Darth Vader Portrait Made From The Original Star Wars Script [Image]

An enterprising geek, named David Johns, took the fourth draft of the Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope script and colored the words to make a black and red portrait of the evil man himself: Darth Vader.

The smaller image doesn't do it justice, so here is the enormous hi-resolution version from his site.

It's a beautiful image, and it only gets better when you zoom in to read the text. For example, zoom into Vader's left eye and you get this.

Head over to his site for the full Darth Vader image, plus several other sizes and a limited edition A1 framed print.

What do you think of the image?
Via Geekologie

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How She Built a Homemade TARDIS [Video]

A German schoolteacher who calls herself sillysparrowness built a full-sized TARDIS model. Not only is it a dead ringer, but she even made it collapsible and transportable, so she can disassemble and reassemble it in other parts of the house within minutes. But besides the actual project, the best part about the video isn't just the fact that she's building a TARDIS, but the self-deprecating humor, the multiple characters she plays herself, and the overall endearingly nerdy style. [WARNING: Profanity...I think. Kind of hard to tell with the accent, but I'm pretty such the F-bomb is dropped a couple times. Might be some German profanity, too, but I don't speak German.]



Some other random thoughts.

• It seems like she learned English from the UK, because her accent alternates between a British and a German accent. Which is kinda cute.
• She actually built a police box, not a TARDIS. I mean, I know it's kind of interchangeable, but it kind of isn't.
• The number of views on this video (at the time of this writing, 141,000) seems ridiculously low, considering the awesomeness of it all.
• There's a whole website dedicated to building a TARDIS? Sweet.
• She makes a lot of jokes about how bad of a builder she is, but I couldn't even conceive of doing this, much less actually pull it off.
• Regarding her little quiz, my answer is "yes."

Are you impressed by how she built her own TARDIS?
[Via YouTube via The Mary Sue]

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1963 Muppet Robot Explains Robot Superiority [Video]

In The Muppets, one of my favorite characters was '80's Robot. It looks like his grandfather was in this short film, recently unearthed by AT&T's Bell Labs. Apparently, the clip was created by Jim Henson's studios for an executive seminar that had a theme of the uneasy relationship between man and machine. In the hilarious video, Computer H-14 explains how machines don't require mankind, while proving otherwise.


Do robots need mankind or does mankind need robots?

[Via CNET News]

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Geek Bits: Wonder Woman For Breast Cancer, Retro BSG Ads, Dark Knight Rises Credits and More [Links]

Here are this week's links and tidbits.

1. Trivia Question
2. Motivational Geek Quote
3. Links
4. Trivia Answer

1. Trivia Question
In the 1999 film The Matrix, about people fighting a battle in a virtual world, why was one of Morpheus' crew nicknamed "Switch"?

2. Motivational Geek Quote
"I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when my fear is gone I will turn and face fear's path, and only I will remain." - Paul Atreides Dune (1984)

3. Links
Mish Sci Fi Musings: For Superheroes and Breast Cancer Awareness ads featured various female characters giving themselves breast exams. Here are the ads: Wonder Woman, Storm, Hulk, Catwoman.

Cultural Compulsive Disorder Retro Battlestar Gallatica TV Guide Ads by Frank Franzetta

The Sci-Fi Dude "The Time Element" 1st Twilight Zone pilot Rejected by CBS...

Blastr Star Wars Uncut is 2 hours of fan-made genius
Imagine thousands of fans recreating scenes from Star Wars in 15 second clips. String them together and you have this.

Man In Black Top Ten Pieces of the Star Wars Expanded Universe

CaptainD has a review of the BBC Sherlock show Sherlock Endeavours  while Cinemarvellous has a review of the movie [8.00/10] Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (2011)

Large Association of Movie Bloggers LAMB Photoshops: And The Winner Is

MPax has a video of NASA's Universe in 2011

The Droid You Were Looking For has a list Ranking the Bounty Hunters Who Chased Han Solo

Blastr ‘Atlantis Rising’ Once More, With ‘Immortals’ Producer Mark Canton

Let's Get Out Of Here!   Maniacal Movie Poster Monday #51! has a Dracula poster from the 1970s

Topless Robot has Credits of the Dark Knight


The Dark Knight Rises - Opening Credits Project from Doğan Can Gündoğdu on Vimeo.


