Who's your favorite Western villian?

Started by Harley Starr, March 07, 2010, 01:21:14 AM

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Harley Starr

A Western needs a "good" villian that you just love to hate.
I'll start off by saying that Scott Wilson's portrayal of the self-proclaimed mormon Danite John "Red Jack" Stillwell in The Tracker has got to be one of the most interesting bad guys I've ever seen.

Is there one in particular that you would call Bad News Walkin'?

A work in progress.

Stillwater

He acted "bad to the bone," alright...!

Bill

kcub

I really liked Henry Fonda in "Once Upon a Time in the West".

Especially since he's almost always a good guy.

But the deepest villain character is undoubtedly Sam Swearingen of HBO's Deadwood series.

Texas Lawdog

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Daniel Nighteyes

Lee Marvin as (a)  Liberty Valance in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, and (b) Tully Crow in The Commancheros.


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Deadeye Dick

Karl Malden, Lee Van Cleef and Jack Elam all are right up there with the other stated above.
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Stillwater

As mentioned above, Jack Elam amd Bruce Durn are great movie bad guys.

It's too bad that Jack Elam has passed on though...!

Bill

kcub


WaddWatsonEllis

The ultimate bad guy to me was whoever played Charley Prince in "3:10 To Yuma ...
My moniker is my great grandfather's name. He served with the 2nd Florida Mounted Regiment in the Civil War. Afterward, he came home, packed his wife into a wagon, and was one of the first NorteAmericanos on the Frio River southwest of San Antonio ..... Kinda where present day Dilley is ...

"Courage is being scared to death and saddling up anyway." John Wayne
NCOWS #3403

Daniel Nighteyes

Quote from: WaddWatsonEllis on March 08, 2010, 01:02:39 AM
The ultimate bad guy to me was whoever played Charley Prince in "3:10 To Yuma ...

That's Ben Foster, who got a SAG Award nomination for the role.

WaddWatsonEllis

Daniel,

IMHO, he really stole the movie from the people meant to be the stars. One could write a whole master's thesis on how he got as twisted as he did ... did he view Crowe's figure as messianic? A father figure?

I have thought far more on his character than any other part of the movie ... especially the look in his eyes and the body language when he allowed Crowe's personna to shoot him again and again ....
My moniker is my great grandfather's name. He served with the 2nd Florida Mounted Regiment in the Civil War. Afterward, he came home, packed his wife into a wagon, and was one of the first NorteAmericanos on the Frio River southwest of San Antonio ..... Kinda where present day Dilley is ...

"Courage is being scared to death and saddling up anyway." John Wayne
NCOWS #3403

Harley Starr

Ben Foster's Charlie Prince was very well executed(no pun intended) :D. Come to think of it, I remember this picture of him for a movie called The Messenger, and for some reason he reminded me of Scott Wilson.
A work in progress.

Daniel Nighteyes

Quote from: WaddWatsonEllis on March 08, 2010, 09:17:05 AM
IMHO, he really stole the movie from the people meant to be the stars.

Heh-heh-heh!  That often happens with well-played villians; and also with animals and kids.

Though he's only been in one Western, one of my favorite villian actors is Alan Rickman.  I first saw him as "Hans Gruber", the boss bad-guy in Die Hard, where he nearly stole the show from Bruce Willis.  He also played "Elliott Marston" in Quigley Down Under, and is now playing "Severus Snape" in the Harry Potter movies.

WaddWatsonEllis

Funny how life works out: I was gonna watch the Grammys, and ended up watching Quigley Down Under ....and I don't think I lost anything at all ....

But I agree Alan Rickman can play a real piece of work ... even when he plays the good guy!

There is just something so dark and self-destructive about the man and what he brings to his roles ... even when he played a spoof on Spock in Galaxy Quest ...

Another ''unkown" in 'Quigley Down Under' was Laura San Giacomo ... it was such a different personna than that of her the TV show she was in (Just Shoot Me).

Well done!
My moniker is my great grandfather's name. He served with the 2nd Florida Mounted Regiment in the Civil War. Afterward, he came home, packed his wife into a wagon, and was one of the first NorteAmericanos on the Frio River southwest of San Antonio ..... Kinda where present day Dilley is ...

"Courage is being scared to death and saddling up anyway." John Wayne
NCOWS #3403

Delmonico

Quote from: Silver Creek Slim on March 07, 2010, 02:48:48 PM
Bruce Dern in "The Cowboys". >:(

Slim

Yep, Bruce at his best, although any bad guy he plays is good. ;D

He got the role because John Wayne would have had it no other way, with out Bruce John Wayne would have not taken on the role.  He is still the only bad guy good enough to shoot John Wayne in the back, sorry the rest are just wanna be's. ;)
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Mogorilla

hands down I agree with Bruce Dern and his phenomenal skill at making you dislike him.   While Van Cleef was a great villian as Angel Eyes in gb&u, Bruce Dern was excellent in both The Cowboys and Hang em High

Miller (Dern): You ain't never gonna get me back to town alive, boy.
Jed Cooper (Eastwood): Then I'll get you there dead... boy
He is also excellent in HBO's Big Love.   Downright villianous there too.

Every villian needs henchmen and for down right eveel henchmen I nominate L.Q. Jones and Strother Martin

Dunson

Richard Jaeckel played Charley Prince 1957 the original 3-10 to Yuma, in the  2007 movie it was
Ben Foster.

Dunson

stubshaft

Bruce Dern for sure and for the earlier movies I liked Brian Donlevy.
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Two-Step

There are so many great "bad guys" that it is hard to pick just one. But, off the top of my head, I would have to pick the one that is the most ruthless, cold blooded killer of them all... Peter Fonda's character "Frank", from Once Upon a Time in the West.

Some folk might not agree with me, but any bad guy that will stone cold two kids and never blink has go to be an all time western bad guy. He was such a bad guy that he made other bad guys look good in comparison.
Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the outcome of the vote. -Benjamin Franklin

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