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August 02, 2005

Best Spy Movies

Thinking a little about Sean Connery I began wondering what a list of the best all-time spy movies would look like. I sort of realized five minutes into the exercise I'd have to Google, because I was having trouble thinking of many good (or even passable) spy movies at all, apart from the Bond films, which, let's face it, are mostly not-so-good and are "spy movies" in the same sense that the Naked Gun movies are police procedurals.

Okay, before we get to the list:

Bear in mind I haven't seen many pre-1970 movies.

I'm limiting myself to just four Bond flicks. Most of them are not spy movies; they're action/adventure romps starring a guy who claims to be a covert agent and yet 90% of the world seems to recognize his name or face. The ones I've picked are at least close to being genuine spy movies, and they're also all damn good.

The Guns of Navarrone is great, but it's not a spy movie. It's a commando movie with a little bit of espionage-ish parts. A lot of movies get scratched for this reason. Commandos aren't spies, so be quiet with your Where Eagles Dare nonsense.

Enter the Dragon isn't a spy movie either. Yeah, Bruce Lee is supposedly a spy, but it's a martial-arts arena-combat movie with only the slightest nod to the spy genre.

Yeah, Hitchcock. Okay, here's where I tell you that North by Northwest is 1 not really all that great and 2 is about as plausible as a James Bond film anyhow. It's a James Bond romp, only with an everyman rather than a superhero. And The Thirty-Nine Steps is... well, it's very dated, the ending is kinda silly, and well, I barely remember it. Plus, I saw a really bad print of it.

I know people will say The Eiger Sanction, but I never saw the whole thing, and what I saw of it looked dumb, cheap, and derivative.

As for John Le Carre... I read The Spy Who Came In From The Cold but I never saw the movie. I tried to watch The Russia House but found it unwatchably boring.

I'm sure you're going to say "How the hell did that movie get on the list?" for a few of these. Well, some made it because they at least made a plausible attempt to be realistic and were kinda well done. And, like I said, I don't remember many good ones, so some odd choices are going to make it on.

A couple of these are barely spy movies, or only arguably spy movies, or really not spy movies but have the feel and tone of a spy movie. Again-- there just aren't many good ones out there. I have to fudge a little.

Anyway:

17. Firefox -- Not the greatest movie and slow at times, but somewhat realistic and brutal about the realities of spycraft. The murder of a Russian guard -- just a guard, not really evil, just incovenient for Clint Eastwood -- in the bathroom was low-key but nasty.

It always was a bit daffy that the US had to a steal high-tech plane from the Soviets, but what the hell. Sure, the Soviets had good planes, but one that runs on mind-control and beats the shit out of the F-15? Whatever, still fun.

16. The Spy Who Loved Me -- Roger Moore's second-best outing at Bond, this one involving submarines (as his best outing did as well, and as does the all-time best spy movie; the Secret Service and the Silent Service seem to go well together).

Great locations, lots of fun, and Barbara Bach as the title spy of the film, except she doesn't love Bond for most of it, so much as she wants to kill him (for killing her own beloved in the line of duty).

I hope I'm not giving anything away when I reveal she changes her attitude towards him in the final fade-out.

And Jaws is one the best Bond villains ever.

15. The Parallax View -- Warren Beatty isn't a spy in this movie -- he's an independent investigative journalist, I think -- but he does all sorts of spy-like things, including infiltration and break-ins. And the whole movie is about a strange and secretive corporation recruiting assassins. A good, paranoid flick that evokes a spy-like feel.

14. Three Days of the Condor -- Good opening, some okay scenes along the way, but really, it's only the malevolent (?) presence of Max Von Sydow that makes this one above average.

It's a Robert Redford movie, so the New York Times is the hero at the end. Grrrrrr. And of course the middle of the movie is him shacking up with some chick and doing not much of anything, but the strange and tenative romance between them is...

You know what? Fuck it, I hate this movie and I only put it on the list because it's widely regarded as good. But it's not good. It sucks.

And don't even bring up the boring Spy Games, also known as The Spy Who Came In From The Cold And Then Just Hung Around the Fucking Office For Two Hours of Time That I'll Never Fucking Get Back.

A friend of mine reviewed the movie thus: "The hero tricks the CIA into helping Brad Pitt by exhibiting his mastery of the inter-office mail system. It's especially gripping as he bluffs his way into accessing the high-speed copier. And his skillful manipulation of requisition forms and other sorts of paperwork is the absolute epitome of high adventure."

So, those two are out. If you're forced to watch a Robert Redford spy movie, watch Sneakers, much cooler and much more fun that Three Days of the Condor. So cross this one out.

The Real 14: Sneakers. High tech burglaries all over the place.

Then again, at the end super-liberal Redford steals millions from the Repubican National Committee and gives the money to a bunch of liberal causes. So fuck this movie too, and fuck Robert Redford as a general matter.

Here's the new #14, in protest of this disgrace:

The New Real 14: Gotcha! -- I barely remember this, but I think it involved Berlin, Anthony Edwards, Linda Florentino, and a tranq gun. Florentino says "I like de virgins with de tight butts" in a Russian accent, and that's good enough to outpace Redford.

13. On Her Majesty's Secret Service -- Also called "The Bond movie that no one ever saw," or as I knew it as kid, "The Fake James Bond Movie."

