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Best Movie Villians (Movies)

AFI's list of films with the best villains.

Training day

Jake Hoyt, a fresh-faced rookie in the Los Angeles Police Department, gets a chance to join the elite narcotics squad headed up by 13-year veteran Detective Sergeant Alonzo Harris. Jake is to prove himself during a one-day ride-along. As the day wears on, it becomes increasingly clear that Detective Harris has blurred the line between right and wrong to an alarming degree, enforcing his own code of ethics and street justice. Eventually, Hoyt begins to suspect that he is, rather than having the opportunity to join the squad, being set up to take the fall

Goldfinger

From the opening bomb blast outside a steamy nighclub to a last-minute escape from the president's personal jet, James Bond faces off with a maniacal villain bent on destroying all the gold in Fort Knox - and obliterating the world economy

The usual suspects

Police investigating an exploded boat on a San Pedro pier discover 27 bodies and $91 million worth of drug money. The only survivors are a severely burned Hungarian terrorist and Roger Kint, a crippled con-man. Reluctantly, Kint is pressured into explaining what happened on the boat. His story begins six weeks earlier with five criminals being dragged in by New York police desparate for suspects in a truck highjacking, and ends with the possible identification of a criminal mastermind

Scarface

"An exciting story of organized crime's brutal control over Chicago during the prohibition era. This compelling tale of ambition, betrayal and revenge is a groundbreaking masterpiece that influenced all gangster films to follow."--Container

Die hard . 1-DVD edition

It's Christmas time in L.A. and on the 30th floor of the Nakatomi Corporation building there's an employee party in progress. The revelry comes to a violent end when the partygoers are taken hostage by a group of terrorists headed by Hans Gruber, who plans to steal the 600 million dollars locked in Nakatomi's high-tech safe. Gruber and his henchmen pretend to be politically motivated in order to throw the authorities off track. Gruber has no intention of allowing anyone to get out of the building alive. Meanwhile, New York cop John McClane has come to L.A. to visit his estranged wife, Holly, who happens to be one of the hostages. Disregarding the orders of the authorities surrounding the building, McClane takes on the villains, armed with one handgun and plenty of cunning

Batman . 1-DVD edition

A millionaire's son witnesses his parents' murder and grows up fighting the emotional trauma of that fateful night. To compensate, he develops a dual personality. During the day he's a playboy philanthropist, but at night, he become's the dark persona Batman, a masked crusader for justice. While fighting crime in Gotham, he eventually has to face an arch-criminal known as The Joker

Misery

After an almost fatal car crash, novelist Paul Sheldon finds himself being nursed by a deranged fan who holds him captive

Rebecca . 2-DVD edition

A young woman who believes she has found her heart's desire when she marries the dashing aristocratic widower Maxim de Winter. But upon moving to Manderley, her groom's baroque ancestral mansion, she soon learns that his deceased wife's memory haunts not only the home but the temperamental, brooding Maxim as well

101 Dalmatians

When Cruella De Vil dognaps all of the Dalmatian puppies in London, brave animal heroes launch a daring plan to save them from Cruella's clutches

What ever happened to baby Jane?

In a decaying Hollywood mansion, Jane Hudson, a former child star, and her sister Blanche, a movie queen forced into retirement after a crippling accident, live in virtual isolation

The little foxes

Regina Giddens is a woman who will stop at nothing to outwit her brothers in running the family business, even if it means sacrificing the health of her husband or the love of her young daughter

A nightmare on Elm Street . 2-DVD edition

When her best friend Tina is brutally murdered, teenager Nancy suspects the killer isn't Tina's boyfriend but rather a much more horrifying figure from her dreams. Convinced that this vicious murderer is stalking her friends and killing them as they sleep, Nancy enters a desperate race against time to bring him out of her dream world and stop the bloodbath...before she falls asleep and becomes his next victim

TCM greatest classic films. Gangsters. Prohibition era

Collection includes: The Public Enemy (1931); The Roaring Twenties (1939); Little Caesar (1930); and Smart Money (1931)

