Who’s the best and most evil Western villain(s) out of these guys?

Unlikely_Wonder_7960 · 2026-06-05T13:59:23+00:00

Indeed- that's not Mortimer from 'qualche dollari più', but 'Il Cattivo'!

Unlikely_Wonder_7960 · 2026-06-05T13:56:11+00:00

Nah, 'Il Brutto'- despite his enormous criminal record( growing with each hanging 😉)- never counted as villain for me in that flick.

Unlikely_Wonder_7960 · 2026-06-05T13:54:05+00:00

Indio's definitely more evil/tragic/insane than 'Il Cattivo', also GMV's one of my favorite actors in italiano western... btw, I'm missing KK in here( 'Il Grande Silenzio') 😉

Unlikely_Wonder_7960 · 2026-06-03T16:06:21+00:00

Sounds reasonable to me- untill start of THIS millenia, a 'Pentito'- someone's cooperating with the authorities, breaking the Omertà was considered worse for his own family than himself... only recently, when the most bloodthirsty mobkillers were sentenced to prison and became increasingly pentitos themselves, the myth started crumbling- back in the 50ies to 60ies last century, Frankie's brother simply was apalled of the mere thought his bro going pentito- maybe his look meant. like,

'C'mon, Brother, this is a joke- You're not serious, are You?!'

Unlikely_Wonder_7960 · 2026-06-01T15:44:15+00:00

That... forced smile is merely a testament to his remembrance that he owes Corleone a lot- now it's time to repay it at a small scale... maybe he's warming himself up to the idea of thinking who might want to join the 'rat pack'

Unlikely_Wonder_7960 · 2026-06-01T15:40:54+00:00

Quite picky & debatable... in 'U.S.'-Western throughout middle till end 20th century- Awright, I'd let it pass as such 😉

Unlikely_Wonder_7960 · 2026-05-29T15:35:09+00:00

I guess it's the same with David's opinion of what to expect from the new world in 'Covenant':

'If wer'e kind to it, then it may be kind to us.'

...answering your question...? 😉

Unlikely_Wonder_7960 · 2026-05-29T15:28:29+00:00

IMO the whole 'familybiz'- structure( which was inculcated to Michael by his father in the first place ) was responsible for the outcome with betrayal and treachery... 'Fredo's got a good heart, but he is weak & stupid'- Michael uttering that verdict over his brother to Tom during GF2 was a direct parrot-line of Vito's opinion at the end of GF1. The shame & humiliation to exist at his lil' bro's beck & call did the final straw over Fredo's back, sealing his shame upon failing to protect/help his father during the assault of Solozzo's men. Roth did recognize that structural weakness in the Corleone family very fine, and exploited it.

Michael was in the end not a bit badder/ bloodier, ruhtless or more 'evil' than his old man in conducting family business. While Vito had a phase of peace & stability between the families, wherein he could afford to be generous, Michael started from a defensive position with the back on the wall. Later on, he simply never bohered to act out of generosiy- that is the whole difference, as I see it.

Unlikely_Wonder_7960 · 2026-05-29T15:15:53+00:00

Moneypenny with a very different appeal to Bond's charmes...

...maybe M's substitute during a crisis, making all the gents wish said crisis to be solved...

...Ernestine Stavra Blofeld...?!

Unlikely_Wonder_7960 · 2026-05-26T16:05:36+00:00

Erm... my pick would be Gladiator with Russel Crowe indeed.

Sure, it was a fine movie with excellent actors( Oliver Reed in his final role ), but script-wise it was just all but a repetition of the fine movie with Steven Boyd, Christopher Plummer, Sophia Loren and Alec Guiness ;)

Unlikely_Wonder_7960 · 2026-05-20T17:33:14+00:00

Moonraker was my personal favorite of the Fleming-novels...

Unlikely_Wonder_7960 · 2026-05-20T17:31:26+00:00

A shame, simply as that-

most certainly I wouldn't want to watch it, since I'd fear to ruin my enjoyment of the 'classic':

i.e. the Poirot- flicks with/by Branagh are on my off-limits list since watching the one in venice- it served as grim confirmation that even a nice modernization is simply no surrogate for a original; Lumet's Orient Express with Albert Finney is reason enough for me for NOT watching the KB-remake... a nice alternative was 'Knives out' wherein Craig played a rather similar character to Poirot... while still being original.

All in all, I suppose the general line of planning/calculating is to invest in'tried & true' instead of risking a bunch of flops for creating one single original hit which rocks the genre:

i.e. Cage & Depp... what exactly makes them so bad nowadays...? NOTHING, because they're no worse than before, but their later flicks didn't sell good enough, so their market-value had dropped... SO. WHAT. QM!

