STACK Mar #137

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visit DVD&BD FEATURE
28 MARCH 2016
DVD
&
BD
Nefarious criminal organisation SPECTRE and its megalomaniac mastermind Ernst Stavro Blofeld have
been periodically haunting James Bond and MI6 since 1963. Having recently resurfaced in the 24th Bond film,
out on DVD this month, what better time to take a look back at 007’s previous encounters.
FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE (1963)
SPECTRE is first mentioned in Dr. No, as
the employer of the title character, but we
don’t actually see them in action until the
second Bond movie, when 007 is duped
into acquiring a Russian decoding device
that they intend to sell back to the Soviets.
SPECTRE’s chief planner and chess master
Tov Kronsteen does the dirty work, while
boss Blofeld (Anthony Dawson) appears
from the neck down, stroking a white cat.
THUNDERBALL (1965)
In possession of a couple of atomic
weapons, SPECTRE demands £100
million in diamonds in exchange for not
nuking Miami. The enigmatic Blofeld is
once again pulling the strings from the
shadows, leaving things to SPECTRE’s
second in command and head of
extortion, Emilio Largo.
YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE (1967)
At last Bond meets Blofeld, who’s been hijacking US and Soviet
spacecraft in an attempt to trigger a not-so-Cold war between the
superpowers. Ensconced in his volcano lair with his favourite cat, the
scar-faced criminal mastermind negotiates with the Japanese and rewards
failure by dunking a female agent in a pool of piranha. “Kill Bond. Now!”
SPECTRE #2
Emilio Largo
First sighting of
Ernst Stavro
Blofeld
Donald Pleasance
as Blofeld