10 Best Ridley Scott Action Sequences From His 47-Year Movie Career

Summary

• Gladiator II promises the biggest action sequence of Ridley Scott’s career in its opening scene.
• Scott’s razor-sharp command of cinematic action is seen in movies like Blade Runner and Black Hawk Down, with intense battle scenes.
• The climactic duels in Scott’s films, like in Black Rain and The Last Duel, showcase tense, realistic violence and personal conflicts.

Ridley Scott is promising the biggest action sequence of his entire career in Gladiator II, which is saying a lot because he’s directed some great ones in his 47 years as a legendary filmmaker. In a recent interview with Empire, Scott claimed that the Gladiator sequel opens with “the biggest action sequence I’ve ever done.” That means it’ll be bigger than any of the gladiatorial combat sequences seen in the original Gladiator film, bigger than any of the battle scenes in Napoleon or The Last Duel, and bigger than Ellen Ripley’s showdown with the xenomorph in Alien.

Much like Steven Spielberg, Scott is a director who’s never confined himself to a particular genre. He’s made science fiction movies like Blade Runner and The Martian, dark comedies like Matchstick Men and House of Gucci, and war films like G.I. Jane and Black Hawk Down. But one common thread that can be seen throughout most of Scott’s work is a razor-sharp command of cinematic action. From the climactic brawl in Blade Runner to the climactic police chase in Thelma & Louise, Scott has directed some fantastic action sequences in his day.

You are watching: 10 Best Ridley Scott Action Sequences From His 47-Year Movie Career

DID YOU KNOW: Before becoming a renowned film director, Ridley Scott directed over 2,000 television commercials!

Related Ridley Scott’s 8 History Movies, Ranked Worst To Best (Including Napoleon)

Ridley Scott is well known for creating sensational fictional stories along with a long list of historical epics and action films he directed.

10 Robin Vs. Godfrey

Robin Hood

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Robin Hood (2010) 3.0 PG-13 Where to Watch

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Director Ridley Scott Release Date May 12, 2010 Runtime 140 Minutes Main Genre Action

Scott’s Robin Hood movie may have been criticized for its bloated runtime and Russell Crowe’s bizarre accent in the title role, but it does have some awesome action sequences. It brings the visceral, high-octane medieval action of Game of Thrones to the legends of Robin Hood and his adventures in Nottingham. Specifically, the movie focuses on Robin’s rivalry with an English knight named Godfrey, played spectacularly by Mark Strong, who’s conspiring to assassinate King Richard.

Robin’s rivalry with Godfrey brings a personal conflict to the climactic battle sequence. As the French forces begin their invasion of England, Robin gets into an intense duel with Godfrey. Godfrey makes the fight even more personal when he attempts to kill Maid Marian and, failing that, tries to flee the scene. This showdown gets an immensely satisfying conclusion when Robin takes out Godfrey with an arrow.

9 Nick & Sato’s Motorcycle Chase

Black Rain

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Black Rain R Where to Watch

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*Availability in US Release Date September 22, 1989 Runtime 125 minutes Main Genre Action

Scott’s ‘80s neo-noir actioner Black Rain is one of his most underrated movies. On its initial release, it was panned by critics for its cliché-riddled plot, but it’s since been reappraised as a cult classic, thanks to Hans Zimmer’s score, Michael Douglas’ badass lead performance, and Scott’s razor-sharp direction of the action scenes. This tale of two NYPD detectives taking on the yakuza in Japan is filled with awesome set-pieces – including a thrilling climactic motorcycle chase.

The flashy cinematography and suspenseful editing of this scene are pitch-perfect.

While Sato engages his rivals in a gang war, Nick is caught in the crossfire, determined to exact revenge for the death of his partner, Charlie. Much like the final battle in Robin Hood, Scott uses the actual battle as a backdrop for a more personal conflict. During the shootout, Nick chases after Sato on a motorcycle. The flashy cinematography and suspenseful editing of this scene are pitch-perfect.

