10 Best Movie Bad Guys
Spoiler alert: I give away details of some of the movies listed below, so if there's one that you haven't yet seen, read only the underlined part, and then go rent it. Once you've seen it, come back and finish reading the rest of the commentary. You're welcome.
10- Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix) in Gladiator (2000): Phoenix is such a good actor to be able to play likeable characters in one movie, and a vile, hated one like in this movie. Commodus kills his own father to take control of Rome, and orders Maximus' (Russell Crowe) family killed. When Maximus and Commodus are to fight in the arena, the dirty Commodus stabs him before the battle to weaken him…what a cheater! Didn't pay off though…
9- Leonard Smalls: The Lone Biker of the Apocalypse (Randall "Tex" Cobb) in Raising Arizona (1987): A mean looking, filthy, cigar chomping, shotgun and grenade carrying biker/demon whose first action in the film is to shoot an innocent lizard sitting on a rock as he rides through the desert. He appears as a bounty hunter who offers to find a kidnapped child, but in reality is the lead character's fear personified. Cobb is perfect for this part, as being a former boxer they probably didn't need much makeup to get him to look right.
8- Kahn Noonien Singh (Ricardo Montalban) from Star Trek 2: The Wrath of Khan (1982): Genetically bred to have superior intellect and physique, Khan looked the part, with his flowing grey hair and commanding character. In his relentless quest for vengeance against Captain Kirk for stranding him on an isolated planet he spouts some great lines inspired by the novel Moby Dick: "I'll chase him 'round the moons of Nibia and 'round the Antares Maelstrom and 'round perdition's flames before I give him up…"; and "from hell's heart I stab at thee; for hate's sake I spit my last breath at thee." A very memorable and well read bad guy.
7- T1000 (Robert Patrick) from Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1992): Cold and ruthless, this terminator has no emotions, no hesitation, and no mercy when it comes to pursuing and killing anything in its path to accomplish its mission of killing John Connor. Patrick is amazing in this part, and manages to get the message across with only a few spoken words. Like, for example "Get out!"
6- Norman Stanfield (Gary Oldman) in The Professional (Leon) (1994): Oldman plays a psychotic, drug dealing, pill popping cop whose crew coldly wipes out a whole family as punishment for the father's pilfering of drugs he was holding. You cheer in the end when Leon blows him up.
5- Mr. Blonde (Michael Madsen) in Reservoir Dogs (1992): In describing Mr. Blonde, one character says: "You can't work with a psychopath, 'cause ya don't know what those sick assholes are gonna do next." When the gang leaves him alone in the abandoned warehouse they're holed up in with a captured cop, he tells the cop he's going to torture him "…not to get information, but because torturing a cop amuses me…" in a super violent scene where the cop's ear is cut off with a razor and he's doused in gasoline. It's a small part, but an unforgettable one, and we cheer when Mr. Blonde is shot by another gang member before he has a chance to light the fuel.
4- Frank Nitti (Billy Drago) in The Untouchables (1987): I just can't stand the smug, seedy grin on his face. In the scene when he tells Eliot Ness (Kevin Costner) that his friend Jim Malone (Sean Connery) squealed like a pig when he killed him, I was mentally helping Ness throw him off the roof.
3- John Herod (Gene Hackman) in The Quick and the Dead (1995): A real arrogant S.O.B., he runs a town whose population hates him so much they hire a hitman to kill him. He's cruel and heartless: After shooting his own son in a dueling contest, all he can say is "It was never proved that he was my son…" It's a great moment in the end when Ellen (Sharon Stone) shoots out the back of his head.
2- Don Logan (Ben Kingsley) from Sexy Beast (2000): Kingsley plays a criminal mastermind control freak who gets furious when he doesn't get his way. He's not a physically intimidating man, but he's frightening in how psychologically abusive and angry he can get. He's the meanest prick you'll ever see…and this from the same actor who played Ghandi!
1- Dr. Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins) from Silence of the Lambs (1991): Just a still photo of Hopkins with that evil grin is enough to peg the needle on the creep-o-meter. When Starling (Jodie Foster) goes to visit him in his cell, he's scary and intimidatin...even behind the armored glass! He's a vicious serial killer who takes the time after killing his victims to properly cook and eat them…with some fava beans and a nice kiante! This is the bad guy you never want to meet.