With “Alien,” Ridley Scott had simple aims: to scare the living crap out of you.
But his goals are somewhat loftier with “The Dog Stars” (in theaters Aug. 28), a meditative post-apocalyptic thriller adapted from Peter Heller’s 2012 novel. The new movie follows a benevolent ex-pilot named Hig (Jacob Elordi) who, after losing his wife during a catastrophic global pandemic, lives out in the wilderness with his dog, Jasper, and ornery isolationist pal Bangley (Josh Brolin).
While Bangley remains vigilant should violent strangers steal their land and resources, Hig is an altruist who’s eager to rebuild society. Scott, 88, shares the character's worldview, despite the filmmaker’s notoriously gruff exterior.
With this film, “I want to give hope,” Scott
says. “It’s never the end. There may be a thinning out, but there will be those left to restart the engine. Always.”
'Dog Stars' director Ridley Scott says reviews are 'dangerous,' good or bad
Over his nearly five-decade career, Scott has become synonymous with big-budget, action-packed epics such as “Gladiator,” “Black Hawk Down” and “The Martian.” But the “Thelma & Louise” director is always trying to top himself, and in “The Dog Stars,” he crafts some of his most thrilling sequences ever.
The movie’s nail-biting centerpiece is filmed partly with night-vision lenses, as Bangley cuts down dozens of attackers. (“Wasn’t that beautiful, the emerald green?” Scott says of the eerie visuals.) Later, Hig and his new companion, Cima (Margaret Qualley), find themselves at an uncanny airport hangar, where they encounter a sinister former flight attendant (Allison Janney) dressed in a vintage tunis-blue uniform.
Although the scene is highly reminiscent of “Twin Peaks,” Scott says he was primarily inspired by the Overlook Hotel bar in “The Shining,” as well as his own filmography.
“I always remember I did ‘Blade Runner’ and I advertised Pan Am” on a billboard in the movie, Scott says of the retro, long-defunct airline. “Then Pan Am went bust, so I felt like I owed them.”
Scott has always been stubbornly, refreshingly himself. He didn’t direct his first film, 1977’s “The Duellists,” until he was nearly 40. Before then, he worked in advertising in his 20s and 30s, directing more than 2,000 TV commercials. He was the camera operator on all of them.
“I’ve got a good eye, so rather than me describing to an operator what I wanted, it’s much faster and better to just do it myself,” Scott says. “I’ve always carried that with me into film. No matter how successful you are in movies, there’s always somebody who’s saying, ‘I don’t think this is quite right. You can’t direct actors if you’re operating the camera.’ I say, ‘Bull----. I’m doing it.’ I stick to my guns.”
Within five years of making “The Duellists,” Scott directed two of the most influential sci-fi movies in cinema history: “Alien” and “Blade Runner,” both of which kickstarted long-running franchises. But at the time, the latter was a major flop that was panned by notable critics such as Pauline Kael.
“She killed me in four pages of The New Yorker, and I didn’t even meet her! I was so offended,” Scott recalls. “I wrote to the editor saying, ‘Listen, if you don’t like me, just ignore me! But don’t write four pages of destruction.’ I never got a reply. But I took those four pages and I framed them, because they taught me one thing: Never read press.
“It's dangerous if you get great press, because then you think you're the ruler of the world,” Scott adds. “And it's dangerous if you have terrible press, because your film may be better than they say. So I don't tend to read anything.”
Why Ridley Scott is 'surprised' that he's just now getting an Oscar
While many artists paint a rose-colored picture of their careers, Scott is remarkably candid about box-office misfires and the films that got away. He believes that Denis Villeneuve’s “Dune” series is “excellent,” although he still wishes he had made his version of Frank Herbert's sci-fi novels.
Scott was initially slated to direct a “Dune” film after “Alien," with a world inspired by “early medieval Asian” designs and technology. But he eventually backed out after visiting the project’s Mexico City soundstage: “The studio had earth floors and wooden scaffolding – I said, ‘I’m not going to spend a year here.’ ”
He wishes more people had seen his star-studded 2013 thriller “The Counselor,” which was written by Cormac McCarthy and roundly dismissed by critics: “That’s the best dialogue I’ve ever had. … I think it’s brilliant.”
Scott has been nominated for four Oscars – three for directing, one as a producer – although the Brit laughingly declines to say which of those he actually should’ve won. If it’s any consolation, he’s set to receive an honorary Academy Award on Nov. 15.
“Well, of course I have to be honored,” Scott says. “And really, I am very honored by that. I’m surprised because it’s taken a while. ‘Where the f--- have you been,’ right?”
A friend of Barry Gibb for more than 60 years, Scott is still trying to secure financing for his long-gestating Bee Gees biopic. He’d also love to do a more impressionistic movie musical in the vein of Bob Fosse’s “Cabaret” or “All That Jazz.”
Most immediately, he’s set to start filming “Treasure Island” with Hugh Jackman this fall, and he waves off any talk of retirement in the near future.
“Are you kidding me?" Scott says. "Why would I stop? Next to driving a fast car around a track, what else are you going to do?”
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Ridley Scott, 88, won't retire after 'Dog Stars' – 'Are you kidding?'