Make sure you vote for Alex's Cassastar book trailer at http://yougottareadvideos.blogspot.com/


Comics Alliance Marvel and Hasbro Reveal New 'The Avengers' Movie Toy Images


4. Trivia Answer:
Switch (played by Belinda McClory) was originally supposed to androgynous. A man in the real world and a woman in the Matrix.Warner Bros. had the character changed and she ended up playing both roles.

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AT-AT Walker, Texas Ranger [Image]

AT-AT Walker, Texas Ranger. One joke, three interpretations.

Which version did you like best?
[Via GeekCartel and Styerd]

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8 Sci-Fi Remakes Surprisingly Better Than the Original [List]

Remakes of films and television shows are tricky. Some are watchable, like War of The Worlds, and others are horrid like The Bionic Woman.

There's a built-in audience of people looking to relive memories, so Hollywood loves remakes. We hate them because it destroys our memories of the originals.

However, some actually manage to improve on the original in some way. Feast your eyes on our Deja Vu list of remakes that have managed to surpass the original movie or TV show.

1. Battlestar Galactica (2003) / Battlestar Galactica (1978)
In 1978, Glen Larson created a show about the last survivors of the human race searching for a home while being pursued by the evil robotic Cylons. Catching Star Wars' wave of popularity, the show got a lot of attention. Lorne Green, Dirk Benedict and other popular actors starred and the show became a cult classic. We rarely use the word "cult" to describe something popular though. The show was canceled after 34 episodes. Decades later, the show was "reimagined" by Ron Moore into a gritty, dark and more realistic series. A new classic, the show ran for four seasons and won 32 awards. Bryan Singer is working on a film closer to the original concept, but well see if it takes off.
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2. The Fly (1986) / The Fly (1958)
The 1958 horror film about a transporter accident that changed a scientist into a hybrid fly man is one of the most beloved science-fiction films ever made. Master director David Cronenberg took the film and found new material in the decades old film. He asked questions like "Why would a transporter just swap the head and arm of the fly? How would a human fly think and eat? Could you really love a man that was falling apart before your eyes?  He hired the brilliant Jeff Goldblum, amped up the gore and produced a film that stands as one of his greatest works. There was a remake of the sequel, Son of the Fly, but we'll just pretend that never happened. Sequel? What are you talking about? Starring Eric who?
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3. One Million Years B.C. (1966) / One Million B.C. (1940)
One Million B.C. was a 1940s film about a caveman trying to unite two warring tribes. Directed by Hal Roach, the film stars the famous Victor Mature and your favorite pin-up girl Carole Landis. Wait? You've never heard of them? That's strange. The 1960s remake One Million Years B.C. gave us Rachel Welch in a fur bikini. Sound familiar? Plus, awesome dinosaur stop-motion animation by Ray Harryhausen. The rest, as they say, is history.
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4. The Omega Man (1971) \ The Last Man On Earth (1964)
The brilliant 1960s novel I Am Omega, about the last human left after a plague has changed the world into vampire-like creatures, spawned three movies. The first, 1964's The Last Man On Earth starring Vincent Price is good. The second, The Omega Man starring Charleston Heston, is the most well-known and popular version. There's a third film, of course, the 2007 blockbuster I Am Legend starring Will Smith. Its watchable, but is the least faithful to the novel.
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5. Little Shop of Horrors (1986) / Little Shop of Horrors (1960)
In 1960, Roger Corman made a cheesy horror film about a guy with a man-eating plant in his flower shop.  Jack Nicholson guest starred as a masochistic dental patient. The whole idea was laughably ridiculous, which is why someone had a bright idea to make it into a comedy. In the late eighties out was remade after a successful run on Broadway as a musical comedy. Special effects by Henson and dynamite music makes it unrecognizable as the schlocky Corman film.
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6. King Kong (2005) / King Kong (1976)
The movie about a giant ape going crazy in New York touched the heart of millions. The  stop motion special effects Ray Harryhausen are still amazing even by today's standards. In 1976, they decided to remake the film using a guy in a very realistic suit, but really didn't capture the magic of the original. In 2005, Peter Jackson remade the film using cutting edge computer effects and using scenes based on ones cut from the original 1933 film. Jackson's film isn't better than the first film, but its better than the 1976 remake.
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7. The Thing (1982) / The Thing From Another World (1951)

