Hollywood is this week reeling over the sad news of film director Tony Scott’s death. The 68-year-old brother and business partner of director Sir Ridley Scott threw himself of the Vincent Thomas Bridge spanning the Los Angeles Harbour in San Pedro on Tuesday in an apparent suicide.

Hollywood is this week reeling over the sad news of film director Tony Scott’s death. The 68-year-old brother and business partner of director Sir Ridley Scott threw himself off the Vincent Thomas Bridge spanning the Los Angeles Harbour in San Pedro on Tuesday in an apparent suicide.

Since then, the Hollywood press has been printing various rumours about the state of Scott’s health at the time. Rather than join the speculation I thought it more appropriate to celebrate Scott’s career, and how my 14-year-old self will always be indebted to him for making the big, bold, escapist fun that was Top Gun.

British born Scott made a name for himself making TV commercials, and in 1983 directed his first feature film, a vampire flick called The Hunger that starred David Bowie and Catherine Deneuve. It was a commercial flop, but on the back of his commercials resume he was hired by power producing duo Jerry Bruckheimer and Don Simpson to direct Top Gun.

Scott had found his niche. Over the following decades Scott directed and produced some of Hollywood’s biggest box office earners, including; Beverly Hills Cop II, Enemy of the State, Crimson Tide, and Days of Thunder.

Sure, these films are hardly “classics”, and they were made in an era when Hollywood became more interested in marketing than story-telling, but you can’t deny Scott had a way with special effects, action and suspense. These films also entertained a lot of people. If you combine the lifetime gross totals of all of his films then Scott gets a seat in the director’s prestigious Billion Dollar club.

One of the reasons I have always had a soft spot for Tony is that he’s straight up about his films being about entertainment rather than critical acclaim. Unlike his brother, he didn’t wish to make art; just technically well-crafted films that entertained people. As he said in 2005… “Ridley makes films for posterity. His films will be around for a long time. I think my films are more rock ‘n’ roll.”

So, here’s my list of the five best rock ‘n’ roll moments of Scott’s career.

1. True Romance (1993)

Written by Quentin Tarantino, this was Scott’s most critically acclaimed and original film. It’s often underrated but if you were going to honour Scott’s memory by watching one of his films this would be my pick.

2. Top Gun (1986)

Yeah, I know, this $176 million dollar action picture is ridiculous – but its slick and sexy MTV approach sure appealed to the teens of the time.

3. Crimson Tide (1995)

Scott at his action thriller best - Tarantino apparently contributed to the script, although he remains uncredited. This was the first in many collaborations with Denzel Washington.

4. Enemy of the State (1998)

Allowed Will Smith to prove he was more than just the Fresh Prince. Scott’s third biggest box office earner, after Top Gun and Beverly Hills Cop II.

5. Unstoppable (2010)

Ok, so Scott’s last film might resemble Speed on a train, but he proved that even with a familiar format he could still execute a technically savy and special effects driven action thriller.