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The Great Movie villains


JoeinAR

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Angel Eyes from The Good, the Bad and the Ugly - Well, he's got the smallest slitted eyes in a film full of slitted eyes, beats up a hooker and his appearance is announced with 'The Bad' appearing on screen. Need more be said?

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Another favorite of mine is agent Smith.

I agree. Smith is one of those 'villains' who never seems to die (even after Revolutions). I personally like the dry humour he developed in the second film:

"You."

"Yes, me. me, me me"

"Me too."

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Another favorite of mine is agent Smith.

I agree. Smith is one of those 'villains' who never seems to die (even after Revolutions). I personally like the dry humour he developed in the second film:

"You."

"Yes, me. me, me me"

"Me too."

He was great in the first one. In the sequels he seemed to me more... grotesque.

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Biff Tannen, and his ancestor Buford, make great villains in the complete Back to the Future trilogy/super-movie.

I think Biff Tannen is a much better villain in Back to the Future, Part II, than in the first movie. He's rough around the edges in original 1985 and a big bully in 1955, but not really any more of a villain than any other bully ringleader in any other teenage movie. Especially because he bullies George McFly, who's portrayed as such an insecure and utter wimp to make an even more dramatic transformation into the new and improved post-knockout George McFly, that anybody with half an ounce of bad blood would bully him around too.

But in Part II, Biff comes into his own as a villain. Since Part II begins with a modified an extended ending to Part I, we see his suspicion that there's something wrong about a flying DeLorean, although it takes him 30 years to catch up to it. It's impossible for him to suspect anything is "wrong" about the 1985 he accepts as real, after Marty tampered with the past, since only Marty has experienced both and thus knows of the permanent change to the timeline. But Biff is quick enough on his feet to steal Marty's idea of the sports almanac and go back in time to change the past, and set himself up as a rich mogul, knowing the results of every sporting game to place his bets. To do that, he had to learn how to use the time machine properly so he could visit the necessary moments in time and return without being noticed. Then his younger self kills Marty's dad and takes Lorraine for himself.

I had mentioned that by going back to 1955 and giving his younger self the almanac, Biff cannot return to his "normal" 2015 without creating a paradox. Apparently he dies after returning to the real 2015, but this something either not on the VHS copy of the movie I grew up with, or I never noticed. I have the DVD but have been slow to watch Parts 2 and 3. Oh well, any movie with time travel creates paradoxes, and in this case, it's all good fun.

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I really never saw Biff as a villain, just a buffoon.

He provides comic relief, but he's never a real threat

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I truly hate the Matrix movies.

I could certainly live without the sequels, but I really like the first one and The Animatrix.

So do I. Smith was good in all of them I thought, but he was at his best in the first (as was everyone I guess).

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I really never saw Biff as a villain, just a buffoon.

He provides comic relief, but he's never a real threat

True enough. Nearly all movies have an antagonist, but antagonism alone doesn't turn a bad guy into a villain, regardless of greatness. True villains have evil in their heart and plan to do really evil things like kill, maim, and steal. Bullies just harass people until they're put into their place, as was Biff. And his misguided one-liners and misfortunes made him quite funny.

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I'll just put up the Top 10:

1. Dr. Hannibal Lecter in The Silence Of The Lambs

2. Norman Bates in Psycho

3. Darth Vader in The Empire Strikes Back

4. The Wicked Witch Of The West in The Wizard Of Oz

5. Nurse Ratched in Once Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest

6. Mr. Potter in It's A Wonderful Life

7. Alex Forrest in Fatal Attraction

8. Phyllis Dietrichson in Double Indemnity

9. Regan MacNeil in The Exorcist

10. The Queen in Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs

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Biff not a villain? He's the bad guy and constantly picks on Marty and George, he also tries to rape Lorraine. He is not comic relief since he is not the only character with funny lines, all major characters provide comedy: Doc, Marty, George, Lorraine and Biff all have humorous scenes or funny lines. So you can't call him comic relief. Just because he is unaware of the time travel plot and the life or death effect of his bullying actions doesn't mean he isn't a villain. He is the villain of BTTF, I'm not even talking about the inferior sequels. A villain isn't just someone trying to take over the world or kill lots of people.

A villain is:

a cruelly malicious person who is involved in or devoted to wickedness or crime; scoundrel.

a character in a play, novel, or the like, who constitutes an important evil agency in the plot

a wicked or evil person; a scoundrel.

a dramatic or fictional character who is typically at odds with the hero

That's Biff!

He provides comic relief, but he's never a real threat

Not a threat? His actions could cost Marty his existence, he bullies George for decades and tried to rape Lorraine.

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thats one way to look at Biff Scratch, but he's just a real baffoon to me, I think what he wants to do to Lorraine is debatable, he's more of a nuscance than that, but if you see his as a villain fine, but in the scheme of things, he's not a great one. course I'm more dismissive of Back to the Future and its sequels they are ok movies to me. It was a much better ride at Universal Studio's than it ever was a movie.

