Best bad guys, your top 5

Who are your top 5 bad guys? My personal choices, mostly for entertainment reasons are as follows;

1. Nicky Santaro, Joe Pesci, Casino (1995). This character just edges the gangster one of a similar nature in a movie before this. A nasty but bloodthirsty little fella who has a sort of transformation as him and his gang succumb to an excessive and violent lifestyle before their downfall.

2. Tommy DeVito, Joe Pesci, Goodfellas (1990). In case you haven't worked it out, this was the previous movie I spoke of. Pesci's first shot at being the bloodthirsy violent guy with a short temper. The scene where he messes with Liotta at a restaurant before another violent outburst was gold.

3. Clarence Bodicker, Kurtwood Smith, Robocop (1987). An alternate future requires a new breed of baddy. Smith delivers this with his character Clarence Bodicker. Bad attitude, insanely violent, irritable yet funny. Never seen a better or more violent bad guy since.

4. Amon Goeth, Ralph Fiennes, Schindler's List (1993). An evil, ruthless character that is very well portrayed and apparently accurately portrayed by Fiennes. Strikes fear into the audience, not just the jews.

5. Colonel William Tavington, Jason Isaacs, The Patriot (2000). The murderous British officer breaks the rules of gentlemanly engagement as he gets up the nose of Gibson's character. Interesting character in that he had his reasons for being sadistic, and having intentions of his own.

Took me some time to think but that is what I could come up with. Raul Julia's insane/comical character General M. Bison from Street Fighter just missed out.

To start with yes I am a massive fan of comic book films so thats mainly where my choices come from, the Batman dark knight trilogy especially, I just think how Nolan did the characters was immense.

So my choices in their portrayal and what they do in the films

1) The Joker - Heath ledger - Dark Knight, Ledgers performance alone made that film as good as it was. It was a good film anyway but Ledger's portrayal of The Joker made the film excellent. It had to take something good to top Jack and boy he did it.

2) Bane - Tom Hardy - Dark Knight Rises, may seem a strange choice due to people not liking his voice however I loved it. And Bane's physicality in the film was excellent (film specific parts in hidden) Overall Bane was someone who had me when watching it thinking holy ****!!

Spoiler:

3) Magneto - Sir Ian McKellen - X-Men Trilogy, to be honest I don't think you could have picked a better person for the role, played Magneto's characteristics brilliantly.

4) Ra's al Ghul - Liam Neeson - Batman Begins, for me Neeson's presentation of the character was excellent, a great way for Nolan's batman to get off to a great start.

5) Syndrome - Jason Lee - The Incredibles, Just found the character awesome and hilarious, just a personal favourite.

Ledger better than Nicholson? Do me a favour! If he hadn't killed himself there would never have been such ludicrous talk

Interesting topic. I think mine would look something like this:

1) - Hannibal Lecter - The guy is just immense. A true brain behind unspeakable violence and torture. Has method behind the thinking and his relationship with Clarice Starling is one of fascination and intrigue. He seems to really reward pure innocence. Eating his victims or serving them human remains and completely turning to cannibalism. The ways in which his victims were killed was horrifying at times. Who can forget Ray Liotta without the top of his skull and being fed his brain! A total genius at work.

2) - The Joker - I think sociopathic ways just make you wonder how someone can operate with little empathy towards others. The only reason I have him second to Lecter was because he operated in teams and Lecter was a solo individual operating on his own. However, the Joker was a completely different evil. His approach to murder wasn't one of thinking or planning. He really embodied chaos. I liked the cerebral approach to his ways.

3) - Freddy Kruegar - In terms of horror, probably the worst out of the bunch. Simply for killing children. Just to put it into context with how appalling that is. Slaughtered children by the dozens and showed absolutely no remorse. I think what highlighted this lust for murder was when he planned to start killing beyond Springwood. A nasty piece of crap, but watchable.

4) - Cyrus 'The Virus' Grissom - Commited just about every crime in the book. Even boasted in the film Con Air to have killed more people than cancer. Enjoyed killing and had no respect for anyone. Certainly someone you wouldn't wanted appearing on your local news as an escape convict!

5) - Hal 9000 - A symbol of not to trust machines. Unfortunately he malfunctions and beging to kill the crew on the Discovery One after fearing shut down due to him malfunctioning. A sign of his falling logic was singing 'Daisy Bell' pure random gold.

Some good choices here. I can't believe I missed out the Joker. Lecter is an excellent pick aswell.

legendkillarV2, RE your third choice. I hate those films. Pennywise the Clown perhaps a good option also?

