Seems to me the director of the two most popular movies in the franchise is pretty damn competent.
Rank the Trek movie villains
- Thread starter I am not Spock
- Start date
Because popularity is such an accurate criterion of aptitude...
Speaking for myself, I saw Khan as an extremely charismatic character. Montalban presented Khan with an elegance and class that carried through. Also, because he had a history with Kirk, and a personal vendetta, it added a resonance to the characterization. At least, to me.
Although Khan was outfoxed a couple of times by Kirk, I never felt he was a joke. He was neither bungling nor incompetant. Therefore he seemed to always be a sincere threat.
Just my opinion. You don't have to agree.
From best to worst....
1. Khan
2. Chang
3. Borg Queen
4. Kruge
5. Soran
6. Sybok
7. V'Ger
8. Whale Probe
9. Ru'afo
10. Shinzon
11. Nero
1. Khan
2. Chang
3. Borg Queen
4. Kruge
5. Soran
6. Sybok
7. V'Ger
8. Whale Probe
9. Ru'afo
10. Shinzon
11. Nero
This isn’t fanfic we’re talking about. We’re talking about major Hollywood motion pictures. The goal of the producers is to maximize profit. The goal of the director is to be somebody producers want to hire. So yes, popularity is a measure of how well he performed his job.
The Good :
TWOK- Khan - Simply my favorite Star Trek Villian, the voice, the acting, the accent....cold, cool...over the top and just the perfect Anti-Kirk in TWOK. I never get tired of watching his performance each time I see the movie.
TUC- Chang - Again another menancing performance, he even paraphrased Stevenson during the courtroom scene. He seemed like an war dog Klingon from Star Trek's cold war.
TSFS- Kruge - Murderous and brutal, yet cunning. a tad on the fantatical....(12 warriors against over 400 to occupy The Enterprise....bonus for courage...minus for brains
) Still I loved how Loyd played him.
The So-so :
XI- Nero - Spirited, insanely driven...I liked Bana's performace and wished they had given him a bit more screen time.....plus how do you fault a Romulan who always uses your first name and pleasantly invites you over to his ship....well before he spears you dead ...or puts creatures in your body
)
TMP - V'Ger - Points for creativity, minus points for acting like a spoiled brat.
TVH - The Whale Probe - It looked cool, sounded really cool and loud in the theaters....who sent it to talk to whales? and Why?
The Bad :
FC- Borg Queen - A truly creepy character, erotic and manipulative. Just for me it was an unecessary component to the Borg. They were already bad ass without this Queen. Alice Kriege did a fantastic job,...just never liked the idea of a Queen for the Borg. The many voices speaking as one from the old days of TNG creeped me out even more.
NEM- Shinzon - Clone...really? I like Tom Hardy but he seemed wasted on this part. I would've loved seeing him as a Hitler like fantatic Romulan Leader...the clone thing fell flat for me.
GEN- Soran - Another waste of the actor playing this role. Soran...well he was just bleh and ...like I said a waste.
INS- Ru'afo - Awful Just awful.
TFF- Sybok - As above, A terrible villian in a terrible film.
Vons
TWOK- Khan - Simply my favorite Star Trek Villian, the voice, the acting, the accent....cold, cool...over the top and just the perfect Anti-Kirk in TWOK. I never get tired of watching his performance each time I see the movie.
TUC- Chang - Again another menancing performance, he even paraphrased Stevenson during the courtroom scene. He seemed like an war dog Klingon from Star Trek's cold war.
TSFS- Kruge - Murderous and brutal, yet cunning. a tad on the fantatical....(12 warriors against over 400 to occupy The Enterprise....bonus for courage...minus for brains
) Still I loved how Loyd played him.The So-so :
XI- Nero - Spirited, insanely driven...I liked Bana's performace and wished they had given him a bit more screen time.....plus how do you fault a Romulan who always uses your first name and pleasantly invites you over to his ship....well before he spears you dead ...or puts creatures in your body
)TMP - V'Ger - Points for creativity, minus points for acting like a spoiled brat.
