107 replies to this topic

[Mr. Blofeld]

I'm amazed nobody has mentioned Stromberg. This guy barely leaves his chair, much less does anything. He pushes buttons to kill people, eats seafood, orders his henchmen, shows Bond rare fish, barks and gloats to the captured sub crews and that's about it. He doesn't even leave his seat to try and kill Bond.

Cool voice and that's about it.

Not even that, in my opinion; his croaking baritone sounds like painful, cancerous death incarnate.

[Mister Asterix]

Dr. Noah.

[LadySylvia]

As for Goldfinger's final dealing with Bond . . . handcuff him to a nuclear bomb? Why not simply put a bullet in Bond's chest and be done with the guy?

So why pick on Goldfinger for this when practically every other villain in the series had the same opportunity?



I'm amazed nobody has mentioned Stromberg. This guy barely leaves his chair, much less does anything. He pushes buttons to kill people, eats seafood, orders his henchmen, shows Bond rare fish, barks and gloats to the captured sub crews and that's about it. He doesn't even leave his seat to try and kill Bond.

Cool voice and that's about it.

At least he tries to immediately kill Bond.

But you're right. Goldfinger wasn't the only villain guilty of this. He just seemed to have done it to an extreme more so than the other villains. There was Red Grant in FRWL. Also Alec Trevelyn set up some ridiculous scenarios for Bond's death in GE.

[Qwerty]

Dr. Noah.

!

Ah, definitely if counting those unofficial films too.

[Blonde Bond]

Koskov and Whitaker
Blofeld in DAF


I also agree with everyone, who said that they liked Elliot Carver.

[Vauxhall]

Gustav Graves is pretty poor, although I thought the concept behind the character was quite good. Stromberg is perhaps the least charismatic, but he had a bit of genuine class about him (fireplace on a submarine!)

[DLibrasnow]

My choice for worst villain is Elliot Carver.

Carver belongs more in an Austin Powers movie for all the unintentional laughs his lines (and line delivery) induce.

[Bondian]

My choice for worst villain is Elliot Carver.

Carver belongs more in an Austin Powers movie for all the unintentional laughs his lines (and line delivery) induce.

Ditto.

[EyesOnly]

I might be in the minority here but I always thought Carver was more like an old school Bond Villain. I thought he was pretty decent.

[Mr. Blofeld]

Since no one's nominated this guy, I guess I'll play devil's advocate and nominate Maximillian Largo.

My real choice, however, would be Blofeld in YOLT. Why? He's a moron.

[007Bond]

Blofeld. Each of them...Except maybe Savalas.

Edited by 007Bond, 18 November 2007 - 11:52 AM.

[LadySylvia]

Since no one's nominated this guy, I guess I'll play devil's advocate and nominate Maximillian Largo.

My real choice, however, would be Blofeld in YOLT. Why? He's a moron.

You know, you've got a point. I never understood why this particular Blofeld had brandished a gun on Bond, shoot Osato and then forced Bond to move to another spot, before he could shoot the latter. It only gave Tiger the opportunity to save Bond's life. Why didn't Blofeld shoot Bond before taking the trouble to move to a different spot?

[dinovelvet]

My choice for worst villain is Elliot Carver.

Carver belongs more in an Austin Powers movie for all the unintentional laughs his lines (and line delivery) induce.

Ditto.

Yes Carver is ridiculous, and there's nobody to blame but Jonathan Pryce. Although generally a fine actor, Pryce clearly sees playing a Bond Villain as an excuse to camp it up. Now there's nothing wrong with a little bit of camp in a Bond adventure, but Pryce starts off with the dial turned all the way up to ten (re: "Delicious!" in his very first scene), and throughout the film ramps it up even more, all the way past 11, 12 and 13 until the dial completely snaps off (re: kung fu kicks), making Charles Gray's Blofeld the height of sinister, realistic villainy by comparison.

