Tony Scott RIP

Tony Scott, as director, was responsible for one of the greatest movie sequences of the last quarter century. This one:

 

Of course, it owes a lot to the startling performances of Dennis Hopper and Christopher Walker, and even more to the writing of Quentin Tarantino. But Scott gave it a moody atmosphere and chose the music (even though he had used it before in another memorable scene; it starts at 1:48). Actually the True Romance sequence is one of those scenes that is so powerful that it actually overbalances the film. I struggle to remember anything else about the rest of the movie.

My other favourite Tony Scott scene also involves Quentin Tarantino, and isn't even from a Tony Scott film. It's Tarantino's legendary riff on the gay subtext of Top Gun:

 

I've always felt that I ought to like Tony Scott's movies more than I do. Sex, violence, hi-tech hardware and a slick style are fine things, but they aren't everything. Still, Enemy of the State is an enjoyable variation on the Three Days of the Condor theme and The Last Boy Scout is Bruce Willis's fourth best film (after Die Hard; Pulp Fiction - omigod, Tarantino again; and The Sixth Sense).