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Movies where the villain steals/dominates the movie?

pramod

pramod

Banned
I think the most obvious examples that come to mind are:

The Dark Knight
The Empire Strikes Back
No Country For Old Men
The Shining

I think it can be argued that in all 3 of these movies, the villain is the main character of the story, not the hero.
Are there any other good examples?
 
strange headache

strange headache

Banned
Inglorious Basterds - Hans Landa



Hannibal Lecter - Silence of the Lambs (also Mads Mikkelsen in Hannibal)



Hans Gruber - Die Hard



Roy Batty - Blade Runner



Gunnery Sergeant Hartman - Full Metal Jacket



Marlon Brando - The Godfather



Tom Hardy - Bronson



...and so many more!
 
Hulk_Smash

Hulk_Smash

Banned
Jack Nicholson in every movie where he’s the villain.

The Shining
A Few Good Men
Batman
Witches of East wick
The Departed
 
OH-MyCar

OH-MyCar

Member


Is always my answer. Yeah the movie itself is hot garbage (and now you have that thing with Anthony Edwards saying he was molested by the director), but Langella completely transcends the material.

Speaking of Frank Langella, pretty much every decent Dracula movie also sorta applies to this list.
 
Doom85

Doom85

Member
pramod said:
I think the most obvious examples that come to mind are:

The Dark Knight
The Empire Strikes Back
No Country For Old Men
The Shining

I think it can be argued that in all 3 of these movies, the villain is the main character of the story, not the hero.
Are there any other good examples?
Click to expand...

Well, I think most agree that No Country for Old Men is ultimately about Tommy Lee Jones' character regardless of how much focus each character got. The conflict between Josh Brolin and Javier Bardem is meant to help shape Jones' views on the world. Although you said 3 movies while listing 4 so maybe NCFOM was not meant to be among them? Although I don't think anyone would disagree about Jack being the main character of The Shining (of course, the villain role is movie-only, in the book Jack is more of a victim of the hotel and trying to atone from his past but the hotel has other plans).

Someone already mentioned Blade Runner, and once a guy mentioned he thinks Blade Runner is primarily about Roy going through the five stages of grief (in terms of dealing with his limited life span). He used scenes throughout the movie to strengthen his point and I remember it making total sense.
 
Hoya Destroyer

Hoya Destroyer

Member
I saw a youtube top 10 not long ago that said Elsa stole the limelight in Frozen and that she wasnt the "good" character in it (not sure if she is a villain though).
I would also say both Leo and Sam L Jackson stole Django. Jamie Fox wasnt particularly interesting there at all.
 
LordPezix

LordPezix

Member
I'm putting my money on Thanos in the new Avengers, I already like his lines from the all the trailers.

"Fun isn't something one considers when balancing the universe........ but I do gotta say, this does put a smile on my face" = Fucking awesome.
 
DiscoJer

DiscoJer

Member
Hoya Destroyer said:
I saw a youtube top 10 not long ago that said Elsa stole the limelight in Frozen and that she wasnt the "good" character in it (not sure if she is a villain though).
I would also say both Leo and Sam L Jackson stole Django. Jamie Fox wasnt particularly interesting there at all.
Click to expand...

I work retail and it's amazing how quickly Elsa branded crap sells while the stuff with the other girl on it doesn't sell at all.
 
DiscoJer

DiscoJer

Member
In the Good, The Bad, and the Ugly, I think Eli Wallach's Tuco really steals the show from Clint Eastwood.

He's not the main villain of the movie, but he's clearly a villain.
 
Doom85

Doom85

Member
way more said:
The Matrix

Hugo Weaving was made a star in America with that role.
Click to expand...

While I liked Morpheus a bit better than Smith, Smith (and Cypher) definitely feel more like characters than Neo or Trinity. Only other heroes in the series that felt like people to me were Tank and then Link in the sequels, everyone else was so wooden.
 
T

TheGraykid

Member
"Is this your king?!" - Killmonger.

The societal ideas the villain brings into the fictional world and forces the audience and protagonists to tackle with are really really interesting. It kinda has no real precedent within superhero movies. I think there are better superhero movies, but I can't pull to mind a superhero movie that navigates such deep complicated subject matter in such a successful way, and Killmonger is the driving force of that.
 
C

caffeware

Banned
images
 
It's Jeff

It's Jeff

Banned
LordPezix said:
I'm putting my money on Thanos in the new Avengers, I already like his lines from the all the trailers.

"Fun isn't something one considers when balancing the universe........ but I do gotta say, this does put a smile on my face" = Fucking awesome.
Click to expand...

The delivery is just... superb. It's been what, 20 movies building up each of these characters that overcome impossible odds - much to the detriment of the villains in these movies, mind you - and Thanos can and probably will mop the floor with them.

I love each of these heroes, but I think I'm on team Thanos this time...
 
LordPezix

LordPezix

Member
It's Jeff said:
The delivery is just... superb. It's been what, 20 movies building up each of these characters that overcome impossible odds - much to the detriment of the villains in these movies, mind you - and Thanos can and probably will mop the floor with them.

I love each of these heroes, but I think I'm on team Thanos this time...
Click to expand...

We stand united brother! I too am Team Thanos!
 
ruvikx

ruvikx

Banned
Bellatrix Lestrange in Harry Potter. I was really, really rooting for her... then writer gave her a humiliating/pitiful death because "mom power" reasons. What a waste.
 
M

mrkgoo

Member
A lot of monster and horror movies are more about the villain/antagonist.

Friday the 13th, Nightmare on Elm Street, etc.
 
Y2H

Y2H

Member
Sean Bean as Alec Trevelyan in GoldenEye. Best Bond villain ever. Plus he loves strawberries.



 
Doom85

Doom85

Member
TheWanderingOgre said:
Gary Oldman just rocks. Period.

Gary Oldman in Bram Stokers Dracula is the first thing that pops in my mind.
Click to expand...

He's also excellent as the voice of Lord Shen, the main villain of Kung Fu Panda 2. Wouldn't say he dominates the movie as virtually everything in that movie is excellent (I consider it Dreamworks Animation's best film) but he was definitely the perfect pick for such a solid villain.
 
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