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Quick Big Mi6 Main Villain Ranking Game

12357…17

Comments

  • Quantum_of_TomorrowQuantum_of_Tomorrow
    Posts: 508
    I had Kristatos at #22. Just very average, Columbo is a much better and more developed character.
  • ProfJoeButcherProfJoeButcher Bless your heart
    Posts: 1,686
    Up at 18 for me. I was surprised on my last watch of FYEO how much I really liked him as a character. Problem is, I guess, he just doesn't have any of the attributes you expect or want from a Bond villain. He's not deformed, psychotic, or even eccentric.
  • Mathis1Mathis1
    Posts: 6,798
    Well, like what's been said ,Kristatos was serviceable, that's all!
    The whole "who is the villain?" Him or Colombo, didnt really work! My last few viewings of FYEO, have been really positive, lots to enjoy, but alas, the main bad guy isn't one of them!
  • Creasy47Creasy47 In Cuba with Natalya.Moderator
    Posts: 40,447
    So who voted #11 alongside me? Kudos to you!

    I love Kristartos and I love FYEO. He may not make a huge impact or have any particularly noteworthy scenes when it comes to him properly being unveiled as a villain (the attempted drowning sequence, perhaps), but he's understated and a man with a very unique, passionate hobby while simultaneously trying to screw over everyone else for his own gain. Plus, Julian Glover is a phenomenal actor.
  • SomethingThatAteHimSomethingThatAteHim
    Posts: 532
    #24 for me. He just doesn’t feel villainous enough and lacks the larger than life, or touch of the bizarre, that would give him that Fleming feel. I didn’t find him much better in The Last Crusade either, I just don’t think he’s well suited to playing the big bad.
  • DarthDimiDarthDimi Behind you!Moderator
    Posts: 23,524
    I had him at #22.

    FYEO is a Bond film I really enjoy, despite Kristatos I should say. I've got nothing against him, but I've got nothing "for" him either. It certainly doesn't help that we are initially led to believe that he's our ally. I suppose that, in turn, is very much to Topol's favor, who instantly attracts our attention so much more as the potential villain.

    Glover is a competent actor, but I thought him rather bland as the bad guy (with another ruse) in Indy3 and also underwhelming in Ep. V. There's just something extremely common about him, his motives, how he dresses, talks, ... That said, he works in this film, which clearly abandons the larger-than-life section of villains and enters the realm of normal people. As with pretty much everything else in FYEO (post-PTS, that is), Kristatos is down to Earth, "realistic" and plausible. I also rather like the fact that he and Columbo have this decade-old feud going all the way back to WWII.

    Except that it is, well, a Bond film, and while I admire FYEO for pulling Bond back down from space and away from the realm of big, megalomaniac archnemeses, Kristatos is a tad too simple for my liking. It doesn't help his case that he seems a little "interested" in Bibi, and not in a perfectly parental sort of way. What's more, I don't like the accent Glover tries to do. I get that the character is Greek... but that hard "r" of his keeps me distracted.

