# Underappreciated movie villains **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 2, 2010, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underappreciated-movie-villains/523377 "2010-01-02T05:50:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Caprese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9a28c/32.png) [@Caprese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caprese)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2010, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underappreciated-movie-villains/523377/21 "2010-01-03T20:19:07Z")
> [@Mississippienne](#): > > My OP specifically requested movie villains, y’all. > > Anyway, I concur on Benedict from _The Last Action Hero_. A great contrast to the tough guy Jack Slater, he’s urbane, snarky, and a wonderfully over-the-top 90s villain. I see from his IMDB page that Charles Dance has been working steadily since forever, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen him in anything more high profile than this movie. A shame. He was wonderful (and villainous) in Bleak House. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2010, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underappreciated-movie-villains/523377/22 "2010-01-03T20:38:37Z")
“Shot them, shot them both” “Fraulein, let me show you what I am used to dealing with” “Hiel Hitler” “You Americans are all the same. Always overdressing for the wrong occasion.” Toht, from Raiders of the Lost Ark. The man is pure evil. The way he starts to almost giggle when he is about to torture someone, he freaks you out with his travel hanger. He even looks over the top of a magazine with pure menace. But my favorite thing is near the end when Indy appears with the Panzerfaust and threatens to blow up the Ark. Everyone generally panics or such and Toth just sort of sighs and sits down because it’s too hot for this BS. But my all time favorite is Nurse Ratchet from One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. She is just pure evil. She even defeats Jack Nickolson! ---
**Author:** ![ExTank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@ExTank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ExTank)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2010, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underappreciated-movie-villains/523377/23 "2010-01-03T22:51:41Z")
[“The Operative,”](http://fc00.deviantart.net/fs41/f/2009/015/6/5/Demotivation___Lawful_Evil_by_quicksilver22.jpg) from the _Firefly_ spin-off movie _Serenity_. I know _Firefly_ and _Serenity_ get mad love here on the board; I know because some of it comes from me. 😃 But to the greater public, they’re both less well known, and thus less appreciated. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2010, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underappreciated-movie-villains/523377/24 "2010-01-03T22:52:47Z")
Philip Seymour Hoffman as **Owen Davian** in _Mission Impossible 3_. A sleazy mean bad-ass. I really wish he would have saved this character and used it as a non-literal penguin for the third Batman installment opposite Christian Bale. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2010, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underappreciated-movie-villains/523377/25 "2010-01-03T22:55:39Z")
> [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > I’ve said this many times before - I think the _ultimate_ screen villain of all time is The Scorpio Killer, played by Andrew J. Robinson, in _Dirty Harry._ No other villain has the same degree of horrific craziness and loathsome evil, combined with utter weaselly-ness and craven cowardice. He ain’t lucky, though. ---
**Author:** ![Lightnin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightnin/32/180_2.png) [@Lightnin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightnin)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2010, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underappreciated-movie-villains/523377/26 "2010-01-03T23:34:58Z")
> [@Caprese](#): > > However, I _loved_ Billy Zane’s rotten, smarmy, cowardly white-tie Caledon Hockley. > “A real man makes his own luck.” > > He was also terrifying as the psychopath in Dead Calm. Billy Zane plays incredible bad guys- honestly, I don’t understand why he doesn’t get more work. I loved him in Demon Knight, as the Collector. "Has anyone ever told you how beautiful you are? I know that sounds like a line - Lord knows I’ve used it - but I mean it. " ---
**Author:** ![zenith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e19b73/32.png) [@zenith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zenith)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2010, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underappreciated-movie-villains/523377/27 "2010-01-03T23:55:47Z")
I liked the quietly menacing Frank Nitti, played by Stanley Tucci, in\* Road to Perdition\*, myself. The best “Nixon” I’ve ever seen was the Charles Logan character on _24_. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2010, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underappreciated-movie-villains/523377/28 "2010-01-03T23:59:54Z")