The 1951 film The Thing From Another World is based on a 1938 novella "Who Goes There?" by John W. Campbell. The story follows a crew in the arctic fending off a blood-thirsty alien plant. Yep. A plant. The film is another science-fiction classic. In 1982, John Carpenter took the idea of being trapped in a remote Arctic outpost with a shape-shifting alien to the furthest level possible. Where else could you see blobs made out of dogs to heads running around on their own. The remake explored the paranoia and fear like no one else could.
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8. 12 Monkeys (1996) / La Jetée (1962)
Nobody watches snooty French films, so we're forgiven for not watching the French short film La Jetée (1962). But a lot of people watched the Terry Gilliam film 12 Monkeys starring Bruce Willis as a mental patient sent back in time to figure out the cause of a pandemic. Artful, visually stunning and deep characterization made the film accessible to many and another great remake.
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Is there a remake you liked better than the original? Let us know in the comments.

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The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Daleks [Video]

Are Doctor Who and the The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy in the same universe? Maybe not, but let's pretend it is. Based on the animation from the original mini-series, this clip imagines how the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy would have described the Daleks from Doctor Who. Not only are the animation and description extremely faithful to the books, but the creator even went back and re-dubbed it with a Peter Jones sound-a-like. YouTubers, we need more of these. A lot more.

 

[Via YouTube]

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Real Steel, Japanese Time Traveling Schoolgirls, Buck Rogers And Other New DVDs This Week [Stuff]

This week has a number of interesting DVDs being released you may want to pick up. The star is Real Steel of course, but there are a couple of Japanese releases you may like and, if your a fan of the 1970s Buck Rogers series, it's finally on DVD! Sort of.

 The Run-Down

1. Real Steel (Three-Disc Combo: Blu-ray/DVD + Digital Copy)
2. Godzilla (The Criterion Collection) [Blu-ray]
3. Ancient Aliens: Season Three 
4. Revenge of the Electric Car 
5. Roger Corman's Cult Classic's Lethal Ladies Collection, Vol. 2 (The Arena, Cover Girl Models, Fly Me) 
6. Buck Rogers in the 25th Century: Season One 
7. Time Traveller-Girl Who Leapt Throught Time 

The Break-Down
1. I missed Real Steel when it hit theaters, so I'm excited about the three-disc Combo (Blu-ray/DVD + Digital Copy) dropping on Blu-ray and DVD this week. They say the real heart of the film is the relationship with the son (Dakota Goya) and his dad (Hugh Jackman).

Product Details

• Actors: Hugh Jackman, Evangeline Lilly, Dakota Goyo
• Directors: Shawn Levy
• Format: Color, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Language: English
• Subtitles: English, French, Spanish
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Studio: Walt Disney Studios
• DVD Release Date: January 24, 2012
• Run Time: 127 minutes

Special features

• Four featurettes:
  - Countdown to the Fight: The Charlie Kenton Story
  - Sugar Ray Leonard: Cornerman's Champ
  - Making of Metal Valley
  - Building the Bots
• Deleted and extended scenes with introductions by director Shawn Levy:
  - Extended "Meet Ambush"
  - Deleted "Butterfly" Storyline
• Bloopers

2. If your a fan of Godzilla you'll want to pick up Godzilla (The Criterion Collection) [Blu-ray] (1954) for $27.99. It's pretty much the greatest version ever made of the Japanese film and has a ton of special features.