Okay, the plot is ludicrously lurid, featuring 12 super-hot sexpots each carrying a virus that will make one major crop or species of livestock extinct within weeks. But it does feature Diana Rigg as James Bond's (short-lived) wife, and an interesting character in Rigg's father, a mafioso who befriends Bond.

Some good action and scenery. More of a romance than a spy movie, I guess, but that's what makes this one atypical.

Includes one of the best Bond lines, ever. Skiing (naturally) away from the villain's goons, one goon falls into a channel being carved by an ice-cutter, and his blood and entrails are sprayed crimson into the night air.

"He had lots of guts," Bond says. Heh and/or Indeed.

12. The Killer Elite -- Sort of slow at times, but just very cool. James Caan plays some sort of bodyguard for the State Department, protecting visiting foreign VIP's. He's betrayed by Robert Duvall (hey, right there you've got a movie) and is shot through the knees and left a virtual cripple. But he regains some movement through painful rehabilitation and learns a fighting style that incorporates the walking cane. Martial arts, an armored car, and long-distance rifle-sniping... all good stuff.

11. Top Secret -- One of those movies that seems kind of crappy the first time you see it but gets better and better on repeated watchings. I love the way the movie can't decide if it's set in the 50's or 80's, or whether the enemy is the Nazis or Soviets, and just sorts of blurs over such trifling details. And the idea of a Elvis-ish rock star being a super secret agent... great stuff.

And then there's Hillary, she whose bosoms defy gravity.

10. Marathon Man -- Included here mostly on the strength of the book, which kicked all sorts of ass, and was one of the nastiest, most cynical books I ever read as a kid. The movie is a pale imitation of the book, but it's still good enough to make the list.

9. Goldfinger -- One of the most beloved of the James Bond films and mainly on the list because people would freak if it wasn't. There are great, great scenes in the movie, but he does almost no real spying at all. Most of the time he just tweaks and annoys Goldfinger into attempting to kill him (the old "Let's provoke a reaction so he makes a mistake" school of intelligence work), and half the movie he's a prisoner on a horse-farm, doing not much of anything, really, except trying to nail Honor Blackman.

Still, the golf game, the tricked-out Aston Martin, the fun teaser at the opening (the first real James Bond style teaser, featuring a mini-mission with action stunts at the start), Odd Job and his flyin' bowler of death, and of course that amazing Fort Knox set are enough to get this one on the list.

The first Bond movie that really established the Bond formula... and some would say, I guess, that was a bad thing, considering most of the dreck that's followed.

8. Enigma -- Dave From Garfield Ridge reminded of this underrated movie, one of my favorite recent spy pictures. Set at the Brits' famous decoding station Bletchley Park during WWII, Tom Jericho, a genius codebreaker who's suffered a nervous breakdown due to a romance gone badly, is called back into duty because the Nazis have figured out their Enigma code is being broken and have changed it so that it can't be broken any more.

There's a mole in Bletchley Park, it seems, someone who's tipped off the Nazis. And Tom Jericho's lost love goes missing, presumably either the mole herself and fled for Berlin or else killed because She Knew Too Much.

Great Bond-ish score by Bond go-to composer John Barry, Kate Winslet all sorts of hot and cute as usual (the British Drew Barrymore, I think), a good script by Tom Stoppard dripping with fun Britishims ("I hear you'd gone off your trolley"), Dougray Scott really looking like a beaten and half-crazed man, and Jeremy Northam as a malevolent but charming counterintelligence agent. A very good movie indeed.

If the movie has a flaw -- and it does -- it's that it it's a little too smart and stately, letting its "prestige project" feel get in the way of the necessary "Yowie!" factor. Also, a little too much going on to do any particular subplot much justice. Part drama, part romance, part remembrance of a failed romance, part save the fleet, part find the mole... for a movie this busy, it sure seems a little slow at times.

Still, one of the best recent spy pictures.

And, oddly enough, produced by Lorne Michaels of Saturday Night Live and... Mick Jagger, who has a brief cameo as a musician in a USO band.

7. No Way Out -- Okay, it doesn't seem like a spy movie, but it's all about government and investigations and murder and blackmail and hidden agendas and all that good stuff, and, of course, any one who's seen the movie knows there's a bit more to it than that, too.

A high-tension thriller. Some of the tension is actually cringe-inducing, as Kevin Costner is forced to hunt down a mystery man suspected of killing the Secretary of Defense's mistress... and of course that mystery man is himself.

6. For Your Eyes Only -- My all-time favorite Bond picture, and the one that almost is kinda-sorta a real spy movie. Yes, it's got the typical amount of Bondish romping, but the basic of the plot is somewhat realistic (recover a sub communication and coordination device before the Russians do) and Bond actually has to do some actual investigation in this one -- it's not immediately obvious who the villain is; in fact, who he thinks is the villain turns out to be one of his greatest allies and his initial contact in Greece turns out to be the KGB mole.

The assualt on the cliff-top monastery doesn't feaure any explosions but it's the very best Bond assault-the-stronghold sequence in the whole history of the series. Amazing tension on that rock-climb.

And the chick with the crossbow... she's all kinds of hot.