I, too, sound like a broken record, but IMO nothing on celluloid beats Ben “Gandhi” Kingsley playing “Don Logan” in _Sexy Beast_. > [@Don Logan](#): > > Shut up, cunt. You louse. You got some fuckin’ neck ain’t you. Retired? Fuck off, you’re revolting. Look at your suntan, it’s leather, it’s like leather man, your skin. We could make a fucking suitcase out of you. Like a crocodile, fat crocodile, fat bastard. You look like fucking Idi Amin, you know what I mean? Stay here? You should be ashamed of yourself. Who do you think you are? King of the castle? Cock of the walk? > [He gut-punches Gal] > What you think this is the wheel of fortune? You think you can make your dough and fuck off? Leave the table? Thanks Don, see you Don, off to sunny Spain now Don, fuck off Don. Lying in your pool like a fat blob laughing at me, you think I’m gonna have that? You really think I’m gonna have that, ya ponce. All right, I’ll make it easy for you. God knows you’re fucking trying. Are you gonna do the job? It’s not a difficult question, are you gonna do the job, yes or no? > [@Don Logan](#): > > You’re the problem! You’re the fucking problem you fucking Dr White honkin’ jam-rag fucking spunk-bubble! I’m telling you Aitch you keep looking at me I’ll put you in the fucking ground, promise you! [More unpleasantness here](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0203119/quotes). If you’ve never seen this movie, watch it. It’s not the best movie ever _per se_, but it’s a fantastic ensemble piece, with an awesome script, and Don Logan is absolutely the most horrendous sociopath ever. (Apparently Kingsley based the character on his grandmother..!) ---
**Author:** ![Poysyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Poysyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Poysyn)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2010, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underappreciated-movie-villains/523377/29 "2010-01-04T00:30:24Z")
I think Kiefer plays some of the best villains - my personal fave is Robert Doob from Eye for an Eye - quotes - (meeting up with the Mother of one of his victims, who he raped and killed) - Robert Doob: What? You want me to say I’m sorry? It could have been anybody. I don’t even remember what she looked like. It’s nothing personal. Karen McCann: She was seventeen years old. She was five-foot two. She had brown eyes. Her name was Julie. She was my daughter. Robert Doob: She was a great fuck. (Threatening the Mom’s youngest daughter, who seems about four or five) Robert Doob: You know I really don’t like Kiddy pussy, but I’m willing to make an exception. (Leaving the courtroom after getting off on a technicality - the victim, Julie, had a pronounced stutter - ) Robert Doob: [when leaving courtroom, to Karen] S-s-s-sorry. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2010, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underappreciated-movie-villains/523377/30 "2010-01-04T03:12:31Z")
Paul’s Grandfather. . ---
**Author:** ![koufax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/7ea924/32.png) [@koufax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koufax)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2010, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underappreciated-movie-villains/523377/31 "2010-01-04T04:02:52Z")
> [@jjimm](#): > > I, too, sound like a broken record, but IMO nothing on celluloid beats Ben “Gandhi” Kingsley playing “Don Logan” in _Sexy Beast_.[More unpleasantness here](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0203119/quotes). If you’ve never seen this movie, watch it. It’s not the best movie ever _per se_, but it’s a fantastic ensemble piece, with an awesome script, and Don Logan is absolutely the most horrendous sociopath ever. (Apparently Kingsley based the character on his grandmother..!) I agree completely!!! That character was scary as hell. Guys like that really exist and the only way to deal with them is what they did in the movie. That truly was one of the finest acting jobs I have ever seen. Kingsley played Ghandi and then that freak. Now that is range. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2010, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underappreciated-movie-villains/523377/32 "2010-01-04T04:30:47Z")
The Creeper himself…[Rondo Hatton](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rondo_Hatton). ---
**Author:** ![kidneyfailure](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9f8e36/32.png) [@kidneyfailure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kidneyfailure)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2010, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underappreciated-movie-villains/523377/33 "2010-01-04T04:36:41Z")
Tom Berenger as Barnes in **Platoon**. I’m not even sure if he counts as a “villain,” but he was certainly a brutal, complex, and possibly evil character. The sequence in the village and the last few scenes with Elias and Barnes were stone cold. DeNiro as Max Cady in **Cape Fear**. Sleazy and seemingly idiotic, yet smart enough to find the perfect way to subtlely terrify his victim psychologically. The part where he charms Nick Nolte’s daughter is a great example. ---
