Best Villain in Moore Era?

ZorinIndustries · August 2011

Moore's villains may be the most psychotic out of them all, and that's why I love them so much. Max Zorin is a tremendous villain, but I feel that's due more to to the point that Christopher Walken is playing the role -{

My favorite Moore villain would have to be Francisco Scaramanga. Christopher Lee was an absolute genius in this film. This is in fact the dark side of Bond and the man with the golden gun proves to be a vicious killer, doing it strictly for pleasure. Lee's performance was outstanding, scared me at points!

Who's your favorite villain in the Moore era?

Percy Sugden · August 2011

Hugo Drax as played by Michael Lonsdale, is my favourite villian from the Roger Moore era, he conveys a thoroughly menacing quality, verging on pure evil, without reverting to over acting, infact if anyhing he underplays the role, adding to the quiet insanity of the character.

GaddGeneGadd · August 2011

I loved the whole Voodoo vibe of LALD, I thought the network of villains was great controlled by Mr big/ Kananga. Lonsdale was great as Drax and I thought Louis Jordan was very underrated as Kamal Khan in OP.

Thunderbird 2 · August 2011

Percy Sugden wrote:

Hugo Drax as played by Michael Lonsdale, is my favourite villian from the Roger Moore era, he conveys a thoroughly menacing quality, verging on pure evil, without reverting to over acting, infact if anyhing he underplays the role, adding to the quiet insanity of the character.

I completely agree. Dr Kananga, Scaramanga, Stromberg, Kristatos and Kamal K are all great, but Michel Longsdale gives a strong yet quiet presence to Drax, that makes him stand out in sharp relief to the space age surroundings and the bonkers plot aspects of Moonraker. Only when Jaws switches sides do things flag a bit. His overblown ego is a nice touch too, it shows he has as much of a screw loose as all of the others, but like say Scaramanga or Stromberg, his dry attitude means you could (fatally) mistake that as self deprecating sarcasm.

For me the weakest main Moore baddie is Zorin. - Christopher Walken is a strong actor, who conveys cunning and sharp wit with menace very well. (His powerful presence in Last Man Standing was very good.) But AVTAK is a Bond also ran, reusing pieces taken from past glories and the plot and Zorin's character are the worst aspects. The climax where Zorin is machine gunning the miners is ten times longer than Goldfinger shooting soldiers in Fort Knox, and ten times less effective. A Damned shame.

Honorable mentions from me as well for Geoffrey Holder, Richard Kiel, Caroline Munroe, and Grace Jones. Supporting baddies yes, but memorable ones thanks to the actors playing them.

Capungo · August 2011

I'm not sure about best/worst, but there's a very sharp line (in my mind) between memorable and forgettable villains during the Moore era. The memorable villains are Kananga, Scaramanga, Drax, and Zorin. The forgettable ones are Stromberg, Kristatos, Orlov, and Kamal Khan. I wouldn't say that the latter group were poorly acted. It's just that they leave no impression.

Capungo · August 2011

But as for my personal favorite, that would be Sir Hugo Drax, and not just because Michael Lonsdale is my favorite underrated Franco-British character actor.

And to be fair, neither of the "main" villains in Octopussy is given a chance. As Todd Alcott writes (http://toddalcott.livejournal.com/98678.html), two heads are not better than one. When you have more than one villain, you reduce them all to the level of henchmen. TLD and TWINE make the same mistake. Kananga, Scaramanga, Drax, and Zorin are memorable partly because they are unambiguously the chief executive malefactors of their respective films.

Higgins · August 2011

Kamal Khan, closely followed by F. Scaramanga and Sir Hugo Drax.

Moore had the best villains imho (probably because his "lighter" approach to the role).

pyrat · August 2011

Good question. I hadn't really considered villains related to a specific Bond and I find my response amusing since Moonraker is among my least favorite Bond films, but I must agree Michael Lonsdale's Sir Hugo Drax is my favorite Moore villain.

GW300H400

Hardyboy · August 2011

Just to be pedantic. . .in the novel Moonraker, Hugo Drax is indeed a "Sir," but in the film he is not.

pyrat · August 2011

Or at least he is not referred to as such.

Thunderpussy · August 2011

If he was pointing that shotgun at me I'd definitley call him Sir !

