
Max Von Sydow has died - SuperGent
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-51803195
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Schattenbaer
Pity they didn't mention Dune. Not the best film, nor a big role for him, but
for young me it was still a wonderful experience to watch this. He replaced
the imagined book version of Kynes forever in my head. Peace.

~~~
melling
First saw him in Three Days of the Condor, which I loved as a kid.

[https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/three_days_of_the_condor](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/three_days_of_the_condor)

~~~
Diederich
Sydow absolutely crushed that role. In the opening scene, part of the way the
massacre, he's calmly trying to get his lighter lit. Creepy and awesome.

~~~
xenophonf
I don't know why, but the movie is available via the Internet Archive:

[https://archive.org/details/ThreeDaysOfTheCondor](https://archive.org/details/ThreeDaysOfTheCondor)

~~~
ce4
Does anyone know why it is available at the Internet Archive? I would not
assume that the copyright had expired yet.

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parenthesis
I recently watched _Flash Gordon_ for the first time since the 1980s, and Max
Von Sydow's performance was a definite highlight.

Casting a `proper' actor as the villain in a silly movie is always a great
idea. (See, for example, Basil Rathbone in _The Court Jester_.)

~~~
clSTophEjUdRanu
Don't forget Strange Brew!

[https://youtu.be/oMI23JJUpGE](https://youtu.be/oMI23JJUpGE)

He was also a good serious villain in Minority Report.

~~~
nocman
He was awesome in that role, eh!

(refering to Strange Brew)

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pseudolus
Stellar performance as the weary knight in "The Seventh Seal", a film more
than 60 years old. Well worth seeing today and to some - with the elements of
a plague in the background - of particular contemporary relevance.

~~~
blacksqr
[https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-
media/image/upload/c_fill,f_a...](https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-
media/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_675,pg_1,q_80,w_1200/bewtycwbaejgiqflujxx.jpg)

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snowwrestler
Max played a critical role in what I think is an under-rated science fiction
movie called “Until the End of the World.” He comes into the story pretty
late, and is crucial to a tricky transition from a “road” movie to something
far more dramatic.

That seemed to be a popular role for him later in life—a sort of super
character actor who could come in and punch up the gravitas of any scene with
just a few lines. I think that says a lot about his abilities as an actor.

~~~
ThrowItAway2Day
The new criterion restoration is amazing! The cover art is great.

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tpmx
To Americans with Scandinavian/Swedish ancestors (there sure are a lot of
you), I really recommend watching these two movies starring Max von Sydow and
Liv Ullman:

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Emigrants_(film)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Emigrants_\(film\))

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_New_Land](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_New_Land)

They are based on a series of novels (1949 and onwards) by Vilhelm Moberg
chronicling the fate of a family who decides to migrate from famine/poverty-
stricken Sweden to the US in the mid 1800s. A full 25% of the Swedish
population ended up migrating to the US.

These two movies made Max iconic and so beloved to pretty much everyone in
Sweden. They are also fantastic movies; I find myself rewatching them once
every 5 years or so.

~~~
Accujack
Thanks! Moberg is very well known in the area where I grew up, I'll have to
have a look.

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rdtsc
Antonius Block: I met Death today. We are playing chess

Out of all the roles he played I remember him best as the knight from The
Seventh Seal. Somehow his looks, demeanor and way of talking perfectly fit
that of a stereotypical medieval knight.

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crispyambulance
RIP Max Von Sydow, a great artist.

He's forever in the canon as the protagonist in The Seventh Seal, of course.

Every film buff will have something in particular that stands out in their
memory about Max Von Sydow. For me, that would be the as the mad scientist, Dr
Farber, in "Until the End of the World"\-- a sprawling train-wreck of a film
that I will always remember fondly, I don't care what the pro-critics think!

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mattmoose21
My favourite roll of his was in Strange Brew. Such a powerful actor in such a
silly roll.

~~~
yeahdef
This was our 'repeat rental' growing up. My whole family loved watching this
together.

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at_a_remove
He was perfect as Leland Gaunt in _Needful Things_. And his little turn as
Joubert in _Three Days of the Condor_ makes the life of a professional
assassin seem almost reasonable.

