Ridley Scott: «Gladiator 2? As good as the first»

When it comes to expressing an opinion, Ridley Scott is no stranger to half measures. It is no coincidence that the British director to whom we owe the birth of masterpieces such as “Alien” or “Blade Runner” has raised an aura of respect and influence around his ten-year career that has often authorized him to clash heatedly with his detractors.

Just recently, commenting on the release of “Alien: Romulus” directed by Fede Alvarez, which is receiving an exceptional response from the public, the director reiterated his reluctance to dispense advice to colleagues on how to do their job, just as he would like others to do with him: «It's annoying to have people on top of you while you're working, the last thing you want at a certain point is advice. I don't need advice. If I fall and hurt myself, it must be my fault».

But just as he is forthright and intolerant of criticism, the director also knows when to give compliments. Turning once again to the work done by Alveraz, he said: «The danger of all franchises is that they die unless someone suddenly decides to pick up the baton. Fede is a burst of energy, I had to step back and let him do it. Fede had a clear project in mind and his script was very precise. It was also long, but scripts are always long. I hope Fede has another one in the pipeline because I think it will do really well. He has a brilliant streak».

As for his next movie releases, Scott wanted to be clear about “Gladiator 2”, the sequel to the blockbuster released in 2000 and expected for next November. Even after the less than comforting reviews that followed the release of the trailer, the director is confident in the success of the title, fearlessly stating that it won’t look out of place even in front of the legendary prequel: “It’s as good as the first one. I didn’t say better. It’s just as good”. During an interview with Empire, he also mentioned the extraordinary results achieved on the visual front, speaking of what is probably the best action scene ever shot in years of experience on the set: “The film opens with probably the greatest action sequence I’ve ever done. Probably bigger than anything seen in Napoleon”.

On the sequence that will see the protagonist Lucius confront a rhino in the arena, referring above all to the progress of modern CGI, he said: «I can have a computer read every molecule and ripple of a rhino and then cut it out on a thick piece of plastic, just like the body of a rhino, which is then adapted to the shape of a skeleton. I have this thing that can go 40 miles an hour, spin in circles, shake its head and growl. A two-ton rhino with a guy on its back! I mean, it's a lot of fun!».

Among other curiosities, Scott revealed in an interview with Letterboxed the four films that have most influenced him along his path, helping him to better define his style. We discover that for the making of “Alien” he was strongly inspired by “2001: A Space Odyssey” by Stanley Kubrick and “Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope” by George Lucas. On the development of the sci-fi horror he said: «I had finished my first film, which was The Duellists... Then I was going to do Tristan and Isolde. I mean, how artistic can you be? I went to the premiere of Star Wars and sat there depressed for three months. How could I do Tristan and Isolde when this guy was doing something like that? I did a U-turn. They offered me Alien within six weeks. It was a coincidence. I accepted immediately».

Scott’s third choice was his own “Blade Runner,” which he cited in particular recalling the troubled phases of working with star Harrison Ford: “He’ll forgive me because I get along with him now. He’s become charming now. But he knows a lot of things, that’s the problem. When we worked together I was the last to arrive. But we made a good film.” Closing the list is “La guerre du bonheur,” a 1981 fantasy film directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud that seems to have something in common with Scott’s 2012 prequel “Prometheus”: “It’s prehistoric. It’s about a tribe that discovers fire thanks to a lightning bolt. They carry the fire in a basket. And the story is fantastic!”