Tony Scott was an action pioneer who left behind a legacy of great blockbuster films, from Top Gun to Unstoppable.
Tony Scott is a director that leaves behind a legacy of elegiac, romantic, and high frenetic action films. He pulled melodrama out of thin air, creating an atmosphere wholly unique to his style. Whether soaking his films in neon, blood, or, later, experimenting with color filters and shutter speeds, Scott pushed the envelope to make his scenes unfold in near delirium while remaining coherent. His frequent and closest collaborator Denzel Washington — with whom he made five films — was the perfect agent of chaos. His theatrics and bad-ass charisma matched Scott's constantly roving camera. Scenes moved as they got injected with an adrenaline 8-ball.
That said, even with all the action and romantics, you could tell Scott loved actors. His ensembles are stacked with actors who could be leading the film. From Christopher Walken, James Gandolfini, Robert De Niro, Gene Hackman, Jon Voight, Jason Robards, and Gary Oldman (to name a few), Scott's films had the best talent. His movies were colorful, and he let actors rev up to the maximum volume so that they felt at peace within the fervor. He could make a scene of dialogue punch like a shootout and have a character fall over as he drowned them in romantics. Scott could do it all and never lose narrative grip. Tragically, Scott took his own life in 2012. He left behind a filmography of wholly enjoyable, humane work. Here are his best films, ranked.
Channeling the inner psycho of one of cinemas greats, Robert De Niro, Tony Scott’s The Fan turns insane sports fanaticism into his coveted brand of action spectacle. Following a disgruntled salesman Gil (De Niro) who terrifies anyone he encounters. However, his obsession with new San Francisco Giants center fielder Bobby Rayburn (Wesley Snipes) drives the film's near laughable premise. What keeps the film watchable is the hilarious display of lunacy from De Niro. But also because of Scott's commitment to the material he turns baseball games into high-art, showcasing the beauty of the game and the absurd nature of fandom. The scenes with De Niro and Snipes are great, as Scott lets the actors cook, heightening the tension to its grim endpoint.
A movie that would be a perfect double-billing with his late-career masterpiece Unstoppable, Tony Scott took the chaotic nature of the gritty 1970s New York original and found a way to make it his own. The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 saw the director finding ways to cut more quickly and experiment with shutter speed while never losing sight of his actors. Calling upon John Travolta to deliver a truly madcap performance is probably one of the reasons he always got so many great actors to show up in his movies. Playing side by side with his forever muse, Denzel Washington, the film has all the energy you need for a New York film. The tension of a train taken hostage never loses its grip while Scott’s constantly moving camera keeps you in a focused frenzy.
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Frequent and key Tony Scott collaborator Denzel Washington shows why he's one of cinema's most reliable action stars. Scott is one of the best at utilizing Washington's dark charisma into heroism while maximizing his sheer bad-assery. Man on Fire saw Scott double down on his mix of blending over-the-top melodrama, romance, and bloody carnage with Washington's Creasy on a redemptive path of violence through the chaotic streets of Mexico City. While Scott soaks the screen in an array of saturated color filters, burning the screen with every frame and shot.
One of two collaborations Tony Scott had with superstar actor Tom Cruise where vehicular mayhem and pure adrenaline collide with the performers' buoyant vibrancy as the hotshot pilot, feuding with top military brass. Top Gun is a military-fueled injection of brotherly bonds. With Cruise trying to navigate the skies as the best pilot in the game feuding opposite his rival Iceman (Val Kilmer) while buddying up with Goose (Anthony Edwards). The film is an ultimate “dudes rock” portrait, soaking every scene in sweat and machismo while earning an always charismatic performance from Cruise. Scott makes the film not only a visual but also an auditory experience, drowning us in the fury of F/A-18 fighter jets.
Though Deja Vu isn’t the best film Denzel Washington and Tony Scott have made together, it asks the actor to do the most. As Scott wields maximum romantics out of a script that asks questions about man's relationship to images and the screens our new technologies produce. Centering the story on a police division that shifts time to recreate events from tragic events hoping to find some way to stop it, Denzel falls in love with the mysterious woman he sees through the screen. Jim Caviezel plays the right-wing terrorist who has ideas about the world's destiny, while Scott constantly probes: can we tempt and change fate?