Product Details

Takashi Shimura (Actor), Akira Takarada (Actor), Ishiro Honda (Director)

Rated: Unrated
Format: Blu-ray

• Actors: Takashi Shimura, Akira Takarada
• Directors: Ishiro Honda
• Format: Black & White, Full Screen, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
• Language: Japanese
• Subtitles: English
• Region: Region A/1 (Read more about DVD/Blu-ray formats.)
• Aspect Ratio: 1.77:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: Unrated
• Studio: Criterion Collection
• DVD Release Date: January 24, 2012
• Run Time: 96 minutes

Special Features

• New high-definition digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition
• Audio commentary by David Kalat (A Critical History and Filmography of Toho’s Godzilla Series)
• Special Features
• New high-definition digital restoration of Godzilla: King of the Monsters!, Terry Morse’s 1956 reworking of the original, starring Raymond Burr
• Audio commentary for Godzilla: King of the Monsters! by Kalat
• New interviews with actor Akira Takarada (Hideto Ogata), Godzilla performer Haruo Nakajima, and effects technicians Yoshio Irie and Eizo Kaimai Interview with legendary Godzilla score composer Akira Ifukube
• Featurette detailing Godzilla’s photographic effects
• New interview with Japanese-film critic Tadao Sato
• The Unluckiest Dragon, an illustrated audio essay featuring historian Greg Pflugfelder describing the tragic fate of the fishing vessel Daigo fukuryu maru, a real-life event that inspired Godzilla
• Theatrical trailers
• New and improved English subtitle translation
• PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by critic J. Hoberman

 

3. For the alien conspiracy nuts, you can check out Ancient Aliens: Season Three. I've never seen it, but it supposedly traces alien activity through-out history. If it's on the History Channel, it has to be true right?

4. You can also get Revenge of the Electric Car (2012). A documentary sequel to the 2006 film Who Killed the Electric Car? talking about how the auto industry was forced to develop and build the electric car.

5. Roger Corman is the king of sclock exploitative film-making, so you may want to pick up Roger Corman's Cult Classic's Lethal Ladies Collection, Vol. 2 which has  The Arena, Cover Girl Models and Fly Me. The taglines, "Black Slave. White slave", "This airline serves three wild dishes. Take your choice." and "Million-dollare fold-outs who never hold out!" mean these have got to be good.

6. The 1979 classic television series Buck Rogers in the 25th Century: Season One starring Gil Gerard is finally on DVD! Actually, you could just get the whole series by buying Buck Rogers in the 25th Century: The Complete Epic Series on DVD. I've looked around, and I can't figure out why you'd buy this single season when you get get the whole series, but there you are.

7. A cool Japanese film is being released on DVD this week called Time Traveller-Girl Who Leapt Throught Time. It's the fourth film (third live-action) based on a book called Toki o Kakeru Shōjo (The Girl Who Leapt Through Time). Here's the plot:

In 2010, Kazuko Yoshiyama (Narumi Yasuda) works as a pharmaceutical researcher secretly developing a formula for time travel. When she is left comatose after a car accident, her daughter Akari learns of her mother's first love, Kazuo Fukamachi (Kanji Ishimaru), from Kazuko's friend Goro Asakura (Masanobu Katsumura). Believing that finding Kazuo will allow her mother to regain consciousness, Akari uses Kazuko's formula to leap back in time to the 1970s in hopes of finding a younger Kazuo. Instead, she meets and befriends Ryota Mizorogi (Nakao Akiyoshi). Together, they attempt to search for Kazuo, but love begins to blossom between Akari and Ryota, despite the fact that Akari must eventually return to the future.

