I'm not sure who would make my list, but I think it's pretty damn fun (and sure, understandable) that Faye Dunaway's Selena is on JA's list.
Who would be on my list? Well definitely Catwoman and the Joker, and probably Palpatine. The four names that pop to mind for the other two slots are Magneto, Mystique, Khan, and Max Zorin (I mean c'mon, Walken as a Bond villain!). But then a lot of the villains I like best (Mrs. Iselin in The Manchurian Candidate, Phillip Vandamm in North by Northwest) don't really qualify as supervillains. Hmmmm - Lady Van Tassel maybe? Miranda Richardson can do unsettling, scary, powerful and cruel pretty damn well.
Posted by armand at April 23, 2007 09:00 PM | TrackBack | Posted to MoviesI still think Darth Vader is the gold standard for movie villains.
Posted by: jacflash at April 24, 2007 07:04 AM | PERMALINK-- Richard Widmark in the original Kiss of Death. A thousand Jokers couldn't compare.
-- Joseph Wiseman as the original arrogant Bond supervillain, Dr. No. He's still alive!
-- Master Control Program in Tron.
-- Medusa (voiced by Geraldine Page) in The Rescuers. She scared the shit out of me when I was a kid.
-- Hell with it, Gene Hackman as the 1977 Lex Luthor. There was something so lo-fi about him... I mean having to rely on Otis, for God's sake. But had it not been for the fact that the elder Miss Tessmacher lived in Hackensack, he would have totally killed the fuck out of Superman.
Posted by: norbizness at April 24, 2007 09:04 AM | PERMALINKHa! I loved Medusa. Though if I was picking a Disney super villain(ness) I'd likely go with Ursula, Maleficent or the Queen from Snow White. Disney has done some great work with their villains. Even the bumbling ones (like Yzma in The Emperors New Groove).
I've never seen Kiss of Death (though generally Widmark played a superb villain whenever tasked with the role).
As to Vader - when I was a little kid, sure. But then they had to go and make the prequels and that pretty much killed him off for me as a supervillain.
Posted by: Armand at April 24, 2007 09:36 AM | PERMALINKi like JA's choice of Zod, and i definitely like Hackman's Luther as well. just throwing a couple out there, i was pretty floored by Fiennes' Voldemort in the last HP film.
also, one might dispute his qualification, but at a minimum honorable mention should go to Gary Oldman's corrupt cop in The Professional. the Beethoven, the pill popping (literally), that primal shriek to bring "EVERYONE!!!" in the final showdown -- Oldman's a master.
Posted by: moon at April 24, 2007 10:28 AM | PERMALINK