I do, which is awful, is I started watching my own movies. They’re actually pretty good. And they never get old,” he confessed. He seemed genuinely surprised by the quality of his earlier films, recalling moments from “Black Hawk Down” and wondering how they achieved such impressive results.

However, he remained critical of the trend where directors cover up weak scripts with excessive CGI, voicing his frustration. “I think a lot of movies today are preserved by digital effects,” he noted, “because what you don’t get with digital effects is something great that’s on paper first.”

Critics Respond

Not everyone agrees with Scott’s somewhat harsh perspectives, even if they come from an industry icon. An entertainment writer noted that while Scott has valid points, his critique feels somewhat ironic coming from the director of “Robin Hood,” adding, “He must have amnesia about some of his movies.”

It seems there’s a growing consensus that Hollywood is struggling to draw audiences back into theaters, possibly due to the steadily declining quality of films.