Sounds pretty sweet.



Are you planning to buy any DVDs his week? 

[Image Source: Moviefone]

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Betty White: Jedi Knight [Image]

Does this really need an introduction? I think not. See the full image below...

Is the Force with Betty White?

[Via Imgur]

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What if Johnny Depp Had Played The Riddler? [Image]

Back in 2008, there was a confirmed rumor that Johnny Depp was going to play "The Riddler" in the Dark Knight sequel.

The Riddler, for those who don't know, is a green-suited comic book villain who tries to trick Batman with puzzles that give clues to his crimes. Frank Gorshin played him the the 1960s television show and Jim Carrey played him in Batman Forever.

The rumor was there would be three villains: The Riddler, Penguin (Philip Seymour Hoffman) and Catwoman (Angelina Jolie). An "inside source" said, "Producers are convinced that the role of The Riddler is perfect for Depp. Johnny's a pro. He'll be able to take direction and still make the character his own. And what better Penguin is there than Philip Seymour Hoffman?"

Unfortunately for the Internet, Nolan quickly squashed that idea saying the villain “won’t be the Riddler”. Still, with the Dark Knight posters up I thought it would be fun to do a fake Dark Knight Rises poster with the man himself. So, we can all dream about what might have been.

What do you think? Would Johnny Depp have made a cool villain for The Dark Knight Rises?

Related Posts

• Men Geeks Love: Johnny Depp
• Top Ten Wonderfully Odd Villains From The Batman TV Series

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The Real Reason For Senior Moments [Image]

The following theory makes perfect sense to me...

This make sense to you?
[Image Source: Imgur]

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Disney Princesses in "Sucker Punch" [Video]

What happens when you combine Disney Princesses and Sucker Punch? Disney Punch.

[Via YouTube via The Mary Sue]

[Image Source: Mindtrickmedia]  

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Geek Bits: Star Wars Live-Action Title, Worst\Best Cosplay Costume Ever, Blogfest News, Trivia [Links]

We can't cover everything going on in the blogosphere. So, on Friday's, I share links and news and fun things I think you'd enjoy.

Trivia
Over 30 years ago this week (January 18, 1974), the first episode of Six Million Dollar Man aired. What was the name of the episode?
*Answer at the end of the post.

Links
The Force.net Look Like Darth Maul
Thanks to LucasFilm's promotion of Star Wars: Episode I: The Phantom Menace in 3-D (February 10, 2012) there's a mobile app for the iPhone that uses the built-in camera to turn you into Darth Maul. Or you can do it online. There's a bunch of other Darth Maul stuff including soundboards and comics.

M.Pax: StarGate Inspired Plantgirl
A joke on StarGate SG-1 about "Mr. Plantboy" inspired Mary Pax to write a cool little eBook called Plantgirl.

I said, “It sounds like a super hero.” Which spawned a slew of messages about what Plant Boy’s powers would be. It was the kernel of the idea which launched Plantgirl. Granted, the story I wrote took a different bent than the conversation, but it stands to show you, you just never know where inspiration will come from.

Galaxy Junkyard: Battle Los Angeles Gets a B
Short review. More than I gave it credit for.

SuperPunch: The Worst Wonder Woman Action Figure Ever

Star Trek - SciFi: Classic Spock Tribble Moment
After Spock said he was immune to the Tribble's effect. Spacerguy asks "How did Uhura react to Mr Spocks total exaggeration?" Head over for the answer to the question.

MTV Movies: Chronicle Takes Found Footage To Superheroes
A movie opening next month follows the classic "found footage" format, but takes it to superpowers. Three high-school boys realize they can move things with their minds. Unfortunately, they slowly change from heroes to villains with their powers. The buzz sounds pretty good on this one.


io9: The 10 Most Regrettable 80s Science Fiction and Fantasy Villains on Film
io9 counts down the ten most ill-conceived and imcompentent villains from the 80's.

