ROBERT COTTON Largo is incredibly good natured for an absolute villain. His dialogue with Bond at Palmyra is the best villain-to-hero repartee in the series. He has charm and unlike his predecessor, Largo gives us a villain that could survive in the real world. Whereas Goldfinger has to remain in his own gold plated universe, Largo parks his own car, has the temerity to wear his predilections on his sleeve, his SPECTRE ring proudly on his finger. He's bold enough to flout his villainy and when faced with an opponent of Bond's caliber, it amuses him. If this were a caper movie, he would easily be the hero. Vargas is a rewrite of Red Grant without any personality whatsoever. He serves his purpose, and leaves... pointedly. Fiona Volpe is by far my favorite villainess in the series. With flaming red hair, an Italian accent and the bad guy equivalent of a licence to kill, not only is she Bond's equal, but she has the added attraction of oozing pure unadulterated sex. From the first time we see her she is totally competent. She may be the honey in the trap, but that's only the start. A kitten with serious claws, she seems as at home in black leather motorcycle garb after disposing of Lippe as she is rolling about Bond's bed before joining the junkanoo. Evil, witty, voluptuous, she even gives Bond the rare look of female contempt when he hands her something to put on. As witty as Bond, as deadly as Bond, the only time she doesn't have complete control over the situation is when she hands things over to her henchmen and she dies for it. ED WERNER Emilio Largo is one of my favorite bad guys, from one of my favorite films. Old enough to demand respect, physically fit enough to give Bond a tough time, ruthless and although respectful of Blofeld, is not in the least bit intimidated by him. His banter with Bond throughout the movie is second to none (I personally believe this film has the best dialog of the entire canon). BILL KOENIG It´s hard to start with "A-" grade villains and maintain that level. Largo isn´t up to his predecessors, although, for a mastermind, he is more physical compared to Dr. No, Rosa Klebb and Auric Goldfinger. Still, he´s a second stringer (and really is only following the orders of Ernst Stavro Blofeld). Luciana Paluzzi´s Fiona, on the other hand, for me, remains the greatest “bad girl’" of the series. JAMES McMAHON Emilio Largo - Looking as much like the Hathaway shirts man as anything else, this is a generically written villain role without much personality, played the same way by Adolfo Celi.  Any one of hundreds of actors could have played this role just as well.  Still, it's a workman like, professional performance. Vargas - Not given much to say or do, his personality is defined for us almost 100% via another character, and in the negative; we're told Vargas does not smoke, does not drink, does not make love.  Varga's reaction is a sullen glower.  Not much to go on, but he's a creepy presence in the film, and that's what the role requires. Fiona Volpe - It took until the 4rth film to give us a true villainess who is Bond's equal.  She makes love as ferociously as he, and afterward throws in his face the idea that she might be tempted, a la Pussy Galore, to switch sides because of the experience.  Luciana Paluzzi's wild red hair and prodigious bust are both on display and help to project character's flair.  She and Connery share some fun, well written banter.  Fiona's the precursor to Fatima Blush and Xenia Onatopp, but is less cartoonish than either.  The original is still the best.

TOM ZIELINSKI Emilo Largo - The operative behind another of Ernst Stavro Blofeld's sinister plots (this time to steal two nuclear warheads), Adolfo Celi does very well as the main villain of Thunderball.  The eye-patch is a bit much and the dubbing is more obvious this time around, but the barely concealed contempt between Bond and Largo at the casino and at Palmyra are perfectly played.  Largo's implied (though off-screen) torture of Domino is terrific and demonstrated well the character's psychotic nature.  There is some of my favorite dialogue contained in this film; playful, but always dangerous.  Perhaps the defining moment for Largo is during the S.P.E.C.T.R.E. meeting; Blofeld brutally electrocutes a failed agent (one of the most violent scenes in all the films) and Largo barely acknowledges the assassination but looks away, bored, and gives a little peck of a kiss to his S.P.E.C.T.R.E. decoder ring.  Ruthless stuff and so is Largo and I love this film, in no small part due to the villainy of Emilio Largo and Adolfo Celi's performance.   Ernst Stavro Blofeld - Same as in From Russia With Love, Blofeld's face is never seen, just that god-like voice, the ring, and that damned cat.  Blofeld's plan (holding the free world for ransom over stolen nuclear warheads) was timely, terrifying, and is especially scary circa 2008.  The already-mentioned scene of the gathered S.P.E.C.T.R.E. operatives is one of the highlights of the film and series, and the mystery of Blofeld is cemented with this film. Vargas - First in a string of relatively non-descript, black turtle-neck wearing, blonde Aryan henchmen.  As effeminate a henchman as any until Wint and Kidd, it might have been interesting to know more of his back-story.  Vargas is maybe most notable for the downright churlish taunting from Largo, ("What do you do, Vargas?") and for finally "getting the point" of Bond's spear. Fiona Volpe - The luscious Luciana Paluzzi is great in the role of Blofeld's number two.  Volpe is smart and ruthless, and has several classic scenes with Bond.  When she is accidentally shot by her own men while dancing with Bond, he sits her down at a table of people and says "Do you mind if my partner sits this one out?  She's just dead."  It just doesn't get better. DEBORAH LIPP The intricate masquerade, theft, and ransom is the best scheme in the series, but Largo himself has more eyepatch than personality. PAUL BAACK On the scale of grand villainry, Emilio Largo is a little bit of a step down from the troika that preceded him. While Adolfo Celli mostly looks the scion of ancient Roman families that Ian Fleming described, you kind of get the feeling the costuming people put an eyepatch on him just to make sure we knew he was a villain. He's got some nice Bond-villain bits in the film (besides, obviously, masterminding the theft of a couple of atomic bombs); I liked how he kisses his SPECTRE ring as he has one of his lackeys thrown into the shark pool, and the way he uses the old Italian hand gesture to ward off Bond's "evil eye." He's like some lapsed Catholic gone wildly wrong. Fiona Volpe, now... aaahh, she's the real deal. The perfect combination of Luciana Paluzzi's sultry beauty and Ian Fleming's nasty imagination. Definitely one of the best characters in the entire series, she makes its previous femme fatale that we saw, Miss Taro, look like a schoolgirl with an attitude problem. In fact, there's nothing about Fiona that even makes you think "girl." She's all-grown-up Woman, and a hard one at that. She's almost a feminine reflection of James Bond, with her taste in sensual pleasures like sex and speed, and her seemingly complete amorality. She's so hot that, when she gets shot, she bleeds Hammer Films blood -- redder than red!

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