The Best Villains in Dramas, Ranked - MovieWeb
Drama as a genre proves to be the creative hotbed for villains from every walk of life to fester. Unlike action, drama isn't confined to mobsters or terrorists that resort to raining bullets on all those that choose to defy them. Instead, drama offers a creative outlet for villains to bloom in the most unlikely places that one could think of. Ranging from an evil nurse, to a power-hungry pastor, here are some of the best villains in dramas ranked.
10 Nurse Ratched - One That Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest (1975)
Playing on drama's ability to discover evil in the most unconventional of places, Nurse Ratched, on a surface level, doesn't come across as a typical villain. She's cold, distant, obsessively controlling, and a stickler for authority. What makes Ratched's character lean towards the vindictive end of the spectrum is her active participation in a system that chooses to oppress patients without looking at them as human beings. From afar, she may seem as someone who's just trying to do her job, but to a normal patient stuck within the asylum, she's an active contributor to their everyday torture.
9 Bill the Butcher - Gangs of New York (2002)
The movie market is flooded with revenge sagas that are released by the dozen every year. What makes Scorsese's Gangs of New York stand the test of time is the vulnerable relationship between enemies. Daniel Day-Lewis's Bill "The Butcher" murders young Amsterdam's (Leonardo DiCaprio) father, but always holds him in high regard. As Amsterdam grows from boy to man, he vows to avenge his father and joins Bill's gang. Though, as Bill teaches Amsterdam the tricks of the trade, his drive for revenge is dampened as he sees the many shades of Bill, in all his glory.
8 William Dagget Jr - Unforgiven (1992)
Unforgiven picks up where normal Westerns end, for it documents the ever-after of a gunfighter's life. Clint Eastwood plays the role of William Munny, a gunslinger who's past his glory days and tends to his hog farm with his two kids. Stretched thin by circumstance, Munny gets an opportunity to retire in peace along with his two kids. The only thing standing in his way? A corrupt sheriff and his group of crony cops.
The sheriff, played by a brilliant Gene Hackman, is a self-centered, narcissistic man that's power trips on a badge of authority and thinks he's beyond the law. In an interview, Gene Hackman admitted that he could have passed on the film, because his daughters didn't like the violent movies he was doing. But thankfully, Hackman was convinced by Clint Eastwood and hence was born one of the best Western villains.
7 Eli Sunday - There Will Be Blood (2007)
In one of the biggest on-screen rivalries, Paul Thomas Anderson pits Daniel Day-Lewis's need for greed up against Paul Dano's megalomaniacal portrayal of a pastor whose anything but spiritual. Funnily enough, both men in the equation are far from normal as they pursue insurmountable wealth and each other's annihilation. At this point, the two men aren't humans, instead, they're just large egos that are after the same wealth, but just use different means to acquire it.
6 Emilio Barzini - The Godfather (1972)
Francis Ford Coppola's The Godfather can be viewed as a familial handbook into the life and times of mafia men. Before hard drugs and modern values took over, old-school heads of families conduct business by keeping old-school values in mind. There were, of course, a few exceptions to this high standard, with the head of the Barzini family being one of them. Despite agreeing to an uneasy truce with Don Vito, Barzini tries to kill Michael when he takes charge as acting Don but is unsuccessful, resulting in his own death at the end of the film.
5 Amon Göth - Schindler's List (1993)
Had Schindler's List been an all-out action movie, Ralph Fiennes' Amon Göth would have been portrayed as an over-the-top, powe- hungry Nazi commandant. But instead, Fiennes portrayed Göth with mathematical precision, turning Göth into the embodiment of malicious subtlety. When Spielberg was shown Fiennes' audition for Göth, Fiennes did three takes, but Spielberg couldn't get past the first take and still hasn't seen the other two to this day.
4 Edwin Epps - 12 Years a Slave (2013)
While it's easy to get lost in Chiwetel Ejiofor's whirlpool of charm and naïveté, it's Michael Fassbender's Edwin Epps that adds a pungent kick of fear and venom. What makes Epps a great character to explore lies within the complexity that Fassbender brings to the role. On many occasions, it seems like the slave owner is going through an inner power struggle that eventually manifests itself onto the poor, powerless slaves. 12 Years a Slave is as much a film about slavery as it is about the struggle for power and how to wield it, with Fassbender's Epps being at the center of this power dynamic.
3 Terrence Fletcher - Whiplash (2014)
Terrence Fletcher from Damien Chazelle's Whiplash is a character that invokes polarizing viewpoints. On one hand, Fletcher can be viewed as a tyrannical teacher that uses unconventional methods, pushing his students to the cusp of madness. On the other, he's seen as a rite of passage, students need to go through to arrive at the shrine of true genius.
2 Warden Norton - The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
Seeing a bully get what he deserves is one of the most satisfying feelings in life. Throughout Frank Darabont's 1994 film, The Shawshank Redemption, Warden Norton (Bob Gunton) terrorizes the inmates of Shawshank prison. Bereft of sympathy or any such human emotion, Norton is a foul hypocrite, firmly seated at a high position. Despite quoting the Bible at the drop of a hat, he's as far from God as can be. Norton's world of convenient religion is uprooted by his accountant, who sends proof of Norton's corrupt money laundering schemes to the higher ups, causing a unified cheer from the prison inmates.
1 Noah Cross - Chinatown (1974)
Roman Polanski's Chinatown is widely considered to be one of the best screenplays to have ever been written. In his script, writer Robert Towne masterfully evokes the ethos of many noir greats such as Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammet. Towne lays the frameworks for noir to fester with shady characters operating from the dark, paired with a grey-shaded, headstrong detective that's just trying to get at the bottom of things. Though the stories true focal point lies in its unseen pantheon, Noah Cross. Despite being a millionaire, Noah Cross isn't motivated by luxury or longevity, but legacy. Unlike most people, for Noah Cross, age doesn't act as a soothing balm that cools people off materialism, but instead propels him on a path of megalomania.
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