TVH - The Whale Probe - It looked cool, sounded really cool and loud in the theaters....who sent it to talk to whales? and Why?
The Bad :
FC- Borg Queen - A truly creepy character, erotic and manipulative. Just for me it was an unecessary component to the Borg. They were already bad ass without this Queen. Alice Kriege did a fantastic job,...just never liked the idea of a Queen for the Borg. The many voices speaking as one from the old days of TNG creeped me out even more.
NEM- Shinzon - Clone...really? I like Tom Hardy but he seemed wasted on this part. I would've loved seeing him as a Hitler like fantatic Romulan Leader...the clone thing fell flat for me.
GEN- Soran - Another waste of the actor playing this role. Soran...well he was just bleh and ...like I said a waste.
INS- Ru'afo - Awful Just awful.
TFF- Sybok - As above, A terrible villian in a terrible film.
Vons
Kruge was operating from the (accurate) assumption that the Enterprise was helpless to defend itself and he could destroy it at any time. If the situation got out of hand, he would destroy the Enterprise, it would be a good day to die for the boarding party and a very bad day for the 400 members of Starfleet he believes are on the ship. The crew has to submit to the Klingon boarders, or die.(12 warriors against over 400 to occupy The Enterprise....bonus for courage...minus for brains
Just speaking for myself, but I saw TWOK before Space Seed. Part of Khan's appeal was that he was able to do something that the previous movie's villain, the force of nature called V'Ger, couldn't do: wreck the Enterprise. He was able to go toe-to-toe with Kirk, to the point where our heroes were fleeing from him, and Khan was arrogant, maniacal, and single-minded -- sure, that's almost a cliche in films, but not so much for a starship captain, especially since the film's themes relied on Moby Dick so much.
Then I watched Space Seed, and it was a different character. This guy was impossibly smooth and charismatic, not just intelligent but almost hypnotic, as if James Bond became a villain. Comparing the two, it was pretty interesting to see how this suave man's man became Captain Ahab in the movie. Admittedly, I was less impressed with Space Seed Khan than film Khan, but I thought it neat that the writers brought back a semi-obscure villain (albeit played by a popular actor) to try and flesh him out.
I'm reminded of my hopes for Voyager and the Hirogen. When the first one made his debut, for some reason (not quite sure why), I assumed that the show was building up to a single, recurring villain, a hunter named Hirogen who would be a match for an entire starship and her crew, and that concept just tickled me. To me that kind of skill and power could easily be Khan.
"Khan, you bloodsucker. You're going to have to do your own dirty work now! Do you hear me? Do you?!!"
Khan - Awesome. The greatest villain in Trek!
Chang - Great acting. I love all his quoting from books.
Kruge - Christopher Lloyd was funny and evil. He commanded the first BoP onscreen!
Nero - Eric Bana didn't have much material to work with, but Nero turned out to be pretty cool.
Soran - Malcolm McDowell did a good job. Wanting to get back to the Nexus made him different from the other Trek movie villains.
The Borg Queen - I couldn't take her seriously. Seemed like some female vampire at times.
Sybok - Stupid reason for taking over the Enterprise.
Ru'afo - A thug.
Shinzon - Why did he want to destroy Earth again?
Khan - Awesome. The greatest villain in Trek!
Chang - Great acting. I love all his quoting from books.
Kruge - Christopher Lloyd was funny and evil. He commanded the first BoP onscreen!
Nero - Eric Bana didn't have much material to work with, but Nero turned out to be pretty cool.
Soran - Malcolm McDowell did a good job. Wanting to get back to the Nexus made him different from the other Trek movie villains.
The Borg Queen - I couldn't take her seriously. Seemed like some female vampire at times.
Sybok - Stupid reason for taking over the Enterprise.
Ru'afo - A thug.
Shinzon - Why did he want to destroy Earth again?
