Ridley Scott Critiques Mediocrity in Modern Cinema

London, Oct 7 (PTI) - Renowned filmmaker Ridley Scott, celebrated for iconic films such as "Alien," "Gladiator," and "Blade Runner," has expressed his disappointment with the current state of cinema, labeling many contemporary films as mediocre despite the vast number being released.

The 87-year-old director shared his thoughts at BFI Southbank, as reported by UK Yahoo News. He mentioned that while he watches numerous new films to discover emerging talent, the task has become increasingly challenging. “Well, right now I’m finding mediocrity, we’re drowning in mediocrity,” he stated. Scott highlighted the excessive volume of films being produced globally, providing a rough estimate that millions are made, and critiqued the quality. “There’s not thousands, there’s millions, and most of it is shit,” he added, breaking down his assessment into percentages: “80-60 percent ‘eh,’ 40 percent is the rest, and 25 percent of that 40 is not bad, and 10 percent is pretty good, and the top 5 percent is great.”

Scott further explained that many films today are strikingly similar and costly. “I’m not sure about the portion of what I’ve just said,” he noted. Reflecting on the past, he compared the current situation to the 1940s when, even then, "70 percent of them were similar, for example.” He criticized the reliance on digital effects, suggesting that what many contemporary movies lack is a solid script built on paper. “Because what they haven’t got is a great [script] on paper first. Get it on paper.”

In a candid revelation, Scott admitted to revisiting his own body of work and finding it satisfying. "So what I do — and it’s a horrible thing — but I’ve started to watch my own movies, and actually they’re really good,” he confessed. “And also, they don’t age … I watched Black Hawk Down the other night and I thought, ‘How the hell did I do that?’” He also acknowledged the rare instances when a good movie does emerge, expressing relief that quality filmmaking persists. “But I think that occasionally there’s a good one that will happen, it’s like a relief that there’s somebody out there who’s doing a good movie."

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