Fists of Fury wrote:Ledger better than Nicholson? Do me a favour! If he hadn't killed himself there would never have been such ludicrous talk

Both portrayed the Joker differently, but both outstanding. Nolans/Ledgers Joker is better for me though, however; Michael Keaton is still the best Batman!

BTW, mods, is there any way you can edit that awful advert out of my first film title? It's a smear on my good article.

Some may hate the films, but in terms of bad guys a childkiller should never be overlooked. Plus he has killed more kids than pennywise. Pennywise was duffed over by a silver nugget!

Some excellent choices on here. I agree with the Joker's inclusion- Ledger's portrayl was simply brilliant.

I don't know what it is, but ever since I saw the Green Mile, I have thought that Doug Hutchinson's character 'Percy Wetmore' was one of the most vulgar characters I've ever witnessed. I despised him in the films. I know he's not the typical 'bad man' or villain, but he's a brilliant bad guy.

Going to add Lord Shen from Kung Fu Panda 2

love the idea of a peacock being the vilan is awesome

Hans Gruber - Die Hard - Could be on the list because I love the movie, but Gruber plays a large part in my love for it. Brilliantly acted in his first movie role by Rickman as well. Gentlemen you ask for a miracle, I give you the FBI

Vigo the Carpathian- Ghostbusters II- Its the ghost of 16th century sorcerer immortailised in an oil painting, whats not to love about that. Although the second movie pales in comparison to the first

T1000 - T2 Judgement Day - I don't really see the need to justify his picking, awesome movie and an awesome villain tracking down John Connor

Col Hans Landa - Inglorious B*sterds - Again another film I really enjoyed, mostly in part to Cristophe Waltz's portrayal of the Jew Hunter....Oooooohhhhhh Thats a bingo!!!

Castor Troy - Face Off - Such a dumb idea for a movie turned out to be a movie I've owned on DVD for years. Love John Travolta playing Castor Troy in Sean Archer's face

No love yet for the most iconic movie villain of all time in my opinion, maybe not the 'best', but certainly the one 99 people out of 100 would recognise and, of course, it has to be Darth Vader! I should force choke you all...

JDizzle wrote:No love yet for the most iconic movie villain of all time in my opinion, maybe not the 'best', but certainly the one 99 people out of 100 would recognise and, of course, it has to be Darth Vader! I should force choke you all...

how did I forget Vader however thik i forget him a bit due to Episode VI, definitly have the Emperor in my top 5 though!

Javier Bardem - No country for old men - Can't remember the name of the character but he was one relentless, merciless sonofabitch.

Never got to watch the final 30 minutes of No Country For Old Men, but totally agree with you on Bardem's character.

I also just thought up a good choice. Wez; Vernon Wells' character in Mad Max 2. Brilliant bad guy, bit different to your typical arch enemy. He was also good as Bennet in Commando but Wez was his better villian performance.

General Zod - Superman II

KNEEL BEFORE ZOD!!

Starscream - Transformers

Yes Megatron/Galvatron is the big bad boss, but his snivelling oportunistic sidekick always does it for me.

Nurse Ratched - One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

Loved the relationship between her and McMurphy, how her dictatorship was threatened by his free spirit and how they rebelled against her.

Gunnery Sergeant Hartman - Full Metal Jacket

Just a dehumanised beast of a man, how he barked into the faces of what were little more than teenagers and turned them into machines.

Mitsuko Souma - Battle Royale

Japanese schoolgirl with psychotic tendancies and a sickle in the fantastic Lord of the Flies style film that puts The Hunger Games to shame.

1. Senator/Emperor Palpatine - Ian McDiarmid - Star Wars I-VI
Pure evil. Ready to off his current apprentice as soon as a potential new one more powerful comes along. Cunningly keeps hidden whilst planning and dealing with leaders until the time is right to reveal his true identity and unleash "Order 66" upon the Jedi across the galaxy and take control.

2. The Joker - Heath Ledger - The Dark Knight
Twisted and sadistic mind. Even more so than Nicholson who was more comical and didn't fit Burton's "dark" Batman anywhere close to Ledger fitting Nolan's grittier trilogy. As Alfred sums it up perfectly, "Because some men aren't looking for anything logical, like money. They can't be bought, bullied, reasoned, or negotiated with. Some men just want to watch the world burn."

3. Bane - Tom Hardy - The Dark Knight Rises
He's a true warrior that won't let anyone stand in the way of what he believes in and wants. His speeches are scary and at the same time captivating. Perfect enemy to Nolan's Batman.

