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The Great Movie villains


JoeinAR

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Just one of the greatest movie scumbags ever. Some of the best movie villains are the slimey ones.

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Forget the Gruber Bros. These two are the real undefeated champions of brotherly villainy.

Just noticed I broke the rules of the thread. Oops.

Not really GE, I just didn't want a boring list of villians, some of the discussion has been nice as opposed to a list of 1000 names.

no one has mentioned Bill Clay, played by Alan Rickman, of course Bill Clay is American, but just an quick identity assumed by Has Grueber.

Its truly one of the best villian roles of the past 40 or 50 years. Suave, arrogant, very intelligent, and as necessary, over confident.

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I can't really decide for myself who the greatest Movie villain is but I do have my favorites. Right now The Joker (The Dark Knight) is my favorite because he's such a fascinating character. After him is a minor villain but I just loved how he was portrayed... that one being "The Operative" from Serenity. He was a bad guy who grabbed me from the first frame and I loved every minute of him in the movie. Plus, he was a guy who knew he was evil, knew what he did was evil and accepted that as his role. Then when he learned that everything he had believed in and had done was based on was a lie he then changed.

I know the role of the bad guy is to make you hate him but I like bad guys I can almost root for.

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no one has mentioned Bill Clay, played by Alan Rickman, of course Bill Clay is American, but just an quick identity assumed by Has Grueber.

Its truly one of the best villian roles of the past 40 or 50 years. Suave, arrogant, very intelligent, and as necessary, over confident.

I thought he had been, but it might have been you in the other thread.

And Rickman is fantastic throughout the film even as Hans.

"Asian Dawn?"

"I read about them in Time magazine."

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I seem to remember a poll in some British magazine, were Mr Gruber came top of the villainy list. Ahead of Vader, which is not only surprising, but frankly debatable, as far as sheer entertainments go.

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Every time a thread like this comes up, I mention Andy Robinson's portrayal of the serial killer Scorpio in Dirty Harry. I make no apology for doing so again. Here is a nice clip of him 'looking after' some kids on the school bus he has just hijacked...

Row, row, row your boat

Apparently Robinson ad libbed quite a few of his lines during filming. I think what makes his performance such malevolent fun is that he's no invincible superhuman, but a rather weedy misfit who happens to be a really nasty piece of work.

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Actually I agree with you, the guy is an extremely memorable nutcase. Its interesting how the look of an actor, can greatly enhance a characters apparent psychotic tenancies.

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The previous poster reminded me of this, I'll also add Damien Thorn in DAMIEN: OMEN II and THE FINAL CONFLICT. He's a bit conflicted in DAMIEN, but still pretty damn good for a kid. Sam Neill's scenery chewing in TFC (especially his heart-to-hearts with the statue in his house) is much appreciated.

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I was going to mention Snape, but movie Snape isn't nearly as good as book Snape and "Movie villains" are the topic at hand. So no Snape.

I'm glad someone mentioned the Emperor. But for the sake of not being repetitive, I'm going to vote for the Sheriff of Nottingham in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. He's evil and creepy in a way that is enjoyable rather than off-putting.

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Anton Chigurh.

Beat me to the punch! That character was just so...baaaaaaad. Javier did an amazing job with him. And that air gun thing was just the coolest.

Jamesyboy

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The movie Snape is rubbish, but that's not Rickman's fault.

Hey, is Alan Rickman's the most mentioned performance in this thread?

I wouldn't say he's rubbish, but he's very limited in what is shown. Rickman is always menancing in the Potter films, but much of his work is often left on the cutting floor.

He'll be properly hissed in November.

Marc, I too love that line about Asian Dawn, it makes him seem so congienial.

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But Rickman does so much with so little screen time. That scene in Potter 5 when his only dialogue is "...Yeeeeees...........obbbbbviously......." is hands down his best scene in any of the films.

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The Emperor from the Star Wars films.

Good call, one of the ones that first sprung to mind for me. I love McDiarmid's performance(s).

Saruman (Christopher Lee)- The Lord of the Rings

Lee is a devout Tolkienite, reading the books at least once per year. And then in the films the man legendary for his Hammer Horror perfomances get a chance to play Tolkien's most complex villian, and shines through brilliantly. Cold and calculating, feinging loyalty to Sauron and Mordor while at the same time planning for his "ally's" ultimate downfall, and ultimately unwillingly being used by Sauron in an attempt to destroy Rohan so they could not aid Gondor in the coming war. It's really a shame that Jackson decided that The Two Towers film should end at Helm's Deep, leaving Saruman's ultimate fate to the next film (and the EE, at that). The whole point of that portion of TTT is the defeat of Saruman, who must be taken down before the world of Men is torn in two, indefensible against Mordor.

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Still, I can see why Saruman was removed from the end of TTT. The film just needed to wrap things up quickly at that point.

There's actually a ton of restructuring in the LotR films, but that's probably going off on a tangent here.

