Ridley Scott: A Retrospective

In Features by Paula Hammond - Features Editor

This October, Thames & Hudson will be releasing The Christmas Coffee-Table Book for Film Lovers.

Running to 240 pages, with over 200 full-colour photographs, Ridley Scott: A Retrospective is a fittingly epic volume to mark the life and work one of Britain’s greatest living film-makers.

Charting Scott’s extraordinary career, A Retrospective tells the stories behind Alien, Blade Runner, Gladiator, Black Hawk Down, and many many more, including Scott’s new HBO drama Raised By Wolves.

However what separates a good book from a great book is the way an author handles his or her material and here, Ian Nathan, has excelled. Rather than the usual dry dissection of plot and characters, Nathan has gone in search of the themes and motifs that unite Scott’s seemingly very different films, and the methods and madness that categorises his approach to the medium. 

Ridley Scott: A Retrospective is the story of a director who has never been less than stubbornly, brilliantly, unforgettably his own man. 

Illustrated with images as iconic as they are stunning and including the author’s first-hand experiences on set and interviews with the great director, Ridley Scott: A Retrospective is a compelling, informative, and at times surprising read. 

Contents 

  • 1. Obsessions 
  • 2. Perfect Organism 
  • 3. Ridleyville 
  • 4. After Dark 
  • 5. Thelma & Louise Live Forever! 
  • 6. Storms 
  • 7. Veni, Vidi, Ridley 
  • 8. Stray Dogs 
  • 9. Outsiders 
  • 10. Antiheroes 
  • 11. Origin Story 
  • 12. Lost Souls
  • 13. What Would Ridley Do?
  • 14. Family Business 
  • Epilogue
  • Filmography 

Ridley Scott: A Retrospective by Ian Nathan is published by Thames & Hudson and available in hardback (ISBN: 0500023824) now. RRP £30.