[Film] Who are the greatest MOVIE VILLAINS of all time ? Your top 3

[Easy 10]

This may well have been done before on here but I'm past caring. This won't be a POLL, because the answers are infinite and I don't believe in boundaries. Anyhoo, for now I'm going with (and in no particular order):

Joker - The Dark Knight (Heath Ledger)
Johnny Ringo - Tombstone (Michael Biehn)
Mr Blonde - Reservoir Dogs (Michael Madsen)

Jack Torrance was within a whisker, but this is a wide field, and my choices may well change. But in terms of sheer enjoyment of watching these actors weave their magic, those three are right up there for me. For now...over to you.

 

[hart's shirt]

Purely on terra firma and excluding aliens, dark lords or anything in a galaxy far, far away, I'd probably go for the following in 3-2-1 order.

SS Colonel Hans Landa - Inglourious Basterds (Christoph Waltz)
Dr Hannibal Lecter - The Silence Of The Lambs (Anthony Hopkins)
Nurse Mildred Ratched - One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest (Louise Fletcher)

Not because the mesmeric performances of Waltz and Hopkins were inferior, but rather how evil can present itself, be accepted and normalized in society.

When conceiving of a way to play Nurse Ratched she thought back to her childhood in Alabama, and the "paternalistic way that people treat other people there." Moving to California had opened her eyes to how warped things had been back home. "White people actually felt that the life they were creating was good for black people," she says—a dynamic she recognized in Nurse Ratched and her charges. "They're in this ward, she's looking out for them, and they have to act like they're happy to get this medication or listen to this music. And make her feel good about the way she is."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louise_Fletcher

 

[anygivensunday]

Off the top of my head in terms of the impact I felt from them as actors:

Feinnes-Schindler's list
Pesci-Casino
Javier Bardem-No Country

 

[Gabbafella]

Hannibal Lecter.
Freddie Krueger.
Jenny from Forest Gump.

 

[Robinjakarta]

James Cagney in The Public Enemy, White Heat an many more.

 

[Flounce]

I am still traumatised by Cruella De Vil from my childhood!

 

[Lenny Rider]

Joe Pesci in both Goodfellas and Casino stand out (not so much in Home Alone)

Gert Frobe in Goldfinger deserves a mention, along with the various portrayals of Blofeld.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Darth Vader
Terry-Thomas in any film he made
Angel Eyes (The Good, The Bad and The Ugly)

 

[Madafwo]

Hans Gruber, T1000 and Dolores Umbridge.

 

[Comrade Sam]

Miss Trunchbull

 

[A1X]

Hans Gruber (Die Hard)
Simon Skinner (Hot Fuzz)
Bellatrix Lestrange (Harry Potter)

All chosen not because of the plot lines necessarily but because the actors were clearly enjoying playing them, which makes the performances so utterly brilliant.

 

[5Ways Gull]

Nurse Ratched
Hannibal Lector
The hunter that shot Bambi's mum

 

[Swegulls]

Brrrr ... Kathy Bates in Misery ...

 

[Muhammad - I’m hard - Bruce Lee]

Alan Rickman as any baddie he ever played

 

[Sid and the Sharknados]

Hans Gruber (Die Hard)
Simon Skinner (Hot Fuzz)
Bellatrix Lestrange (Harry Potter)

All chosen not because of the plot lines necessarily but because the actors were clearly enjoying playing them, which makes the performances so utterly brilliant.

Alan Rickman as any baddie he ever played

Alan Rickman as the Sheriff of Nottingham.

Greatest performance of all time in any artistic medium.

 

[Iggle Piggle]

Brick Top - Snatch
Darth Vader
Hans Gruber

 

[dazzer6666]

Iain Glen in Song for a Raggy Boy. Played Brother John, absolute sadist and a very difficult watch.

 

[Swegulls]

Gary Oldman was a bit "unstable" in Leon.

 

[JJ McClure]

Khan Noonien Singh - Star Trek 2
Dr Evil - Austin Powers
Lt Harris - Police Academy

 

[BBassic]

Walter Peck (Ghostbusters...don't turn off the containment grid!)
Judge Doom (Who Framed Roger Rabbit?)
Drago (Rocky VII: Adrian's Revenge (that's a deep cut reference right there))