5. The Assignment -- Aidan Quinn is reluctantly recruited into the CIA by Donald Sutherland because he bears a striking resemblance to Carlos the Jackal. So much so that he's abucted (and beaten) by the Israelis in the beginning of the film, and spends the first half of the movie discussing the huge lawsuit he's going to bring against the Mossad. And the Knesset. And "Golda Fucking Meir." Funny stuff.

And then it gets cool. Great training sequence. Great line from Ben Kingsley about having to screw a woman (in the course of duty, of course), despite the fact that Aidan Quinn is married: "Just close your eyes and think of England." Especially funny because neither Kingsley or Quinn play Englishmen.

The foot-chase/car-chase through the Middle Eastern city is nerve-wracking, and even better, it features a realistic downer-- Quinn winds up killing a "good guy," a French intelligence agent, because it's necessary to maintain his cover as Carlos.

The lame ending detracts from the movie, but still very good.

4. True Lies -- A Bond clone which isn't really a Bond clone at all. Contains several of the best action sequences of all time -- the amazingly visceral fight in the men's bathroom (I winced every time he slammed the goon's head against the urinal) and of course the Harrier blazing cannon fire through all the goons at the end. And the chase through DC -- villain on motorcycle, hero on horseback -- is terrific.

Rather than cracking sardonic Bond-esque one-liners, they go the opposite direction and make Harry Tasker... polite. Both funny and unexpected to hear him apologizing constantly as he tears up Washington DC.

Oh, and any movie that can make Tom Arnold likeable, funny, and credible as a spy is one seriously well-directed film.

3. The Fourth Protocol -- Roger Ebert dubbed this "Pierce Brosnan's revenge," because he wound up starring in this film when contractual obligations prevented him from taking over the Bond franchise in the late eighties (the job went to Timothy Dalton). Brosnan plays a nasty KGB agent smuggling components of a nuclear bomb into England; the plan is to detonate the bomb on a US air base, claim the Americans had an accidental detonation, and thus prompt the withdrawal of all US forces from Europe.

Michael Caine is the hero, a competent but aging MI-5 agent passed over for promotion and being not-so-subtly shown the door. He's assigned to the very dead-end section of Ports and Airports, but wouldn't you know it, a palladium disk lost by Brosnan's contact turns up, and it seems that disk is used in making atomic bombs.

One of the best spy films I've ever seen. Does a great job of balancing the plausible, realistic tradecraft of espionage with the action we want, whether it's realistic or not.

2. The Bourne Identity -- Whoops, left this crackerjack thriller off the list originally; not sure how I managed to do that.

Without doubt, some of the best hand-to-hand fighting ever filmed. The director actually, get this, eschews disorienting quick-cuts and actually allows you to follow the action. Rather than trying to make the action seem quick and nasty by the cheap trick of editing it to the point of incomprehensibility, he actually stages fights which are quick and nasty and just lets you watch them.

Sometimes Bourne moves so quickly I wonder if the film hasn't been sped up 10 or 15%, but it's a subtle effect that keeps you guessing.

Add to that one of the best car chases ever filmed and a realistic and gripping firefight across a marsh-- terrific all the way through.

Except for the last stunt during the final confrontation, which is a bit silly, and was added later to give the sequence more punch. It didn't add punch; it just made me scratch my head and mouth out "WTF?"

1. The Hunt For Red October -- The best spy movie ever made. I had decided to disqualify this as a non-spy movie, as it's really a sub movie, but Megan convinced me otherwise. Yes, it's all set on ships, but the hero is a CIA analyst, Sean Connery is a defector seeking to deliver a key piece of technology to the other side (requiring deceiving his crew and killing his KGB handler), and the movie is thick with Soviet-era Russians, so yes, Virginia, it is a spy movie, albeit an unconventional one.

The performances are all outstanding, particularly Connery as the Soviet (Lithuanian) captain, and of course Sam Neill who wants to live in Montana and raise rabbits. The final firefight amidst the nuclear missile tubes is superb.

So that's the list. I'm sure I've missed a couple, either through oversight or just because I haven't seen 'em, but that's all the intelligence on this subject I currently have.

posted by Ace at 03:38 PM

Comments

I dug Ronin, even though it is about 20 minutes too long. Nice car chase scenes, good acting, decent script. Plus the lovely Natasha McElhone and her lilting Irish accent.

Posted by: Jeremy on August 2, 2005 03:46 PM

Yeah, I thought about that one too, but it left me cold.

Except for Natasha McElhone.

Posted by: ace on August 2, 2005 03:47 PM

The most audience reaction I ever saw in a movie theatre was during the 'dental torture' (I know thats redundant) scene in Marathon Man! Outstanding!

Posted by: BrewFan on August 2, 2005 03:56 PM

"and of course the Harrier blazing cannon fire through all the goons at the end. "

I love the scene where the Harriers strafe the trucks on the bridge...

But I thought Thunderball was the best Bond flick, if only because of the mass scuba/speargun fight at the end. That was SO COOL.

Posted by: John on August 2, 2005 03:56 PM

Notorious is Hitchcock's best spy movie and is clearly within the genre.

Plus, given the current conversation, how about James Stewart as The Man Who Knew Too Much? I'm not sure it should be on the list, but Notorious should be. Then there's The Lady Vanishes, which is dated.