Mommie dearest

The story of legendary movie star Joan Crawford as she struggles for her career and battles the inner demons of her private life. This torment manifests itself into her relationships with her adopted children, Christina and Christopher

TCM greatest classic films. Gangsters. Prohibition era

Collection includes: The Public Enemy (1931); The Roaring Twenties (1939); Little Caesar (1930); and Smart Money (1931)

The third man

Set in post-war Vienna, an American western-adventure writer searches for a friend who turns out to be the king-pin of the Austrian black market

Blue velvet

A college student stumbles across a bizarre mystery and wants to know more. The strange world he's found lurking beneath his hometown picture-postcard veneer is about to become much stranger

Marathon man

"Hoffman plays the likeable Columbia graduate student and marathon runner of the title, unwittingly trapped in a terrifying drama revolving around a murderous Nazi fugitive"--Container

Dracula : the legacy collection

Dracula: The vampire Count Dracula arrives in England and begins to prey upon the young and virtuous Mina. Dracula's daughter: A hypnotic woman steals the body of Count Dracula and bloodless corpses start appearing in London again. Son of Dracula: Carpathian Count Alucard is invited to the United States by a young and morbid heiress. House of Dracula: Dracula arrives at Dr. Edelman's office asking for a cure to his vampirism

Bonnie and Clyde

A mixture of comedy and brutal violence, this film is based on the exploits of the notorious American outlaws of the 1930's, Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow

The night of the hunter

A demented preacher stalks two young children, a brother and sister, because he is certain they know where their late bank-robbing father hid his money. Graced by images of eerie beauty and a sneaky sense of humor, this is an ethereal, expressionistic American classic

Cape Fear

An ex-con is determined to wreak bloody revenge on the small-town lawyer who helped send him to jail

White heat

In his last role as a heartless gangster, James Cagney embarks on the prison break of a lifetime in this chilling tale that features one of the most riveting finales in movie history

The shining : 2-disc special edition

A writer and his family are snowbound in a hotel and are haunted by either the hotel itself or the writer's dementia

It's a wonderful life . 2-DVD edition

George Bailey has so many problems he is thinking about ending it all and it's Christmas! As the angels discuss George, his life is shown in flashback. As George is about to jump from a bridge, he ends up rescuing his guardian angel, Clarence. Clarence then shows George what his town would have looked like if it hadn't been for all of his good deeds over the years. Will Clarence be able to convince George to return to his family and forget suicide?

Double indemnity . 1-DVD edition

An insurance salesman and an unhappy wife conspire to murder her husband and collect his insurance policy

The exorcist : The version you've never seen before

A young girl becomes possessed by the devil and causes several violent deaths before she can be cured

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs : 2 disc edition

The beautiful and kindhearted princess Snow White charms every creature in the kingdom except one, the Queen, her jealous stepmother. When the Magic Mirror proclaims Snow White as the fairest one of all, she must flee into the forest. There, she befriends the lovable seven dwarfs, Doc, Sneezy, Grumpy, Happy, Bashful, Sleepy and Dopey. The Queen finds Snow White and tricks her with an enchanted apple. Only the magic of true love's kiss can save her

The Godfather. Part II : the Coppola restoration. 1-DVD edition

The continuing saga of the Corleone crime family which tells the story of a young Vito Corleone growing up in Sicily and in 1910s New York; and follows Michael Corleone in the 1950s as he attempts to expand the family business into Las Vegas, Hollywood and Cuba

A clockwork orange

"Stamping, whomping, stealing, singing, tap-dancing, violating, Derby-topped hooligan Alex has a good time -- at the tragic expense of others. His journey from amoral punk to brainwashed proper citizen and back again forms the dynamic arc of Stanley Kubrick's future-shock vision of the Anthony Burgess novel"--Container

Alien

Terror begins when the crew of a spaceship investigates a transmission from a desolate planet and discovers a life form that is perfectly evolved to annihilate mankind. Each crew member is slain until only Ripley is left

