First, the 20 selections, and some initial impressions. First, I have a personal antipathy to cartoon villains. There will be a couple of exceptions, but generally I don't find live action cartoon characters to be realistic or believable, and it isn't fair to actors "creating" a flesh-and-blood person. Second, the character has to know he or she is a villain, and isn't just playing for the wrong team from the story's point of view. While Travis Bickle is a memorable character, I don't see him as a villain, as he sees himself as some kind of shining armor knight. Another point is that the villain has to be a villain, not just as revealed at the end. This lets out the Kevin Spacey character in The Usual Suspects, a movie and character I really like. But is he a villain? Finally, the movie has to have some presence in the movie-going public's mind.
With these criteria in mind, here are my verdicts on the list:
1. Darth Vader, Star Wars - Yes, exception to the cartoon character rule
2. Hannibal Lecter, Silence of the Lambs - Yes
3. Tommy DeVito, Goodfellas - No, but I'm persuadable
4. Hans Gruber, Die Hard - No
5. T-1000, Terminator 3 - No, cartoon character
6. Agent Smith, The Matrix - I'd like to say yes, but there seem to be a couple of strikes against him
7. Amon Goeth, Schindler's List - Haven't seen the movie, but Nazis tend to make me think of cartoon characters
8. Gordon Gecko, Wall Street - Ambivalent, tend toward no
9. Ernst Blofeld (Donald Pleasance version), James Bond - Tend toward yes, despite cartoonish demeanor of Bond movies
10. Dudley Smith, LA Confidential - Ambivalent because he's not revealed as the villain until late, but he's pretty good
11. Keyser Soze, The Usual Suspects - No, for reasons stated above
12. Frank Booth, Blue Velvet - Haven't seen the movie, no opinion
13. Ivan Drago, Rocky IV - No. Just no.
14. Alex DeLarge, A Clockwork Orange - Odd to say, but too likeable to be a movie villain
15. General Zod, Superman I and II - No, cartoon character
16. Begbie, Trainspotting - Minor film, saw it too long ago to remember, no presence in the movie-going public mind; no
17. Norman Bates, Psycho - Yes
18. The Joker (Jack Nicholson version), Batman - Lean yes, but 20 greatest? No.
19. Travis Bickle, Taxi Driver - No, for reasons stated above
20. Don Logan, SexyBeast - See number 16, verbatim
So I have outright agreement with at least four villains. As mentioned elsewhere, I'd add the Chinatown and Night of the Hunter villains, as well as Kathy Bates from Misery. I like my villains menacing and in some way arbitrary. Some people get away from an encounter with the villain without a scratch; others might get killed just for being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Who else should be on the list? Let's bicker!
= new reply since forum marked as read
