Five 80s Russian Movie Villains and the Heroes Who Fought Them

While younger generations might be shocked with Vladimir Putin’s overt villainy, kids who grew up in the 1980’s are not surprised. Those of us coming of age during the final decade of the (first) Cold War were treated to many Russian villains by Hollywood’s motion picture industry. Here are five of the most notable Russian bad guys from movies of the 1980s.

Ivan Drago vs. Rocky, “Rocky IV” (1985)

Nothing comes closer to battle than sports, especially combat sports like boxing. In the red and gold trunks, we have Soviet-Russia’s “amateur” Olympic champion Ivan Drago. Ivan embodies the very essence of government-sponsored Russian sports stars, including the highest tech equipment and “100% all natural” performance enhancement supplements. In the other corner, in the stars and stripes, is revenge seeking Rocky Balboa. In typical Rocky fashion, the all-American underdog trains in the woods like a lumber jack for the ultimate battle of east versus west; man versus man.

What makes Ivan Drago a particularly tragic Russian villain is that he is nothing more than a machine at the service of the state. Soviet-Russia invests a lot into this machine, and they expect results. During the big fight in Moscow, the leadership is dismayed that Ivan is having such difficulty defeating Rocky. When one of them has the hubris to confront Drago during the fight, the behemoth lifts the Soviet official by one glove exclaiming, “I fight for me! FOR ME!” This ultimately redeems Ivan Drago and is an inspiration to all Russians who are unfairly subject to the state. Maybe in this way, Ivan Drago is not a Russian villain after all.

Sergei Podovsky Vs. Rambo, “Rambo: First Blood Part 2” (1985)

Now it’s time for this first of our irredeemable Russian villains: Lieutenant Colonel Podovsky, commander of the secret Soviet unit aiding the Vietnamese communists detaining American POWs in abhorrent conditions. This proto-Tarantino baddie is his own good cop and bad cop. At first, the nefarious colonel employs empathy and sweet-talking to coerce John Rambo into convincing his authorities to call off searches for the prisoners. When Rambo does not comply, Podovsky’s true villainy shows. Unable to do his own dirty work, he commands Russian wrestler stereotype Seagent Yushin to torture Rambo with electrocution. Does Rambo comply? No way! He’s Rambo! It’s not until Podosky threatens a prisoner does Rambo finally seem to cave in, only to threaten the American brass who betrayed him and mount an epic escape.

What makes Colonel Podovsky particularly villainous are his sociopathic tendencies. He initially affects overtures of friendship, empathy and understanding to get what he wants. Like the post-Soviet Russia of the 1990s, Podovsky exudes fellowship and understanding, lulling his foes into a sense of security, all the while planning their inevitable violent demise. In an ending just as satisfying now as in 1985, maybe even more so, Podovsky meets his doom at the end of Rambo’s chopper-killing, shoulder-mounted rocket launcher.

Mikhail Rostov vs. Chuck Norris, “Invasion U.S.A.” (1985)

Mikhail Rostov is a mercenary who is particularly scary as he and his guerilla group take their brutal brand of terrorism directly to American soil. He’s made that much more nightmarish being played by the late, great Richard Lynch. Rostov’s list of horrendous crimes include impersonating a U.S. military officer, mass murder of refugees, theft, drug dealing, illegal weapons procurement, attempted bombing of a church and a terrorist attack on a mall during the Christmas shopping season. While he desires to take America down, his ultimate goal is to bring his archrival, CIA agent Matt Hunter, down with it. However, given that Hunter is actually 1985 Chuck Norris, you can guess how this probably goes down.

Mihail Rostov strikes a triple blow at the insecurity of most Americans in the 1980s and today:

1. He’s a criminal. Rostov is a murderer, drug dealer and gun runner. He is a criminal of the highest order and Americans don’t like criminals.

2. He’s a communist. While most criminals are in it for profit, Rostov’s aims are to replace a democratic, capitalist United States with a communist regime. Americans don’t like communists.

3. He’s a terrorist. Rostov employs guerilla tactics to terrorize average Americans conducting the business of thier daily lives. Americans don’t like terrorists.

Fortunately, we have Chuck Norris to deal with him. In 1985 action film fashion, Chuck blasts this fiend out of a window… with a rocket launcher. Americans like Chuck Norris… and rocket launchers.

Georgi Koskov vs. James Bond, “The Living Daylights” (1987)

What happens when you take a deceitful, sociopathic Soviet general like Podovsky and combine him with an illicit drug and weapons dealer like Rostov? You get Lieutenant General Georgi Koskov. This trickster had everyone duped that he was a mere innocent cog in the Cold War machine. However, he framed a fellow Soviet for assassinating western spies to cover the fact he was using vast amounts of Soviet cash to purchase Afghan opium with plans to kick start an American opioid crisis long before Big Pharma. This baddie even murdered his own girlfriend! Is there anyone this manipulator didn’t fool? How about James Bond? That’s right, James Bond’s sixth sense prevailed, and after using some trickery of his own, Bond would be pleased to hear of Koskov’s execution in the U.S.S.R. and we can be sure that Soviet-Russian execution of traitors to the state are not quick.

Koskov is the ultimate deceiver. At face value, he looks like a real Sean Connery in Red October type, attempting to defect from being an instrument of the Soviet state. Meanwhile, he is working in the background to do some very bad stuff including murder, gun running and drug dealing, all for his own personal gain. If it weren’t for all the Ruble theft, Georgi Koskov might make for a very effective modern Russian Oligarch.

Tom Ferrell vs…, “No Way Out” (1987)

• Spoiler Alert!

  If you clicked on this, that means you’ve either seen “No Way Out” or you don’t care about spoilers. Either way, you’ve been warned.

  Lt. Cmdr. Tom Ferrell is a seemingly all-American Naval intelligence officer working for the secratary of defense David Brice. However, he strikes up an affair with the boss’ mistress, Susan Atwell, who is later murdered by Brice in a crime of passion. Covering up the killing, Brice assigns Ferrell to find the murderer who is suspected of being a KGB mole as part of the cover up. Ferrell must find the real killer before a photo of him with Susan is discovered and he can be framed.

  Now the twist: Tom Ferrell is a sleeper KGB agent! He has been infiltrating the Pentagon the entire time! Yes, the quindecinnial American guy Kevin Costner is a Russian mole! He is the worst of the Russian villains because he looks and acts just like us. Its Tom Ferrell vs… Tom Ferrell!

  This strikes at the very heart of American fears: Russian agents have infiltrated even the highest levels of our national security apparatus. The Commies can be anywhere! You’ll never look at anyone without a hint of suspicion again.

There you have it. These are five Russian villains from 1980s movies to put chills up your spine. What do you think? Will modern Hollywood films start utilizing the Russian villain motif now that we have a real-life Russian bad guy waging destruction today? Who is your favorite Russian Villain? Let me know on our Twitter page. If you want to hear more about 80s action films, check out The 80s and 90s Uncensored’s very first podcast episode. With that, remember these words of wisdom:

“I guess what I’m trying to say is, if I can change, and you can change, everybody can change.”

— Rocky Balboa, Rocky IV