    Locque, Kristatos, and a bunch of young Greek fellas form a pretty weak collection of baddies in this film. Nothing particularly colorful about them. Erich Kriegler is okay, I guess. This, in my opinion, is something both OP and AVTAK will improve on. However one feels about the films, at least the villainous bunch stands out a little more in both cases.
  • pachazopachazo Make Your Choice
    edited September 2021 Posts: 7,314
    I also had him 23rd and I like him just fine. He's cold and calculating. He seems to fit the stripped down tone of the film, for the most part (I know FYEO has its goofy moments as well), but he doesn't exactly have a huge screen presence does he? Not that every villain has to be larger than life but he teeters on being a little on the bland side. That said, again, I like him and I actually love FYEO (I'm one of its biggest defenders) but there are just many other villains that I prefer more.
  • GoldenGunGoldenGun Per ora e per il momento che verrà
    Posts: 6,776
    Had him at 13. Much like the villains in TLD, I tend to like him better than most fans. Well-acted and very much a real-life villain.
  • ProfJoeButcherProfJoeButcher Bless your heart
    Posts: 1,686
    Yeah, Julian Glover does a good job and he perfectly suits the film. It's really a pure matter of taste or preference in style of villain....
  • ThunderfingerThunderfinger Das Boot Hill
    Posts: 45,489
    Birdleson wrote: »
    I had him at 23. I think he’s pretty good, no real problems with him, I think this is just where he stands and I enjoy his performance, but I like all the ones that come after better.
    Ditto.
  • goldenswissroyalegoldenswissroyale Switzerland
    Posts: 4,384
    Ari is my #22. For all the reasons already said. Maybe it's a bit unfair to rank him so low: if he would stand out more as a “crazy“ villain, the story arc “who is the baddie?“ wouldn't work. All in all, he is a colourless businessman. I love FYEO and the baddies work in this more serious and realistic movie, unfortunately he can't shine in this game. He is too normal.
  • ShakenNotStirredShakenNotStirred
    Posts: 1,395
    #20 for me, nothing terrible about this villain but not a standout either. I like Glover as an actor but this performance needed a bit more.. Menace.
  • Creasy47Creasy47 In Cuba with Natalya.Moderator
    Posts: 40,447
    I'm at least glad the consensus is that he was great in the role but his villain doesn't really stand out or have a great on-screen impact to justify ranking him higher. Makes a lot of sense to me.
  • Some_Kind_Of_HeroSome_Kind_Of_Hero
    edited September 2021 Posts: 6,844
    This comes as a bit of a surprise to me, seeing Kristatos the fourth one out. I suppose that's because I view him as "just fine" (not particularly memorable but not outright bad in any way either), and there are a few others I would have expected to turn up first. Perhaps the lack of distinguishing characteristics in Kristatos (both physical and personality wise) led to there being not enough higher scores awarded that would balance the lower ones in any significant way. He's fine for the film he's in. He just needed a really meaty to scene work with and didn't ever really get one. Dinner with Bond and the keel-hauling were probably Glover's greatest opportunities to shine in the part.
  • CraigMooreOHMSSCraigMooreOHMSS Dublin, Ireland
    Posts: 8,026
    Kristatos is one of the few villains who doesn't really have much to him. He's just sort of there, doing bad stuff in a fairly straightlaced manner. He fits the kind of film FYEO is attempting to be down to a tee in that it's a very scaled back, lower key and somewhat believable adversary, but that has the knock-on effect of removing any potential for him to be a standout in a villain catalogue full of iconic and more flamboyant characters.
  • GoldenGunGoldenGun Per ora e per il momento che verrà
    Posts: 6,776
    On to our next reveal, in at number 23:

    JOE DON BAKER
    as Brad Whitaker
    in THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS

    31de066a-c715-4709-8a7e-7d6a69a24416.jpg

    Given the difficulty I had to find an illustration for Baker's first appearance in the world of 007, it might not be all that much of a surprise that he rounds out our bottom 5.

    Two penultimate places, and eight more bottom 5's give him little to cheer, though he did feature in two top 10's (one 7th and 8th spot) and two more top 15's (one 13th and one 15th place).

    Brad Whitaker achieved a total of 78 points.
  • goldenswissroyalegoldenswissroyale Switzerland
    edited September 2021 Posts: 4,384
    Another villain who is alright but doesn't have outstanding scenes. However, I like his last confrontation with Bond, which gives him some extra points. I ranked him as #18.
  • ProfJoeButcherProfJoeButcher Bless your heart
    edited September 2021 Posts: 1,686
    goldenswissroyale wrote: »
    Another villain who is alright but doesn't have outstanding scenes. However, I like his last confrontation with Bond, which gives him some extra points. I ranked him as #18.

    Similar for me. Number 19, and I too love his confrontation with Bond.