)

GaddGeneGadd · August 2011

Just watched Moonraker last night, they had a Rog triple header on Sleuth of LALD, MR & OP of course I watched most of all 3, but only MR all the way thru. Came in late with LALD and went to bed during OP. One thing I have come to realize about Sir Rogers films is that THEY WERE BIIIIIIIIGG budget, summer escapist fun and were really meant to be viewed on the large screen. One of the reasons I think that Moore's villains were so great was because most of them were SOOOOO over the top. There is a comic book, wink wink nod nod to the Moore Bonds. I know alot of purists ( And I certainly fall into that category) want to down play Moore's Bond films and if you watch the films on the small screen they can look a little silly. But even though I don't rate Moonraker or Op all that high on my list when I saw them in the theaters I was BLOWN away and LOVED them. I saw OP 3 times in 2 weeks in the summer of 83 and I never once thought he was too old, AVTAK is another matter

I also LOOOOOVED moonraker when I saw it as a 12 year old kid. Moore's Bond really had a super hero quality about him, and I know alot of purists don't think that his Bond's have aged well, but if you put it into context, the mainstream summer audiences LOVED Roger Moore's Bond. Something that just was not the case with Daltons Bond, though he rates at or near the top for most serious Bond fans ( Bondtoys excluded

) Rog truly was larger than life and as silly as it may look now, people back then bought it lock, stock and barrel. Roger's Bond was the ultimate popcorn Bond. When I try to view his movies in that context I always find myself enjoying them that much more.

Higgins · August 2011

GaddGeneGadd wrote:

Something that just was not the case with Daltons Bond, though he rates at or near the top for most serious Bond fans ( Bondtoys excluded )

I count myself more to the group of the casual audiences

Thunderpussy · August 2011

So far Daniel Craig's Villains have been the best of the entire series, But as far as Sir Rogers. I'd go along with Hugo Drax. -{

DFGTYODLTTMFOATLGTTDCQ · August 2011

I felt inclined to say Francisco Scaramanga also right away, I watched the film again recently, and for the most part Lee does take the role seriously, he is a perfect adversary for Moore in this release

the others,

LALD's Yaphet Kotto was actually menacing as Mr Big, but once the face paint and big hair came off as Doctor Kananga things settled down a bit

TSWLM's Stromberg was pretty lame, never showed any threat whatsoever from what I can recall, apart from eating some nuts and waggling his foot as he tells Jaws to take him out

Moonraker's Hugo Drax was also bland and lifeless, 'You missed Mister Bond' and 'have a cucumber sandwich' Some bad guy

FYEO was not too bad but Julian Glover blowed as any real threat, he was awful, I thought Eric Kriegler and Locque were better bad guys by some distance

Octopussy, Louis Jourdan, was he even on screen? , no threat whatsoever

finally, Max Zorin. Walken has played an abundance of whacked out bad guys going back far enough but on this occasion was restricted to a couple of borderline threats and bleached hair absurdities.

I actually thought Scarpine or even MayDay presented more of a menace

Napoleon Plural · August 2011

I can't buy into Scaramanga, after all, for most of the film he's not even after Bond. Bond has been fooled by a ruse it was Andrea who sent the bullet. So it's akin to a real nemesis as a crush is to a full-blown affair.

DFGTYODLTTMFOATLGTTDCQ · August 2011

I'd like to know what an M16 phone was doing on Scaramanga's boat? 8-)

It surely wasn't there before was it?

ke02eww · September 2011

Back on script....

Has to be Lee, sure-lee?...

Followed by jurgens - And glover....

Never liked kamal can't, too vaudeville ( the elephant's behind you!!..)

And walken has a lousy script to work with.... But he has the stare to do menacing in his sleep..

Yaphet kotto does well but it's not the best bit of the film...he's upstaged by others Inc tee hee..

And lonsdale is wooden... So wooden you can see the strings as he moves

But each to their own...

As he awaits the sting of BT's pea shooter.....

dr. evan-gelist · September 2011

michael gothards emile locque character is menacing and silent.

Napoleon Plural · September 2011

I should say that I treasure Yaphet Kotto's line when interrogating Bond and Solitaire over the latter's virginity:

"And having set the example, I don't expect Miss Solitaire to be any less the lady..."

It just has a nice ring to it, a flourish, the way it trips off the tounge. I suppose however that successive villains Grey, Kotto and Lee had similiar dialogue from the screenwriter Tom Makiewertwetsz (sp?) so it could get repetitive, which is why he gave up on it after GG.

