The Six Shooter: Cheering the Heels
Welcome back to Six Shooter with me Aaron Williams!
In this edition of The Six Shooter, I have been challenged to compile a list of my favorite action movie villains. And I say challenged because this was a much harder column to write than I thought it was going to be. However I am happy with the choices I’ve made.
Just a disclaimer, I stayed away from comic book villains. You’re not gonna see General Zods, Jokers or Red Skulls on this list. I’ll save that for a different column.
So now, lets take a look at the other side of the action movie coin. It’s all about the villains today…
6. Mr. Benedict- Last Action Hero (1993)
“Here Jack, the bad guys can win!” Pretty powerful line from a guy that started out this flick inside a film franchise on it’s last legs working as a henchmen for an old guy with too much money.
Benedict (Charles Dance) is good with a gun, a snappy dresser and intelligent to boot. If those facts don’t make him dangerous enough, the man thinks big! When he got his hands on that ticket he was ready to do damage. Granted in the long run it would probably backfired on him. But he gets an A for effort.
5. Colt- Return of the Dragon/The Way of the Dragon (1972)
I imagine your thinking how can Colt be on this list? Well I’ll be the first to admit this is a little less about Tang Lung vs Colt and a lot more about Bruce Lee vs Chuck Norris!
ROTD was Chuck’s first film role and by the time I saw it I was already a fan. So seeing he and The Bruce go toe to toe was awesome! But I don’t want to overshadow the character. Colt was an attention grabbing guy the moment the camera was on him. He was more than skilled enough to face off with our hero. The anticipation of the big showdown which according to IMDB was the last fight filmed in the actual Roman Coliseum was drama at its finest to this fan of both martial artists.
4. O-Ren Ishii- Kill Bill Vol. 1 and 2 (2003-2004)
Swordsmanship, expert marksman (or is it markswoman?), criminal genius, proficient in hand to hand combat, assassinated a crime boss at age 11…. yeah O-Ren is a Bad Mamma JAMA! She had a rough start that’s for certain. But her revenge mindset drove her to being one of the top female assassin in the world. Soon she’ll be setting under Bill under the banner of the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad.
When we meet O-Ren (Lucy Liu) she’s the head of the Tokyo underworld. She leads the Crazy 88 and seems to be at peace with how her life has turned out. Calm, cool and collected, that is unless you you question her heritage then… well you know what would happen. In the end O-Ren was taken down by the very thing that drove her to what she eventually became… REVENGE.
3. Simon Phoenix- Demolition Man (1993)
What do you get when you take a psychotic crime lord, in an extremely violent fictional 1996, freeze him and then let him loose 36 years later in a peace driven utopia? Well, Demolition Man answers that question with great ease.
As if Phoenix (Wesley Snipes) wasn’t dangerous enough before they put them in the icebox, when he got out he was probably about 100 times more dangerous. The guy was completely heartless and he obviously had no care for human life. As a matter of fact, he got a kick out of most of the damage he did. He was super charismatic and if it wasn’t for John Spartan, Phoenix would have ruled that world in a matter of weeks! One question though, I wonder if Jesse Ventura was the Governor of Minnesota in that timeline before becoming a henchmen in Phoenix’s quest for chaos?
2. Sho’nuff-The Last Dragon (1985)
“Now, when I say, “Who’s da mastah?” You say “Sho’nuff!” Is just one of many lines uttered by Julius Carry as he brought the Shogun of Harlem to life! Let’s be honest here, Sho’nuff made The Last Dragon. It’s not too often that the hero of the film is an after thought for me but Leroy Green was. Sho’nuff is where it’s at.
Sure his methods are flawed, but he is the bad guy so they should be. He steals every scene he’s in with ease. Most of the time I forget he has a crew that does his dirty work because he is so big in every scene he simply overshadows everyone. At the end of the flick he turns down money to take out Leroy because he just want to prove he’s the better fighter. Not really a good reason to fight but at least it’s pure. So if you haven’t seen this movie you should or I may have to go buy some Converse just to make you kiss them.
1. T-1000 – Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
Ok, where to start here? How about at the beginning. When the second installment of the Terminator franchise begins we’re not really sure who the good guy is and who the bad guy is. But once you realize that the shape shifter can make its liquid metal body into any sharp object it wants to, things immediately get real.
I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that the T-1000 (Robert Patrick) is probably the best Terminator there is. It’s basically a walking Swiss Army knife driven by an objective, it is a machine, it has no heart so you cannot persuade it in anyway. Yeah the T-101, Hardcore Sarah Connor and that kid that doesn’t get cool until he’s played by Christian Bale beat it, but barely. And they keep trying to improve the T-1000 but let’s face it they can try but chances are slim. So my hats off to you Motorcycle cop liquid metal Terminator you get the final shot in this Six Shooter!
You like my picks? You think I’m crazy? If you agree or disagree leave me some comments with some of your picks. Trust me it’s kinda fun.
