Reading Movies

My roomate and I were discussing movie villians earlier this week, which is surpising, considering we discussed.. without fighting!

Anywho, he felt that of all the villians that have been portrayed in movies over time, Darth Vader was the best of them. I admit, I'm not much of a Star Wars fan myself (never been able to sit through just *one* of them), but I believe there is a much better candidate.

"Well hello Clarice..."

Need I say more? Dr. Hannibal Lecter easily beats Darth Vader, simply because of the way he manipulates his victims. While I'm not speaking from experience here, Vader seems like a hack-n-slash kinda guy. Sure, he's got the breathing and the theme music, but who the hell needs theme music when you kill with.. for lack of better word.. elegance.

No one but Dr. Lecter could maul a nurse, tearing out her eye and eat her tongue, yet have his pulse remain steady at 85 beats a minute. Who else could be drugged and asked where he buried a victim, only to give the FBI a recipe for chip dip. I don't think Vader could persuade Luke to cut off his face with a shard of mirror and feed it to his dogs with just words. When is the last time Vader killed two cops while listening to Bach's Goldberg Variations?

Dr. Lecter speaks about his murders in a nonchalant manner, as if they were a night out at a 5 star restaurant.

"A census taker once tried to test me. I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice chianti."

Hope the wine complimented the dinner.

Aside from the, eh... elegance of his handiwork, Dr. Lecter masterminded one of the best villian escapes of all time. Dr. Lecter removed the face from one of the cops he killed, traded clothes, and waltzed out of Memphis, Tennessee in a tourists clothing. Bravo, Doctor.

I'm sure I'll get some contradictory replies to this one, so bring it on! Who is your favorite movie villian, if not Vader or Lecter? I'm curious.

(On a side note, my favorite comic book/movie villian would have to be Magneto. While not physically possible, pulling the iron out of your guards blood to escape is number one in my books. Seems I've got a thing for good escapes.)

"It is much more comfortable to be mad and know it, than to be sane and have one's doubts."

This post was edited by Jaz on Jul 09, 2005.

There is a villain who kicks orders of magnitude more ass than Vader, Lecter and Magneto combined: Bill the Butcher from Gangs of New York. This guy is such a badass motherfucker.

'Yeah, That's what Jesus would do. Jesus would bomb Afghanistan. Yeah.' - snowlion

Sorry Jaz, but any villain who gets killed by Leonardo DiCaprio is automatically out of the running.

;)

"What you don't understand you can make mean anything." - Misty Wilmot

Sorry Jaz, but any villain who gets killed by Leonardo DiCaprio is automatically out of the running.

Damn it, you totally got me there. What was I thinking?

'Yeah, That's what Jesus would do. Jesus would bomb Afghanistan. Yeah.' - snowlion

Vic's scarcastic movie humor for the win! ;P

"It is much more comfortable to be mad and know it, than to be sane and have one's doubts."

"You're empty."

"And everytime I smell it somehow I fear I've been infected by it. Repulsive, isn't it?"

"The future is our world, the future is, our time."

"No...."

"I'm going to enjoy watching you die, Mr. Anderson."

"Nurture your mind with great thoughts, for you will never go any higher than you think."

I'm with tetrazome here. A true bad guy has a purpose, one that almost makes you side with him. he is simply the bad guy. evil aside, he must be a worthy adversary. And you know what, Agent Smith was it. Way to go tetrazome... :)

Smith had purpose, he wanted to go to the real world. Lecter was a freak that ate people. Big fucking deal.

I should be ashamed of myself.

This post was edited by Aynjell on Jul 12, 2005.

I think different people have different tastes. Lecter is a very psychological bad guy. He represents thinking without any understanding or acknowledgement of other people or social consequences.

Smith, while having some interesting psychological basis (his drive to get out of the matrix, his obsession with purpose) he has more of an 'epic' feel to him. I like that in a bad guy.

And if we get into video games -- Sephiroth. PWNED! :)

"Nurture your mind with great thoughts, for you will never go any higher than you think."

Sepiroth indeed. He was teh deepest bad guy ever concieved. He makes satan himself look like a kitten.

I should be ashamed of myself.

I agree Tetrazome, everyone does have different tastes when it comes to what they like to see or feel in a bad guy to actually make him likeable, or admirable.

That's why I say...

The iceberg that sank Titanic for the win! (Hey Vic.. although al beit indirectly, it actually killed Leonardo DiCaprio!)

Seriously though, yes, after looking closely at my tastes in movies and such, Lecter is the best bad guy for me, if there were like a.. Bad Guys-R-Us or something, I don't know.

As for the "big fucking deal" comment, it shows a lack of understanding about the basic plot of the first movie, Silence of the Lambs. Jack Crawford tells Clarice not to let Lecter inside her head, which is exactly what she does, and Lecter makes her pay for it psychologically, especially in the sequel, Hannibal.

"It is much more comfortable to be mad and know it, than to be sane and have one's doubts."

This post was edited by Saqqara on Jul 12, 2005.