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Tangents are fun. :P

I can agree to an extent about wrapping it up, but I think you're missing some closure there and some fat could have been trimmed somewhere else. That's the only restructuring I have a problem with though, Shelob being in RotK works since it fits Tolkien's timeline (Sam and Frodo's story in TTT is much longer in story time terms than the other half).

OK, I'll stop now.

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Shelob in RotK isn't what I meant. I meant restructuring in the editing room.

FotR I think is pretty much left alone.

The Sméagol flashback that opens RotK was going to be in TTT when Frodo refers to Gollum as Sméagol for the first time.

Early reports mentioned the title "The Return of the King" was going to be shown over the crossroads scene. The scene didn't make the theatrical cut at all and finally ended up in the EE... about 40 minutes into the picture.

Arwen was going to be at Helm's Deep. This was a huge subplot that got dropped. There was going to be a meeting between Elrond and Galadriel in Lothlórien. I don't think all of it was shot.

I believe Arwen's vision from RotK was going to be in TTT. It was going to have her singing over it. The song ended up in the RotK EE at the Houses of Healing sequence.

As we all know from the RotK CR liner notes, the battle of Osgiliath was going to take place before Gandalf even got to Minas Tirith. He would arrive just as Faramir and his troops ran from the city and would save them before entering the city. This is why Pippin is with him on Shadowfax.

RotK was going to end with an epilogue narrated by Galadriel, to bookend the FotR prologue. It would briefly tell the story of each member of the Fellowship after the Third Age ended.

I'm sure there's more. You can even see two different versions of the Fellowship entering Lórien in the theatrical cut and the EE, and we know there was a third that had them running from the Orcs like in the book (brief shots could be seen in the trailers and storyboards can be found in the EE supplements).

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Shelob being in RotK works since it fits Tolkien's timeline (Sam and Frodo's story in TTT is much longer in story time terms than the other half).

That's why I always said, and while I still think Shelob works where they put her, that argument doesn't quite work. Look at all the stuff that's intercut between Frodo, Sam and Gollum starting to climb the stairs at Minas Morgul and them arriving at the top. They obviously did NOT keep the timelines synchronous. :P

Not the *greates* movie villain, but I'll give a honorable mention to: Cosmo in Sneakers. Lines like "Pain? Try aspirin." and "I can't kill my friend... Kill my friend!" plus the portrayal by Kingsley make for quite a sophisticated badass, although one whose reasoning can be followed to a certain (!) degree.

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But Rickman does so much with so little screen time. That scene in Potter 5 when his only dialogue is "...Yeeeeees...........obbbbbviously......." is hands down his best scene in any of the films.

Turn to page three hundred and ninety fouurr.

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I've been enamoured with Alfred Molina's Doc Oc. Great characterization. At first the movie didn't stick, but I watch it on DVD now and like it a lot.

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I agree with several of the last badge of entries: Roy Batty, Amon Goethe, Wicked Witch of the East, ...

Here are two more legendary villains:

HAL 9000 (A Space Odyssey): Simple design, the calm tone of the voice, the all-seeing eye, his motives of self-preservation, amazing death scene (as if it really was alive).

Frank (Once upon A Time In The West): Henry Fonda portrays cold evil like you have never seen it before. He even kills children after he killed their father. He seems to enjoy it too. And Henry always used to be so likeable!

Alex

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I agree with several of the last badge of entries: Roy Batty, Amon Goethe, Wicked Witch of the East, ...

Here are two more legendary villains:

HAL 9000 (A Space Odyssey): Simple design, the calm tone of the voice, the all-seeing eye, his motives of self-preservation, amazing death scene (as if it really was alive).

Frank (Once upon A Time In The West): Henry Fonda portrays cold evil like you have never seen it before. He even kills children after he killed their father. He seems to enjoy it too. And Henry always used to be so likeable!

Alex

I was hoping for more like this, more of the great villians of the past.

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Speaking of Hungarian-American actors, there was Bela Lugosi in his iconic performance as Dracula.

Has anyone mentioned Gary Oldman? He was terrific in Dracula and Leon (a very memorable and effective villain, even though he was a bit over the top in that one) . However, as much as Oldman is great in playing bad guys, I am so glad that he was finally given a chance play a major positive character in the Batman series.

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I think that Oldman is marvelous in Air Force One. In The Contender, too. There's a great deal more to that character than one would expect.

Hey I went back to 1931 for mine. ;)

And I thought I mentioned Conrad Veidt in Thief of Bagdad....never got around to posting it, I guess.

I seem to be drawn to villains who are not villains per se....one of my favorites is Bogart in The Caine Mutiny. He is not the villain, but clearly his Captain Queeg is the antagonist. And I think that it is the best Bogart performance I've seen, there is a very subtle and subdued humanity to this seemingly illogical and troubled man (Spelled out in part by Jose Ferrer's marvelous speech at the end).