8 The Battle Of Waterloo

Napoleon

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Napoleon RBiopicDrama Where to Watch

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Director Ridley Scott Release Date November 22, 2023 Runtime 158 Minutes Main Genre Biopic

While Scott’s Napoleon was criticized for its shallow characterization of the French emperor and its focus on the timeline of historical events over the psychological motivations behind them, it was widely praised for its battle sequences. The themes and character work might not be as strong as Scott’s greatest historical epics, like Gladiator and the director’s cut of Kingdom of Heaven, but the battle scenes are just as thrilling. Scott turned all of Napoleon’s deadliest military campaigns into mind-blowing cinematic set-pieces.

Arguably the greatest battle sequence in the movie is the Battle of Waterloo. This battle is the climactic scene of the film, in which Napoleon’s forces are defeated en masse and he ends up having to surrender. This battle scene hits harder than the others because it shows Napoleon to be desperate, as his image as a fearless, cunning leader starts to crack.

7 Jean De Carrouges Vs. Jacques Le Gris

The Last Duel

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The Last Duel 3.5 RHistoryDrama Where to Watch

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The Last Duel is a historical epic drama set amid the Hundred Years War, and explores the ubiquitous power of men, the frailty of justice, and the strength and courage of one woman willing to stand alone in the service of truth. Based on actual events, the film unravels long-held assumptions about France’s last sanctioned duel between Jean de Carrouges and Jacques Le Gris; two friends turned bitter rivals.

Director Ridley Scott Release Date October 15, 2021 Runtime 2h 32m

The Last Duel tells the story of the last official duel in French history from three different perspectives, Rashomon-style. The whole movie builds up to its eponymous duel as Matt Damon’s Jean de Carrouges vows revenge against Adam Driver’s Jacques le Gris for attacking his wife, Marguerite, played by Jodie Comer. After the story plays out from all three of their perspectives, there’s a lot riding on the climactic duel to make it all pay off.

This brutal, bloody duel is the perfect culmination of the film’s poignant exploration of the cycle of violence. Crucially, Scott focuses on Marguerite’s perspective. Since she knows that more violence won’t magically fix the horror she endured – it just risks the outcome of more tragedy – she’s dead against the duel. While everyone is cheering on Jean, Marguerite is just disgusted.

6 Frank Lucas Kills Tango

American Gangster

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American Gangster RBiographyCrimeDocumentaryDrama Where to Watch

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Director Ridley Scott Release Date November 2, 2007 Runtime 157 minutes Budget $100 million

Although he was renowned for directing action movies like Dirty Harry and Coogan’s Bluff, Don Siegel famously purported that he didn’t shoot action in his films; he shot violence. Scott took this approach to the bloodshed in his Frank Lucas biopic American Gangster. Scott never makes Lucas’ murders look cool or cinematic; he makes the violence tense and terrifying. This is best exemplified when Lucas guns down Idris Elba’s Tango in the street.

Lucas holds a gun to Tango’s head and publicly executes him as a brazen display of both his cold-heartedness and his immense power. And it’s not just a shocking moment of violence; it goes to show just how feared and respected Lucas is in the community. He doesn’t care about witnesses, because no one would ever dare to report him to the police.

5 Delta Force Soldiers Vs. Aidid’s Militia

Black Hawk Down

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Scott invented a whole new cinematic language for the war film genre with his visceral direction of Black Hawk Down. Steven Spielberg emulated the look of 1940s newsreels with his direction of Saving Private Ryan, but Scott used frenetic camerawork and choppy editing to capture the horror of warfare effectively. It’s loud, it’s intense, it’s terrifying, and it puts the audience right in the characters’ shoes, right in the midst of a noisy, blood-soaked battlefield.

The gritty, disorienting, realistic combat of Black Hawk Down is perfectly exemplified when Mohamed Farrah Aidid’s militia come after the Delta Force squadron. The Delta Force troops are deployed to Mogadishu to capture Aidid, but Aidid’s men use all their firepower to try to stop them. Scott uses frenzied editing to capture the chaos of the battle, but also remains razor-focused on the soldiers’ perspective.