Otherwise, I agree For Your Eyes Only is top-drawer Bond for all the reasons you listed. Far and away the best Moore effort.

Posted by: Nicholas Kronos on August 2, 2005 03:57 PM

Where Eagles Dare: Richard Burton and a young Clint Eastwood. More military adventure but definitely a good behind-the-lines spy flick.

Posted by: Dittybopper on August 2, 2005 03:58 PM

Never heard of 'the Assignment.' I'll have to give it a look.

Going off the board a little bit, the best spy anything for me is 'The Sandbaggers,' a 70's british TV show with very little action. This is the most overlooked show in the history of television in my book. So damn good.

Centered on the operations unit of MI-6(?), most episodes concerned in house politcal maneuvers authorizing their use, with a little action thrown in toward the end. Mostly just two guys talking in a room, but it resulted in the smartest, bone dry tense entertainment I've seen (up there with Mamet.)

Not just playing up something kinda obscure for hipness points here, it's really that good. All the episodes are available on DVD now too. If you like spy stuff, must be seen.

Posted by: Ray Midge on August 2, 2005 03:59 PM

What about *From Russia With Love?* It's probably the Bond movie that's both closest to its novel source and to actual tradecraft.

Posted by: David C on August 2, 2005 03:59 PM

Yes, "The Sandbaggers" is 18 different kinds of awesome. To misquote Archie and Edith Bunker, "Mister, we could use a man like Neil Burnside again...."

Posted by: David C on August 2, 2005 04:00 PM

People say eiger sanction because of the series of books associated with it - less because of the actual movie.

The author presented a few really fantastic things in his novels starring the same character, and many of them were attemtped in real life (usually with the same results they had in the book - mass death in on the mountains in one case, and mysterious disappearance of art another..)

In his last book in the series, he even allowed himself a little treat - by NOT telling the reader about the extreme sex act that his main character could perform that was so pleasurable and at the same time extremely risky - because his readers had used his "methods" irresponsibly in the past ;)

I believe the authors name is trevelian.. not sure.

Posted by: bender on August 2, 2005 04:01 PM

ah flashback.
walking into Sonar shack; "digger, send one ping and one ping only"

Posted by: GregS on August 2, 2005 04:01 PM

I never really liked From Russia With Love. In fact, I think it's so bad that I kinda doubt other people like it, either.

I don't find the tradecraft very believable. They've got a periscope that looks into the KGB station but no sound? Can't run a mic up the periscope tube? What?

Yes, the love interest is a hottie, and I love Robert Shaw, but really, it's just a long chase movie for the last half hour and most of the chasing isn't terribly inspired.

It doesn't help that the whole long chase at the end is anticlimactic, given that the only interesting heavy (Shaw) has already been killed.

Posted by: ace on August 2, 2005 04:02 PM

Trevanian

sorry.. read these all a long time ago...

Posted by: bender on August 2, 2005 04:03 PM

Good list, although I'll still disagree with you about True Lies.

I'll also ignore the blaspheme about North by Northwest. Sheesh. . .

If you're gonna go before 1970, I strongly suggest The Third Man. It's another Le Carre novel, but it's a good movie.

BIG thumbs up on The Fourth Protocol-- I'm surprised anyone even remembers the film, definitely an underrated flick.

You kinda touched on one of my big complaints about the Bond series-- the lack of any real spying. Of course, anyone with half a bit of knowledge about real tradecraft knows Bond is to spying as Star Wars is to spaceflight. I still love Bond, but it'd be nice to actually have him have to work at the spying thing every once in a while, instead of merely always having the handy "contact" who gets him up to speed and/or sleeps with him.

Oh, and I'll give a shout-out to the latest Bourne movies-- they've both been well done, highly polished pieces.

Cheers,
Dave at Garfield Ridge

P.S. Speaking of spies, here's a great WaPo article from several years ago looking at how Hollywood does spy satellites. . . wrong.

Posted by: Dave at Garfield Ridge on August 2, 2005 04:04 PM

In no particular order:

Gene Hackman in The Conversation. Absolutely superb.

No Way Out with Kevin Costner. Pretty much the only movie he's ever done besides Open Range and Bull Durham that I didn't hate.

The Amateur with John Savage. Pretty nifty late '70's Cold War pic. Christopher Plummer plays a pretty good Commie bad guy in that one. Much better than Three Days of the Condor, IMO. (Plus I'm a crypto geek and so's the guy that Savage plays, so it gets bonus points there.)

North by Northwest, my favorite Hitchcock film.

And I cannot believe no one brought up the (original) Manchurian Candidate yet. Shame!

I'll probably think of some more....

Posted by: Monty on August 2, 2005 04:07 PM

Okay, the Manchurian Candidate was one I had on the list but for some reason discarded.

I realize it's regarded as a great picture, and it's got some neat bits in it, but honestly, I don't see what all the fuss is about, other than the fact that that period of time was pretty awful for movies, so Psycho and Manchurian Candidate are always overrated as being the best of a bad lot.

Posted by: ace on August 2, 2005 04:09 PM

I've always meant to watch Nortorious. I'll put it on my Netflix queue.

