Ridley Scott's 8 History Movies, Ranked Worst To Best (Including Napoleon)
Summary
- Ridley Scott’s historical movies showcase his talent as a director, with Gladiator being a standout piece earning Oscar nominations.
- Exodus: Gods and Kings, Robin Hood, and Napoleon show Scott’s tendency to take creative liberties, leading to mixed reviews and sometimes lower box office returns.
- Despite some historical inaccuracies, Scott’s films like The Duellists and Gladiator are celebrated for their epic storytelling and captivating performances.
Ridley Scott has branched out into several different genres in his directorial career, but historical films appear to hold a special place in his heart. Ridley Scott has been directing since 1965, and in his illustrious career, he has created some of the most iconic and spectacular films of modern cinema. From Thelma & Louise, to Blade Runner, and everything in between, Scott has proven his strength and talent as a director of blockbuster Hollywood movies.
However, Scott also has a passion for telling stories of influential historical figures, and bringing the past to life on the big screen. His best known historical film, Gladiator, is a celebrated piece of film which earned him one of his three nominations for Best Director at The Oscars. However, he has released several other historical films that stand out for their unique style, their incredible action, and spectacular direction all round. Overall, Scott is one of the best directors living today, and his historical films can be just as good, or better, than some of his other famous works.
8 Exodus: Gods And Kings
Coming in at the bottom of the list is Exodus: Gods and Kings. This 2014 film is a biblical epic film starring Christian Bale as Moses who escaped Egypt, and while it is still a decent film with a strong performance by the cast, it did receive mixed reviews upon release. The story took several deviations from the source material, and while this is expected in most adaptations, Scott’s position as a vocal atheist resulted in a movie that probably would have been most popular within a religious demographic failing to resonate.
The film is still beautifully shot, with epic action and drama throughout, but the story, and its originality, ultimately separated it from its audience. In addition, any historical drama or epic should attempt to be as faithful and accurate as possible, regardless of the source material, but the lack of interest or desire to maintain the original stories’ series of events appears to have ultimately made this film Scott’s least successful or popular historical movie.
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7 Robin Hood
Robin Hood is another historical epic by Scott which provides a new look at a legendary tale. Russell Crowe stars as the titular hero who takes from the rich to give to the poor, and once again, Scott chooses to take creative liberties with the story that became an enduring legend. However, while the film promised to be an action-packed adventure story through the British countryside set in 1199AD, it failed to meet the high standards expected from the cast, crew and budget for the film.
It did go on to earn an impressive $322 million, but due to the film’s monumental budget, this was not nearly as much of a return as it could have been with a tighter budget (via The Numbers). Again, reviews were mixed, with some comparing Scott and Crowe’s earlier collaboration, Gladiator, and seeing Robin Hood as far less because of it. Ultimately, the movie’s lack of action and charisma resulted in a legendary myth becoming a pale imitation of the original story.
6 1492: Conquest Of Paradise
Almost two decades earlier, Scott produced and directed a film that was intended to celebrate the 500th anniversary of Christopher Columbus’ voyage to the Americas. 1492: Conquest of Paradise was also the recipient of mixed reviews which pointed to its tendency to fictionalize and edit history to suit it’s epic historical narrative. Evidently, Scott prefers to provide a nuanced and fresh take in his historical dramas as opposed to creating a perfect retelling of events, but these tends to work well for some narratives, and against others.
The film stars Gérard Depardieu as Colombus, and Sigourney Weaver plays Queen Isabella I, and both are credited with delivering compelling performances. While the film takes creative liberties, it did create an intense emotional story which captured a sense of the feelings Columbus may have experienced ahead of sailing out into the great unknown. Ultimately, the film did create a narrative story with excitement and intrigue, despite not following the original events in perfect harmony.
