Tony Scott was an unabated commercial director. Unlike his brother, Ridley, Tony always gravitated towards films that came packaged with large boxes of popcorn topped with butter and salt along with an even larger cup of soda. The man made Top Gun, a film I never really “got”–maybe because I caught it during the 90s after the craze had waned–but I can respect its impact on the industry. It was one of the first summer blockbusters that was more akin to MTV than George Lucas or Steven Spielberg. The 1986 film was the biggest hit of the year and instilled a new brand on Hollywood that continues today. Since Top Gun, Scott remained a titan in the action-film genre, directing films like Beverly Hills Cop II, Days of Thunder, The Last Boyscout, True Romance, The Fan, Man on Fire, and The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3.
Two of his best films were Crimson Tide–which pitting submarine commander Gene Hackman against first officer Denzel Washington–and his last completed film: Unstoppable, which was based on the true story of a runaway train the wreaks havok through Pennsylvania.
Scott adapted a sparadic film style that involved lots of closeups, lots of cuts. In many ways, Michael Bay owes him a debt of gratitude.
But Scott found time to let his actors become center-stage as in Crimson Tide, where the best ingrediant was the verbal fist fights between Hackman and Washington. Scott made lesser films which involved the same dynamic between two contrasting leads: Iceman and Maverick, Travola and Washington in Pelham, Hackman and Will Smith in Enemy of the State or Deniro and Snipes in The Fan.
Unstoppable was no masterpiece, but I will always remember the final moments. Denzel was scaling one train car to another while Chris Pine miraculously dives from a speeding car onto the engine car and finally brings it to a halt. I collectively smiled and exhaled in relief. The film was fun and retained Scott’s fun with disparate men who formulate an alliance to reach a common noble goal. There’s also the final scene of Crimson Tide where two of America’s greatest actors, who were at each other’s throat as a nuclear missile prepares to launch on US soil. But once the threat is neutralized, both men walk away with new-found respect and mutual admiration. Ten years earlier, Val Kilmer had pointed to Tom Cruise and shouted “You can be my wing man anytime!” It was a trademark quote that became a stamp on his work.
I’d bet that Tony and Ridley shared a similar bond. While Ridley was making films like Gladiator, Black Hawk Down and Matchstick Men, Tony was making Spy Game, Man on Fire, and Domino. Tony may never have produced as Oscar-worthy feature, but his signature was just as unique. Each Scott complemented the other.
Even when he had lesser scripts, Tony always infused his movies with a hyper-kinetic energy that sometimes strayed too far, but sometimes added to the excitement and tension for his stories. No matter how you slice his artistic integrity, he made films that remains in the public conscious to this day. His next project was supposed going to be Top Gun 2, with Cruise reprising the role that made both he and Scott major players in the industry. It’s just tragic that Scott decided to end his own life yesterday. If anyone has the to right return Maverick to the big screen so Generation Yers could relive their 80s equivalent to Jaws and Star Wars, it should have been him. He made films I didn’t always like, but he possessed a skill few had: his films were always memorable. What a waste.
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