A film only Tony Scott could do, Crimson Tide saw two of cinema's best — Denzel Washington and Gene Hackman — square off inside the confines of a submarine. As Washington vies for mutiny on the ship when he pegs Hackman as a military blowhard, whose itchy trigger finger can put the fate of the world at risk, the film is an action film held together by moral and philosophical questions. Scott’s ability to move the camera at rapid speed while keeping the verbal daggers punch as bullets make for an electrifying performance from its two leads. The intensity of Hackman’s delivery is matched by the audacious approach of his director, constantly shifting the volume and stakes to their highest degree.
An insanely stacked roster of actors that starts with an uncredited cameo from Jason Robards. Robards plays a Congressman assassinated by a shadow part of the government led by Jon Voight. The cast only grows from there as it stars Will Smith, unwillingly caught in the middle of the conspiracy, and gets help from Gene Hackman, showing him the ropes when it comes to the surveillance state. Enemy of The State was Tony Scott’s acknowledgment of where the United States was going. He leaned into the viscera of our government's new technologies and how they were capable of breaking any privacy law in the name of their “interests.” Scott went full tilt and delivered an incredible, rousing conspiracy thriller while blending his signature gonzo style of filmmaking. Keeping the audience involved with every piece of equipment, flying at 100 miles per hour.
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Tony Scott’s insatiable appetite for destruction is only seconded by Michael Bay. In a film whose plot structure is loose and bare, Scott manages to wring tragic affectations out of a runaway train. Mixing in a new love for color filters, experimenting with various shutter speeds, and his patented, always reviling camera, Unstoppable is an insanely entertaining piece of action cinema. Showing his love for the working class with Denzel Washington and Chris Pine playing two unlikely heroes, Scott's films shows how to stick it to the corporate man. The breakneck speed, practical effects, and sheer tenacity of a screaming runaway train never stopped Scott from his love of actors, giving them equal measure to give emotional stakes to the insane premise.
Tony Scott’s most romantic film came from a jewel of a script from the Quentin Tarantino craze of the early and mid-1990s. True Romance saw the marriage of Scott’s sheen for surface-level pleasures and a gorgeous array of bloody squib shots with the earnestness of a killer toad trip movie. Christian Slater is the kung fu film-loving nerd Clarence, who dreams of Elvis (Val Kilmer) and marries the sex worker with a heart of gold Alabama (Patricia Arquette). The film's wild ride through cocaine thefts, Hollywood, and gangsters in hot pursuit left Tony Scott with another deep ensemble of credible actors. None more memorable than the great “You’re a cantaloupe.” scene with Christopher Walken and Dennis Hopper. Scott’s love for actors always comes through, and True Romance set the bar high as another successful exercise in Scott’s romantic aesthetics.
The perfect screenwriting muse for Tony Scott’s filming style and veracity was the hilariously violent pen of Shane Black. Having already created the Lethal Weapon franchise, Black was known for writing one-liners and creating a particular mold of the hard-boiled detective. Perfectly cast in the lead was Bruce Willis, wearing his hangover on his arm and smoking a cigarette every scene like they added years to his life, Willis delivered line after line of degradation and swarm. Adding in an element of football and gambling only made the action better, with an insane opening sequence showing Scott had all the flourish to direct a football movie if it ever happened. The Last Boy Scout is a beautifully delirious romp and an excellent buddy cop film. With Damon Wayans playing the disgraced quarterback, reluctant to assist Willis in his investigation, the film was a perfect fit for Scott and his talents.
Erik Nielsen is a working writer and photographer living in NYC. His writing on film has been published in the online film magazines The Film Stage and Little White Lies. While his writing on photography has been published in The Independent and Musèe Magazine. As a photographer, you can find Erik's work in places like Pitchfork, Juxtaprose, the NY Post, and The Daily News.