Naughty and Nice: Movie Heroes and Villians

Garron Marsh - Knight Ridder/Tribune

Dec 06, 2007

Naughty and nice: Residents weigh in on movie heroes, villains

Since the invention of the movie camera in the 1890s, audiences have been enthralled with an array of great cinema heroes battling it out with dastardly villains to save the girl or save the day.

In a recent list, in the British movie magazine Total Film, editors chose what they called the "100 Greatest Heroes and Villains of All Time."

Among the greatest heroes, Harrison Ford's swaggering archaeologist, Indiana Jones, topped the list at No. 1, followed by the pointy-eared, caped crusader Batman at No. 2.

Following Indy and Batty in third place is Stallone's articulate pugilist Rocky "The Italian Stallion" Balboa (he took a licking, but kept on ticking).

In fourth place comes the suave secret agent who likes his martinis "shaken, not stirred," 007 James Bond, while the kryptonite-hating man-of-steel, Superman, follows in fifth.

As for the bad boys of the movie world, Batman's arch-nemesis and green-haired meanie, the Joker, tops the list at No. 1.

The helmeted and deep-voiced Darth Vader takes second, while the ultra-creepy serial killer Hannibal "the Cannibal" Lecter takes third.

Coming in at No. 4 on the list of baddies is the chainsaw-wielding psycho Leatherface, from "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre," followed by the handsome Freddy Kreuger, of "Nightmare on Elm Street" at No. 5.

For area resident Larry Setters, the list seems to fit his own opinion about the greatest hero.

"I think the greatest would have to be Indiana Jones," Setters said.

Surprisingly, Setters' choice of the greatest villain did not even make the top 50 -- which is somewhat surprising since his choice was a very bad individual, indeed.

"The greatest villain -- there are so many, but I'd have to say Jack Nicholson in 'The Shining' [Jack Torrance]."

Tahlequah resident Jeanne Peacock's choices of the top heroes and baddies sported a bit more spandex than Setters'.

"I'm kind of a comic book fan, so I like Wolverine and Storm, from the 'X-Men,'" Peacock said. "For bad guys, I like Venom [from the 'Spider Man' series] and Magneto ['X-Men'], he's a good one -- well, bad, but you know what I mean."

Local movie buff and Hollywood video employee Ryan Berry also weighed in on some of his top choices.

"It's hard for me to say that I like one over the other -- I like so many different styles of movies, so it's hard to say," said Berry. "Indiana Jones is cool, but you've got to like John McClane from 'Die Hard' -- everybody knows who he is.

"Optimus Prime from the new 'Transformers' movie is good, I think a lot of people can relate -- from the younger generation who have just seen the new movie to the older people who remember the animated series," Berry said.

Berry provided a little insight into his favorite bad boys as well.

"My favorite villain: Hannibal Lecter -- you've got to love Anthony Hopkins," he said. "I'm not big on horror movies, but everybody was scared of Freddy ['Nightmare on Elm Street'], Michael Meyers ['Halloween'] and Jason ['Friday the 13th']. And 'The Punisher' has a great hero/villain combination."

NAUGHTY AND NICE:

Top 20 heroes and villains from Total Film magazine's 100 Greatest list:

Heroes

1. Indiana Jones

2. Batman

3. Rocky Balboa

4. James Bond

5. Superman

6. Luke Skywalker

7. Spider Man

8. Neo ["The Matrix"]

9. Han Solo ["Star Wars"]

10. The Incredible Hulk/Bruce Banner

Villains

1. The Joker

2. Darth Vader

3. Hannibal Lecter

4. Leatherface

5. Freddy Kreuger

6. Nurse Ractched ["One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest"]

7. Anton Chigurh ["No Country for Old Men"]

8. Michael Meyers

9. Frank Booth ["Blue Velvet"]

10. Norman Bates ["Psycho"]

More movie news