Posted by: ace on August 2, 2005 04:10 PM

Ace, gotta disagree about From Russia With Love. It's my #1 Bond movie (though For Your Eyes Only is a close #2). I think it's way underrated--and the chase sequences are really good. Plus the briefcase is a pretty cool gadget...gold sovereigns, knives, tear gas, AR-7 rifle...

Do you consider the Bourne Identity movies spy movies, or just action movies?

Posted by: See-Dubya on August 2, 2005 04:11 PM

Gene Hackman in The Conversation. Absolutely superb.

Haven't seen but have heard many people say this. Will take a peek.

And I cannot believe no one brought up the (original) Manchurian Candidate yet. Shame!

D'oh! (And I even own it.)

Posted by: Nicholas Kronos on August 2, 2005 04:11 PM

Bless you, good sir, for giving Firefox a mention. As hokey as it was at some points, I always loved that movie. The spycraft was good, the plot was clever, and...c'mon, the aircraft just looked badass.

It's not so terribly implausible that the West would be trying to steal aero space* tech from the Soviets; remember, until we actually got our hands on a MiG-25, all we knew is that it topped out over Mach 3 and scared our bomber pilots shitless. That it wasn't nearly as fabulous as we thought wasn't determined until much later.

Even today, the top-end MiGs and Sukhois will give anything in our current arsenal a run for the money, and they're made to operate from rough fields and be fixed by farmhands with duct tape and baling wire.

Props also for True Lies, probably my favorite Governator film of all time and highly underrated. I love the humor injected at odd places; the terrorist's vidcam running out of power in the middle of his taped threat speech, the subplot with that guy who played Hudson (game over, man!) as a fake spy, etc.

And of course, Jamie Lee Curtis' dance scene.

* I know it's one word, but the board filter doesn't like it for some reason.

Posted by: apotheosis on August 2, 2005 04:13 PM

Hands down," Our man Flint", with James Clobern. lol what a riot.

Posted by: River Rat on August 2, 2005 04:16 PM

Ugghhh... horrible film. And the Matt Helm movies sucked, too.

Except for Shannon Tate. I don't know which one she was in (the wrecking crew, maybe?) but what an unbelievable honey.

Posted by: ace on August 2, 2005 04:18 PM

How about Spy Kids? Or Spy Kids 3D?

heh

Posted by: brak on August 2, 2005 04:18 PM

Guess if I included Top Secret I should have Included Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me, which was great.

Posted by: ace on August 2, 2005 04:18 PM

How about "The Man Who Knew Too Little" w/ Bill Murray. I actually enjoyed that one.

For current stuff, watch the BBC show MI-5. It is a great show.

Posted by: Matt on August 2, 2005 04:19 PM

BTW I'm with Ace on most old movies. The thing really repels me is the string-heavy soundtrack. Some big revelation comes up or some dramatic or romantic conversation, and there's Mantovani and his Orchestra sawing away.

I like them now and then, just like I like to play Galaga now and then. But given a choice, I'll take post-1995 video games most any day.

Posted by: See-Dubya on August 2, 2005 04:19 PM

I guess Oliver Stone's JFK was tolerable, even if it was mostly paranoid fiction and it had Kevin Costner in it. Joe Pesci as a bald homosexual Cuban ex-pilot is not to be missed. (Has anyone ever noticed that all the bad guys in that movie are gay? Tommy Lee Jones, Kevin Bacon, Joe Pesci -- the homosexual nexus of evil!) I count this as a spy flick because of all the paranoid rigamarole typified by Mr. X (Donald Sutherland).

And speaking of Donald Sutherland: Eye of the Needle was a great WWII spy flick.

If anyone wants a retro-laugh kind of spy flick, checkout the 50's commie-baiting I Led Three Lives. It's (unintentionally) hilarious. Word has it that J Edgar himself had final say over the scripts. Good clean fun, for propaganda.

Posted by: Monty on August 2, 2005 04:19 PM

Also, The Osterman Weekend by the almighty Peckinpah. Not remotely the POS its detractors would have you believe it is.

Posted by: Monty on August 2, 2005 04:24 PM

I recently saw the last half of that (I'd seen it middle school before and hated it).

It's okay, better than I remembered, but really, it surely doesn't belong on any list of the top spy movies.

Bow-and-arrow combat bumps the film up, but not by enough.

Posted by: ace on August 2, 2005 04:26 PM

I'll give The Manchurian Candidate high marks, mostly for the extreme paranoia factor. Seconds, also directed by Frankenheimer and reeking of the Sixties, was even weirder. Not a thriller, but paranoid and creepy as hell.

Costa-Gavras did a couple of political thrillers that ought to at least be considered. Z was fast-paced, intense, and extremely realistic. I also liked Betrayed quite a lot.

Oh, and The Conversation is just one of the best films ever, thriller or otherwise. Hackman was absolutely fantastic.

Posted by: utron on August 2, 2005 04:28 PM

I'm glad "Red October" made the list, I was going to recommend "Any Clancy-novel based movie", except I'm not sure how many of them qualify as actual spy movies. Red October is definatly one of the greats though.

And I don't know if "The Recruit" counts, but it's about the CIA and I thought it was pretty decent.

If we could go back farther, I could probably come up with some more (""The Stranger" starring Orson Welles, 1946, is awesome) but I can't come up with anything else sixties or forward.