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I think what he wants to do to Lorraine is debatable

What constitutes sexual assault in Arkansas?

:lol:

On second thought, I'd rather not know...

he's more of a nuscance than that, but if you see his as a villain fine, but in the scheme of things, he's not a great one.

In the grand scheme of things, it makes him rather unique. The bullying and comedic aspects of the character are pitch perfect.

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the movie always has a light heartedness too it, if you think Biff was going to rape her, perhaps thats your base instincts, I prefer to think he was not very nice but rape doesn't fit with the rest of the movie. btw don't attack my state please, I don't attack your city or state with crap like that.

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the movie always has a light heartedness too it, if you think Biff was going to rape her, perhaps thats your base instincts, I prefer to think he was not very nice but rape doesn't fit with the rest of the movie.

He was drunk and he was clearly headed up her dress, my "instincts" have nothing to do with it. It fits perfectly with the tone of the movie, which by the way had a couple incest gags just minutes before. It's all implied though because it is ultimately a family friendly movie, but don't be naive about what was going on or what was at stake.

btw don't attack my state please, I don't attack your city or state with crap like that.

Attack? Lighten up, you made some remark a few days ago about Baltimore being a bunch of druggies.

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I'm surprised nobody has nominated Bruce yet. Or did I miss it?

I don't think that Bruce is generally considered a villain.

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If you want to consider an animal or creature as the villian then yes it is.

If that's the case then the original Godzilla (1954 film) is right up there with the best.

I'm curious what was said on page three to cause my work internet censor to block it out.

The word rape was used.

Going back to BTTF, I think it was obvious he was going to sexually assault her. But Biff is more evil in the second film. That one was a tad bit too dark for my liking, considering the light tone of the series.

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If you want to consider an animal or creature as the villian then yes it is.

If that's the case then the original Godzilla (1954 film) is right up there with the best.

I don't like to think of them as villains, they aren't conscious of their actions. Monsters and villains are two different things.

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Now I would consider the Predator a villian.

Well he's smarter than your average man-eating beast.

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Now I would consider the Predator a villian.

Absolutely, he's conscious of his actions, hunting for sport and using technology. In a nutshell: intelligent life = villain. Bruce is just a shark in the ocean doing what sharks do.

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the movie always has a light heartedness too it, if you think Biff was going to rape her, perhaps thats your base instincts, I prefer to think he was not very nice but rape doesn't fit with the rest of the movie.

He was drunk and he was clearly headed up her dress, my "instincts" have nothing to do with it. It fits perfectly with the tone of the movie, which by the way had a couple incest gags just minutes before. It's all implied though because it is ultimately a family friendly movie, but don't be naive about what was going on or what was at stake.

btw don't attack my state please, I don't attack your city or state with crap like that.

Attack? Lighten up, you made some remark a few days ago about Baltimore being a bunch of druggies.

No I said Maryland might have a bunch of druggies as does Arkansas, when we were discussing Apatow films, it wasn't an attack on your state, just a comment on the state of drugs

Monsters and animals arn't often the villian. In the Wolfman its hard to see Larry Talbot as a villain even as a werewolf.

Now the Alien in Alien was, it was intelligent and it stalked its victims with more than just instinct.

Bruce is borderline, because he did things that a shark doesn't do. The shark was malevolent

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Going back to BTTF, I think it was obvious he was going to sexually assault her. But Biff is more evil in the second film. That one was a tad bit too dark for my liking, considering the light tone of the series.

BTTF2 is many things but I never thought of it as "dark". The 2015 stuff is light and goofy and the return to 1955 is exactly like the first BTTF in look and style. The alternate 1985 is kind of dark I guess, but it takes up very little screen time and its almost entirely exposition.

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Most critics thought it was dark, and they did so becuase it was.

but I did like that aspect. still its a completely forgettable film, as was the 3rd.

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Now the Alien in Alien was, it was intelligent and it stalked its victims with more than just instinct.

Bruce is borderline, because he did things that a shark doesn't do. The shark was malevolent

Bruce is still just an animal, its not malevolent... unless you are talking about Jaws 4. It's not "personal" in the first one though, Hooper explained it quite well when he talked about sharks being territorial.

Alien is more on the border, there's nothing to suggest they are intelligent. By intelligent I mean self-aware and murderous as opposed to killing for survival. It seems to me Alien is just a space animal with a parasitic reproductive method. It doesn't kill because it enjoys it or because of some other motivation, it kills because that's how it reproduces and/or eats. Same with raptors and other dinos from Jurassic Park, they aren't being evil they are acting on instinct and survival.

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I can't believe this thread got to 4 pages without anyone (myself included) mentioning Robert Mitchum in Night of the Hunter. "The Tale of Right Hand-Left Hand" is one of the most iconic villain speeches ever.

