By LARRY TAYLOR (McFarland & Company, Inc.; 2019)

As a longtime fan of the late Tony Scott (1944-2012), whose directorial output includes films like THE LAST BOY SCOUT, TRUE ROMANCE and CRIMSON TIDE, I find TONY SCOTT A FILMMAKER ON FIRE a must-read by default. It’s certainly not the ideal biography of this much-missed genius, but it is currently the only one.

…a must-read by default.

Larry Taylor, it just so happens, is the author of 2018’s JOHN McTIERNAN: THE RISE AND FALL OF AN ACTION MOVIE ICON. It makes sense that Taylor turned his attention to Tony Scott, as he too was an action movie icon. Few other filmmakers had such a skilled and assured facility for kinetic moviemaking, including his older brother Ridley Scott. Tony Scott admittedly had some missteps in his day (including 1987’s BEVERLY HILLS COP II and 1996’s Robert De Niro starrer THE FAN), but overall his is a solid and exciting filmography.

Scott’s debut feature was the 1983 arty horror fest THE HUNGER. It was followed three years later by TOP GUN, which provided the first glimpse of the glitzy commercialism that would become his trademark. Yet Scott was also careful to keep an eye on things like structure, characterization and authenticity, which by the time of his final film, 2010’s UNSTOPPABLE, rendered him something of an elder statesman in modern-day Hollywood.

Constructing his account from previously published interviews, profiles and reviews, Taylor provides a lively but only partially satisfying overview of Scott’s career. Taylor is clearly a great admirer of Scott, and makes a convincing case that his films deserve far more critical attention than they’ve thus far received (although I’m not sure I agree with Taylor’s contention that 2004’s MAN ON FIRE is Scott’s “masterpiece”).

Constructing his account from previously published interviews, profiles and reviews, Taylor provides a lively but only partially satisfying overview of Scott’s career.

Of Scott’s personal life only the most perfunctory information is provided; we learn that he was married thrice, had a love of fancy cars and beautiful women, and was quite competitive with his brother. I’ll confess I was hoping for something in the way of an explanation for Scott’s 2012 suicide, but Taylor, perhaps understandably, has none to offer.

Maybe it’s best that Scott left us when he did, as the projects he had in development, which included remakes of THE WILD BUNCH and THE WARRIORS, don’t sound too promising. Scott’s heyday was in the 1980s and 90s, when his flashy adult-oriented style was in vogue. He will, in any event, be remembered, and this short book is a laudable step in that direction.

See Also: TONY SCOTT IS DEAD