    I think there was a lot of potential in a cowardly, blowhard arms dealer like this, but Koskov got all the screen time. Oh well. I still like him well enough.
  • SomethingThatAteHimSomethingThatAteHim
    Posts: 532
    I had him at 26. Joe Don Baker’s broad, very American performance is pretty much the antithesis of what I look for in a Bond villain. It’s like one step away from having Sheriff JW Pepper as the main villain of a Bond film. The Living Daylights is lucky it has Necros or the antagonists would have been a complete write off.
  • Creasy47Creasy47 In Cuba with Natalya.Moderator
    Posts: 40,447
    Whitaker came in at 24th for me, so fairly close. I like Joe Don Baker, he's vile and pinheaded enough here but nothing particularly outstanding to elevate him above anything more than slimy and irritating.
  • ThunderfingerThunderfinger Das Boot Hill
    Posts: 45,489
    I put him above Koskov, but not by much. 17 and 20 respectivly.
  • Mathis1Mathis1
    Posts: 6,798
    No surprise to see Whitaker go out so early but I always liked him, has a great first scene with Pushkin, and i love that final shootout with Bond!
    I certainly prefer Baker here than as that awful Jack Wade character!
  • Quantum_of_TomorrowQuantum_of_Tomorrow
    Posts: 508
    I had Whitaker at #23. Just ok, again, nothing special.
  • ProfJoeButcherProfJoeButcher Bless your heart
    edited September 2021 Posts: 1,686
    Quantum_of_Tomorrow wrote: »
    I had Whitaker at #23. Just ok, again, nothing special.

    It's the mark of a great series that so many of us can have Kristatos and Whitaker in the 20s and still say, "They're not bad." :)
  • Quantum_of_TomorrowQuantum_of_Tomorrow
    Posts: 508
    ProfJoeButcher wrote: »
    Quantum_of_Tomorrow wrote: »
    I had Whitaker at #23. Just ok, again, nothing special.

    It's the mark of a great series that so many of us can have Kristatos and Whitaker in the 20s and still say, "They're not bad." :)

    same with the films, yeah. You could put a film at #24 and still say "however although this film is the weakest, it still has many redeeming qualities like..."
  • GoldenGunGoldenGun Per ora e per il momento che verrà
    edited September 2021 Posts: 6,776
    I love everything about TLD, including Brad Whitaker.

    I'd even go a bit further, with his pantheon of 'surgeons', his hobby to replay old battles 'as he would have fought them' and his obnoxious tastelessness (look at how he attacks that lobster), he is more in the spirit of a Fleming villain than anything that happened in either SF or SP. That's just my opinion of course, so no offense intended of course.

    Whitaker came in at 7 for me, his highest ranking.
  • ProfJoeButcherProfJoeButcher Bless your heart
    Posts: 1,686
    GoldenGun wrote: »
    I love everything about TLD, including Brad Whitaker.

    I'd even go a bit further, with his pantheon of 'surgeons', his hobby to replay old battles 'as he would have fought them' and his obnoxious tastelessness (look at how he attacks that lobster), he is more in the spirit of a Fleming villain than anything that happened in either SF or SP. That's just my opinion of course, so no offense intended of course.

    Whitaker came in at 7 for me, his highest ranking.

    I can totally imagine Fleming writing a short story with a Whitaker-type. His speech about "society's dead flesh" absolutely sounds like a literary original....
  • DarthDimiDarthDimi Behind you!Moderator
    Posts: 23,524
    He's fine, and I have him a few spots higher than Koskov. He's also incredibly OTT, and somewhat out of place in this more down-to-earth film. That said, I'm not so sure guys like Whitaker don't exist in the real world. And there's something really funny about this man going Godzilla on a lobster while barking orders at Nekros.
  • NickTwentyTwoNickTwentyTwo Vancouver, BC, Canada
    Posts: 7,526
    I actually like Whitaker a lot, for all the reasons mentioned above. "You've had your six... now have my six hundred!"
  • pachazopachazo Make Your Choice
    Posts: 7,314
    He came in at the 21st spot for me. He's fine, there's just nothing great about him. Perhaps if he had more screen time it might've helped a bit. The showdown with Bond was a highlight.
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