Okay, Gary Oldman, Jack Nicholson, and Anthony Hopkins are all great. But none of them holds the title of the ultimate film villain. Who do I think does?
Christopher Walken is evil incarnate! His look, the way he acts, and everything makes him the best villain. Even when he is a good guy in a film, which is very rarely, he’s still creepy as hell.
the entire cast of Resivoir Dogs…I love those guys.
I watch the tipping scene over and over and over…
Okay Ramblers…lets get ramblin’
the entire cast of Resivoir Dogs…I love those guys.
I watch the tipping scene over and over and over…
Okay Ramblers…lets get ramblin’
Vincent Price. You knew if he was around, something was wrong someplace.
Barbara Stanwyck in “Double Indemnity.” “It’s just you and me, Waltah–right down the line.”
Snidely Whiplash, from “Dudley Do Right.” Oh, also Boris and Natasha, of course, but Snidley was aces.
The Evil Island Queen played by Maria Montez in “Cobra Woman.” “Giff me dot Cobra Jool—I am jur seester. Can ju look at me an’ dot eet?”
Max Von Sydow as Ming the Merciless inthe 1980 “Flash Gordon”. Big evil fun!
Another agreement on Alan Rickman, but he not only can play fun bad guys like Hans Gruber, but deeply scary ones like the character he played in “Closetland”.
There are a few characters that are sticking out in my mind right now. All of them are Batman villains.
Batman, when taken as a whole, has some of the best villains ever conceived. I’ll also concede that it has some of the worst. In my opinion, the animated series was the best at portraying villains well. The comic book is also excellent. The 70’s TV show was really bad, yet somehow still better than the movies. Anyhow, here are some of my favorites.
Mr. Freeze: When you consider all of the backstory in this character, you get the impression that he wouldn’t be evil if not for many extraneous circumstances. He has motivation behind his actions, something that many modern villains sadly lack.
Two-Face: Another great villain, he also has a history. He also has a gimmick that is incredibly cool.
The Joker: No list of villains would be complete without this one. The Joker is one of the most storied villains in existence. Also, he’s been portrayed very well by people who have played him. Mark Hamill does his voice for the animated show. Jack Nicholson played him in the movie. (Nicholson is a fine actor, but he didn’t get this character right.)
These are just a few of my personal favorites from Batman. As I mentioned, Batman is the source of some of the worst villains ever. Just look at Poison Ivy, Baby Doll, and the Clock King.
On an unrelated side note, Mark Hamill has lent his voice to many other projects, including playing the voice of Adrian Ripburger in the Lucasarts adventure game Full Throttle.
Anyway, I’m done with this particular long winded (and pointless) rant.
Have Fun!
I’d have to say, almost every James Bond villain.
Don’t get me wrong…I like Bond, and I’m not rooting for the bad guy. However, every time the villain captures him, then puts him in an “unescapable trap,” I find myself yelling at the screen, “Just shoot him, you idiot!”
I was watching Live and Let Die just last week. The moron has a gun in his hand and uses it…to force James onto an island full of hungry crocodiles??? SHOOT HIM!
Sheesh, the guy is so lucky his enemies are such morons.
another Alan Richman fan. His evilness is all the more frightening since he can appear so controlled and “normal”. John Malkovich does an excellent crazy bad guy as well. Steve Bushchemi, nah, he’s more effective as a comedic sidekick (ala Big Lebowski)
tim roth as archibald cunningham in ‘rob roy’.
didn’t really want him to win, but what a bad, bad, guy.
He’s got a ways to go before he’s an all-time contender, but the coolest villain I’ve seen lately is Scorpius, from the Sci-Fi channel’s program, Farscape. What’s so great about Scorpius is that he looks like a savage beast, yet he’s so calm, cool, and even-tempered most of the time…it’s chilling, how smoothly he orders torture and executions.
Oh, and how can I forget—
• Dr. Smith from “Lost in Space” (“Oh, the pain, the pain . . .”)
• The Powerpuff Girls’ nemesis Mojo Jojo
• Frank Nelson. OK, not really a villain, but he was the wonderful 1950s character actor who always played snooty headwaiters or floorwalkers who always plagued Lucy Ricardo or Jack Benny or Burns & Allen: “EEE-yesss?” He was brilliant.
Another Alan Rickman fan checking in here.
" Cancel Christmas!"
Alan Rickman is brilliant.
Steve Buschemi in ConAir- freaky evil man, especially singing “HE’s got the Whole World” with that little kid,
and when he mentioned the ultimate line
“I drove through 3 states wearing that guys head as a hat”
why has no-one mentioned Anthony Hopkins?
though my favourite, Christopher Walken in “Things to do in Denver when you’re Dead”
Yeah! And then he started singing “Who you gonna call?” when that funky music came on… and then all those other actors started showing up on screen and singing with him and…
…oh wait…
Movies: Darth Vader reigns supreme as far as bad guys go, at least up through the first half of “Return of the Jedi.”
TV: I’d have to say the Borg Collective wins here, if you can stretch the definition of “villain” to fit a whole race acting as a corporate entity. Absolutely amoral, cold, and aggressive. Plus they didn’t kill you, they incorporated you into them.
Books: Sauron. Unfathomable, remote, an everpresent force with agents around every corner, wielding irresistable power.
Mythology: Loki. Definitely the coolest, even if not the most powerful of the mythical beings. Set and Kali would have torn him apart, but Loki had attitude and style.
