Along with bazillions of film fans across the globe, we were shocked and saddened to hear the news that one of our all-time favorite movie makers, Tony Scott, had taken his own life. For reasons still unknown, the 68-year old British born director jumped off the Vincent Thomas Bridge in Los Angeles, California at approximately 12:30pm last Sunday. There was a rumour going round Scott had inoperable brain cancer but it was dismissed by family not long after. We actually don't really care about why he did it, it's not any of our business and the fact of the matter is, cinema is down a truly awesome director who made kick ass films that didn't give a shit about what people said about them.
Part of a wave of British ad directors to make their mark in Hollywood during the early eighties, Tony Scott and his fellow directors who had all come from advertising backgrounds, were heavily criticised for their stylistic approach to filmmaking during a time when American filmmakers were stuck in a particular style that Scott and his cohorts felt needed a reboot.
After seeing Scott's not-so-awesome vampire flick
The Hunger (which featured a a young Willem Dafoe and David Bowie) and a TVC he shot for SAAB featuring a car racing a jet, uber producer Jerry Bruckheimer brought him on to helm
Top Gun. The film went on to destroy box offices bringing in more than US$176 million and making it one of the highest grossing movies of 1996. It also made a mega star out of pre-douch hole Tom Cruise and not so much for a pre-E.R. Anthony Edwards. However,
Top Gun didn't receive a great deal of positive critical acclaim, leading on to a bit of a trend for Tony with many of his films (eg.
Man On Fire, Deja Vu, Crimson Tide) disliked by critics yet proving gigantic cash cows for all involved. Not such a bad way to run your career though - a giant gold encrusted 'fuck you' to professional film judgers.
So, in honour of and respect for Tony Scott's cinematic awesomeness and a career filled with the best names in the biz, we've put together a selection of trailers and scenes from our fav TS flicks.