14 Cool Tattoos from Badasses in the Movies
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- By Entertainment Mog
- Thursday, November 27, 2008
In this era, a large number of the population is fascinated by tattoos. In fact, a lot of the younger generation (and quite a few from the older generations) have tattoos. Whether you do or don’t sport tattoos on your body, you can definitely appreciate the artwork. Thought they’re really done with makeup and not ink, this artwork isn’t limited to real life.
14.Cape Fear (1991) - Max Cady (Robert De Niro)
De Niro’s character has about eleven different tattoos on his body. He’s got a tattoo in the shape of a crown, “My time is at hand”, the grim reaper with the words, “Time the avenger”, “The Lord is the avenger”, “My time has not fully come”, a broken heart with the name, “Loretta”, 6 lightening bolts, “I have put my trust in the Lord. In him will I trust, a clown in front of prison bars and holding smoking guns, “Vengeance is Mine”, and a huge cross on his back with scale plates on either side that weigh “Truth” and “Justice”.
13.Momento (2000) - Leonard (Guy Pearce)
In this crime thriller, the tattoos are actually an integral part of the movie. Leonard (played by Guy Pearce) has suffered short term memory, but is looking for the man that he believes killed his wife. He uses notes and tattoos to hunt for her killer.
12.From Dusk ’til Dawn (1996) - Seth Gecko (George Clooney)
Up until the very end of the movie From Dusk ’til Dawn all you see is some sort of tattoo coming up from Seth Gecko’s (played by George Clooney) shirt. Finally, you get to see the intricate artwork. The tattoo has nothing to do with the plot, but rather just a cool perk in the movie.
11. Reign of Fire (2002) - Denton Van Zan (Matthew McConaughey)
In Reign of Fire, we see dragons emerging to try to inhabit the Earth as Denton Van Zan (Matthew McConaughey) and other dragon slayers try to stop the dragons. Though McConaughey’s tattoos have no real significance in the movie except for decoration, there was some thought put into the design. In fact, the tattoo design was constructed to fit the contours of his muscle structure, so the design and his build had to be worked out with his trainer and an artist.
10. Escape from New York (1981) - Snake Plissken (Kurt Russell)
There’s no real significance about Snake’s tattoo and it’s self-explanatory since it’s a cobra. It only makes sense that Kurt Russell’s bad boy character Snake Plissken would sport tattoos. Again, this is just for show, but it’s cool.
9.Snatch (2000) - Mickey O’Neil (Brad Pitt)
Mickey O’Neal (played by Brad Pitt), a gifted fighter and a gypsy in the movie Snatch sport several intricate tattoos on his body. The tatoos have no real connection with the movie, but it’s fun to try to make out what the tattoos are. He has a snake and flowers on his stomach, a bulldog on his elbow, the Madonna on his chest and a great design of The Last Supper on his back.
8.Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace (1999) - Darth Maul (Ray Park)
The “Sith” tattoos on Darth Maul (played by Ray Park) are said to be marked all over the character’s body and signify the very essence of the dark side.
7.The Salton Sea (2002) - Danny Parker/ Tom Van Allen (Val Kilmer)
The story revolves around Tom Van Allen, whose wife was murdered. He ends up being a police informant in hopes to find his wife’s killer. As an undercover informant, he goes by the name Danny Parker. What’s significant about his tattoos is that they tell the story of his wife’s murder with tattooed a bullet wound on his shoulder and flames coming out of it and a huge intricate tattoo of the grim reaper on his back.
6. Manhunter (1986) - Francis Dollarhyde (Tom Noonan)
Francis Dollarhyde is a serial killer in the movie Manhunter that calls himself “the toohfairy” because he likes to bite his victims. The awesome tattoo in this gruesome thriller has no real significance. It just adds to the character’s persona.
5.Romper Stomper (1992) - Hando (Russell Crowe)
In this movie, Crowe plays a bad-ass skinhead. His tattoos are really cool, especially the skeleton bones on his arm, but there’s no real significance that we know of. There may have been an implication of one considering one (and only one) other skinhead in the movie had the same tattoo.
4. The Number 23 (2007) - Walter Sparrow/ Fingerling (Jim Carrey)
The movie The Number 23 is very strange as Carrey plays Walter Sparrow, who ends up believing that he’s a fictional character called “Fingerling”. However, Carrey’s tattoo shows great detail as it goes throughout his torso and depicts a rose vine.
3.Once Were Warriors (1994) - The Maori tribe
The entire Maori tribe in the movie Once Were Warriors have very intricate and detailed tattoos. Therefore, the number 3 spot in this countdown goes to the whole tribe. Look at the detail on this guy’s face!
2.Blade (1998) - “Blade” (Wesley Snipes)
Again, the tattoos have no relevance to the movie, but they suit Wesley Snipes’ character . Look at the detail. I love the different colors and the way that the design curves around his neck, head, and upper torso.
1.Red Dragon (2002) - Francis Dollarhyde (Ralph Fiennes)
Here we are again with another movie about Francis Dollaryde, the serial killer that calls himself “the toothfairy”. The amazing tattoo on his back is my top pick out of all movie tattoos.
Most of the coolest tattoos in the movies are of the villains. My perception of this is because tattoos can be so expressive all on their own. Therefore, tattoos can better portray the persona of a villain and make him even more evil.
