Villain Deathmatch - Round 1 Match 10

Special Interest Games
1
  • Dominic Greene
  • Karl Stromberg

0 voters

The World, it is said, is not enough and, bored by lockdown, it appears that villainous in-fighting has broken out to such an extent that things have to be settled between the Bond villains.

Accordingly, fate brings forth a series of 12 deathmatches, villain v villain – and you determine who wins, simply by voting for your favourite.

Winner goes through to the next round, loser receives a small funeral service with only pirhanas and a few tearful jumpsuited goons in attendance.

Picking the first round of matches at random from names drawn from the Covid-19 face-covering Mrs Jim has ordered for me (a bucket), there are some interesting encounters and some potential first round giantkillings and clashes of titans (and Titans! Will! Clash!, apparently).

Yes, I know some are tag-teams (eg Whitaker & Koskov) but this is only for giggles, they are fictional and – ultimately – are two heads better than one?

Will cast my eye over the bloodstrewn battlefields in a week from now. Any ties will be administered a coup-de-grace, also known as a flip of a coin. I know that’s unfair but consider who we’re dealing with here, and cope.

1 Like
2

Ha! Pitched against Dominic Greene, an easy snatch for the first round, I’d say. :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

3 Likes
3

Dominic Greene is for me one of the worst and boring Bondvillains and Stromberg one of the cooler ones with his webbed hands. I love Curt Jurgens, he was a great character. So for me an easy choise!

2 Likes
4

“Good evening and welcome to Talking Balls on the Carver Media Group Network. With me as ever is our resident pundit, Brian Prejudice, and we’re looking tonight at Round One of this year’s Villain Deathmatches. Good evening, Brian.”

“Good evening, Wendy.”

“….Keith. Anyway, one of the more controversial ties in Round One has to be Match 10, Stromberg v Greene. Big power, built like a supertanker, up against the wiry, whippety blink-and-you’ll-miss-it style of the newish boy Greene. Any thoughts, Brian?”

“Could a whale eat a bus?”

“About the match, Brian.”

“Always going to be a grudge match, this one. No love lost between these two, the man who for some unfathomable reason wants to live underwater…”

“Unfathomable; nice pun.”

“You wha?”

“Carry on.”

“…the man who wants to live in the water being challenged by the man who wans to steal it all. Always going to be a tough ask for the lad Greene or, as he’s known round my parts, The Man with Appalling Teeth.”

“He’s round your parts? Don’t answer that. But Stromberg still quite a controversial figure, even after all these years, isn’t he? Lots of pundits have criticised him for being broad and big and having some power in his punch but just not being very original in his fighting style.”

“Yeah, but sometimes you need a journeyman and there’s no denying the fishfood diet is keeping him in shape.”

“Not that popular with his peers due to his refusal to shake hands before things kick off, is he?”

“That’s always been odd, but it’s probably social distancing. Still, I would say my money would be on him; I think Greene will struggle to make much of an impact despite some initial promise, so I expect a reasonably comfortable win for the big man here. I might be surprised, but as it’s Stromberg, probably won’t be. Some people might see it as an easy snatch.”

“Isn’t that Pussy Galore’s sister? Anyway, thanks Brian – let’s see how this one plays out…”

1 Like
5

Although I voted against YOLT’s Blofeld - despite his having the coolest lair in all of lairdom - this time I have to go with the aging European matinee idol with the submarine pen inside his tuna trawler.
And Stromberg didn’t scream like the chorus boy in Blazing Saddles during his final confrontation with 007.

When you do the henchmen match-ups, Jim, you might as well pit Jaws vs Elvis. While the voters hand it to Jaws, Elvis will be getting his arse handed back to him.

6

Stromberg may just sit around and push buttons, but he does so in the most amazing interiors. The standout scene: feeding the woman to the sharks, and continuing the conversation with Bechmann and Markovitz, who he blows up afterwards. Cold blooded villainy right there.

1 Like
7

Greene is sadly underrated: his monologue about ants crawling under his skin is wonderfully creepy, but Stromberg has a button for everything, so he wins.

1 Like
8

Greene I see more as a lieutenant of a villain. I think the reasoning behind this part may have been to keep the fantastic elements toned down - but with Greene they were entirely absent. Also because his henchman wasn’t particularly threatening. Greene’s fault is perhaps that he’s too real.

1 Like
9

The synergy of Stromberg + Bach, Mozart and Chopin is hard to top. Without too much effort from script and actor these pieces do all the talking, always announcing him as Bond’s most aristocratic, aloof and psychopathic foe.

I 100% buy him as someone eager to sweep aside the whole of dryside humanity in favour of his preferred final solution.

Drax’s only, but rather big issue is that Stromberg came first and in the previous movie no less.

2 Likes
10

Absolutely - it’s highly effective.

1 Like
11

I see Drax as a refinement of Stromberg, just as MOONRAKER is a more fluid version of TSWLM. The first film reset Moore Bond for the rest of his run; the second one brought it to its apogee.

Also, as has been mentioned: Bach; Mozart; Chopin; and set design do a lot of heavy lifting in terms of defining Stromberg’s villainy. Lonsdale’s accomplishment is more of an acting coup.

4 Likes
12

I wouldn’t disagree with that. However, with crutches included the sum total gives Stromberg the edge (imo). If they shared a prison cell, then I’d imagine that old webhands would the be alpha.

1 Like
13

Wouldn’t it be odd if they faced each other in Round 2? (I assure you it’s random). Looks like Stromberg is going through, but Drax still has a bit of a fight on his unwebbed, physically perfect hands. Not that this Round One match is over yet but everyone seems to have forgotten about Greene being there… well, that fits.

2 Likes
14

Graham Greene fell a bit into obscurity these last few years.

15

I would dispute that. In fact, I’m currently reading Our Man in Havana. :slightly_smiling_face:

1 Like
16

In a physical fight I’m not sure who would win between Karl Stromberg and Dominic Greene. I lean toward Stromberg and since I much prefer his villain anyway, that clinches the deal.

17

I think Greene would win, based on his frantic swinging of that axe during the finale.

18

*** watches him swinging the axe like a madman with the only one he’s able to harm is himself. When fed up with the unseemly spectacle, slowly takes one webbed hand out of his pocket, pushes a button and… ***

Good-bye Mr. Greene. :sunglasses:

5 Likes
19

I’m just waiting to work in Greene’s “sounds like you just lost another one” quote somehow. :smirk:

3 Likes