4 The Climactic Police Chase

Thelma & Louise

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Scott created a feminist masterwork with his empowering road movie Thelma & Louise. Susan Sarandon and Geena Davis embark on a road trip to escape the trappings of the patriarchy and end up getting chased off the edge of a cliff by a police convoy. Thelma & Louise isn’t an action movie by any means – it’s more of a buddy movie, with one of the greatest A-lister pairings in Hollywood history – but the climactic police chase is one of Scott’s best action sequences.

Sharp camerawork and clear editing are key to making a great action sequence, but it’s also important to have a tangible emotion behind it all. Thelma and Louise being chased to the edge of a cliff is a powerful symbol of how trapped they feel in their lives. They’ve been pushed to the edge, and this climactic sequence visualizes that beautifully.

3 Ripley Kills The Xenomorph

Alien

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Alien (1979) RSci-FiHorror Where to Watch

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Release Date June 22, 1979 Runtime 117 Minutes Main Genre Sci-Fi

Scott’s original Alien film is a haunted house thriller in space. The franchise wouldn’t incorporate the action genre until James Cameron’s second entry, Aliens, which pitted a band of Colonial Marines against dozens upon dozens of xenomorphs that had turned an interstellar human colony into a festering hive. Alien is more like a sci-fi horror version of And Then There Were None, with the crew of the Nostromo being slowly picked off one by one.

But it culminates in a terrific action sequence when the Nostromo’s sole survivor, Ellen Ripley, makes one last bid to get off the ship and leave the xenomorph to die when it self-destructs. But the alien makes it into her escape pod, so she has to think of a Plan B fast. This isn’t just an exciting climax to the movie; it highlights Ripley’s quick thinking and courage under fire.

2 Maximus Vs. Tigers

Gladiator

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Gladiator RActionAdventureDrama Where to Watch

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Director Ridley Scott Runtime 155 minutes Main Genre Adventure

The trailer for Gladiator II is promising set-pieces in which gladiators fight all kinds of wildlife, from angry rhinos to hungry sharks. Clearly, Scott is doubling down on the most thrilling action scene from the original movie: the one where Maximus fights a pack of tigers for the audience’s entertainment. When Commodus arranges a duel between Maximus and the undefeated Tigris of Gaul, he decides to spice up the fight by releasing several tigers into the arena.

A CGI tiger would be nowhere near as frightening as a real tiger that wants to maul the actor for real.

This scene has so much impact because Scott used minimal CGI. Obviously, the sequence uses some CGI effects – the crew couldn’t just sic a bunch of real tigers on Russell Crowe – but Scott brought in real tigers for every shot he could use them in. A CGI tiger would be nowhere near as frightening as a real tiger that wants to maul the actor for real.

1 Deckard’s Final Fight With Roy Batty

Blade Runner

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Blade Runner 4.5 RDramaDocumentarySci-FiThriller Where to Watch

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Director Ridley Scott Release Date June 25, 1982 Studio(s) Warner Bros. Pictures Runtime 117 minutes

Scott practically invented the tech-noir subgenre with his adaptation of Philip K. Dick’s Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, which he gave the much snappier title of Blade Runner. Blade Runner is nowhere near as action-packed as a movie about a cop chasing killer robots sounds like it’ll be; it’s less of an action film and more of a contemplative meditation on personhood and artificial intelligence. Having said that, it does have some great action scenes.

The climactic fight between blade runner Rick Deckard and replicant ringleader Roy Batty is an exhilarating culmination of the film’s storyline. Deckard struggles to hold his own against an indestructible machine as Batty relentlessly chases him across the dilapidated Bradbury Building, all while slyly mocking him. Ridley Scott doesn’t end this sequence with a glorified killing; he ends it with a surprising act of mercy.

Source: Empire

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