ROBERT COTTON Our first look at Blofeld is a complete let-down. The mastermind of the world's greatest criminal organization is a very short man who apparently sneezed violently while shaving his head. The voice, the face, the lack of stature. Even the cat appears appalled at having to be in some of his scenes. The first true misstep villain-wise in the series. Hans is the series' first Aryan-style übermensch. A waste of time. Helga is a middling rewrite of Fiona Volpe with a bad dye job. JAMES McMAHON Ernst Stavro Blofeld  - Poor Donald Pleasence was brought in as a last minute replacement for the role, and then was stuck with a huge, ludicrous, scar.  It's no wonder the result is so disappointing.  He tries his best, but is given precious little to work with.  He looks nothing like Fleming's description of Blofeld.  After waiting so long to finally see the face of S.P.E.C.T.R.E.'s leader, this was a wildly inappropriate let down. Helga Brandt - Blink and you'll miss her, and I'd envy you that.  She's a warmed over attempt to recreate Fiona Volpe, with none of her joie de'vivre, or joie de'morte.  Written paper thin and one dimensional, Helga is tossed in to the movie to satisfy the Bond film formula.  Utterly forgettable. PAUL BAACK Thanks largely to Mike Myers' creation of the "Dr. Evil" character, Donald Pleasance,as Ernst Stavro Blofeld, has become the de facto icon of James Bond villainry. Which is ironic, because by most measures, Pleasance's Blofeld is among the weakest of the series' bad guys -- and he was certainly the first of the lame. Pleasance was a terrific character actor, but didn't have the physical stature to convincingly portray a Bond Villain. He also wasn't helped very much by the screenplay, which didn't give him much to do (other than provoke World War III, an abstract concept that, by definition, can't have a payoff,) other than stomp around his hollowed-out-volcano lair and glare at people. He does get to say the immortal words "Kill. Bond. Now!" and also, once 007 is captured, let him hang around the control room, with his rocket-firing cigarettes, while final operations are getting underway. You know, the usual duties of a James Bond movie villain. Helga Brandt is mostly just icky, with a garish hair dye job, about a half-inch of foundation makeup, and a cantilevered bra. Poor Bond has to have sex with her before she's to execute him in an unnecessarily complicated way. "The things I do for England," indeed. There's also a henchman named Hans, whose job it is to wear black turtleneck sweaters. He may have had a fight with 007 at some point, I don't remember.

ED WERNER I don't know what the hell happened here, I'm just glad that it didn't happen until the final reel of the film. Granted, Donald Pleasance was not the first choice by the producers to play Blofeld. That honor went to Jan Werich, who lasted about two or three days of filming before Lewis Gilbert pulled his plug, indicating that Werich reminded him of Santa Claus! Instead, Pleasance was rushed in and we got a Blofeld that looks like a cracked egg. Although it is not his fault, Pleasance gave us such memorable dialog as: "The firing power inside my crater is enough to annihilate a small army. You can watch it all on TV; it's the last program you're likely to see. " and "It won't be the nicotine that kills you, Mr. Bond." If his performance was better than that of Werich, I shudder to think of what could have been in store for us had he remained. As it is, Pleasance exudes almost no menace at all. BILL KOENIG This runt caused Bond all the trouble for three of the first four movies? Yes, I´m aware that Donald Pleasance was a last-minute casting choice. Yes, it was a tough position. Still, Pleasance was primarily known (when playing villains) as kind of weasely guys (see 1966´s “Fantastic Voyage’). On the other hand, he is the first screen interpretation of Fleming´s master villain. TOM ZIELINSKI Ernst Stavro Blofeld - What a letdown.  After the terrific build-up and mystery as to Ernst Stavro Blofeld in previous films, his person is finally revealed.  Who is the mad genius, the master manipulator, the megalomaniacal crazy who has threatened the fate of the world more than once and James Bond in particular more than that?  WHO?  The diminutive, bald Donald Pleasance.  Geez.  I *like* Pleasance the actor, but this is a major mis-step in casting.  The plot is almost as bad; EON threw out virtually the entire Fleming novel (for the first time) and started the series on a road of absurdity that was *far* different in tone from the previous four films.  So it's not all Pleasance's fault, but he is not blameless in what is easily one of the biggest disappointments in the series - the YOLT depiction of the rather impotent Blofeld.  Oh yeah, the scar doesn't help. Hans - See Vargas without any interesting side notes or back-story.  Meeting his end in Blofeld's piranha pool after a run-of-the-mill fight with Bond is the best that can be said. Helga Brandt - Fiona Volpe with maybe half the beauty and menace.  Karin Dor plays Brandt who has a memorable scene with Bond on-board the Ning-Po, threatening him with some nasty looking medical instruments, but he quickly and predictably seduces her.  The two are seen next in a plane, Brandt pushes a button activating a piece of plywood across Bond's lap to trap him and parachutes out.  He quickly and predictably escapes, and so when the inept Brandt is fed to Blofeld's piranhas, little was lost.

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