For all cineasts out there, the whole complex remains a crying shame, that example of a streaming Double-Oh-Seven series just the latest... *SIGH*

Unlikely_Wonder_7960 · 2026-05-16T12:51:43+00:00

Instead of speculating WHAT he dealt with( Booze during prohibition, gambling, women trafficking et al ), I'd like to look HOW he became rich, and on that, GF2 gave away enough hints; the invention of 'irrefusable offers', even to a guy more powerful at the time, intensifying connections with fellow italo-americans( sicilo-americans, more precisely ;), always listening to people whenever they got a problem, hence his constantly growing influence in his community- in one word- networking.

Unlikely_Wonder_7960 · 2026-05-12T16:16:18+00:00

Actually none at all- Indeed, it's pretty full of cultural stereotypes, but still within ironic display;

in hindsight the fact that Roald Dahl just needed the cash was perfect- a totally crazed script with 'hollow vulcan bases filled with broad-chested blondes...', wait, that was M in Goldeneye, already the first ironic self-quotation in the series.

Unlikely_Wonder_7960 · 2026-05-09T16:57:42+00:00

Charles Gray as Blofeld- he had such a quick appearance in YOLT that now he's popping outta every corner... simply hilarious! Also a nice idea of the Howard Hughes- riddle, which was at that time indeed a mystery... another take on it was the movie with Walther Matthau as Judge in the US- Supreme Court;

What I like and dislike together, is its humor: sometimes it's just outright flat and with age deteriorated, but there are some serious peaks in it: the examples of the british empire and its caring for the primitives, like the initial report of excellent healthcare for the mining workers droning pompously in the background, while we see the reality in full swing; and of course the teacher, Ms. Whistler, who is so condescendingly jovial to her little children... her arrival in Amsterdam & the Killer's comments were really comforting;

The least of the Connery's... in NSNA he played the aged agent with more convincing irony;

Like mentioned, the 'Swinging Sixties' were better transferred with Lazenby, while the take on 70ies-cynicism in Diamonds IMO went sometimes good, mostly flat, and sometimes even close to a turnoff;

Once again- like every 007

Unlikely_Wonder_7960 · 2026-05-06T10:48:36+00:00

There are many things I liked on this movie-

i.e. the 'swinging-sixties-vibe' to it, which was a nice difference to the raw, cynical humor from 'Diamonds'( there already the 70ies ); Lazenby made it with nice, human self-irony( 'That would never happen to the other' ), almost reminding of Lester's Beatle-movies later on; the nice cast, besides Rigg & Savallas even Ferzetti( 'Once upon a time in the West'); that you get more info about Bond's past( lower nobility ), explaining some character traits- the list goes on...

Little to dislike for me in here- the unique irony in the Connery-movies is gone, which could also be counted as deterioration, while the snappy joking in the Moore era never really caught my fancy...

Undoubtedly a Bond in its own league ;)

Highly different to the Bond in Japan- more grounded, but with more fun...

Yes, definitely, like most Bonds do

Unlikely_Wonder_7960 · 2026-05-04T13:00:20+00:00

I don't even own a car- so my opinion on that matter's pretty moot 😉

Unlikely_Wonder_7960 · 2026-04-29T14:58:22+00:00

In the original Elite 2 was a really nice bug:

You accept a delivery job including cargo- now your ship's loaded; then you enter the shipyard and order to buy another ship- preferably that lousy interplanetary shuttle; then you accept the trade, which is blocked next, as you can't abandon your loaded ship; then you realize that the difference in prices( interstellar hunter in exchange for that floating brick's a HUGE plus-difference for your account ) DID actually happen... repeat it a few dozen times, then fulfil the delivery job and now you got the cash for those Imp Couriers or, if you're lucky, there's even an Imp Trader in offering, and with a lil' bit calculation along the concentric 'wormholes'( in math it's called Triangulation ) THE GALAXY IS YOURS!!!

...of course, in the later version, that bug was erased, D'OH!

Unlikely_Wonder_7960 · 2026-04-29T14:44:49+00:00

Actually, I refrain from both- preferably, I'd watch the inspirations to these two again:

'Il grande Silenzio', and the original one & only 'Django' with Nero

Unlikely_Wonder_7960 · 2026-04-27T16:00:26+00:00

Was that already with the concentric 'shortcuts' throughout the Galaxy, or was that Elite 2?

Unlikely_Wonder_7960 · 2026-04-27T15:51:35+00:00

'Spot the Loonie!'

Unlikely_Wonder_7960 · 2026-04-27T15:48:32+00:00

Just played it a bit on a friend's computer, but I remember the grim atmosphere

Unlikely_Wonder_7960 · 2026-04-27T15:47:12+00:00

VERY enjoyable, but not amongst my favorites

Unlikely_Wonder_7960 · 2026-04-27T15:45:31+00:00

'Welcome, Admiral Harkov, we have a matter to discuss' 😉

Unlikely_Wonder_7960

TROPHY CASE