Top 10 Movie Villain Monologues

Raoul Silva is one of the more memorable villains of the Bond franchise. A former spy for MI6, Silva uses his smarts to seek revenge on M, and causes significant destruction on his path to doing so. But this is the scene where both James Bond and the audience first meet Silva. As he slowly walks towards the camera, Silva tells a gruesome anecdote about rats. The monologue, brilliantly delivered by Javier Bardem, serves as a metaphor for Bond and Silva, as Silva blames M for turning the two agents against one another. It would seem that Bond has finally met his match.

Jack Nicholson is at his very best in this scene. Nicholson’s Colonel Jessup is on the witness stand during a court-martial trial following the death of Marine Private William Santiago. While you may not agree with Jessup’s actions or philosophy, you can’t deny the confidence and conviction he has in his beliefs. Jessup passionately defends his role on the so-called wall and the job he does ensuring the existence of freedom. It’s this monologue that makes this film a classic, and one of the best courtroom dramas of all time.

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#8: Detective Alonzo Harris
“Training Day” (2001)

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Denzel Washington won an Academy Award for Best Actor for his role as Detective Alonzo Harris in this film, and this monologue shows why. A selfish man and corrupt cop, Harris is used to getting what he wants, until young patrol officer Jake Hoyt stands up to him. Alonzo attempts to get the crowd to kill Jake for him, but they’ve grown tired of his arrogance and refuse to do it, prompting this epic meltdown. Washington is on another level in this scene, delivering the perfect mix of overbearing arrogance combined with crippling fear.

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#7: John Doe
“SE7EN” (1995)

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One of the things that makes “Se7en” a truly terrifying film is the fact that we don’t find out the identity or the motives of the killer until near the end. Once we do, however, we wish we hadn’t. In this brilliant but chilling monologue, John Doe, played by Kevin Spacey, reveals why he killed all those people. At the core of this speech is our ignorance, and our willingness to look the other way when someone does something terribly wrong. While we don’t condone his actions by any means, it’s a bit disturbing to think that he may actually have a point.

Perhaps no speech captures the horrors of war better than this one. The scene is filmed brilliantly, as we only see Kurtz’s shaved head poking out from the shadows. This puts the emphasis on his words, and what he says is truly terrifying. Delivered perfectly by Marlon Brando, Kurtz recounts a horrific experience he had after inoculating children with Polio, which eventually sent him down the path of insanity. He realizes that the perfect soldier is one who can kill without feeling any remorse. While we are repulsed by Kurtz’s actions throughout the film, Brando’s performance puts us right in his head.

In classic Quentin Tarantino style, the opening scene of “Inglourious Basterds” slowly but surely moves from dialogue to terrible violence. This scene also introduces the main villain of the film, however: Colonel Hans Landa. Landa is entirely aware that LaPadite is hiding Jews under his floorboards, but he toys with him first, delivering an epic monologue explaining the reasoning behind the Germans’ hatred for the Jews. With a lack of music throughout most of the scene, we’re made to feel the uncomfortable silence. Christoph Waltz won an Academy Award for his performance, and with a monologue like this, it’s not hard to see why.

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#4: Roy Batty
“Blade Runner” (1982)

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Although this monologue is short, it’s one of the most iconic speeches in cinematic history. Batty references events that the audience never got to see - and that’s the point. With his impending death, these memories will be lost forever. Although Batty is the main villain of the film, his main purpose is to survive – something any person can relate to – and he fears that once he has died, he will be forgotten. Even more impressive is the fact that Rutger Hauer improvised the monologue on the spot, as it wasn’t in the original script.

In this intense Tarantino dinner scene, Calvin Candie, played to perfection by Leonardo DiCaprio, has discovered that Dr. Schultz and Django have come to take Broomhilda, Django’s wife. Before revealing this information, however, he gives a lesson in phrenology, the study of skulls. Everyone listens with bated breath as Candie speaks calmly, but with a hint of a threat behind his words. What makes this monologue even more impressive, and more disturbing, is that DiCaprio actually cuts his hand when he slams his fist on the table, and manages to use it to make this scene more dramatic than it already is.

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#2: Dr. Hannibal Lecter
“The Silence of the Lambs” (1991)

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Hannibal might be the one behind bars in this scene, but it’s pretty clear who has all the power. Dr. Lecter is vastly intelligent and intuitive, and both traits are on full display in this scene, as he immediately sizes up Clarice Starling’s character and background. She manages to get a retort in, demanding he apply the same detailed analysis to himself, but she’s not ready for the response. Through Anthony Hopkins’ phenomenal delivery, a dangerous killer, and one of the creepiest characters of all time, comes to life. We’ll hear that noise in our nightmares forever.

Before we unveil our number one pick, here are a few honorable mentions:
- Harry Lime
“The Third Man” (1949)

- Khan
“Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan” (1982)

- Adrian Veidt
“Watchmen” (2009)

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#1: The Joker
“The Dark Knight” (2008)

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Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy has several impressive monologues, like Bane’s speech about giving the power back to the people. At the end of the day, however, how could it not be the Joker? In this scene, Rachel Dawes tries to stand up to the madman as he terrorizes guests at a fundraiser, only to get an explanation about the terrible scars on The Joker’s face. Heath Ledger’s dynamite performance only enhances the tension that the characters on-screen – and the audience – feel. Why so serious indeed.