After nearly a decade of art school and an abortive career as a painter, Scott entered filmmaking through the world of advertising. He was a director and partner in his brother's commercial production company RSA (Ridley Scott Associates). Scott raved about the value of this experience in a 1991 interview with Movieline: "I loved commercials because I was always shooting – I was actually getting to turn some film. And for the generation that I happen to be a part of, the adventures in advertising then were the same as what videos are today, here. In its own way, advertising is as great an art form as documentaries or features."

In 1981, Scott made a striking feature directorial debut with "The Hunger," an arty supernatural thriller starring Susan Sarandon, David Bowie and Catherine Deneuve in various beautiful and erotic pairings. At times almost absurdly stylized, this seemed like a singular instance of the vampire film as cologne commercial. The film was not successful in a commercial sense; however his fortunes changed when Simpson and Bruckheimer asked him to helm their new flyboy adventure, "Top Gun" (1986). Unchastened by the fate of his previous feature outing, Scott endeavored to create a dark spectacle from the screenplay – "like ‘Apocalypse Now’ in the air.” The producers, however, kept that impulse in check and guided the footage to go for the box-office jugular, resulting in one of the signature films of the decade. "Top Gun" presented an entertaining love story punctuated by high flying effects and somewhat reactionary macho posturing while establishing Tom Cruise as the industry’s most bankable movie star.

After directing Eddie Murphy in the blockbuster follow-up, "Beverly Hills Cop II" (1987), Scott attempted a change of pace with "Revenge" (1990) – a hard-edged crime tale merged beautifully with a touching love story – to which legendary director John Huston was once attached. Scott later claimed that the studio took control of the editing, threatening to fire him if he refused to comply. "Revenge" failed commercially despite the box-office clout of star Kevin Costner at that time. That same year, "Days of Thunder" – another fast-paced collaboration with Cruise, Simpson and Bruckheimer – was raced through editing with less than entirely satisfying results. Deemed a disappointment, the film still grossed $86 million, mostly due to Cruise’s star wattage. "The Last Boy Scout" (1991), a brutal action picture starring Bruce Willis and Damon Wayans, also failed to perform up to expectations.

Scott enjoyed greater creative control over "True Romance" (1993). Penned by the instantly celebrated neophyte writer-director Quentin Tarantino, who had recently scored with "Reservoir Dogs" (1992), this was the first film on which Scott was more than a hired gun. Quirky and violent, this postmodern "Bonnie and Clyde" boasted a smart script and a killer cast including Christian Slater, Patricia Arquette, Brad Pitt, Christopher Walken and Dennis Hopper, and garnered some of the best reviews of Scott's career up to that point. Audiences, at the time, however, failed to take sufficient notice. The film’s legend and cult status would grow years later. Re-teamed with Simpson-Bruckheimer, Scott fared better with the more mainstream film, "Crimson Tide" (1995), a submarine-set thriller of nuclear brinkmanship that pitted Denzel Washington against Gene Hackman. A number of writers labored on the script without ultimately receiving screen credit including Tarantino, who was brought aboard at Scott's insistence to punch up the dialogue. The final product emerged as the third highest grossing film of the year.

Scott partnered with his brother Ridley Scott in the production company Scott Free, together purchasing London's Shepperton Studios in 1995. Two years later, Scott Free produced the Showtime series "The Hunger," inspired by Scott's film of the same name, for which he and his nephew Jake each directed an episode. The following year, the Scott brothers co-produced the underrated "Clay Pigeons" – a black comedy about a hapless country boy suspected of being a serial killer. 1998 also saw Scott back in the director's chair at the helm of "Enemy of the State," a political thriller that reunited him with Bruckheimer and Hackman. The film enjoyed brisk box office and terrific reviews – a vast improvement from the reception Scott had suffered in the wake of his unpopular, critically blasted 1996 stalker flick "The Fan." Scott's critical stock went up yet again after co-producing the 1999 Emmy-nominated HBO drama "RKO 281" with his brother, Ridley. A somewhat fictionalized account of the making of Orson Welles' 1941 classic film "Citizen Kane," the project was a successful departure from Scott's usual action-packed fare. Next up for the brothers were co-producing chores for the unsuccessful Paul Newman caper "Where the Money Is" (2000). Scott then segued to directing Brad Pitt and Robert Redford in the lackluster thriller "The Spy Game" (2001).

By the new millennium, Scott took a break from directing and embarked on a stint producing well-received fare like the HBO historical drama, "The Gathering Storm" (2002) and "Hire" (2002), automaker BMW's stylish slate of short film adver-tainments. Scott returned behind the camera for his next big screen outing, "Man on Fire" (2004) – a revenge drama starring Denzel Washington as a bodyguard who embarks on a deadly trail of retribution when his 10-year-old client (Dakota Fanning) is abducted. The film scored at the box office and reinforced Scott's long-held reputation as a dependable hit-maker.

After several years of development, Scott finally brought his next project, "Domino" (2005) to the screen after off-kilter screenwriter Richard Kelly transmogrified the already outrageous story of Domino Harvey – the real-life daughter of actor Lawrence Harvey and former model-turned-bounty hunter – into a hyperkinetic, hallucinogenic head trip. Scott acquired an impressive cast – including Keira Knightley in the lead role, Mickey Rourke, Edgar Ramirez, Delroy Lindo, Lucy Liu, Mena Suvari, Christopher Walken and Jacqueline Bissett – but prior to the film's release, it drew criticism from the real Domino Harvey for ignoring her bisexuality and drug use (just months before the film's release Harvey was found dead in her West Hollywood apartment at the age of 35, the victim of a suspected drowning after a drug overdose). Film critics took an even harsher view, suggesting that Scott's overwhelming stylization, from the manipulated color scheme and the jarring, frenetic cinematography to its TV commercial-style editing, proved irksome and undercut the actors' otherwise strong performances and exploited Harvey's story without exploring its more meaningful overtones.