Surely it's that time of year where the most crooked, creepy personalities come to life in film--Halloween time.
But great villains are not just found in the horror genre. Certainly Mr. Potter in "It's a Wonderful Life" was as charming as lemon on an open wound.
Nurse Ratched from "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" was cold and numbing.
This debate has gone to great lengths in the American Film Institute's 2003 list.
But there have been characters that should have made this list--namely Bill the Butcher from "Gangs of New York" who was absolutely heinous in his portrayal as a New York mob boss during the Civil War. And there were great characters post 2003.
A qualifier: For a villain to be truly great, his character must transcend the film. It must be referred and talked about outside of its niche area-- a la Darth Vader.
Without further ado: The 5 best movie villains that did not make AFI's list.
5. Michael Myers: "Halloween". How do you overlook the most horrific character in the history of horror films?
4. Frank Costello: "The Departed" mob boss, played by Jack Nicholson, was possibly one of the best characters over the last decade in film. And not a single actor in Hollywood would have been better than Nicholson, who during the film, ate his breakfast while holding a severed hand.
3. John Doe: "Se7en" serial killer, played by Kevin Spacey, is an overlooked character in an underrated thriller. He mixes intellect with calculated intent and a sense of pleasure. I don't know how people overlook this character.
2. Sauron: "Lord of the Rings." Easily one of the best movies in recent time, the story based on J.R. Tolkien's book, pits Middle Earth against the most evil force--Sauron. This character literally turns the world over to get his ring.
1. Bill the Butcher: "Gangs of New York." This mob boss, played by Daniel Day Lewis, was masterful and revolting. He planted a cleaver in the back of an elected official and eats steak uncooked. He is ruthless, vicious, hateful and clever. This is one of the most overlooked roles in film, despite an underwhelming movie.
What's your list look like?
--Staff writer Mike Mitchell
Good point about Mike Myers and bill the butcher. How could the afi overlook those two in film.
I had nightmares about Myers for years.
Let's also consider Mr. Freeze from batman by the governator...just kidding.
I agree with your list, except that John Doe didn't quite transcend film. We could put Jauquin Phoenix's character in Gladiator as a great villain, and even Golemn in Lord of the Rings.
I agree with Joaquin Phoenix in Gladiator. Going back, how about Bela Lugosi in all those blood-sucking Dracula movies. And what about Sean Penn - even though he was portrayed in a fairly sympathetic manner - as the mobster with a heart of stone in Mystic River. And what about Jack Nicholson's character in "A few Good Men." That alst scene on the witness stand earned him a villain Oscar I think.
Did you forget Hanibal Lecter?
I always remember the comic villains, like Dr. Evil in Austin Powers. My favorite may well be the evil genius in "Time Bandits" who didn't know what a computer was and who changed one of his minions into a sheep dog. Oh, and he impersonated a TV game show host.
Please, there's nothing that great about Nicholson's character in The Departed. IT'S been done before.
I can't believe that people are overlooking some of the great horrors, like Freddy Kruger, Jason, Saw.
You ahve to believe there's a reason why these movies have a bunch of sequels, because they're scary!
The AFI list is pretty good, but you also make some good points. I thought that Bill the Butcher and Jack Nicholson were scary people, and realistic, which makes them even scarier.
One character that comes to mind, is T-Rex and the Raptors in Jurassic Park.
The other maybe not mentioned is Jack from The Shining.
Some names that may have been overlooked are Leatherface from Chainsaw, the voice from Space Odyssey 2000, Dustin Hoffman as Captain Hook, what about long john silver in Pirates of the Caribbean?
I can't think of a better character than that!
I agree with Mike some of the names that have been overlooked are mostly after 2003 when the list was made.
Though it was a little surprising they hadn't dedicated more of the list to horror or sci-fi people. It's an interesting list.
I think there were definitely some snubs. I think there should have been more space or list devoted to truly big villains in film, like Agent Smith in the Matrix, or Darth Maul in the later Star Wars series.
MITCHELL RESPONDS: Surely Agent Smith transcended film, but I'm not so sure it was one of the best of all time. Even Darth Maul was a mild spin-off of its predecessor and great Darth Vader.
Been thinking of other good villains. Harvey Keitel comes to mind in a couple of roles. As the lead character in "The Bad Lieutenant," and also in another cop movie - the one with Stallone called "Copland." Keitel played an evil, corrupt cop in both movies. And what about Tarantino -just about every character in "Reservoir Dogs" was evil. Also, remember the "Shawshank Redemption?" Who played the warden in that one? He was a great villain.
WHat about American pyscho?
Brad Pitt in Kalifornia, Woody Harrelson in Natural Born Killers, those creepy Nazi guys in the Indiana Jones movies, those creepy Nazi guys in Schindler's List, and Emporer Zurg in Toy Story.
The AFI's list says the shark in "Jaws." C'mon. Might as well include the iceberg in "Titanic."
MITCHELL RESPONDS: True, I think the they were reaching in that assessment. The John Williams music should be credited as well, when it comes to great characters.
Du-Da, Du-Da, Du-Da....Du-Da, Du-Da,