Chris Gore, Founder/Owner of FilmThreat/Author/Filmmaker: What's interesting
is how much impact a great movie villain will have with so little screen time.
Film Courage: When you think about villains, what are the characters who come to mind?
Chris: Well I would say the greatest villain in movie history is Darth Vader.
That would be a great villain that comes to mind. Hans Gruber in Die Hard, I think
is also an incredible villain. I mean here's what's interesting, villains
tend to always be more interesting than the protagonist (than the hero).
Film Courage: Why?
Chris: I think the reason that villains are much more interesting and much more popular
than the heroes is and I'm sorry to say this I think they're relatable
because they speak to a darker version of ourselves that exists in all of us that we
resist and the villain is caught up in a you know in at least not necessarily the villain but but
as an audience member we're caught up in the like oh well you know I’d never do that but I guess
Darth Vader would do this thing that I would never do right and it's it's always a battle internally
over morality and I think what makes villains interesting especially really
well-crafted villains is that they don't think what they're doing is wrong
from their perspective from the villain's point of view they're right I mean there's a reason that
you know there is the term Thanos was right right like Thanos's mission was to
set the galaxy right and wipe out half of all life in the galaxy so that other life could thrive
there's a lot of logic that doesn't quite work in the marvel avengers series you know that that
Thanos ended up being the the main villain of but people kind of look at that and say well
he has a point you know he has a point about you know wasting resources of you know so
that's where that term Thanos was right came from and he is you know at least in the movie
infinity war he's such a big part of that film it really is his journey through parts of the
marvel universe right experiencing all of these heroes that you know we've come to
see through their own individual movies and in infinity war you're you're on Thanos journey
he's the lead character of infinity war he's the one that is influencing all of the events
and what's interesting is when you look at the screen time for villains this is what this is
what's amazing is you can see a movie that has a great movie villain like a star wars
whether it's you know the original series or Anakin Skywalker and in the prequels and what's
interesting is how much impact a great movie villain will have with so little screen time.
Very little screen time but the villain influences all of the other characters in the movie because
the protagonist is constantly having to react to some something that the main villain is
responsible for always they're the one that's like even though they may not be present on screen
the villain the main villain in a story is always the person that is influencing events
so and Darth Vader to me is the combination of probably some of the best aspects of
of villains from all types you know whether it be from you know movie serials or comic books
it's fairly easy to argue that Darth Vader was very influenced by Dr. Doom from the Fantastic
Four comic books created by Stan Lee the look of Darth Vader kind of based on that also based on
a little bit of a samurai in there in terms of the helmet and other aspects
of Darth Vader's character and the fact that it took you know you know David Prowses an actor
and then James Earl Jones as a voice actor to kind of create this and also the physical look
you know the costume designers and and whatnot and Ralph Bakshi to kind of design the character
or versions of the character to what it became on screen so so much went into the creation of
Darth Vader as a villain and that Darth Vader has a tragic backstory that only a piece of it
becomes revealed in the second movie in which Darth Vader appeared the empire strikes back
you know villains have layers heroes are pretty much like I want to do the good thing
I'm going to resist doing the bad thing okay villains there's much more tragedy pain
trauma and I think that that actually makes them more relatable not in the sense that
we would want to act out and or emulate any of the things that a a villain on screen would do
in particular say villains from Quentin Tarantino movies right they were the know main antagonists
of those of those of Quentin Tarantino's films but like it's a way to kind of like exercise your
own demons right like and that's why I think that movie villains are so popular and that's
why I think that I don't even think I need to look at a poll I'm certain that if you looked
up best movie villains Darth Vader is going to be in the number one if not in the top three position
and I think that they'll always be a source of fascination I think I think that of late though
it's gotten to the point now where there's a deconstruction of villains okay it's like well
what led to this person becoming the villain right with movies like Cruella or even the star
wars prequels right like what led to this person they started out as good but then they became bad
well what is that journey like and that's become a whole other genre unto itself right
the deconstruction of a movie villain and showing it from their point of view and I guess from Darth
Vader's point of view you know he wanted to set the galaxy right and you know so from Darth
Vader's point of view from Anakin Skywalker's point of view he was doing the right thing
