Every Ridley Scott Movie Ranked Worst To Best

It all started here for Ridley Scott.

The Duellists may have been a great start to his career, but it was Alien - only his second feature film - that solidified him as a great filmmaker.

Think of all the greatness that Scott packs into the film: There's John Hurt's disturbing shock death scene; the claustrophobia amplified by a haunting score; the genre-defining titular alien, which remains in the mind of modern moviegoers as one of sci-fi's most iconic and terrifying creations; and, of course, there's Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver), the face of the franchise and one of cinema's most inspired and badass protagonists.

Before Alien, there had been plenty of sci-fi horror movies, but none ever reached the influential heights of Scott's first true masterpiece. It's suspense at its finest, slow-burning and visceral, and it birthed an entire genre.

James Cameron's Aliens may be a slightly more accomplished film overall, but as an exercise in tension and psychological horror, Scott's original vision has no equal.