Tarantino Called Black Hawk Down the Best Film of the Century. Ridley Scott Says No.

Scott said it to The Times, in an interview promoting The Dog Stars, published 23 August. He added that he has never discussed it with Tarantino directly, but that his late brother knew him: "Tony adored Quentin and, I think, Quentin adored Tony."

What Tarantino actually said, and when

Not this month. He gave the list on The Bret Easton Ellis Podcast in late November 2025, ranking the century's best films with a one-film-per-director rule, in response to a list from The Big Picture. On Black Hawk Down:

"The only movie that actually goes completely for an Apocalypse Now sense of purpose and visual effect and feeling." And: "The feat of direction is beyond extraordinary… my heart was going through the entire runtime of the movie; it had me and never let me go."

His top ten, in order: 1. Black Hawk Down · 2. Toy Story 3 · 3. Lost in Translation · 4. Dunkirk · 5. There Will Be Blood · 6. Zodiac · 7. Unstoppable · 8. Mad Max: Fury Road · 9. Shaun of the Dead · 10. Midnight in Paris.

Note number seven. Unstoppable was directed by Tony Scott, Ridley's brother, who died in 2012 — which is the thread Ridley picked up in his answer, and the one most of the coverage skipped.

Everyone else involved was delighted

Jerry Bruckheimer, who produced it: "the authenticity that Ridley pulled off in it was amazing… it puts you inside a world you'll never be a part of, hopefully, and shows you how it actually works."

Ken Nolan, who wrote it, found out from a group chat: "God that feels good and almost unreal… It was a better feeling — how would I know, but I'm guessing — than winning an Academy Award."

The producer and the writer took the compliment. The director returned it.

The film itself

• Released 28 December 2001 in four theatres, wide on 18 January 2002. 144 minutes; a 152-minute extended cut followed in 2006.
• Box office: $108.6M domestic, roughly $160–173M worldwide depending on the tracker, on a budget of about $92–95M.
• Oscars: won Best Film Editing (Pietro Scalia) and Best Sound. Scott was nominated for Best Director and lost.
• Scores: 77% critics, 88% audience on Rotten Tomatoes; Metacritic 74.
• Cast: Josh Hartnett, Ewan McGregor, Eric Bana, Tom Sizemore, William Fichtner, Jason Isaacs, Sam Shepard, Jeremy Piven — and Tom Hardy, in his film debut.
• The events: the Battle of Mogadishu, 3–4 October 1993. A raid planned for thirty minutes ran overnight. Eighteen US soldiers killed, 84 wounded, one captured. Somali casualty estimates range from about 200 to over 700 killed, with civilian deaths never quantified.

It was contested on release — no Somali actors were cast and no Somali consultants engaged, and critics at the time faulted the characterisation. Tarantino praised it specifically as a feat of direction, which is a narrower claim than it is often reported as.

The irony nobody has said out loud

Ridley Scott is 88 and has never won a competitive Oscar. He has three Best Director nominations: Thelma & Louise, Gladiator and Black Hawk Down. Gladiator won Best Picture, and that statuette went to its producers. So the film the most quotable director alive calls the best of the century is also the one that got Scott a directing nomination he lost — and he has just waved the compliment away.

He waved it away, incidentally, while promoting The Dog Stars, which opened last weekend to $8M and 40% on Rotten Tomatoes — the fifth-lowest domestic opening of his career this century. He starts shooting Treasure Island with Hugh Jackman on 1 November.

Where to watch: Black Hawk Down is on MGM+ in the US, free with ads on Xumo Play, Kanopy and Hoopla, and rentable for $3.99. It is not on Netflix in the US, whatever the aggregators say.

Tarantino has not responded. He is not making a film — his next project is a West End play, The Popinjay Cavalier, in early 2027. Related: Ridley Scott wants the kid from Adolescence and Hugh Grant for his Treasure Island.