[Royal Dalton]

He was terrible. But the character was totally absurd to start off with.

Shame Spottiswoode vetoed Debbie McWilliams' original choice for the role, though.

[DaveBond21]

The worst for me are Blofeld from DAF (too camp), Whitaker and Koskov from TLD, and Graves from DAD (makes me think of Hugh Grant too much - and for a story about North Koreans, we somehow manage to get a stereotypical British baddie!!!)

[Skudor]

Carver and Graves were pretty darned bad. Renard was mishandled really badly. And Trevelyan is extremely over rated. Stromberg is a bit lethargic, but somehow he works.

[DaveBond21]

Carver and Graves were pretty darned bad. Renard was mishandled really badly. And Trevelyan is extremely over rated. Stromberg is a bit lethargic, but somehow he works.

Renard should have been so much better. They invented this whole thing about him not being able to feel pain, and then didn't use it for anything!!

[Skudor]

I was so dissappointed in Renard when I saw TWINE the first time. Robert Carlyle was rated pretty highly as an actor, and as a menacing character (mainly based on Trainspotting, as far as I can tell). In TWINE he is utterly un-menacing. Mostly seems to be this depressed short guy with a funny looking scar on his head.

Just saw Carlyle again in that god-awful movie Eragon. Same thing again. He's not menacing, just a sleazy little man. Bad casting.

The character was sort of a cool idea (bordering on OTT - but I'll buy) - but they should have hired someone a lot more menacing.

[dinovelvet]

I was so dissappointed in Renard when I saw TWINE the first time. Robert Carlyle was rated pretty highly as an actor, and as a menacing character (mainly based on Trainspotting, as far as I can tell). In TWINE he is utterly un-menacing. Mostly seems to be this depressed short guy with a funny looking scar on his head.

Just saw Carlyle again in that god-awful movie Eragon. Same thing again. He's not menacing, just a sleazy little man. Bad casting.

The character was sort of a cool idea (bordering on OTT - but I'll buy) - but they should have hired someone a lot more menacing.

Yes, a more physically imposing actor (say, Arnold Vosloo) combined with more use of the 'no pain' ability could have made for a truly intimidating and unstoppable Terminator-like villain. Then the fight at the end could have been a true classic like Bond vs Oddjob instead of Brosnan and Carlyle rolling around in what looks like an upside-down leaky bathroom.
I see Stromberg has had some mentions on this thread, but I think he's a Class A villain. True, he is not the most hands-on of villains, but its his laid back approach to everything that makes it work, look how he casually disposes of his secretary and watches her get ripped apart on a monitor, and then even more casually kills the two scientists (along with one of his own helicopter pilots, we assume)...and these people were the ones who helped him set up his plan in the first place! And let's not forget his grand scheme, he basically intends to wipe out most of the human race, just because he quite fancies living underwater. Nice!

[Bondian]

Yes Carver is ridiculous, and there's nobody to blame but Jonathan Pryce. Although generally a fine actor, Pryce clearly sees playing a Bond Villain as an excuse to camp it up. Now there's nothing wrong with a little bit of camp in a Bond adventure, but Pryce starts off with the dial turned all the way up to ten (re: "Delicious!" in his very first scene), and throughout the film ramps it up even more, all the way past 11, 12 and 13 until the dial completely snaps off (re: kung fu kicks), making Charles Gray's Blofeld the height of sinister, realistic villainy by comparison.

Agreed. He had an interesting death though, I'llgive him that. Got 'carved' up with his own spaghetti tong.

[Daddy Bond]

Yep Koskov was a wuss and Brad Whitaker was bad too.

Agreed. This is one of The Living Daylights' greatest flaws: its villains. Koskov and Whitaker are not nearly a match for James Bond. They're certainly out menaced by their henchman!

Yup, one of the weakest points to one of my favorite Bond films.