Spoiler:

4. Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader - Hayden Christensen/David Prowse - Star Wars I-VI
Misguided and driven to his evil side by major losses in his life, friendship/tutelage by Palpatine, and disillusionment with the Jedi Council not giving him what he wants. Not born evil but develops that side of him fast, and ultimately before his demise is just as evil and ruthless as his mentor.

5. John Dillinger - Johnny Depp - Public Enemies
Depp brings great depth to Dillinger, the man who as the FBI say was a murdering, bank robbing thug but at the same time a good human being who kept his friends, family and women well treated and looked after.

Without much thought and not in any particular order-

Hans Landa- Christopher Waltz - Inglourious Basterds. Absolutely perfect for the role, the opening scene shows how scary Landa is perfectly

Bill - David Carradine - Kill Bill. Yeah, I like QT. But Carradine made his villain, despite barely appearing, charismatic, dangerous, sympathetic and yet utterly right to kill. Difficult mix

Hans Gruber- Alan Rickman- Die Hard. So dangerous, the pretending to be a hostage moment was genius. And so is Rickman, always. Wanted to put the Sheriff of Nottingham here too, but this one won out.

Agent Smith- Hugo Weaving- The Matrix. I hated him with a passion the first time I watched this movie. And that shows a job well done

Dr Hannibal Lecter- Sir Anthony Hopkins- The Silence of the Lambs- so so creepy, yet fascinating

Agent Smith is a very good call, would never have thought of him but he's great.

Dr Lecter has to be up there at the top as well as the brilliant performance by Ledger.

If Hans is up there (and I love the character and Rickman) then there should be a mention for Simon Gruber as well, Jeremy Irons in Die Hard with A Vengenance.

Tim Curry - Pennywise - IT

Jack Nicholson - The Shining

and a mention for Sean Bean in Goldeneye, I think he's the best Bond bad guy

and for a Bad woman - Kathy Bates - Misery

1) Hannibal Lecter (Silence of the Lambs)

2) Darth Vader (Star Wars IV-VI)

3) PinHead (Hellraiser)

4) Brick Top (Snatch)

5) Frank Booth (Blue Velvet)

liverbnz wrote:Javier Bardem - No country for old men - Can't remember the name of the character but he was one relentless, merciless sonofabitch.

Completely agree

Calvera - From Magnificent 7.

Selma Hayek from Dusk Till Dawn

1. Heath Ledger- Joker- Dark Knight: absolutely fantastic in his portrayal, could not have been any better. Shame he cut his own life short, brilliant actor
2. Anthony Hopkins- Hannibal Lecter- Silence of the Lambs: Like Ledger, just superb in portrayal of character, the psychological side of this is creepy at times, but amazing all the same
3. Tim Curry or Robert Englund- Pennywise the Clown/Freddy Krueger- IT/A Nightmare on Elm Street: Honestly can't decide between the two- Krueger preyed on children, the worst killer you could get, and Pennywise was just plain scary.
4. Ralph Fiennes- Amon Goeth- Schinlder's List: because of the brutality and sadness of this film, this character comes across as a horrible man. Who in their right mind would welcome, or even allow this shocking thing to happen. Good film all the same
5.Anthony Perkins- Norman Bates- Psycho; what an excellent film this is. This guy is truly a pyscho (pun intended) one heartless SOB

Has to be a Star Wars character in everyones top 5 , its internet law. I wouldve gone for Vader if he hadnt been absolutely ruined by that Aussies kids inability so to say "no! convincingly in episode III. Same with Bobba Fett when hes revealed to be the son of that nurse from Shortland Street. So I pick the Storm Trooper who hits his head on the door in the Death Star.

Arnie as the Terminator in the first movie.

Sinbad as Myron Larabee in Jingle All the Way ( my second favourite Arnie film)

Christopher Waltz as Hans Lander in Inglourios Barsterds, the scenes where he cracks people by talking about cream are amazing

I'm loving the suggestions of Bennent, Zod and Hartman but Im going to complete my list with Bill the Butcher (Daniel Day Lewis)

I'm going to be controversial here and say Star Wars would be closer the bottom than the top of my list of Top films...

Smirnoffpriest wrote:I'm going to be controversial here and say Star Wars would be closer the bottom than the top of my list of Top films...

+1

Star Wars are epic films, cinema history don't get me wrong. It's just you get so fed up of hearing about or seeing them; kind of like the Lord of the Rings saga now (and they are due to release a prequel to this).

Yup the Hobbitt is coming out directed by Peter Jackson after huge amounts of trials and funding problems meaning a few directors pulled out.