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no Scratch, you're wrong, Bruce is malevolent. He does things that no shark has done. Hooper's explanation of the rogue shark theory doesn't account for the actions of this great white shark. They may be the apex predator in the ocean, but to date no Great White has ever been so relentless in its determination and consistent in its attacks on people in a boat much larger than itself.

the Alien always struck me as more than a bug, but I'll grant in Alien it shows less intelligence than in the later films.

Later they exhibit problem solving, and understanding. That requires intelligence

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no Scratch, you're wrong, Bruce is malevolent. He does things that no shark has done. Hooper's explanation of the rogue shark theory doesn't account for the actions of this great white shark. They may be the apex predator in the ocean, but to date no Great White has ever been so relentless in its determination and consistent in its attacks on people in a boat much larger than itself.

To me, Bruce is just an aggressive animal, nothing more. It may be abnormal, but that doesn't make it malevolent - he's still just a shark in the ocean. Bruce didn't just attack a boat three times his size, he was being hunted.

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Still, he's persistent in targetting the main characters and trying to kill them. Conscious or not, that puts him in the villain category for me. I think the same applies to the Alien. Not to the T-Rex or the raptors of JP though, they're more over the place and not as focused.

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Don't forget, it's implied and stated from the time they arrive on the island that the raptors possess intelligence.

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Don't forget his role in the original Cape Fear.

I've yet to see it. Not for lack of want....but a year ago I joined a great DVD rental place that has just about everything one could wish for, and there is such a huge amount I need to catch up on. That one is still on my original wish-list, which I only got through a dozen or so....there are just too damn many films out there to catch up with! It's almost a relief when there's nothing new worth watching, I can actually catch up on my film history.

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the movie always has a light heartedness too it, if you think Biff was going to rape her, perhaps thats your base instincts, I prefer to think he was not very nice but rape doesn't fit with the rest of the movie.

He was drunk and he was clearly headed up her dresss.

I thought so too.

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Don't forget, it's implied and stated from the time they arrive on the island that the raptors possess intelligence.

Yes, but they never seem focused on the protagonists in particular. Bruce does attack and kill the occasional supporting character in the first half of the movie, but once they're out to sea (no pun intended), he's entirely focused on the trio (I'm sure he'd happily eat whoever else happened to suddenly show up, but nobody does, so that's not really relevant). Similarly, the Alien is very consequent in wiping out the Nostromo's crew (true again, nobody else is there to kill, but in the context of the narrative, it still comes across as an agressive force focused on the main characters). Whereas the JP dinos just kill and eat whatever meat crosses their path.

Also, the Alien is a "character", and I'd say Bruce pretty much is one, too. None of the dinos seem like characters to me.

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the Alien always struck me as more than a bug, but I'll grant in Alien it shows less intelligence than in the later films.

Later they exhibit problem solving, and understanding. That requires intelligence

In the first movie it was one Alien against a crew. Its intelligence was different. Its intelligence was a mystery. It acted less human. It didn't take the elevator. In later films the Alien was reduced to an unpersonal bug that had to be killed on mass. Honestly, I thought they were stupid. They had no class. While they were being slaughtered by the thousands, Cameron destroyed the mystery. By making them behave like ordinary bugs, they lost their intangibility. Creating an enigma, something we, the crew and the audience couldn't understand is precisely what made the first movie and its star beast so intelligent.

Alex

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I had mentioned that by going back to 1955 and giving his younger self the almanac, Biff cannot return to his "normal" 2015 without creating a paradox. Apparently he dies after returning to the real 2015, but this something either not on the VHS copy of the movie I grew up with, or I never noticed.

He was going to fade out of existence after Marty and Doc left 2015. It was never in the film, but you can find it in the deleted scenes section of the DVD. It's also why he comes out of the DeLorean grasping his stomach and coughing violently.

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the Alien always struck me as more than a bug, but I'll grant in Alien it shows less intelligence than in the later films.

Later they exhibit problem solving, and understanding. That requires intelligence

In the first movie it was one Alien against a crew. Its intelligence was different. Its intelligence was a mystery. It acted less human. It didn't take the elevator. In later films the Alien was reduced to an unpersonal bug that had to be killed on mass. Honestly, I thought they were stupid. They had no class. While they were being slaughtered by the thousands, Cameron destroyed the mystery. By making them behave like ordinary bugs, they lost their intangibility. Creating an enigma, something we, the crew and the audience couldn't understand is precisely what made the first movie and its star beast so intelligent.

Alex

Agree 100% ;)

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Still, he's persistent in targetting the main characters and trying to kill them. Conscious or not, that puts him in the villain category for me. I think the same applies to the Alien. Not to the T-Rex or the raptors of JP though, they're more over the place and not as focused.

Bruce was being hunted, not the other way around. The trio shot him with harpoons and attached barrels to him. That wasn't villainy, it was survival.

By making them behave like ordinary bugs, they lost their intangibility.

That makes no sense. Do you mean they lost intangible qualities like mystique and intelligence.

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By making the alien behave like an ordinary bug, the alien becomes a less tangible (less vague to comprehend) creature. He becomes a bug.

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