5 Favourite Movie Villains

Started by vandermolen, April 19, 2018, 04:51:08 AM

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vandermolen

April 19, 2018, 04:51:08 AM
Richard Widmark in 'Kiss of Death' (giggling psychopath)

Dennis Hopper in 'Speed' (deranged ex-cop)

Alan Rickman in 'Die Hard' ('Hans Gruber')

Frederic March in 'Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde' (as 'Mr Hyde' obviosly)

Robert Mitchum in 'Night of the Hunter' (deranged and murderous 'priest' - terrifying!)
"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).

Mirror Image

#1
April 19, 2018, 05:51:40 AM Last Edit: April 19, 2018, 06:21:48 AM by Mirror Image
In no particular order:

Darth Vader (Star Wars trilogy) voiced by James Earl Jones
T-1000 (T2: Judgment Day) played by Robert Patrick
The Joker (The Dark Knight) played by Heath Ledger
Lex Luthor (Superman movies with Christopher Reeve) played by Gene Hackman
Hannibal Lecter (The Silence of the Lambs, Hannibal) played by Anthony Hopkins

Jaakko Keskinen

#2
April 19, 2018, 06:50:04 AM
Fred C. Dobbs (The Treasure of Sierra Madre), played by Humphrey Bogart
Darth Vader (Star Wars movies), voiced by James Earl Jones
Simon Gruber (Die Hard with a Vengeance), played by Jeremy Irons
René Emile Belloq (Raiders of the Lost Ark), played by Paul Freeman
Auric Goldfinger (Goldfinger), played by Gert Fröbe

Yes, I just placed Simon Gruber over Hans Gruber  :D
"Javert, though frightful, had nothing ignoble about him. Probity, sincerity, candor, conviction, the sense of duty, are things which may become hideous when wrongly directed; but which, even when hideous, remain grand."

- Victor Hugo

Jaakko Keskinen

#3
April 19, 2018, 07:05:20 AM
Quote from: vandermolen on April 19, 2018, 04:51:08 AM
Frederic March in 'Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde' (as 'Mr Hyde' obviosly)

Haven't seen the film version but interestingly ever since I've read the book I've kind of seen Jekyll as the true villain. Yes, I know that they are the one and the same person (I hope this didn't spoil anyone  ;)) and that's actually my point: I see Jekyll as a kind of hypocrite who thinks that morality is a prison and a burden and that all Hyde's vices are Jekyll's vices and he doesn't seem to admit this to even to himself.

Not meant as criticizing your opinion, just thought to share my views.  :)
"Javert, though frightful, had nothing ignoble about him. Probity, sincerity, candor, conviction, the sense of duty, are things which may become hideous when wrongly directed; but which, even when hideous, remain grand."

- Victor Hugo

vandermolen

#4
April 19, 2018, 07:59:51 AM Last Edit: April 19, 2018, 08:09:45 AM by vandermolen
Quote from: Mirror Image on April 19, 2018, 05:51:40 AM
In no particular order:

Darth Vader (Star Wars trilogy) voiced by James Earl Jones
T-1000 (T2: Judgment Day) played by Robert Patrick
The Joker (The Dark Knight) played by Heath Ledger
Lex Luthor (Superman movies with Christopher Reeve) played by Gene Hackman
Hannibal Lecter (The Silence of the Lambs, Hannibal) played by Anthony Hopkins
Excellent choices John!
I nearly chose Darth Vader myself - my favourite scene is his redemption in 'Return of the Jedi' - the Emperor is another great villain. In regard to villains who obtain (sort of) redemption, James Cagney's Rocky from 'Angels with Dirty Faces' is, I believe, a great example.
:)
"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).

vandermolen

#5
April 19, 2018, 08:04:58 AM Last Edit: April 19, 2018, 01:29:43 PM by vandermolen
Quote from: Alberich on April 19, 2018, 06:50:04 AM
Fred C. Dobbs (The Treasure of Sierra Madre), played by Humphrey Bogart
Darth Vader (Star Wars movies), voiced by James Earl Jones
Simon Gruber (Die Hard with a Vengeance), played by Jeremy Irons
René Emile Belloq (Raiders of the Lost Ark), played by Paul Freeman
Auric Goldfinger (Goldfinger), played by Gert Fröbe