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Cal Hockley - you know this little toupee wearing jerk hasn't seen Kate Winslet's nice sagging boobs yet because he's just so cranky all the time, like when he gains superhuman strength and pushes that table out of the way when he yells at her, he's just so sexually frustrated. I find him kind of likable in an odd way though, and it's sometimes more fun watching Titanic if you’re cheering his spoiled little arse. He even pretends that crying kid is his just to get on a lifeboat - I mean, wouldn't you do that too?

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Has anyone mentioned Gary Oldman? He was terrific in Dracula and Leon (a very memorable and effective villain, even though he was a bit over the top in that one) . However, as much as Oldman is great in playing bad guys, I am so glad that he was finally given a chance play a major positive character in the Batman series.

Gary Oldman is one of my favorite actors. He's so versatile and amazing in everything I've seen him in. Your comment of him being a bit over the top in Leon isn't necessarily true, because that's part of the character.

"Bring me everyone."

- "What do you mean everyone?"

"EVVVERRYYYONNNEE!!!!"

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George Lucas.

In that case, let me add Steven Spielberg from the South Park episode Free Hat.

"Zurück! I have a walkie-talkie! And I will use it!"

Has anyone mentioned Gary Oldman? He was terrific in Dracula and Leon (a very memorable and effective villain, even though he was a bit over the top in that one) . However, as much as Oldman is great in playing bad guys, I am so glad that he was finally given a chance play a major positive character in the Batman series.

Gary Oldman is one of my favorite actors. He's so versatile and amazing in everything I've seen him in. Your comment of him being a bit over the top in Leon isn't necessarily true, because that's part of the character.

"Bring me everyone."

- "What do you mean everyone?"

"EVVVERRYYYONNNEE!!!!"

Quite right. Remember, the character's doped up for most of the movie.

I still need to get a good DVD with the director's cut of this film. Unfortunately, it's very hard to find.

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How 'bout James Mason's wonderfully sleazy Phillip Vandamm in North by Northwest? "Your very next role, and you'll be quite convincing, I assure you."

That's another one from the "fun villains" category... still have to pick a truly utterly evil one.

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There was going to be a meeting between Elrond and Galadriel in Lothlórien. I don't think all of it was shot.

I think footage of that is used for the "mind-link" scene between Elrod and Galadriel in TTT.

Maybe it would have been better for him to have gone to Lorien in TTT, then it would have been less of a stretch when he suddenly appears near the Dwimorberg in ROTK.

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There was going to be a meeting between Elrond and Galadriel in Lothlórien. I don't think all of it was shot.

I think footage of that is used for the "mind-link" scene between Elrod and Galadriel in TTT.

I'm nut sure they did, but you can see footage of the meeting itself in the TTT EE preview on the TTT TC bonus disc, and I think it's somewhere in the EE's extra's as well.

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Has anyone mentioned Gary Oldman? He was terrific in Dracula and Leon (a very memorable and effective villain, even though he was a bit over the top in that one) . However, as much as Oldman is great in playing bad guys, I am so glad that he was finally given a chance play a major positive character in the Batman series.

Gary Oldman is one of my favorite actors. He's so versatile and amazing in everything I've seen him in. Your comment of him being a bit over the top in Leon isn't necessarily true, because that's part of the character.

"Bring me everyone."

- "What do you mean everyone?"

"EVVVERRYYYONNNEE!!!!"

Quite right. Remember, the character's doped up for most of the movie.

I still need to get a good DVD with the director's cut of this film. Unfortunately, it's very hard to find.

Right here.

Although you are in Europe, so you need a region 2 DVD, right? If so, I found this on Amazon.de

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How 'bout James Mason's wonderfully sleazy Phillip Vandamm in North by Northwest? "Your very next role, and you'll be quite convincing, I assure you."

That's another one from the "fun villains" category... still have to pick a truly utterly evil one.

You could probably say the same thing about his role in Lolita as Humbert Humbert. I would consider him a villian when you look at what he does in the film; seducing a 14 year old, murdering Peter Seller's character.

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How 'bout James Mason's wonderfully sleazy Phillip Vandamm in North by Northwest? "Your very next role, and you'll be quite convincing, I assure you."

That's another one from the "fun villains" category... still have to pick a truly utterly evil one.

You could probably say the same thing about his role in Lolita as Humbert Humbert. I would consider him a villian when you look at what he does in the film; seducing a 14 year old, murdering Peter Seller's character.

I don't know, I never saw the movie as having anything to do with statutory rape. It played like an absurdist comedy.

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Harvey Korman as Hedley Lamarr!

"Now go doooo that voodooooo that you doooo sooooo weeeeeellll!!!!"

"That's Hedley!"

Yessir, one of the great comedy villan performances.

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Michael Corleone. Good natured college boy and war hero not interested in family business. Guns down police chief and mob gangster in public. Kills all his father's enemies in one swift move, while his godchild is baptized. Then has child's father killed. Lies straight to his wife's face. Has his brother killed for plotting against him. Cool and collected, calculating and cunning.

If EZ-Pass had existed in 1948, Sonny Corleone would still be alive.

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Hey I went back to 1931 for mine. ;)

sorry Mark, I was half asleep when I read this.

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