THE VILLAIN

Director Hal Needham is along with Michael Winner, one of the worst directors in the world. With “THE VILLAIN”, the one thing Needham has going for himself, is that the script’s so bad, that his horrible direction is easy to overlook. 

Arnold Schwarzenegger stars as Handsome Stranger, the man protecting Ann-Margret from the dastardly hands of Cactus Jack(Kirk Douglas).  The film never takes itself seriously, and it plays like a standard Wile E. Coyote cartoon.  Even his direction couldn’t hurt the film.   Needham clearly wanted the film to play like a Road Runner cartoon, and the aspirations allow for some great stunt sequences, and much like the cartoons, there are plenty of slapstick-like moments.  . 

As much as this reviewer can appreciate a beautiful woman like Ann-Margret, this one’s strictly for kids.  It’s actually hard for an adult to watch it and not be stupefied

COLUMBIA TRISTAR has opted to present only the full-frame (pan&scan) image for this release.  Surprisingly, there’s actually a lot of depth to the image.  Colors are bright, and the contrast is fine as well.  While this reviewer prefers letterboxing, the pan&scan image is impressive. 

The monaural soundmix has extremely limited fidelity.  At times, the music overshadows dialogue, but the dialogue in this cartoon-like film isn’t essential.