[glidrose]

Savalas miscast as Blofeld

Gray miscast as Blofeld

 

Lonsdale makes a dull Drax

Glover makes a dull villain, tho' in fairness, he had to keep his villainy to himself until the reveal moment

 

Bardem overrated as Silva

[Krest]

Dare I say...Scaramanga! 

 

I love Christopher Lee, he's an absolutely brilliant actor but in TMWTGG I just don't feel the menace. 

[SPECTRE ASSASSIN]

Dare I say...Scaramanga! 

 

I love Christopher Lee, he's an absolutely brilliant actor but in TMWTGG I just don't feel the menace. 

On the contrary. He is the best thing in that film. Lee is cool and suave in the role. His character's evil plot is fairly weak, but i feel like Lee clearly upstaged Roger Moore in his performance. 

[tdalton]

Dare I say...Scaramanga! 

 

I love Christopher Lee, he's an absolutely brilliant actor but in TMWTGG I just don't feel the menace. 

 

I could go along with this.  The Man With the Golden Gun is a bad film all around, and while the idea of Christopher Lee as a Bond villain is a good one, I'm not sure that it really worked in this particular film.  You're right in saying that there's not a whole lot of menace there.  I think that Bond is actually more menacing in the film than Scaramanga is, and that's actually something that would make for an excellent angle to pursue the Bond/villain relationship in a future film, but no such effort is made in The Man With the Golden Gun. 

 

I'd also put Donald Pleasence's Blofeld from You Only Live Twice and Charles Gray's Blofeld from Diamonds are Forever into the mix as well. 

[Guy Haines]

I think a slightly disappointing one was another Blofeld not so far mentioned, Max Von Sydow in NSNA. First, the character is underused, although in fairness Blofeld only put in a relatively brief appearance in the novel "Thunderball".

 

Secondly, Von Sydow's performance as Blofeld seemed, to me at least, almost benign. When I saw NSNA at the "flicks", he came across as an "uncle" character, stroking his white Persian cat, and sounding almost genial as he orchestrated the theft of nuclear weapons. There didn't seem to be much of the menace invested in other Bond villains. Which was surprising - he played villains in the past, and he was, after all, considered as a potential Blofeld way back in the 1960s, according to the extensively researched "The Making Of On Her Majesty's Secret Service".

[Leo R.]

Sean Bean.

[Hansen]

Savalas miscast as Blofeld

Gray miscast as Blofeld

 

Lonsdale makes a dull Drax

Glover makes a dull villain, tho' in fairness, he had to keep his villainy to himself until the reveal moment

 

Bardem overrated as Silva

Quite agree on that except for Telly Savalas. After all, Blofeld has greek origins

[plankattack]

Nothing original in my opinions, other than using adjectives other than "worst"!

 

Blofeld in YOLT is the most "disappointing" villain - I've never seen all the fuss over Pleasance's portrayal. To me he's a short, mincer of man, who does very little other than occasionally raise his voice. He's weak because IMHO, there's no sense as to why he's doing what he's doing other than he wants to. Goldfinger, well, he's a greedy SOB; SPECTRE in both FRWL and TB exist as an organization with a master-plan. Blofeld in YOLT, just seems to be doing it because, well, because that's what the plot requires. Poorly written, and poorly executed. Not to pick on Pleasance, but his "President" in Escape From New York comes across as weasselly, manipulative, cowardly etc. His super-villain in YOLT, is nothing more than a short-man with a cat.

 

"Non-threatening" villain would be Kamal Khan from OP. Ultimately, a not altogether unlikeable chap who just happens to do some smuggling.

 

The "least-convincing" villain might be the trio in TLD - always a conumdrum. Between the three of them, you've got one great villain - a physical presence, a bit of a nut/egomaniac, and someone with some suaveness and a little humour. Meld them into one person and you might get someone like Silva from SF; but splitting the characteristics between three characters leaves you with three underwhelming villains.

[Janus Assassin]

Never was big on Kristatos. He seems very bland and not menacing at all.