I am not a fan of the essay nor of its style, but I credit the author with good topic selection and nice details.

I like Ridley Scott movies. I think of Scott like Dickens. A straight-ahead, topical but not actually edgy (in subject) cinematic allegorist, and a great master of the business of telling stories.

As a moviegoer, I am entertained by his movies, in the moment. As a filmmaker, he is sufficiently deep in his treatments to give me something to return to from time to time to consider and relate to real experience.

I still make every niece, and nephew watch The Martian when they are in middle-school and Bladerunner in high school. Some of Scott's work is, in a manner, canonical.

Scott has made some bad films, and he abuses some stories in service to the business of movies. Let's see Napoleon and talk again.