Hop onto Netflix or any other key streamer and you’re bound to see a barrage of movies where you ask yourself, What the hell is this? And there’s just so much of it, with the majority being either of little interest or not worth your time at all. Sure, that sounds like something an octogenarian would say, but that doesn’t mean it’s out of pocket. Just ask, well, 87-year-old Ridley Scott, who has his own set of numbers to back it all up.
Ridley Scott recently appeared at the BFI, where he ranted against the quantity-over-quality mentality of the industry. “The quantity of movies that are made today, literally globally – millions. Not thousands, millions… and most of it is sh*t. 80% – 60% – eh, 40% is the rest, and 25% of that 40 is not bad, and 10% is pretty good, and the top 5% is great. I’m not sure about the proportion of what I’ve just said, but in the 1940s when there were maybe 300 films a year made, 70% of them were similar…Right now, I’m finding mediocrity – we’re drowning in mediocrity. And so what I do – it’s a horrible thing – but I’ve started watching my own movies, and actually they’re pretty good! And also, they don’t age.”
Ridley Scott also mentioned that while Hollywood is relying on such a grand scale of mediocrity, he has found himself going back and rewatching some of his films, particularly citing 2001’s Black Hawk Down, which he still has no idea how he got made.
And while it has him down, Ridley Scott says he has no plans to let that win, insisting he has no plans to retire anytime soon. Indeed, he still thinks he’s giving the best he can, saying next year’s The Dog Star (slated for March 27th) is one of the greatest works of his career. He has moved forward on further exploring the realm of Gladiator, which makes sense if he wants it to be seen as his own personal Godfather trilogy.
Do you agree or disagree with Ridley Scott’s sentiments on the quantity vs. quality in modern movies?
