RIP Tony Scott

[speeder]

Just read that Tony Scott committed suicide. Can't believe it...old friend. What a brutal weekend.

[Bill Douglas]

Sad.

Talented guy.

[Joe Bob]

'Top Gun' director dies after jumping off bridge - Yahoo! Movies

[84porsche]

Hard to believe and quite the loss. RIP Tony. I remember hearing that he paid a personal check to the US Navy $20K in fuel to have them turn a carrier around so he could get the shot he wanted for Top Gun.

[sc_rufctr]

Sad stuff... RIP Tony.

[sm70911]

I am profoundly saddened waking up to this news. Tony was an incredibly hard working and talented man, who had that elusive quality, taste. Whilst he was not the erudite stylistic game changer his brother is, he had his finger on the populist pulse and made some really really well paced, well acted, stylish and enjoyable films. I always looked forward to watching his work. Man on Fire, Top Gun, Revenge, Domino, The Fan, Spy Game, Enemy of the State, Crimson Tide, True Romance ... Its just a part of an impressive oeuvre. The man will be missed.

[9dreizig]

Suicide and depression is a big white elephant nobody wants to talk about.. sad....

Hell of a way to do it too , never understood that.. speaks volumes for his pain

[craigster59]

I worked on a few films and commercials with Tony. Nice guy and talented director. I don't know if it may have been depression or possibly a terminal diagnosis of some kind. RIP Tony, your talents will be missed

[Zeke]

Originally Posted by sm70911

I am profoundly saddened waking up to this news. Tony was an incredibly hard working and talented man, who had that elusive quality, taste. Whilst he was not the erudite stylistic game changer his brother is, he had his finger on the populist pulse and made some really really well paced, well acted, stylish and enjoyable films. I always looked forward to watching his work. Man on Fire, Top Gun, Revenge, Domino, The Fan, Spy Game, Enemy of the State, Crimson Tide, True Romance ... Its just a part of an impressive oeuvre. The man will be missed.

Whoa, there's a nice piece of writing.

[speeder]

He may have had cancer, but still it's a shocking turn of events. He had young children.

I met him in 1987, when I worked at Westwood Porsche. He was shooting BH Cop II and I sold him a 911. Black cabriolet. We had just sold Eddie Murphy a new 928, I guess that a lunch conversation on the set can turn into buying another new Porsche for these kinds of guys.

He had just totalled a new Kawasaki Ninja, the biggest/fastest one at the time, and the studio forbid him from riding MCs until the film was wrapped. This is a common type of rider in the contract of big $$ talent, the insurance company and the studio have a huge investment and want the film to wrap w/o delays. Tony had a great "need for speed", maybe the most extreme example I've ever seen. He was an incredibly nice guy, and what is referred to as a "regular guy", seemed like he came from a working class background in the UK. He treated me like an instant buddy, just another car guy, even though I was a 27 y.o. nobody working selling cars.

He invited me to the set, I distinctly remember the giant cell phone he had. One of those things the size of a small suitcase with the handset on top. I met the Navy pilot who did all of the stunt flying on "Top Gun" that day, he was another Tony buddy. They had just shot that the year before. I forgot his name but had a fascinating conversation asking him questions about how they actually shot that film. We were sitting around together for long periods of time while they shot scenes.

CA. has a law that requires all cars to be delivered to the retail customer at the dealership premises. This was impossible because Tony was shooting 14 hour days, (or more), for the next couple weeks and he wanted his car. The only time I've ever seen this exception made, I delivered it to his house late at night after the day's filming was done. Even Eddie Murphy had to come down to the dealer to get his car. He was renting a beautiful modern house way up on Angelo Dr. in Holmby Hills, (Bel Air), great Porsche roads. I brought him the car one night, hung out for a short while and collected a check for $47k and change. I still remember the approx. amount. He had to give me a ride all the way back to the dealer where my car was, he was a crazy driver. To jump in an unfamiliar 911 and twist it the way he did on that drive scared me a little. He was really tired, though, and needed to get back home to catch a few hours sleep before doing it all again for 14 hours the next day. He was an adrenaline junkie to the extreme; planes/cars/bikes/rock climbing/women/partying/film-making/etc., I've never met someone with so much energy and lust for life who was not batschit crazy.

I did not cross paths with him again for a few years but in the early '90s, I had a GF who was working as a receptionist at RSA. RSA was Tony and Ridley's commercial company in the U.S.A., they were a couple of the biggest commercial directors in the world and made a fortune just on that end of the business. They also had a branch in Europe, maybe Asia too. I was broke as a spoke at the time and used to stop in for lunch sometimes. As is the custom in the world of Hollywood production, lunch is catered in everyday and it's never cheap crap. Time is too valuable to have people leaving a set or an office to go off for lunch, so they bribe you with good food to stay. An unforgivable sin is to run out before everyone has eaten, so there is always more than enough. For a time, I went frequently and they did not mind because Tony liked me and everyone loved my GF. I wound up going rock climbing with Tony and his nephew, (Ridley's son), out in Joshua Tree one weekend. Once again, I got to see his adrenaline addiction and crazy relationship with risk-taking. I will always cherish my memories of that guy.

[craigster59]

News coming out that he had inoperable brain cancer. Tough stuff.

[Danimal16]

Sad.

[Neilk]

Originally Posted by craigster59

News coming out that he had inoperable brain cancer. Tough stuff.

Not sure how bad it was, but my step sister in law (that's a mouthful) has had inoperable brain cancers for about 3 years now. Obviously every case is different, but throw in some depression and I can see why you would want to jump off a bridge...

Really sad.

[duncan1437]

my dad was diagnosed with brain cancer at age 79. he was a strong man, physically and emotionally.

my feeling is that the doctor advised him it could unfold in several ways, some of which would be very unpleasant, where in effect he would become a significant burden on my mom.

he virtually stopped eating and and passed away in about 2 months.

it's not something we talk about, but it seems like the kind of thing he'd do, for the benefit of those he loved.

[Hugh R]

Only worked with him on "déjà Vu".

We were in the catwalks under a bridge from New Orleans to Algiers and he had a scene with Denzel Washington leaping up on the railing to grab an explosion wipe sample (stunt double), and Tony jumps up on the rail to demonstrate what he wants to see. It was a good 500 feet to the water. I told him to get down and at least do that kind of stuff when I'm not there so that I have plausible deniability. He looked at me like he didn't understand for a second or two then he got it and laughed.

[futuresoptions]

R.I.P Tony, thanks for the memories...

[Nostril Cheese]

RIP. enjoyed his films.

Originally Posted by speeder

CA. has a law that requires all cars to be delivered to the retail customer at the dealership premises.

Not to nitpick, but they must have changed this law at some time. I delivered several cars to customers, both famous and not, when I worked for both Rusnak and Silver Star.

[speeder]

Originally Posted by Nostril Cheese

RIP. enjoyed his films.



Not to nitpick, but they must have changed this law at some time. I delivered several cars to customers, both famous and not, when I worked for both Rusnak and Silver Star.

Pretty sure that it's ironclad in the DMV code. That's not to say that the law is not bent or broken at times. I delivered a new Porsche to Las Vegas once. Got a speeding ticket for 105 mph on the way. I had the cruise control on and was in my own world.

[speeder]

Originally Posted by craigster59

News coming out that he had inoperable brain cancer. Tough stuff.

Family is now saying that this is not true. They are not saying that he did not have cancer, period, just to put a fine point on it. The rumor spread quickly yesterday that he had it, that's the internet for you.

[Heel n Toe]

In tribute to the man, if you've never seen Man on Fire, do so... it's one of the ones a lot of people missed. Excellent flick.