I don't know I think that you know from Thanos's point of view the same thing from
other great movie villains point of views you know they had a mission they were trying to
fulfill I just think that villains always tend to be the most interesting characters
are villains always the most unlikable or is unlikability and villain two separate characters
yeah I don't know I unlikeability is I don't know it's like an unlikable in in the sense of you know
I mean you're gonna like the villain otherwise the hero has no journey right and and yeah I think
unlikable is you know maybe a term better used for like a side character or whatnot or an unlikable
character might be better way to describe Han Solo in the first star wars movie where he was kind of
he was selfish he was out for himself he only cared about money didn't care about the cause that
the that Princess Leia was on and he was you know parts of him were unlikable he was still it's like
it's Harrison Ford he's very attractive man that chiseled jaw sure I'm very envious of that church
exactly he beats me so but he's you know he's unlikable and has a redemption right so that
redemption arc is important not just you know and we've seen it happen more with villains
I don't think necessarily Thanos had a redemption arc you know but the story
of Darth Vader is a redemption arc which is a very christian story what about female villains
yeah because I'm sorry to interrupt but Walter White's wife in breaking bad was she
really a villain or she just unlikeable oh that's interesting yeah I mean I would I would probably
say unlikable but from her point of view I feel like the audience can relate to the you know
the moral dilemma that she's faced with which influences her decision-making so I don't know
that I would consider her necessarily a villain but but you know unlikable in the sense that
Walter White is you know he's our guy he's the it's right you understand stories about him and
but I but I feel some empathy for her from the standpoint of well she's making the decisions
for what she thinks is best so while while I would understand with some understand and
empathize with her decision making wouldn't necessarily agree with it was there a villain
in Amélie I mean look I think I think I think the villain in Amélie was Amélie's agoraphobia
really and her ability to relate to other people that was the thing that she needed to overcome
here she is kind of in love with the world but the shy quiet girl who you know has you know she she
gains this you know delight over connecting people with with some aspect of them that that reawakens
some love right which begins with that little box of toys and the the and and her journey
the sort of you know like she's she's doing good in that sense but then you know the person she's
thinking about all these other people and how she can kind of help them along the way and she's she
thinks about herself last right but but then that journey becomes about her you know overcoming
her own agoraphobia I don't know if that could be considered a villain in the movie but it's
certainly the challenge that the protagonist must overcome and I would say a mild case of
agoraphobia in her case sure it's not like panic no no no but yeah but you know she she repelled
from connecting with a with someone who could be a lover for her she repelled from it and she
walked away fearful from it she resisted it and and then it comes full force
that's such a great movie amelia is such a such a movie that is in a category all its own
that defies you know you know it's such a simple story and yet a complex one all at once and it's
not a story that is told well very often so having seen it in the theater when it first came out
in that movie is is just incredible who are some of the smartest villains you can think of
well I don't know that I would classify them as smart I actually like when there's a decent
bond villain but the fact that they keep getting tripped up by bond means they're
not very good villains you know it's I mean it's almost it's almost laughable or comical
that so many movie villains I feel like these movie villains should watch movies
with other villains because then they'd see kind of like the roots of their mistakes
which is one the main cause of death of a movie villain is falling from a high place
so don't be anywhere high like if you're gonna construct a throne room in a half-constructed
death star try not to put it somewhere where there's a chasm where you could fall to your death
I'm referencing of course the return of the jedi and and the emperor and his untimely
demise or did he die I don't know it was never really explained in any case so yeah I
I don't know I think the smartest villains are always kind of several steps ahead of
their protagonist and I mean to me the the trio of villains
in the original Raiders of the Los Ark I think are I think were great because at the end
you know Indiana Jones did not win he simply kept his eyes closed when they when they opened the
ark so he was immune to the dark spirits that were released from the ark but Belloq and his
you know the the his his cohorts were all taken out by their carelessness their you know
their their lust for power right of getting the ark I feel that what a lot of people forget about
you know Raiders of the Los Ark is that you know Indiana Jones doesn't win he fails he fails in the
end the villains win and then they become a victim of their of you know their own hubris they're
you know they're taken out by the the deceased spirits it was never really explained.