Huffington Post: George Lucas Calls Out Hollywood On Racial Bias

Empire: Behold The Prometheus Space Jockeys!

A still from the "maybe" Aliens prequel Prometheus shows aliens in a dark corridor that look like the so-called "Space Jockeys" from the alien ship. You'll have to zoom in for a good look.

Blastr: Why (and how) is NASA censoring an 8-minute sci-fi horror movie?
When a space tourist made short horror film on-board the space station, NASA said no to a distribution of the film.

All-Things-X: X-Men Anime Wallpapers & Background Art!

Cruising Altitude: The ORIGINS Blogfest Starts Feb 13th
Tell your own superhero origin on Februrary 13th in D.L.'s blogfest.

Blastr: What Will The Star Wars Live-Action Show Be Called?
The long promised live action Star Wars series is coming and it's called Star Wars: Underworld. It follows criminals of the Empire and Rick McCullum says, "They take place between Episode III and Episode IV, that 20-year period when Luke is growing up. It's not about Luke, but it's about that period when the Empire is trying to take things [over]."  Watch the interview below.

Blastr: Best (or is it worst?) Iron Man cosplayer EVER
It's easy to call this construction paper and tape costume horrible, but you have to admire his guts for going to a comic-con with it on.

 
Fantasy and Sci-Fi Lovin': Review of the Darth Plagueis Novel
SQT has a review of the Star Wars II I prequel novel Darth Plagueis. You can read a sample here and a 50-page excerpt here.
 
Trivia Answer: The first episode of Six Million Dollar Man was called "Population: Zero". Steve Austin is sent in to investigate the deaths of an entire small town. He discovers a rogue government scientist is threatening to strike again unless he's paid $10 million.

What do you think of this week's news?

[Image Source: URL]

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Life-Sized Stormtrooper Cake [Food]

So the next level has been achieved - a six-foot tall Imperial stormtrooper cake was served at a sci-fi convention. It's made of yellow vanilla cake, Rice Krispie treats, vanilla Italian meringue butter cream, and marshmallow fondant. It took the bakery ten people, two weeks, one hundred and forty pounds of sugar, two hundred and eight eggs, and fifty-five pounds of marshmallows. It fed 600 people. And you can have one for only $9,000. You can see how it was put together at Oak Leaf's Imgur site. Click the images below to enlarge.

What do you think of the stormtrooper cake?

[Oak Leaf Cakes via ABCNews]

[Image Source: oakleafcakes]

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Top Ten Wonderfully Odd Villains From The Batman TV Series [List]

The Dark Knight is great, but there's a reason we still love the campy 1960's Batman series. It was great fun and had great villains like the Joker, The Riddler, Penguin and Catwoman. It also had a collection of wonderfully odd villains played by the biggest stars of the time.

Many actors clamored for cameos, and most showed up poking their heads out of windows. A few went on to become some of the strangest villains Batman has ever fought.

From book-lovers to stamp collectors. From piano players to eggheads. Here's the bizarre, strange and wonderful list of the oddest villains we loved from the 1960's Batman series.

1. Bookworm (Roddy McDowall)

There's nothing scarier than a librarian, so Batman had the ultimate villain. A guy so in love with books that he dressed in book leather and attached a book light to his hat. The idea of a guy committing book crimes seems like a silly one, but played by veteren actor Roddy McDowall (Planet of the Apes) he became totally believable. Who else could terrorize Gotham City with exploding novels and trap the dynamic duo in a giant book?

2. False Face (Malachi Throne)

The master of disguise, False Face had a weird gimmick. He was almost like Sandman in that he could change his appearance, but normally he had a plastic mask on. His disguises were so good that he fooled Batman with his impression of Chief O'Hara and Commissioner Gordon. The credits had a big question mark, so it was only later that we knew who he was: Malachi Throne. When asked about the character he said, "Originally False-Face was to be done with make up, but due to production problems or decisions a plastic mask was used instead. It was a good character, but the problem was that the mask came out rather ugly and uncomical when photographed." So, the character never came back. He had kind of a freaky Halloween thing going on though.

