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The SPecial Executive for Counter-intelligence, Terrorism, Revenge and Extortion (S.P.E.C.T.R.E.) is a fictional terrorist organization led by Ernst Stavro Blofeld. It appearing in Ian Fleming's James Bond novel, Thunderball, and subsequently in a number of James Bond films where it has been the spy's most persistent opponent.
OverviewThe goal of the organization is extortion and world domination. The basic strategy of the organization is illustrated by the analogy of the fighting fish Blofeld keeps in an aquarium in the film version of From Russia With Love. Blofeld notes that one fish is refraining from fighting two others until their fight is concluded. Then, that cunning fish attacks the weakened victor and kills it easily. Thus SPECTRE's main strategy is to instigate conflict between two powerful enemies, namely the superpowers, hoping that they will exhaust themselves and be vulnerable when SPECTRE finally moves in to seize power. Organization discipline is notoriously draconian with the penalty for disobedience or failure being death. Furthermore, to highten the impact of the executions, Blofeld often chooses to focus attention on an innocent member, making it appear his death immenient, only to suddenly strike down the actual target when that person is off guard. Members of S.P.E.C.T.R.E. are referred to only by numbers within the organisation, presumably as a security measure. There are some major differences between the portrayal of S.P.E.C.T.R.E. in the Bond books and the movies. The organization for example does not appear in the book of From Russia with Love (in the book the organization being fought is SMERSH, a Soviet counter-spy organization), though it also plays a major role in the film. In the books the numbers of members are deliberately assigned at random and regularly rotated to prevent detection, and at the time of Thunderball the leader has been assigned 'Number 2'. In the movies Blofeld is 'Number 1', and the numbers appear to indicate rank. S.P.E.C.T.R.E. is headed up by the supervillain, Ernst Stavro Blofeld who usually appears accompanied by a white Angora cat in the movies (but not in the books). In the films, the #2 of S.P.E.C.T.R.E. is Emilio Largo who appears for the first and final time in the film Thunderball. The organization S.P.E.C.T.R.E. appears or is in some way in control in four James Bond films including:
S.P.E.C.T.R.E. also appears in Never Say Never Again, the 1983 remake of Thunderball. In the original Bond novel series, S.P.E.C.T.R.E. first appeared in the book Thunderball. But it appears that after James Bond smashed S.P.E.C.T.R.E.'s plot to blackmail NATO with stolen nuclear weapons, S.P.E.C.T.R.E. was disbanded. Blofeld continued to cause trouble on his own in On Her Majesty's Secret Service. In the official film series, the organization is much more resilient, coming back after each defeat by Bond with increasingly grander schemes until its final apparent defeat in You Only Live Twice. After which, Blofeld apparently worked independently, although S.P.E.C.T.R.E. is mentioned by name one last time in On Her Majesty's Secret Service. Blofeld also appears for the last time in the pre-title sequence of 1981's For Your Eyes Only, where he supposedly finally meets his demise. The John Gardner Bond novel, For Special Services introduced a revived S.P.E.C.T.R.E. under the leadership of a new Blofeld. Although Bond ultimately prevents S.P.E.C.T.R.E. from reforming, it continued to play a part in several succeeding Gardner novels. The next Bond novelist, Raymond Benson, reintroduced Irma Bunt in his short story "Blast from the Past." Copyright issuesS.P.E.C.T.R.E. and its characters have been at the center of a long-standing litigation case between Kevin McClory/Sony and MGM/UA over who owns the rights to S.P.E.C.T.R.E. that has been in court since the 1960s. Due to this argument, Thunderball was the only James Bond film during the life of Albert R. Broccoli that he was not a producer of. The role of executive producer went to Kevin McClory who had co-written the film with both Ian Fleming and Jack Whittingham. In 1981 Kevin McClory won a lawsuit against MGM that gave him the go ahead to create a remake of 1965's Thunderball. The film, Never Say Never Again reintroduced the criminal organization, S.P.E.C.T.R.E., its leader Blofeld and its "number two", Emilio Largo. The litigation was eventually settled with MGM getting the rights to the "unofficial" Bond films Casino Royale and Never Say Never Again. S.P.E.C.T.R.E. henchmenHenchmen working for S.P.E.C.T.R.E. include (order of appearance):
Unofficial
See alsoExternal link
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