Yes, I just placed Simon Gruber over Hans Gruber  :D
Also great choices. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre is a terrific film and Humphrey Bogart was brilliant in it as was Walter Huston. I'll have to have another look at 'Simon Gruber'.
"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).

vandermolen

#6
April 19, 2018, 08:07:31 AM
Quote from: Alberich on April 19, 2018, 07:05:20 AM
Haven't seen the film version but interestingly ever since I've read the book I've kind of seen Jekyll as the true villain. Yes, I know that they are the one and the same person (I hope this didn't spoil anyone  ;)) and that's actually my point: I see Jekyll as a kind of hypocrite who thinks that morality is a prison and a burden and that all Hyde's vices are Jekyll's vices and he doesn't seem to admit this to even to himself.

Not meant as criticizing your opinion, just thought to share my views.  :)

A perfectly valid and interesting point. It is one of my favourite books (or long short-story) for its insight into the human condition. I especially like John Sanford's writings about the story of Dr J and Mr H.
"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).

drogulus

#7
April 19, 2018, 08:44:54 AM

     I'll go with Rickman/Gruber and this guy:     

     https://www.youtube.com/v/opbi7d42s8E
Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; Win64; x64; rv:136.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/136.0
      
Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; Win64; x64; rv:142.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/142.0

Mullvad 14.5.5

vandermolen

#8
April 19, 2018, 01:30:48 PM
Quote from: drogulus on April 19, 2018, 08:44:54 AM
     I'll go with Rickman/Gruber and this guy:     

     https://www.youtube.com/v/opbi7d42s8E

Oh yes! He was terrific! The cattle prod OMG  :o
"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).

Trout

#9
April 19, 2018, 03:42:48 PM
Anton Chigurh (played by Javier Bardem) - No Country for Old Men
Hal 9000 (voiced by Douglas Rain) - 2001: A Space Odyssey
Antonio Salieri (played by F Murray Abraham) - Amadeus
Don Lope de Aguirre (played by Klaus Kinski) - Aguirre: The Wrath of God
Frank Booth (played by Dennis Hopper) - Blue Velvet

Mirror Image

#10
April 19, 2018, 07:39:36 PM
Quote from: vandermolen on April 19, 2018, 07:59:51 AM
Excellent choices John!
I nearly chose Darth Vader myself - my favourite scene is his redemption in 'Return of the Jedi' - the Emperor is another great villain. In regard to villains who obtain (sort of) redemption, James Cagney's Rocky from 'Angels with Dirty Faces' is, I believe, a great example.
:)

Thanks! Yeah, Emperor Palpatine could have made my list, but, for some reason, Darth Vader always seemed to be a much more 'human' kind of evil and an evil I, in some strange way, found sympathy in. He always kind of felt torn between darkness and light to me. This vulnerability in the character gave his 'wickedness' a whole new dimension.

TheGSMoeller

#11
April 19, 2018, 08:16:00 PM
Salieri - Amadeus
Frank Booth - Blue Velvet
Jeremy Prokosch (Jack Palance) - Contempt
Dr. Otto Octavious - Spider-Man 2
Oil - There Will Be Blood

TheGSMoeller

#12
April 19, 2018, 08:18:38 PM
Quote from: Trout on April 19, 2018, 03:42:48 PM
Anton Chigurh (played by Javier Bardem) - No Country for Old Men
Hal 9000 (voiced by Douglas Rain) - 2001: A Space Odyssey
Antonio Salieri (played by F Murray Abraham) - Amadeus
Don Lope de Aguirre (played by Klaus Kinski) - Aguirre: The Wrath of God
Frank Booth (played by Dennis Hopper) - Blue Velvet

Nice, Trout. I intentionally didn't look at other's lists to avoid being influenced. But we share Frank Booth and Salieri.
Great choices!
Cheers!

