The HungerThe 1983 horror film, which has since become a cult favorite, marked Tony Scott’s feature directorial debut. In the movie, Susan Sarandon stars as a doctor who embarks on a steamy ménage-a-trois with two vampires, played by David Bowie and Catherine Deneuve. Watch the lesbian encounter that has helped the movie endure.
Top GunScott’s classic 1986 flick about elite fighter pilots, the top-earning moving of 1986, famously stars a young Tom Cruise. The film boasts too many memorable scenes to choose just one, but here’s our pick.
Beverly Hills Cop IIIn the 1987 Beverly Hills Cop sequel, Eddie Murphy returns as motormouthed Detroit detective Axel Foley, back in Beverly Hills to stir up trouble—and investigate a shooting. Watch Murphy fast talk his way out of an interrogation. Two words: Johnny Wishbone.
Days of ThunderScott and Cruise reunited in this high-speed 1990 flick, in which the Top Gun star plays a car-racing hotshot who finally gets his big break, alongside Nicole Kidman, who plays a brain surgeon trying to reign him in. The flick was hailed as “Top Gun on wheels,” and was the first of a series of movies that Cruise and Kidman would star in together. Watch the movie’s memorable final race.
True RomanceThe Quentin Tarantino–penned 1993 film stars Christian Slater and Patricia Arquette as lovers on the run, after Slater’s character kills a drug dealer and accidentally swipes his briefcase full of cocaine. Watch as Dennis Hopper, who plays Slater’s father, and Christopher Walken, who’s pursuing Slater, see an unhappy end to their brief almost-friendship. (Warning: This clip contains violent content.)
Crimson TideScott’s suspenseful 1995 flick stars Denzel Washington and Gene Hackman as officers on an imperiled submarine, dueling over nuclear missiles—marking the first of several movie partnerships between the director and Washington. Watch their memorable face off.
Enemy of the StateIn Scott’s 1998 thriller, which brought in more than $250 million worldwide, Will Smith stars as a lawyer targeted by government agents after discovering evidence of a political crime. Watch as a full-scale shoot-out erupts.
Man on FireScott hatched the idea for Man on Fire in the early 1980s, but the film, which stars Denzel Washington as a bodyguard hired to protect Dakota Fanning’s character in Mexico, wasn’t released until 2004. In an interview on Charlie Rose, the filmmaker said he tapped Washington to play the lead based on the actor’s relationship with his real-life children. Watch as Washington’s character takes revenge on Fanning’s kidnapper. (Warning: This clip contains violent content.)
The Taking of Pelham 123The 2009 action flick was a remake of a 1974 movie, originally based on the Morton Freedgood memoir of the same name. Scott’s interpretation stars John Travolta as New York City–subway hijacker who Denzel Washington’s character, a transit worker, tries to subdue. Watch the film’s climactic shootout.(Warning: This clip contains violent content.)
UnstoppableScott directed his final film, Unstoppable, in 2010. Based on a real-life event, the movie stars Denzel Washington and Chris Pine as an engineer and conductor racing against the clock to prevent a runaway train from wreaking havoc on a nearby city. Watch as the pair tries to gain control of the speeding train.