**Author:** ![JoelUpchurch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f05b48/32.png) [@JoelUpchurch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoelUpchurch)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2010, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underappreciated-movie-villains/523377/34 "2010-01-04T06:21:47Z")
How about Tilda Swinton as the Angel Gabriel in Constantine? ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2010, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underappreciated-movie-villains/523377/35 "2010-01-04T07:10:29Z")
Ian Howe in National Treasure. He wanted what he wanted, but he was not malicious about it in any way. He didn’t want to hurt people for the sake of hurting them. He was not gratuitously violent. He just did what he needed to do to accomplish his goal. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2010, 7:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underappreciated-movie-villains/523377/36 "2010-01-04T07:25:29Z")
> [@ExTank](#): > > [“The Operative,”](http://fc00.deviantart.net/fs41/f/2009/015/6/5/Demotivation___Lawful_Evil_by_quicksilver22.jpg) from the _Firefly_ spin-off movie _Serenity_. > > I know _Firefly_ and _Serenity_ get mad love here on the board; I know because some of it comes from me. 😃 > > But to the greater public, they’re both less well known, and thus less appreciated. The Operative: I’m sorry. If your quarry goes to ground, leave no ground to go to. You should have taken my offer. Or did you think none of this was your fault? Capt. Malcolm Reynolds: I don’t murder children. The Operative: I do. If I have to. Capt. Malcolm Reynolds: Why? Do you even know why they sent you? The Operative: It’s not my place to ask. I believe in something greater than myself. A better world. A world without sin. Capt. Malcolm Reynolds: So me and mine gotta lay down and die… so you can live in your better world? The Operative: I’m not going to live there. There’s no place for me there… any more than there is for you. Malcolm… I’m a monster.What I do is evil. I have no illusions about it, but it must be done. ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2010, 9:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underappreciated-movie-villains/523377/37 "2010-01-04T09:49:57Z")
> [@kidneyfailure](#): > > DeNiro as Max Cady in **Cape Fear**. > > Sleazy and seemingly idiotic, yet smart enough to find the perfect way to subtlely terrify his victim psychologically. The part where he charms Nick Nolte’s daughter is a great example. I’ve never seen that version, but you reminded me of Robert Mitchum in the original **Cape Fear**. He was my first exposure to a charming, sexy psychopath, and oh my, I was repulsed by him and hot for him at the same time. It didn’t matter that I was too young to know what the “hotness” was all about, I eventually figured it out. My parents never would have let me watch it on TV if they’d known what was going on inside my mind and body. At least it didn’t warp me. I was never attracted to bad boys because of it. Robert Mitchum…sigh. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2010, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underappreciated-movie-villains/523377/38 "2010-01-04T11:58:04Z")
Dolph Lundgren as Scott/GR13 in _Universal Soldier_. Your basic crazy zombie/cyborg/whatever/super-soldier. But I think the best part is that I couldn’t tell if the actor or the _character_ was having a better time being a villain. Just such pure, almost childlike joy combined with being an utterly badass sadist. And a habit of wearing parts of people’s heads in a charm necklace. Almost like a proto-Joker. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Don\_Draper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Don\_Draper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Draper)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2010, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underappreciated-movie-villains/523377/39 "2010-01-04T14:23:18Z")
> [@JoelUpchurch](#): > > How about Tilda Swinton as the Angel Gabriel in Constantine? I didn’t see “Constantine”, but Swinton was deliciously, fiendishly evil as the White Witch in “the Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe.” ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2010, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underappreciated-movie-villains/523377/40 "2010-01-04T15:23:17Z")
A personal favorite: Frank Langella as Dawg Brown in **Cutthroat Island**. IMDb recalls this line: Pirate: We can’t leave yet, Captain. We haven’t put enough food on board. Dawg Brown: We need less mouths. _[Shoots Pirate]_ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underappreciated-movie-villains/523377.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underappreciated-movie-villains/523377.md?page=3)