To say that this morning’s sad news was a bit of a shock is an understatement.

A new Tony Scott film was always a reason to celebrate and I was looking forward to seeing what he was working on next.

I can think of few directors who have had as great an impact on my viewing habits, and been directly responsible for establishing a standard by which I judge other films, even if I didn’t know it at first.

As much as I love film, I didn’t always pay as much attention to the behind the scenes aspects of the art form. I knew what I liked and that was good enough.

What I liked was Revenge (1990), True Romance (1993), Enemy of the State (1998) and Man on Fire (2004).

In fact, it wasn’t until after I saw Man on Fire that I realized all of these films were made by Tony Scott. The impact of that film made me want more and when I looked into who had directed it, I was surprised to see so many of my personal favorites listed in his filmography.

At that point, I really began following his career in earnest and I made sure to see each new film in the theater as it came out.

Domino (2005), Deja Vu (2006) The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 (2009) and Unstoppable (2010) all delivered in a way only a Tony Scott film does.

He didn’t make art films, he made films for everyone and he made them to a higher standard then most.

-C I