HotToastyRag
Ah, the western spoof genre. It's continually done, because there were so many westerns made from the 1940s-1070s that everyone's so ridiculously tired of them and are now in the mood to laugh at the similarities between every cowboy movie ever made. In The Villian, the handsome cowboy is literally named Handsome Stranger, and the charming damsel in distress is named Charming Jones. Ann-Margret plays Charming, and as in many westerns, she's wearing a form-fitting, cleavage-bearing dress but miraculously isn't taken advantage of by rough-and-tough cowboys. Arnold Schwarzenegger plays Handsome, and as in many westerns, he's a reluctant hero who prefers to avoid violence and sex when he can. Kirk Douglas is the title character, the stereotypical bad guy who robs banks and does crazy stunts that would kill a normal person but manages to survive without a scratch in the next scene. You'll probably get a few laughs out of this movie, but mostly it reminded me of a first draft of the Carry On movies, which I found much funnier. Carry on Cleo is one of my favorite spoofs. The Villain is a little too cartoon-y for my taste, but if you like humor that includes sound effects, sped up film, and lots of over-acting, you might find it funny. For a funny western, I love Dirty Dingus Magee.
slightlymad22
Continuing my plan to watch every Arnold Schwarzenegger movie in order, I come to 1979's Cactus Jack/The Villain.Plot In A Paragraph: Charming Jones (Anne Margaret) has to make it from the Train Station to her ancestral homestead to collect her inheritance. The Handsome Stranger (Arnie) acts as her escort and bodyguard. Cactus Jack (Kirk Douglas) has been hired to stop them bothYou can see why Arnie thought this would be a good career move in 1979. Kirk Douglas and Anne Margaret are Hollywood royalty and director Hal Needham was hot back then too. Smokey & The Bandit was the 2nd highest grossing movie of 1977 (second only to Star Wars) and Hooper (again Starring Burt Reynolds) was the 6th highest grossing of 1978. The problem was both stars were considered past their glory days, and Needham's success as a director was down to his work with Burt Reynolds. Once Reynolds fell from the A List, Needham only directed two more theatrical releases. This movie is littered with nods to Reynolds and Smokey & The Bandit. If you realise it's intended as a spoof of Westerns and Wile E Coyote cartoons, it has its moments and can raise a smile now and again. But Needham isn't a good director, his movies are always full of silly mistakes. Douglas seems to be having fun sending the cowboy image up, and Anne Margaret was still as gorgeous as ever. But Arnie's performance as the dim witted Handsome Stranger is a fun one. A lot of people didn't get the joke, and it failed at the box office. Needham's first failure at the Box Office as a director. Coincidentally it's the first movie he directed that didn't star Reynolds. The movie warrants just a couple of lines in Arnie's autobiography. He admits he took the role simply for more experience in front of the camera, and says "My character was called Handsome Stranger, and the rest of the movie was just as lame." The failure of this movie didn't really hurt anybody involved, Kirk Douglas and Anne Margaret still continued to act regularly, Hal Needham made Smokey & The Bandit 2 and Arnie.... Well his next theatrical release was a movie called Conan The Barbarian.
fluna1030
.....The Villain! For those of you who really like Funny Westerns, you'll be in for a treat!! Released in 1979 (the year I graduated from Sunnyside High School), this is the story of a very pretty woman by the name of "charmin" (Ann-Margaret) who inherited a large sum of money & is escorted by family friend "handsome stranger" (Arnold Schwartznegger) into town to collect her money & to protect her. Along the way, "The Villain" (Kirk Douglas) along with is horse "Whiskey" tries to kidnap "charmin" and .....well, tries.....and tries......and tries. Some of the shenanigens "The Villain" goes thru is just Too Funny! This movie is a bit special to me because it was filmed at the Old Tucson Studios in my hometown of Tucson, AZ. before it was partially destroyed by fire. Along with Kirk Douglas, Ann-Margaret & Arnold Schwartznegger, it also stars a bunch of other known actors . . . . including Paul Lynde who plays "Nervous Elk" (or how he sez it - - Nerrrvous Elk). The Villain is a Wildy Funny Western that's sure to entertain. If you haven't done so, make this movie a part of your collection! Enjoy!!
ifilmstuf24
The Villain starts with some solid laughs, but only becomes an overdone film that you just want to end! My friend told me about this movie. We both have never seen it before and it had a good concept so we decided to watch it!The first act is great! The laughs are solid, and, well it was fun. Then it was all downhill from there! Bottom Line: If you want to watch this, than watch the first 30 minutes and watch the scenes where Douglas tries to stop Arnold and Ann-Margaret! P.S. Arnold's outfit is one of the best things in the Movie!3/10
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