I'm looking forward to it as the Hobbit was my favourite book (sorry dreamer) but it still had too much singing/poetry in it, which I assume Peter Jackson won't include in this one, ala Lord of the Rings

Your Welshman, your favourite book was aimed at 10 year olds, and you expect us to take your opinion on Star wars seriously? :P


Are LOTR films over exposed? Its not like the Great Escape on every Christmas just for the sake of it. They get referenced a bit I guess but not to the extremes of Harry Potter

What favourite book? You mean the Hobbitt I said it was my favourite of the Lord of the Rings books (all aimed at children) as I felt the narrative flowed better and the dialogue between characters was better.

My favourite books are the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Girl with the Dragon tattoo series & Sleeper Awakes by HG Wells

(Though of course I also like the Harry Potter and Roald Dahl books - both adult and childrens, so I suppose you can discount me as a move buff based on that).

LOTR's is on every Christmas now as well, and around Easter time - I personally love them and think them and the Matrix (1st one) is one of the best movies (or series) ever made.

Going back to the OP, my five favourite movie bad guys are

Don Logan - Sir Ben Kingsley - Sexy Beast
Waingro - Kevin Gage - Heat
Tom Ripley - Matt Damon - The Talented Mr Ripley
Baron Samedi - Geoffrey Holder - Live and Let Die
Detective Alonzo Harris - Denzel Washington - Training Day

Can't believe you didn't include Alan Rickman, Nakatomi Plaza

Smirnoffpriest wrote:Can't believe you didn't include Alan Rickman, Nakatomi Plaza

I was going to, but wanted to add some new names to the debate!

Jack Torrence - The Shining
Jigsaw - Saw
Alex DeLarge - Clockwork Orange
Bruce (The shark) - Jaws
Simon Gruber - Die Hard With A Vengenace

Special mention to General Zod, Hannibal Lecter and Gordon Gecko

Alex De Large and Ben Kingsleys character in Sexy Beast are really good picks.

I love both films

Alex De Large; I love that choice. What an evil character. Patrick Magee's character was a good'un too.

How about Dr Strangelove? Surely one of weirdest portrals of a Nazi hell bent on global destruction!

What film?

Davy Jones deserves a mention. Good knows how many men he condemned to death.

Don't have a top 5, I only need 1: Ned Trent from the Specialist.

James Woods is the man!

CHUCKY!

Clancy Brown as Kurgan in Highlander

1. Marlo(from the wire, that guy was just pure evil)

2. Tom Hardy from 'The Take'(cant remember the characters name but he was bad)

3. Carl Williams in 'Underbelly'(He was a real person too, very bad man)

4. Anton(No Country For Old Men,if you've seen the film you'll know why he is on the list, probably should be higher but there you are)

5. The guy who drained blood from people in Luther( Needless to say, draining blood grants you with a bad man status)

1) Darth Vader / Star Wars
2) Clarence Bodicer / Robocop
3) Adolf Hitler / Hitler the rise of evil
4) Doctor Issacs - Resident Evil
5) Hans grubber - Die Hard

1. Darth Vader Can't see his face, and yet still terrifying. He also has the evil voice to end all evil voices!

2. Sauron He's made of fire! And is a gigantic eye sometimes. Can't really fault him.

3. Lord Voldemort Mainly because Ralph Fiennes is also evil. You can't prove it's not true...

4. Khan From Star Trek 2 and whatever original series episode he was in. Why? Well, because KHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNNNNNNN!

5. Megatron and/or Galvatron From the original, animated Transformers movie. Not only does he turn into a gun, he has an enormous cannon on his arm, proving that, in terms of Transformers, bigger is best.

Smiles,

Jim

jimbryant wrote:
4. Khan From Star Trek 2 and whatever original series episode he was in. Why? Well, because KHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNNNNNNN!

I still find myself doing this in the car when I am angry! Look up, shake fist and shout "khhhhhaaaannnnnnnnnnn!"

drsambo1928 wrote:1. Marlo(from the wire, that guy was just pure evil)

2. Tom Hardy from 'The Take'(cant remember the characters name but he was bad)

3. Carl Williams in 'Underbelly'(He was a real person too, very bad man)

4. Anton(No Country For Old Men,if you've seen the film you'll know why he is on the list, probably should be higher but there you are)

5. The guy who drained blood from people in Luther( Needless to say, draining blood grants you with a bad man status)

Tom Hardy is awesome in that, Freddie Jackson is his name if i remember rightly!

Joaquin Phoenix's turn as Commodus in Gladiator has to be up there.