Ridley Scott

Ridley Scott is one of the most well-respected directors in the industry with a career spanning over four decades and still going. Kubrick’s influence on Scott is well apparent even from his directorial debut film, The Duelists, a period-piece drama that’s cinematography is inspired by the beautiful, painting-like imagery of Barry Lyndon (Caffier).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As Scott’s career progressed, Kubrick’s influence never seemed to fade, films such as Alien and Blade Runner expand what could be done with intelligent science fiction in cinema, a groundwork laid by Kubrick’s 2001. Alien, a science fiction horror/thriller film set in space is a mix between Steven Speilberg’s Jaws and 2001. The inspiration is clearly displayed in the special effects department as miniatures of giant spacecraft are used frequently in the film (Caffier).

 

 

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However, conceptually Kubrick’s influence is also there, specifically from 2001’s main antagonist, HAL 9000, an artificial intelligence turned against its human creators. Nowadays, this machine against man idea has become a common trope in science fiction films, but it was Kubrick’s space odyssey that put it on the map. In Scott’s Alien franchise, he expands upon this idea with artificial intelligence inside humanoid vessels, such as in the character of Ash, a robot secretly working against the human crew of the Nostromo, or in the character David in the prequel film Prometheus, a cyborg also with mal intent toward mankind (Caffier).

 

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Scott also utilizes this idea in his other prominent science fiction classic, Blade Runner, where Replicants, artificial intelligence also with the appearance of humans enact ill will on their human creators (Caffier).

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The similarities between Scott’s two films also extend to the vision of the science fiction landscapes they take place in. Dirty, unwashed, and lived-in are all adjectives that describe Scott’s view of the future, directly designed to contrast Kubrick’s clean, polished vision in 2001 (Caffier).