Ridley Scott Says Science Fiction is Dead

Posted on September 6, 2007

Director Ridley Scott infuriated SF fans by recently declaring that science fiction is dead. The Ridley Scott, director of Blade Runner, you might ask? Yes, that's the one. Sir Ridley Scott was at the Venice Film Festival to promote the director's cut of Blade Runner when he made his horrifying comments.

"There's nothing original. We've seen it all before. Been there. Done it," he said. Asked to pick out examples, he said: "All of them. Yes, all of them."
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Sir Ridley said that 2001 was "the best of the best", in use of lighting, special effects and atmosphere, adding that every sci-fi film since had imitated or referred to it. "There is an overreliance on special effects as well as weak storylines," he said of modern sci-fi films.
Sir Ridley is one of Britain's most acclaimed film-makers. His extraordinary number of box-office hits include Alien - another sci-fi classic, best remembered for the scene of an infant creature bursting through John Hurt's chest - as well as Thelma & Louise, Gladiator and Black Hawk Down. But it is for Blade Runner that sci-fi fans revere him most, regularly voting it one of the best examples of the genre.

We completely and totally disagree. There are lots of fantastic and interesting SF projects. There are books, films, videos and games that are interesting and innovative. On television alone, we have Lost, Heroes and Battlestar Galactica. No one could say that Lost and Battlestar Galactica are anything but character-driven, not F/X-driven. He's totally wrong. But Blade Runner is still one of our favorite films.

SCIENCE FICTION