Product Description

Movie DVD

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3959 in DVD
• Brand: SONY PICTURES HOME ENT
• Released on: 2002-05-21
• Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, Subtitled, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: Chinese, English, French, Korean, Portuguese, Spanish
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 89 minutes

Amazon.com
This curiosity from the mid-1970s is breathtaking in its dreadfulness. Directed by Hal Needham, this was an attempt at creating a Roadrunner cartoon with live actors--except that instead of a live actor they got Arnold Schwarzenegger, before Hollywood smoothed his rough edges (and his Austrian accent). He plays the invulnerable sheriff who rides blithely through life, unaware that the evil Kirk Douglas wants to kill him and kidnap his squeeze, Ann-Margret. The stunts are cartoony without being funny and Schwarzenegger shows exactly why he was known as "the Austrian Oak." Douglas works extra hard but effort alone isn't enough to elevate this script. --Marshall Fine

Customer Reviews

Ignorant focus groups are the Villain of good DVD releases.
"The Villain" is a fun little guilty pleasure, a Looney Toons cartoon disguised as a live-action Western and featuring some major names. The comedy is so slapstick and the dialogue so screwball, one cannot help but wonder what the heck Kirk Douglas is doing in a film like this! Perhaps he was cleansing himself of the debacle that was "The Fury".

That being said, all the actors in the film play it with the earnestness all good comedy needs to succeed. Hal Needham, in the middle hour of his directing heyday, acquits himself well without his usual lead actor Burt Reynolds. Needham plays up the material for all it is worth, achieving the same type of real world/cartoon symmetry "Roger Rabbit" is famed for. Arnold Schwarzenegger makes a hilarous splash against type as a noble cowboy whose name constitutes one of the best gags in the film. In fact, it is the three leads that make "The Villain" a worthwhile and easy watch, as their "for keeps" performances eliminate the self-mocking mail-in performances that doom many mediocre projects.

Therefore, either for the cult film enthusiast or casual viewer, this would be an easy recommendation for purchase or rental. HOWEVER, the DVD release of this film gets the glaring 1 (wish it was zero) rating for the increasingly emerging cardinal sin of DVD's - a pan & scan only release with minimal to no extras. According to reports, various consumer focus groups and studies have led studios to believe people are intimidated by the letterboxing black bars and want the safety, familiarity, and cropped comfort of full-screen. Why they wouldn't offer both (especially with no extras) is beyond me. Why they would think a film with a small, but dedicated following would accept this is equally beyond me. Sorry, Hal, Kirk, Ann, and Arnold, until Columbia ponies up a more worthy version of your film, "The Villain" won't be hiding out in my collection anytime soon.

Live-action cartoon
What fun! I stumbled onto this movie in progress on a program called "Golden Age of Comedy Movies." I paused when I saw Arnold and Ann-Margret in an old western, curious as to what this was. When Ann-Margret leaned out of the train and handed Arnold her bags, nearly falling out of her low-cut dress in the process and saying, "Take hold of these," I knew this wasn't a serious drama I was watching. When Kirk Douglas showed up, I was hooked. It's impossible not to make comparisons with The Roadrunner cartoons as Kirk Douglas performs impossible leaps and survives intact after being crushed by a giant boulder and hit by a train. His trusty sidekick, Whiskey the horse, is a pure delight. It's odd to see Arnold in cowboy garb. His job is mostly to look studly and his lines mostly consist of, "I really don't know!" delivered with a bewildered look. Definitely a one-of-a-kind movie. Don't watch it if you're expecting great acting and writing, but if you just want to get in on the fun of big name stars acting very silly, you'll love it.

Alas, pan -n- scan
I first saw the movie years ago and thought it was hysterical. Sadly this release crops the movie -- if it were widescreen I would buy it in a heartbeat.

5 stars for the movie, -2 for poor DVD.