Ridley Scott’s comment gets panned on Reddit

On By Littum

Users of the popular online forum platform Reddit have come to Malta’s defense after Ridley Scott gave an unflattering review of the country as a tourist destination.

During an event earlier this month, Gladiator 2 director told an audience that although Malta had an impressive architectural heritage, he would not recommend going there on holiday.

This clip was then shared by Malta’s film commissioner Johann Grech on Facebook, but with the negative comment redacted.

A Reddit user shared The times of Malta article that highlighted Scott’s comments and Grech’s editing assignment to r/entertainment subreddit – a niche community within the platform that focuses mainly on film, TV and music news.

The post had over 5,400 upvotes as of Saturday afternoon and was one of the most popular posts of the week in the subreddit.

The consensus among commenters was that Scott was far too harsh on Malta, with one user calling the director ‘a grumpy old sod’, while another noted that “he’s always been that way.”

“I’ve been to Malta twice and would happily go again. What the hell is Ridley Scott talking about?!” read the highest rated comment on the post.

“It’s so strange. Malta is a beautiful (albeit very dry) island. The natural wonders are incredible and the history is amazing. It’s small so I wouldn’t spend weeks there, but we added it to our Sicily trip, where we spent weeks and I’m glad we did,” said one user.

“My wife and I went to Malta for 2 weeks. I would move there afterwards. It’s amazing!” wrote another.

“Maybe the wealthy movie director in the 80s isn’t the one people should be looking to for vacation advice?” joked another user.

Several Redditors also countered Scott’s remarks by sharing negative reviews Gladiator 2describing the film as ‘lazy’, ‘ridiculous’, ‘complete rubbish’ and ‘as historically accurate as Game of Thrones’, which also happened to be partially shot in Malta.

Back in the Maltese corner of the internet, reactions to Scott’s comment on social media were predictably stinging.

In a stirring Facebook post, former opposition leader Adrian Delia advised Scott not to come to Malta again, in comments endorsed by Labor exponent Jason Micallef.

Shadow culture minister Julie Zahra said the film commissioner should “resign with immediate effect” after being “humiliated” by the director.