Everyone has their opinion...but I can't second some of the nominees here. As Agee has already said, "A Face In The Crowd" (1957). For those of us of a certain age, this was the first time we saw Andy Griffith. He was unforgettable and you'd never forget the good ol' boy had an edge. It was displayed again in Savage (1974) and Murder in Coweta County (1983). It was that rare thing, to see a complete unknown actually surprise you by acting. Edward Norton did it in Primal Fear (1996). And now to Atticus Finch....Gregory Peck made me forget all about To Kill A Mockingbird when he gave us a terrifying Dr. Joseph Mengele (there's a redundancy) in 1978's The Boys From Brazil. I'd like to contribute in a positive way by coming up with someone who sucks at being evil, but evil is so much fun to do that people usually rise to the occasion. I could mention Drew or Pamela but they're just of no consequence
I'm not sure of the name of the main villian in the movie "Snatch" but he looked just like Austin Powers. I couldn't figure out how people were supposed to be threatend by him.
That is, in part, true, John and everyone else. However, the villain being interesting is that the hero has to struggle to overcome him, and make you want to cheer for the hero. Not in the example I gave, where I recall several folks in the audience rooting for the evil Sherriff of Nottingham to kick Robin Hood's ass.
I was not meaning to complain about Alan Rickman's performance as the villain - far from it, the man was fantastically wicked.
But when the villain has more personality, is more interesting, or is even more likeable than the hero, then problems with the story can come about.
Another case where I felt the villain far overshadowed the hero was in the original Highlander movie. Clancy Brown's Kurgan was wickedly funny as well as evil incarnate. More than once, I caught myself cheering for the Kurgan, and his defeat was disappointing to me.
If you're talking about Brick Top, played by Alan Ford, the only similarity was maybe the glasses, and to some the fact that both spoke with British accents, and even then Brick Top's was far more working class.
Personally I thought Brick Top was quite menacing, even without having to raise a hand himself.
I have to agree. What I found interesting was that shortly after Blade was released back in August of 1998, John Carpenter's Vampires came out. The movie starred Thomas Ian Griffith as the head vampire Valek. I thought Griffith was far more intimidating than Stephen Dorff, plus he knows martial arts. I always thought Dorff and Griffith should have switched roles. Griffith would have been great as Deacon Frost.
My next comment is definitely going to set off some waves, but I've never cared for Ian McKellan as Magneto, I still would have preferred Rutger Hauer in the role. McKellan is just too scrawny to be the master of magnetism. BUT I DO LIKE HIM AS GANDALF.
Other not so great villains
Juaquin Phoenix in Gladiator and Robert Carlyle in The World is Not Enough
Oh God yes! With the exception of Face Off, he just can't pull off a villian role. And the only reason he was good in that was because he was acting like Nicolas Cage.