Posted by: francis on August 2, 2005 04:28 PM

I've been doing a full Bond beginning-to-end marathon at my house (am going to do a review of all the official Bond films and the 2 unofficial ones on my site soon), so I just watched From Russia With Love.

It's a classic.

Like all the early Bond stuff, it seems dated and a little silly in places, compared to what we're used to today. You have to pretend you're actually in 1963 to really appreciate it. For the times, it was like a Bruckheimer film.

The speedboat chase/explosion sequence was, for 1963, a damned impressive special effect. Connery did almost all his own stunt work, too.

And no microphone in the periscope? Think of how easy it would be to pick up the interference from an old microphone if they did any kind of electronic sweep of the room, looking for bugs. I was actually OK with the purely mechanical device, though it does still require some suspension of disbelief -- like all of Bond.

The gypsy girl fight? Silly, I grant you. But still fun. Shaw is great. Rosa Kleb is great. The girl is great. And it's Connery.

It's definitely in my top 5.

Posted by: The Colossus on August 2, 2005 04:28 PM

I'll add two more, off the beaten path:

The miniseries Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy is excellent, but if you didn't like The Spy Who Came In From The Cold, you won't like this one. Too. . . British.

Also, I really dug Enigma. Not really a "spy" movie par se, but c'mon, ya can't forget our cryptological friends.

Cheers,
Dave at Garfield Ridge

Posted by: Dave at Garfield Ridge on August 2, 2005 04:30 PM

Enigma! Damnit, I really like that movie.

Great score by John Barry, too, who of course scored most of the Bond movies with good soundtracks.

Posted by: ace on August 2, 2005 04:31 PM

An exceptionally bad spy movie was The Tailor of Panama. Really blew.

Posted by: See-Dub on August 2, 2005 04:32 PM

One of my favorites is a little-known Donald Sutherland film entitled Eye of the Needle

Solid acting by an all British cast.

Posted by: The Ugly American on August 2, 2005 04:32 PM

I thought "The Recruit" was pretty corny. Also that one with Gene Hackman and Will smith about the NSA trying to kill him. Both not that great.

"Patriot Games" had some good spying in it, with the satellites and tracking down the terror camp stuff.

Posted by: brak on August 2, 2005 04:35 PM

I never count the Bond films (or by extension the Matt Helm or Flint films) because they aren't really spy movies so much as proto-Superman movies. Bond is a superhero without the tights, not a spy. The movies are entertaining, but come on!

I enjoyed the Connery movies (especially Thunderball), but I've never had the enthusiasm for Bond that so many others do.

Oh, and Arabesque with Gregory Peck and (I think) Sophia Loren was pretty good.

Posted by: Monty on August 2, 2005 04:37 PM

10. Top Secret -- One of those movies that seems kind of crappy the first time you see it but gets better and better on repeated watchings. I love the way the movie can't decide if it's set in the 50's or 80's, or whether the enemy is the Nazis or Soviets, and just sorts of blurs over such trifling details. And the idea of a Elvis-ish rock star being a super secret agent... great stuff.

And then there's Hillary, she whose bosoms defy gravity.

LOL - I thought I was the only one who'd seen/liked that!

Posted by: fat kid on August 2, 2005 04:39 PM

An exceptionally bad spy movie was The Tailor of Panama. Really blew.

Absolutely horrid. One of the worst movies I've ever had the displeasure of watching all the way through.

Not only was it stupid and uninvolving, but its politics -- the dipshit Le Carre at his commie-symp worst -- were hamfisted and vile.

Posted by: ace on August 2, 2005 04:41 PM

"Your papers are not in order."

I think Peter Lorre (sp?) might have started the whole evil-gay thing. It just hightens the creepyness of any character if it seems like he might want to cornhole the hero.

Top Secret is still the best thing Val Kilmer has done. Austin Powers movies need MUCH higher joke density to work at that level of absurdity, like an early Abrams/Zucker joint. Myers keeps pausing for laughs like Jerry Lewis. Ugh.

How about "The Chairman"? Gregory Peck with a bomb in his head playing ping pong with Mao.

Isn't Sneakers the one where they keep pulling the "ha ha, you just stole the empty container of the valuable thing rather than the valuable thing itself" trick? Maybe that was Hackers, not sure.

I haven't actually seen it, but officially my favorite Bond movie is the one where Christopher Walken plays the villain. Until I read your #6, I was about to ask if there was even a single Bond movie with Soviet antagonists.

Posted by: Dave Munger on August 2, 2005 04:42 PM

How in the hell could I have forgotten Marathon Man with Sir Larry Olivier and Dustin Hoffman? Again, not exactly a spy movie but close enough, and that freakshow scene where Sir Larry drills on Dustin's molars will keep you away from your dentist for years.

Hint: stock up on oil of cloves.

Posted by: Monty on August 2, 2005 04:48 PM

Bonds with soviet villains:

From Russia With Love (sort of; the Russkies are either recruited or tricked by SPECTRE, a departure from the book); For Your Eyes Only; Octopussy (though the villain is a rogue Soviet general, and there's a good soviet general to counter him); A View to a Kill (Walken is a KGB agent); The Living Daylights (same deal as Octopussy).