3. Colonel Gumm (Roger C. Carmel)

When the show tried to make a spin-off of Green hornet, they created an evil stamp manufacturer who was forging expensive stamps named Colonel Gumm. His greatest achievement was turning Hornet and Kato into life-size stamps. With his pink clothing and silly mustache, he looked like an idiot. But, Roger C. Carmel, who famously played Harry Mudd on Star Trek made him just scary enough to be fun.





4. The Puzzler (Maurice Evans)

A contract dispute between the show and Frank Gorshin, who played the Riddler led to the appearance of "The Puzzler"! Instead of "Riddle me this" he would hand Batman a series of irregularly shaped cardboard pieces. Actually, he had the same style as Riddler by sending Batman objects that gave clues to his crime. Played by Maurice Evans we all knew he was a low-rent Riddler, but he was still fun.



5. The Great Chandell (Liberace)

The flamboyant Liberace played the conniving pianist known as The Great Chandle. Blackmailed by his twin brother into trying to con Bruce Wayne's Aunt Harriet out of her money. Not only does he play the piano, but he cons old ladies! Now that's evil. He shows up in our list of evil twins [url] too. In real life, the crew said he was extremely nice. Adam West said he would play the piano between takes and he played anything the crew wanted to hear.


6. Egghead (Vincent Price)

The brilliant criminal Egghead had an enormous brain and a head shaped like an egg. Naturally, he became a master criminal with a fixation on eggs. Unlike many of the Batman villains his crimes didn't always involve his fetish. In his first appearance he managed to take over the city thanks to a little known clause in the Gotham constitution. The great Vincent Price hammed it up with great lines like "eggs-actly" and "eggs-traordinary". It could have been a one-joke thing, but he came back again and again.

7. Louie the Lilac (Milton Berle)

Where would a crime show be without a gangster? Of course, being Batman, they had to take it up a notch and make Louie the Lilac. A gangster fixated on flowers. Milton Berle played a deliciously thuggish criminal who develops a mind-control flower. He plans to use it to take over the perfume and flower market. Forget knocking over banks. Flowers are the real money maker.


8. Shame (Cliff Robertson)

Westerns were popular in the 60s, so it was no surprise Batman fought a cowboy villain. Played by Cliff Robertson (Spider-Man), and several others, he dressed as a cowboy and would rob banks and rustle cows. He had a great look with his white Stetson and colorful bandanas. His greatest scheme was stealing Black Angus Bulls worth $300,000 each from the Gotham rodeo using a souped up truck. Cliff Robertson would go on to play Uncle Ben in the Spider-Man movies.

9. Lord Marmaduke Ffogg (Rudy Vallee)

Evil guys usually have a British accent, so Batman had a villain for the sole purpose of making fun of the British. His gimmick was that he had a pipe that would let out a billow of fog. He and his sister Peasoup ran a school for young ladies that secretly trained them to be criminals. He had a variety of fog, including a paralyzing gas they used to trap Batgirl.



10. King Tut (Victor Buono)

My personal favorite is King Tut. Whenever Egpytologist Professor William McElroy got hit on the head he would lose his memory and turn into the villainous Pharaoh themed King Tut. Actor Victor Buono carried himself with the regal air of a mighty Pharaoh and wore the outfit with flourish.   Buono said, "Batman allowed me to do what actors are taught never to do, overact." The best part was whenever he would show up the incomparable Adam West Batman would say, "Hmmm. McElroy must have gotten hit on the head again." Like it was normal. How many times could someone turn into a supervillain before they started wearing a helmet? He never went to jail since, of course, he would regain his memory with another blow to the head. This character was created for the show, but he was so great they put him in the comics.

Who was your favorite villain from the 1960's Batman series?
[Image Source: Bat-Mania.co.uk and Batman.wikia.com]

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