vandermolen

#13
April 20, 2018, 02:23:20 AM
Quote from: Trout on April 19, 2018, 03:42:48 PM
Anton Chigurh (played by Javier Bardem) - No Country for Old Men
Hal 9000 (voiced by Douglas Rain) - 2001: A Space Odyssey
Antonio Salieri (played by F Murray Abraham) - Amadeus
Don Lope de Aguirre (played by Klaus Kinski) - Aguirre: The Wrath of God
Frank Booth (played by Dennis Hopper) - Blue Velvet

Don't know the last two but others are inspired choices and HAL is brilliant -why did I not think of him? ('Aren't you going to find that rather difficult without your space helmet Dave?')
Chigurh and Salieri were both terrific villains.

Thanks to everyone for responses so far - more than I expected.  :)
"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).

vandermolen

#14
April 20, 2018, 02:27:40 AM Last Edit: April 20, 2018, 02:30:59 AM by vandermolen
Quote from: TheGSMoeller on April 19, 2018, 08:16:00 PM
Salieri - Amadeus
Frank Booth - Blue Velvet
Jeremy Prokosch (Jack Palance) - Contempt
Dr. Otto Octavious - Spider-Man 2
Oil - There Will Be Blood

Only know the first one - a wonderful performance but Jack Palance is always a great villain - I didn't realise that it was his real-life his daughter playing the nanny who hangs herself in full view of the children's party in the first (and best) 'Omen' film.

PS on that topic - only a male cast so far, so let me add:

'Mrs Baylock' (Billie Whitelaw) from the original 'Omen' film and

'Phyllis Dietrichson' (Barbara Stanwyck) from 'Double Indeminty'.
"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).

Jaakko Keskinen

#15
April 20, 2018, 03:06:34 AM
I thought of including Hal on my list but I really don't see him as a true villain - he's a victim of a program error.
"Javert, though frightful, had nothing ignoble about him. Probity, sincerity, candor, conviction, the sense of duty, are things which may become hideous when wrongly directed; but which, even when hideous, remain grand."

- Victor Hugo

Sergeant Rock

#16
April 20, 2018, 03:37:15 AM
Some comedic villains and some modern femme fatales

Dr. Evil (Douglas "Dougie" Powers) played by Mike Myers in Austin Powers
Catherine Tramell played by Sharon Stone in Basic Instinct
Matty Tyler Walker played by Kathleen Turner in Body Heat
Gen. Garcia played by Richard Libertini in The In-Laws
The Joker played by Jack Nicholson in Batman


the phone rings and somebody says,
"hey, they made a movie about
Mahler, you ought to go see it.
he was as f*cked-up as you are."
                               --Charles Bukowski, "Mahler"

vandermolen

#17
April 20, 2018, 07:16:28 AM Last Edit: April 20, 2018, 07:20:05 AM by vandermolen
Quote from: Alberich on April 20, 2018, 03:06:34 AM
I thought of including Hal on my list but I really don't see him as a true villain - he's a victim of a program error.
Also a good point plus the fact that (spoiler alert) he redeems himself in the film '2010', which I rather liked despite negative reviews.
"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).

vandermolen

#18
April 20, 2018, 07:19:20 AM
Quote from: Sergeant Rock on April 20, 2018, 03:37:15 AM
Some comedic villains and some modern femme fatales

Dr. Evil (Douglas "Dougie" Powers) played by Mike Myers in Austin Powers
Catherine Tramell played by Sharon Stone in Basic Instinct
Matty Tyler Walker played by Kathleen Turner in Body Heat
Gen. Garcia played by Richard Libertini in The In-Laws
The Joker played by Jack Nicholson in Batman

I like the 'Dr Evil' choice. I'm not so familiar with the Batman films and so 'my Joker' is Cesar Romero from the Adam West TV series whom I don't think would count as one of the great screen villains. However, Frank Gorshin's 'Riddler' is another matter.  8)
"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).

Draško

#19
April 20, 2018, 07:23:32 AM
First that come to mind:

Harry Lime from The Third Man

Marquise de Merteuil and Vicomte de Valmont from Dangerous Liaisons

Liberty Walance
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