Oddly enough, the Soviets haven't been villains in many Bond pictures -- "SPECTRE" was created to make the villain apolitical -- but the Soviets have been the bad guys more often in Roger Moore and later Bonds, when the Cold War was actually winding down.

Posted by: ace on August 2, 2005 04:48 PM

I should have looked over the original list more carefully. Top Secret is the most under-rated Abrahams/Zucker movie ever; I've never understood why it wasn't more popular. Personally, I think some of the jokes are better than anything in Airplane.

Not sure it really belongs on a list of spy pics, but a damn fine movie, no question about it.

Posted by: utron on August 2, 2005 04:50 PM

Brak-- read on up to the top, where I link a good piece on spy satellites in movies (especially Patriot Games). Rhymes with "pullshit."

Posted by: Dave at Garfield Ridge on August 2, 2005 04:51 PM

"I know a little German, he's right over there."

"Excuse me, driver? This isn't the Howard Johnson's. . ."

"How do we know he's NOT Mel Torme?"

"LATRINE!"

Posted by: Dave at Garfield Ridge on August 2, 2005 04:54 PM

Ace,

I am pleased that you included Three Days of the Condor, but am surprised that you didn't think to mention the movie's ending.

Briefly, Condor is a CIA analyst who is the lone survivor of a mass assassination of his NOC office mates, perpetrated by...wait for it...the CIA.

Condor is on the run, still being hunted by unknown and dangerous forces.

It's more convoluted than that, but that's the gist of it.

The most telling part of the movie is when, at the movie's end, Condor is at Times Square and is approached by the ostensibly friendly, but actually murderous CIA contact (NB: Condor and the audience were warned by the paid assassin that the CIA would try to "bring him to safety", but in reality, would kill him.)

Condor is going to the NY Times (!!!) to tell the world of his story.

The duplicitious CIA contact at first appears horrified (!!!) when he understands that Condor intends to let loose the CIA's secret nefarious deeds, but then suddenly his look of shock changes into one of smug satisfaction when he asks Condor...and this is the part that is both so salient and hilarious today

"How do you know they'll print it?"

As if.

Posted by: MeTooThen on August 2, 2005 04:55 PM

As long as you're making an exception for "Top Secret," how about an honorable mention for "The President's Analyst" (CIA vs. KGB vs. MI5 vs. etc.)? Money quote: "Take that, you hostile sons of bitches??"

Posted by: quiggs on August 2, 2005 04:57 PM

The Quiet American (the old version). Graham Greene story.

The Spy Who Came In From The Cold great misdirection

Posted by: Dave in Texas on August 2, 2005 04:57 PM

It would depend on whether there was a Republcian president at the time, I'd imagine.

Posted by: ace on August 2, 2005 04:58 PM

I have to chime in with Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.

Unlike Dave, i don't think it's much like The Spy who came in from the Cold at all, which is much slower, more like a psychological study.

Tinker Tailor is much different. There's a mole in the highest level of British Intelligence. Excellent. Give it a try, even if the other one didn't do it for you.

Posted by: Phinn on August 2, 2005 04:58 PM

Hmm, well that article gives some credit for "Patriot Games" trying to be accurate. I never thought the "live" video from the satellite scene was even attempting to be realistic. Still an entertaining movie.

And that article reminded me of the title of the crappy will smith movie..."Enemy of the State"

Posted by: brak on August 2, 2005 04:58 PM

hah... the President's Analyst. Certainly strange and interesting, but let's face it, not a good movie overall. James Coburn earns a movie points, but here, not enough.

The only movie I know that mentions my childhood home. In fact, part of it is supposedly set there, though of course it isn't.

Although I think there was also a vampire movie with Grace Jones that might have mentioned my childhood home, too.

Posted by: ace on August 2, 2005 05:00 PM

Phinn--

Oh, I wasn't hitting Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy for anything bad. *I* liked it.

It's just that you have to use a pretty clumsy shorthand when trying to convince Ace a movie is good or not.

Usually it starts with the equation "Better than/Worse than Over The Top" and you work your way from there.

Cheers,
Dave at Garfield Ridge

Posted by: Dave at Garfield Ridge on August 2, 2005 05:02 PM

Did not see the movies but would Mission Impossible be considered as spy movies? Also though not a pure spy movie, Stalag 17 had a great ending for a bad spy.

Posted by: Dman on August 2, 2005 05:06 PM

I seem to remember liking The Falcon and the Snowman even though Jeff Spicoli was in it. Not bad for an 80's spy thriller, anyway.

And for some reason I feel compelled to add The Usual Suspects to this list. If Keyser Soze is not (ultimately) a spy, then what is he?

Posted by: Monty on August 2, 2005 05:07 PM

What? Miss Congeniality isn't a spy movie?

OK, just KIDDING.

I second what Dave says about The Third Man. Definite classic. You might also want to check out Gorky Park (although the book is better).

North by Northwest is actually my favorite Hitchcock movie.

If you think about it, Shakespeare's Hamlet and Richard III have a lot of spying in them.

Posted by: Ron on August 2, 2005 05:08 PM

I read Gorky Park and saw the movie. The book is much better.

Posted by: ace on August 2, 2005 05:20 PM

Gotcha! did, indeed, kick ass. I was a little kid when I watched it (a lot of times) and I used to think (and still do) that it would be really cool to have a club like theirs where you have to hunt people down and shoot them using paintball guns as you try to go about your daily lives.

