The director James Cameron and Christopher Nolan agree might be the best ever
Art is subjective, for when it all comes down to a matter of taste, or personal opinion, it becomes tough to ever accurately or adequately rate a piece, or rank its makers.
However, it surely hits a point where enough legends all celebrate the same name, such that the name has to move to a higher level, and surely, if both James Cameron and Christopher Nolan worship at the same altar, it has to be something special.
This is when we start talking about the mythical ‘god-tier’, which makes the point that while there are a lot of really, really good artists across the world of music, film, visual arts and beyond, there is a smaller, more exclusive ranking of complete and utter masters.
If we see inspiration as a stream that everyone is drinking from and making influence a never-ending economy, these creatives are like waterfalls, as their impact is huge, undeniable and touches everything.
Their legacy simply looms too large to be thrown in with the ‘greats’; it’s bigger than that. When the greats themselves claim that they’re above all else, surely a higher tier is necessary to accommodate the rare names that taught the best of them and inspired basically everyone who’s come after. Cameron and Nolan would likely agree so, and they’d agree on what name deserves to be in there, as for both of them, it’s tough to find a director as impactful and influential as Ridley Scott.
“I will stand in line for any Ridley Scott movie, even a not-so-great one, because he is such an artist, he’s such a filmmaker. I always learn from him,” James Cameron said. As the maker of the highest-grossing movie of all time with Avatar, Cameron knows what he’s doing and more, yet he lays all his praise at the feet of Scott.
To him, Scott is a true master who not only entertains and wows his audience but also has something to teach his peers, and talking about the impact of Alien, he said, “He inspired an entire generation of filmmakers and science-fiction fans with that one movie.”
Nolan completely agrees, noting how Scott taught him the vital lesson that a director can, and should, leave his mark on a movie, he said, “The films of Ridley Scott, particularly Alien and Blade Runner. Watching those films and realising that even though the stories were different, the actors were different, something was connecting these films; the same mind was behind them. And realising that, ‘Oh, that’s this guy, Ridley Scott, he’s the director. He’s getting to really define those movies’, I think that really inspired me to want to specifically be a director.”
Taught to be bold and have a vision, it was the spark that ignited Nolan’s entire career path, and to have two of the greatest directors around worshipping the same name, that surely puts Ridley Scott in some higher ranking, reserved only for the best of the best of the best.