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5 Napoleon
Scott’s most recent historical epic drama came in 2023, with Napoleon. The film stars Joaquin Phoenix in the titular role as Napoleon Bonaparte, and depicts his life and rise to power. At this point, Scott’s tendency to alter history for the benefit of the narrative, and create his own version of events is well documented, despite this being one of the main critiques when it came to reviews for the film. However, the film was also nominated for three separate categories at the 2024 Oscars.
The story had a healthy budget, and a talented cast and crew that helped make it a visually stunning event, with wonderful performances from Phoenix and Vanessa Kirby in particular, who played his wife, Joséphine. Unlike some of Scott’s other historical movies, Napoleon leaned into its action sequences with several battles playing out in the film’s runtime. However, the film did not reach the same heights as other projects by Scott as the release was split between theaters and soon after released on Apple TV+’s streaming platform.
4 Kingdom Of Heaven
Kingdom of Heaven is a more complex case with the source material being far less well-known than the other entries listed here. The story features an ensemble cast which was widely praised and celebrated, with the least praise aimed at the star, Orlando Bloom. However, the film features tremendous action, romance, and an exploration of the Third Crusade led by European Christian Royals in order to recapture and reclaim Jerusalem. Once again, the story follows its own line of events, drawing inspiration from real life events.
Interestingly, this film performed far better outside of America than it did within the US. The movie was also heavily edited ahead of its release, but six months after its theatrical release, Scott released a director’s cut which is widely regarded as the definitive version. Where the original movie runs for a total of 2 hrs and 24 minutes, the director’s cut tacks on another 50 minutes of content that was cut from the story. However, even the original benefits from the wonderful performances, intense battles, and drama that unfolds in the story.
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3 The Duellists
The Duellists is earliest historical drama directed by Scott, and as such, it had the smallest budget at just $900,000 (via IMDb), and a largely unknown cast. The film is also Scott’s feature directorial debut, which further evidences his passion for adapting historical stories into film. The story follows to men who have several duels with one another over the course of a little over 15 years, as they express their opposing political beliefs and concerns.
There is little coincidence that this is also regarded as Scott’s most historically accurate film with great attention to detail with regard to the fighting choreography, and discussions between the primary characters. The movie was awarded the Best Debut Film award at the 1977 Cannes Film Festival and set Scott on a course to becoming the legendary director that he is today. And it is incredibly interesting that this film was also set during the Napoleonic wars, creating a full-circle moment that was closed off with the release of Napoleon almost 50 years later.
2 The Last Duel
Stepping further back in time, The Last Duel depicts a similar set of events, many hundreds of years earlier in Medieval France. Originally, this story was a novel based on true events by Eric Jager, until a screenplay was written adapting the story by Nicole Holofcener, Ben Affleck, and Matt Damon. While Damon stars in the film, Affleck has a small supporting role, and Adam Driver and Jodie Comer round out the cast as the other stars. The story is broken up into three distinct chapters from the perspectives of each of the leads.
Once again, Scott excels at taking a story where dueling is central to the plot. The film is beautiful and although it failed to earn big at the box office on its initial release, it did go on to get greater praise when it was released on streaming. The movie and the actors leading the stories is beautifully knit together in an interwoven tale. The approach of repeating the same set of events from three unique perspectives also makes it a wonderfully creative and more fully defined movie, which is easily among Scott’s best historical films.
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1 Gladiator
Finally, Gladiator is without doubt Scott’s greatest contribution to historical based films. Both Russell Crowe and Joaquin Phoenix star as two men at odds, with Crowe’s Maximus seeking revenge against Phoenix’s Commodus for killing the Emperor and his family. Both men excel in their roles, and create an epic tale of bloodshed and war that endures as one of the greatest historical films of all time.
Gladiator won five Oscars, including Best Actor for Crowe, and Best Picture, and considering the enduring strength of the film, it has more recently been greenlit to get a sequel made almost 25 years later. The film is also one of Scott’s highest earning productions, making over $450 million against a budget of roughly $103 million (via The Numbers). While not every historical movie by Ridley Scott became a roaring success, he has a clear style, and passion when it comes to creating them, which has resulted in some outstanding movies overall.