He has but a scene in _Conan the Barbarian_ , but what a scene! "What daring!
What outrageousness! What insolence! What arrogance! ... I salute you."

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alphadevx
What an amazing actor, he had so many fine performances during his career. I
loved him in Dune, and also this cameo as King Osric in Conan the Barbarian:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVTOag1lQHc](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVTOag1lQHc)

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rglovejoy
He was also in the Bob abd Doug MacKenzie movie 'Srrange Brew'.

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grioghar
Max is/was one of my favorites. Rest well, Max. His Shutter Island performance
was one that sticks with me, though you could rattle off any of them.

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thorin
The Magician, Wild Strawberries, Through a glass darkly, The Virgin Spring and
the Seventh Seal. These films are 50 years old! Being in these films alone
would be enough to qualify as a cinema legend and he still had nearly 50 years
to go! Extraordinary!!!

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petters
Not a major role in Wild Strawberries, though? Agree with you nonetheless!

~~~
QuinnWilton
He was the gas station attendant, if I remember right. A small role, but
played excellently.

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W-Stool
Watch "Three Days of the Condor" if only for the scenes with DEC PDP hardware.
That's the way we used to do it kids.

Max was also great in this movie - I would not want that guy coming after me.
RIP after an exceptional career in films.

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Andrew_nenakhov
I was almost offended when Facebook popped me an article named "The Game Of
Thrones and Judge Dredd star died", and none of the hundreds of comments ever
mentioned anything but the three-eyed raven. Sad.

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helsinkiandrew
His exorcism scene in The Exorcist is one of the most powerful and terrifying
scenes of all time:

[https://youtu.be/bWyi3ShHxzM](https://youtu.be/bWyi3ShHxzM)

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evo_9
I quite liked him in The Black Hole, which is a weird Scifi flick Disney put
out in the 80's. Quite dark for a Disney flick.

~~~
DerekL
That was Maximilian Schell.

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williw
His film I've watched was an old Danish one, Pelle Erobreren (Pelle the
Conqueror) from director Bille August.

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docdeek
First movie I saw him in was an Australian film called ‘Father’. Great film,
and he won an acting award for his performance in it, too.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Father_(1990_film)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Father_\(1990_film\))

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rishabhd
Good god, I just finished watching Shutter Island and then read this. May he
rest in peace.

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saiya-jin
I remember him more from things like 3 days of condor or Lynch's Dune. But 7th
seal is a true classic in any and all possible ways. An unmistakable actor.

Respect for his work and achievements.

~~~
braythwayt
His performance in Three Days of the Condor was masterful. He portrayed a
nondescript, unnoticeable man who was nevertheless the leader of a deadly
group of assassins, operating in the shadows.

At the time, people were mumbling about Robert Redford, the star. But von
Sydow owned every scene he was in.

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DarknessFalls
My favorite performance of Max Von Sydow was Frederick, in Hannah and Her
Sisters. His critique of television and contemporary values becomes truer
every year.

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jchallis
Guess you can only turn the chessboard on Death so many times.

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grewil2
I think he was great in The Emigrants and The New Land.

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Balanceinfinity
Favorite role: Hannah and her sisters. he had a great role - some humor, some
sadness (when his heart is broken). This guy could totally act.

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clSTophEjUdRanu
He also did Esbern's voice in Skyrim. RIP

~~~
hinkley
That was a big moment for me. It went from "Hey this is a pretty good game" to
"Holy shit they got Max von Sydow!"

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WalterBright
I'm sad. He was one of my favorite actors:

Flash Gordon

The Emigrants

The Flight of the Eagle

Heidi

Hawaii

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amp108
I always thought he was one of the greatest actors ever to grace the screen.
Truly a shock to see the headline.

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076ae80a-3c97-4
Ming is dead.

~~~
gerikson
That was a pretty amazing death scene.

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mongol
No one has mentioned him in The Exorcist yet, so I do

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buboard
They finally finished that game ... RIP

~~~
thombat
And Flash won, of course.

Oh, not that film?

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NoblePublius
His best work was Judge Dredd

~~~
hinkley
I would like to heal this schism by asking that we all agree:

 _All_ of his work was his best work.