Schindler's list . 3-DVD 25th anniversary edition

Commemorate the twenty fifth Anniversary of Steven Spielberg's cinematic masterpiece of one of the most historically significant films of all time. Winner of seven Academy Awards including Best Picture and Director, the incredible true story follows the enigmatic Oskar Schindler, who saved the lives of more than 1,100 Jews during the Holocaust. It is the triumph of one man who made a difference and the drama of those who survived one of the darkest chapters in human history because of what he did

Jaws . 1-DVD edition

When the seaside community of Amity finds itself under attack by a dangerous great white shark, the town's chief of police, a young marine biologist, and a grizzled shark hunter embark on a desperate quest to destroy the beast before it strikes again

Wall Street

Tired of the view from his one-bedroom apartment, Bud Fox dreams of the luxury and power at the pinnacle of Wall Street investment banking. Charming his way into the tutelage of Gordon Gekko, the best of the best, Fox is soon rubbing shoulders with friends in the highest places. But in a world that values high-risk greed over low-yied ethics, Fox will soon find himself in a most precarious position

Chinatown

Private eye Jake Gittes, living off the murky moral climate of sunbaked, pre-war Southern California is hired by a beautiful socialite to investigate her husband's extra-marital affair. Gittes is swept into a maelstrom of double dealings and deadly deceits, uncovering a web of personal and political scandals that come crashing together for one, unforgettable night in Chinatown

All about Eve . 2-DVD special edition

"In Joseph L. Mankiewicz's devastatingly witty Hollywood classic, backstage is where the real drama plays out. One night, Margo Channing (Bette Davis) entertains a surprise dressing-room visitor: her most adoring fan, the shy, wide-eyed Eve Harrington (Anne Baxter). But as Eve becomes a fixture in Margo's life, the Broadway legend soon realizes that her supposed admirer intends to use her and everyone in her circle, including George Sanders's acid-tongued critic, as stepping-stones to stardom. Featuring stiletto-sharp dialogue and direction by Mankiewicz, and an unforgettable Davis in the role that revived her career and came to define it, the multiple-Oscar-winning All About Eve is the most deliciously entertaining film ever made about the ruthlessness of show business"--Container

The Terminator

In 2029, the ruling giant super-computer, Skynet, sends an indestructible cyborg, a Terminator, back in time to 1984 to kill a woman, Sarah Connor, whose unborn son will become mankind's only hope

The Manchurian candidate

A U.S. Army platoon, captured in the Korean conflict, is whisked to Manchuria for three nightmarish days of experimental drug-and-hypnosis-induced conditioning to carry out the orders of the enemy upon release. When a decorated Korean War veteran who has been brainwashed starts to commit political assassinations, his old military commander begins to suspect and must stop him

Bambi

The story of a young deer growing up in the forest

Fatal attraction

A New York attorney has a romantic fling while his wife is out of town, and then shrugs it off. But the woman involved with him won't be ignored, even if it means destroying his family to keep him

2001 : a space odyssey

A space voyage to Jupiter erupts in disaster when the ship's computer goes mad. Includes commentary by Keir Dullea and Gary Lockwood, documentary - 2001: The Making Of A Myth, 4 featurettes, audio-only interview with Stanley Kubrick, and trailer

The Wizard of Oz

This groundbreaking classic is based on the popular novel by L. Frank Baum. Includes nearly 5 hours of extras and an all-new sing-along feature

Star Wars : the original trilogy

Science fiction tales of derring-do, heroism and romance. Set in the distant past, they relate the adventures of Princess Leia, Luke Skywalker and Han Solo as they battle the forces of the evil Imperial Army

Psycho . 1-DVD edition

Horror melodrama in which a woman disappears after spending the night in an isolated motel which adjoins an eerie Victorian mansion, inhabited by a disturbed young man and his mother

The silence of the lambs . 2-DVD edition

A young female FBI agent is sent to interview notorious killer, Dr. Hannibal Lecter, in hope of obtaining information that will help the Bureau catch another killer

Recipient of the National Medal, the nation's highest honor for libraries.