Saturday, August 10, 2024

The Mask of Zorin

Putting aside A View to a Kill (1985) being a bit of a lame James Bond film for a number of reasons (a leathery Roger Moore being well past it, being the obvious one), it does have one redeeming feature which makes it notable; its antagonist, Max Zorin  played by the gawd of long pauses Christopher (❚❚) Walken. 

Zorin, a product of Nazi biological experimentation and an ex-KGB agent, might have been a murderous psychopath by design, but his heart was in the right place with his desire to destroy Silicon Valley. Granted, laying subterranean explosives to trigger an earthquake, which in turn would have probably killed millions, isn't a step in the right direction. But knowing what we do today, Silicon Valley would have served the world better as a picturesque beauty spot, than the notorious tech hub appropriately dubbed The Nerd Reich

Multi-billionaire tech moguls are practically real-life Bond villains with their spacecrafts and desires to have microchips in our brains, therefore, Zorin really was the person the world needed. If only he eased off the genocide part to his plot, and also not massacred his loyal employees.

Regardless how cliched it is, villains falling to their doom is easily one of my favourite film tropes. The mighty fall from grace harkens back to Lucifer being cast out from Heaven; elevated egos chopped down, innit? Max Zorin is given a similar fate off the Golden Gate Bridge, but what makes his death an unforgettable standout is his laugh once he realises he's about to become a cropper.

Other Villains Taking the Fall:

 
Pre-emptive King Kong is not a villain footnote. 

10 comments:

Kelvin Mack10zie said...

Not quite a fall, but Dr Hans Reinhardt's comeuppance at the end of The Black Hole spooked me as a kid. A fate worse than death!

https://youtu.be/nFv9ZRAqG1s?si=7BeXLClfpc2NdUhA

Spartan said...

Never understood The Black Hole when I first watched it in the cinema, but always liked the design of the evil robot Maximilian.

Kelvin Mack10zie said...

As someone in the comments says, Maximillian Schell trapped in Maximillian's shell in Hell.

Remember how Maximillian killed Anthony Perkins?

https://youtu.be/Bw2y3faZhUk?si=qsMLwaXEGChGCjJJ&t=55

Spartan said...

Hard to believe The Black Hole was made by Disney at times.

Did you ever own the toys? I always wanted to have Maximillian when I was a kid, but could never find it. Would often see the other figures, though.

Kelvin Mack10zie said...

I had Maximillian and one of villain robot sentrys. The Maximillian looked great but he was impossible to stand up.

Vincent and old Bob were the 2 figures which were always sold out up north.

Spartan said...

Probably worth something now.

Costs a small fortune just to buy the more recent figure of Maximillian.

Kelvin Mack10zie said...

Super 7 released one you can get for cheaper.

(I only know this because I saw it on the Flexx Lexx website when I bought the 2nd Slick Rick figure last year 😄)

Spartan said...

That one looks cool, but the shade of red is way too bright.

Kelvin Mack10zie said...

True. Could be worse tho. It could be this 🤮

Spartan said...

Funko POPs are the worst. I’ll never understand how those horrid things are so popular.