Wadsy · September 2011

I would have to go with Max Zorin actually. I thought he was excellent, crazy man gunning down all his workers, huge plot to destroy Silicon Valley to get a Monopoly, and very menacing.

Ranking the main villains of the Moore era best to worst:

1. Max Zorin
2. Stromberg
3. Hugo Drax
4. Francisco Scaramanga
5. Kristatos
6. Kamal Khan
7. Kananga

chrisno1 · September 2011

Oh my...
While I think Christopher Lee is probably without equal in the general acting stakes, Scaramanga doesn't quite do it for me. He's almost too urbane. There isn't much menace in the portrait. Baddies shouldn't be this likable.
Curt Jurgens, while excellent, isn't on screen enough and seems rather static when he is. Glover, Jourdan and Walken are all too fey; sophisticated criminals yes but hardly evil, even Walken's psycho hardly raises an eyebrow of concern for Sir Roger.
It's a toss up between Yapetto Kotto's bonkers Mr Big / Kananga and Michael Lonsdale's serenly insane Drax. At a push I'd give it to Drax, if only for the following line: "Mister Bond, you defy all my attempts to plan an amusing death for you."

Smiert-Spionam · October 2011

For some reason I absolutely love Kananga as a Bond villain. Don't know why but I find him truely menacing and his lisp makes him sound even more bad-ass for some reason

)

Wadsy · November 2011

My vote always went for Christopher Walken as Max Zorin in A View To A Kill. However, I also considered Hugo Drax on Moonraker to be a fairly strong and menacing villain.

Quist · November 2011

I reckon Scaramanga and Zorin are two of the best :007)

dr. evan-gelist · December 2011

1 emile locque
2 scarpine
3 max zorin
4 jaws
5 hugo drax
6 francisco scaramanga
7 eric krigler
8 may day
9 gobinda
10 tee hee
11 sandor
12 jenny flex
13 kamal khan
14 general orlov
15 apostice
16 chang
17 nick nack
18 karl stromberg
19 dr kananga / mr. big
20 carl mortner
21 adam

Jarvio · October 2012

Just ranking the main ones, my list would go like this:

1 - Max Zorin
Remarkable villain. He was actually a psychopath. Extremely memorable and brilliantly acted.

2 - Francisco Scaramanga
How can Christopher Lee not rank high? However, he wasn't evil enough. But even so, I think he was a great equal to Moore.

3 - Kamal Khan
I liked him. He had charm, and some good lines. Great chemistry with bond. A solid villain IMO.

4 - Dr Kananga
Not bad. He wasn't the most evil of the bunch, but still pretty convincing as a villain. His death was silly though.

5 - Aris Kristatos
Average to me really. Nothing special, but I like that he was rather realistic.

6 - Karl Stromberg
Didn't like him at all. Not convincing in the role for me. One of the weaker elements of TSWLM. However, it was great how he killed the girl and the two professors. His best moment.

7 - Hugo Drax
Really don't like him. This is due to 2 things - how one-dimensional he was acted, and his ridiculous super race plot. To be fair though, he was a very evil villain with some great lines. But I just can't get past those 2 bad points I mentioned I'm afraid.

(If General Orlov is considered 'main' too, then I'd rank him between Kananga and Kristatos - I found him a little over the top, but at the same time at least he was memorable).

Q-Branch_2012 · October 2012

My favourite bad guy of the Moore era has to be Mr Big/Kananga, I thought he was a great bad guy with excellent lines like "Names are for tombstones baby" after cutting Bond off. The twist of him being obth guys was also a great little touch, and I enjoyed all of the voodoo stuff as well.

Honourable mention to Jaws as well for being a excellent Hench-man. He was great in the two movies he appeared in, although not to sure once he switched sides.

Matt_Double_O · October 2012

My top 3 would be:

1. Hugo Drax
2. Max Zorin
3. Kananga

Stromberg would win "Best Baddies Lair" though.

torontobondfan · October 2012

Kamal Khan: "You have a nasty habit of surviving, Mr. Bond"

Silhouette Man · October 2012

Scaramanga and Hugo Drax are my personal favourite picks.

Also really like Prince Kamal Khan and Maximillian Zorin!

Best Villain in Moore Era?

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