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Badass 80s Movie Villains

80s movies villains redefined what it meant to be a badass in cinema.

By Emily McCayPublished 8 years ago 7 min read
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The 80s were something of a golden time of cinematic history. Where the 70s played host to some of cinema’s most warped creations, the 80s brought on a sense of joviality, fun filled excitement and a genuine thirst for adventure and progress. The 80s saw the maturity of filmmakers like Steven Spielberg and saw the continued releases of Kubrick classics. However, the 80s were known for one more thing. The badass action movie. Die Hard started it all, but since then we’ve had a rich collection of glorious action movies to comb through since, and we all know that you can’t have a good action movie unless you have a great villain.

General Zod from Superman II

If you’re a comic book reader then you’re bound to know who General Zod is. Hell, if you’ve seen the 2013 movie Man of Steel you know who General Zod is. However, before Superman II there was yet to be a truly great on screen incarnation of the infamous Superman villain. General Zod is meant to be the direct contrast of Superman. With very similar powers, Zod comes from the same planet as Superman and has had major beef with Superman’s parents. So it’s a good thing that Terence Stamp was able to pull off such a magnificent performance of the terrifying alien. With a terrifying stare and a remarkably memorable costume General Zod in Superman II was the perfect foil to Christopher Reeve’s Superman, and proved to be perhaps his most memorable enemy of all.

Alejandro Sosa in Scarface

Known for his surprising amount of charisma and awe inspiring rage, Pacino was a fan favorite, but in Scarface, Tony Montana was put up against a threat that no cinema audience saw coming. Alejandro Sosa played by Paul Shener. The interesting thing about this villain is that many of the characters in Scarface were particularly villainous in nature. That puts into perspective how much of an evil guy Alejandro Sosa must have been to be badder than the big bad of Tony Montana, but with several hits being put out on innocent people, the cold stare of Alejandro Sosa haunts audiences to this very day.

Sergeant Bob Barnes from Platoon

Platoon is perhaps one of the greatest Vietnam War films of all time. No, that isn’t hyperbolic nonsense, I really do mean it. One of the ways that Platoon makes you feel so disgusted with the US military is through its villains, specifically one villain in particular, Sergeant Bob Barnes. This guy is just plain scary. A large scar across his face, the man takes a disgusting amount of joy in murdering Vietnamese farmers and scaring the new soldiers to the platoon. Where many of the men went out for a sense of patriotic duty, we get the sense that Sergeant Bob Barnes isn’t out for his country, but his own personal enjoyment, and that makes him wonderfully terrifying.

The Kurgan from Highlander

The Kurgan is a powerful immortal being who has wreaked havoc across history. Throughout his life, he caused much destruction and chaos, killing, raping, and thieving. He took the heads of many Immortals throughout his three-thousand years of life. So to recap, this is a 3000 year old badass who will gladly kill anyone who stands in his way. Played by the brilliant Clancy Brown, the dead pan stare of The Kurgan drills through the lens and the raw confidence of his abilities really made you feel like you were in danger of this guy.

Judge Doom from Who Framed Rodger Rabbit?

Doom is the much-feared Judge of Toontown. Despite presiding over a city of Toons, he is totally without mirth and passes capital punishment on Toons who break the law, placing them in a chemical vat which he calls, ‘The Dip’. So yes, in a film that is about lots of cartoons, we have a terrifying character who would gladly destroy all of this happiness. The Dip melts Toons, permanently killing them. He wears gloves supposedly to avoid the mess (but as it is soon revealed, it is actually to prevent himself from melting). He employs Toon henchmen to hunt down those he would melt down, and his endless persistence in achieving his own justice makes him a hard villain to forget.

Predator from The Predator

Arnold Schwarzenegger, one of the greatest action heroes of all time walks into a forest. He’s scared of no man, but perhaps he is scared of one beast that lurks in the darkness. This is the Predator. With its trifecta of red laser pointers The Predator has proved to be one of the greatest movie beasts of all time. So large was its influence that it was able to support whole movie franchises on its back, but we’d prefer not to talk about them. Better to forget them. Able to turn invisible and described as the ultimate apex predator, this beast shows no mercy towards its prey and sometimes acts more as a sport hunter than like an actual predator stalking it’s prey. You can be sure that this guy sold a ship ton of action figures after this film was released.

Lord Humungus from Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior

I’ll make no secret of the fact that Mad Max is one of my favorite movie franchises of all time. The apocalyptic wasteland mixed with the roaring cars, stoic main character and wacky side characters make it a world that I simply want to breathe in. However, one reason I’d never want to live in it is due to the big bad known as Lord Humungus. Leader of The Marauders who wants every small settlements diesel fuel, Max must fight this gimp suit wearing atrocity with all the might he can manage. I think the fact that George Miller was able to get a man wearing a gimp suit to look so threatening for such a long time is a testament to the mastery of design and writing behind this character and the fact that every wasteland bandit from film, tv, and video games still pays tribute to Lord Humungus just goes to show how iconic he is.

Freddy Krueger from Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)

I will give Freddy Krueger the highest mark in terms of the originality of his concept. For the 3 people who don’t know, Freddy Krueger has the unique ability to be able to travel into his victim's dreams and kill them from there. What initially sounds a little silly actually becomes one of the tensest narrative plot motivators of all time. You can’t control whether you dream, and you have to sleep at some point. What do you do? Not only are his abilities unique, but his costume of a red and black striped shirt, low fedora hat, clawed hands and a scarred and mangled face has stuck through pop culture up to this very day.

The Joker from Batman (1989)

On a website where we focus so much on comics, how could you expect us not to include the clown prince of chaos himself on this list? There have been many incarnations of the joker, but the version Jack Nicholson plays is wholly unique and actually ties well into the back story of Bruce Wayne. As opposed to playing practical jokes on Batman, this Joker actually has lots of wit and cunning, and despite employing a buzzer hand every so often, his mob background and killer grin keep the viewer guessing. The Joker is not only a maniac in Tim Burton’s vision of the Batman universe, but he is a maniac that has the brain of a tactician. If that isn’t a recipe for disaster then I don’t know what is.

Hans Gruber from Die Hard

Very quick history lesson. Before the 80s, the action hero usually consisted of something that the viewer of the film could never be. A rock star or a superhero, but never a common man. This attitude completely changed with the advent of Die Hard, where John McClane was the everyman that every cinema viewer could get behind. He’s just a guy trying to survive and get back to his wife in one piece. He’s a really hard hero not to get behind. But a hero cannot be truly tested unless tested by a nemesis of equal or greater stature. Enter Alan Rickman’s legendary performance as the German mastermind Hans Gruber. Although not physically an excellent fighter, Hans Gruber along with his team of European terrorists have such great tactical minds that they are able to outsmart the high tech nature of the Nakatomi building with relative ease. Hans Gruber is a charisma vacuum, stealing away everyone else’s killer lines to substitute them with his own menacing stare and grimace. This is one villain that no one should mess around with, but then again, that’s exactly the sort of guy John McClane would love to go after.

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Emily McCay

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