I have to disagree on Bourne Identity, though. I know I'm one of the few, but I thought it was one of the shittiest movies ever made. The dialog sucked, the plot was nearly non-existent, and it's sole source of coolness was meant to be the ridiculous, almost super-human, abilities of Bourne. Like... he hears a dog bark, walks outside, turns around, and--almost without looking--snipes some dude on a hill. Gimme a freakin' break.

Posted by: Dave S on August 2, 2005 05:25 PM

ace:

The sequel to Gorky Park is called Polar Star and is also excellent.

Posted by: Monty on August 2, 2005 05:26 PM

I liked the "Fourth Protocol" too (based on a Frederick Forsyth novel). I think you also could've included Forsyth's "Day of the Jackal," not really a spy movie, but as an assassin movie it comes right up to the edge.

If you haven't seen "Spy Who Came In from the Cold," you should. Not the best movie ever made, leans too heavily on the book, but lots of tradecraft in it.

Finally, some posters mention the miniseries "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy." I hope that someday an effort's made to remake it as a movie, and finish the "Hunt for Karla" trilogy with the other two books: "Honourable Schoolboy" and "Smiley's People."

Posted by: Karl Maher on August 2, 2005 05:27 PM

Thomas Harris' Fatherland and Enigma have the same sort of feel and style of Martin Cruz Smith's books. Also good.

Posted by: ace on August 2, 2005 05:28 PM

Yeah, I liked Spy Who Came In From the Cold, but in the context of a movie, I don't know. I know the big reveal, so what's the point?

Posted by: ace on August 2, 2005 05:29 PM

If Keyser Soze is not (ultimately) a spy, then what is he?

An archcriminal like Lex Luthor or Ra's Al Ghul?

Posted by: ace on August 2, 2005 05:30 PM

The lack of Soviet villains in the Bond series "was no accident, comrade." In fact, the producers did that on purpose, intending not to alienate the large portion of the European movie-going audience that was leftist, if not actually Communist.

Posted by: David C on August 2, 2005 05:31 PM

I know, which is part of the reason I'm down on the supposedly great Connery Bonds. SPECTRE is a fine villainous organization, but come on, it's annoying how the Soviets and West are portrayed as two equally just societies being manipulated into conflict by SPECTRE.

They introduced that party line in Dr. No and really never looked back.

Again, strangely enough, Roger Moore fought more actual Soviet bad guys, but they often weren't so bad (the KGB general in FYEO isn't really bad; he's just doing a job, same as Bond) or were always balanced by the "Good Soviet General."

Posted by: ace on August 2, 2005 05:33 PM

One problem I have with From Russia With Love is that it really makes no sense that Rosa Klebb has defected to SPECTRE (can't have a real KGB villain, after all) and it's really SPECTRE putting this plan into action... to embarrass both the West and the Soviets? Why embarrass both? I don't see what good that does SPECTRE.

I'm also not sure how Rosa Klebb, now an enemy of the Soviet Union, isn't widely known as a notorious traitor, and why the female lead wouldn't know that.

Posted by: ace on August 2, 2005 05:36 PM

Monty's on fire!!
Eye of the Needle, The Conversation, and the original Manchurian Candidate were the 3 that I was looking to add.
As for The Ugly American "an all British cast" in Eye of the Needle, isn't Sutherland a Canuck?

Posted by: Uncle Jefe on August 2, 2005 05:45 PM

You all forgot the Falcon and the Snowman with Sean Penn which was great and happens to be a true story.

Posted by: gothpunkr on August 2, 2005 06:06 PM

Manchurian Candidate (Sinatra's original) and Spies Like Us. Oh, sure there's not much reality to Spies, but it's a hella lotta fun.

Posted by: Chuck on August 2, 2005 06:06 PM

I read Gorky Park and saw the movie. The book is much better.

No comparison. The book should be a classic.

The movie is killed by William Hurt and his uniform. Not that Hurt does a bad job, he just isn't right for it, and he's supposed to be a broken down cop, not a freakin' soldier.

Posted by: Nicholas Kronos on August 2, 2005 06:17 PM

oh, dude, how could you miss Spies Like Us? thanks, Chuck!

Posted by: See-Dubya on August 2, 2005 06:27 PM

Tall Blond Man with One Black Shoe

Posted by: geoff on August 2, 2005 06:40 PM

As for The Ugly American "an all British cast" in Eye of the Needle, isn't Sutherland a Canuck?

That's a given ; )

Posted by: The Ugly American on August 2, 2005 06:42 PM

I believe the authors name is trevelian.. not sure.

It's Trevanian and the book is "Shibumi". Never could figure out what the dangerous sex practice was. Suffocation?

He did describe something called "the delight of the razor" or something like that where the lovers would run a razor blade over each other. One gasp or movement meant getting cut. Yep, count me out of that one...

Posted by: Lipstick on August 2, 2005 06:48 PM

"Sorry I'm late. I had to attend the reading of a will. I stayed until the very end, upon which I found out that I received. . . nothing.

Broke my arm."

Posted by: Dave at Garfield Ridge on August 2, 2005 07:23 PM

How in the world could you include all that Bond dreck and leave out the two best Bonds of all: From Russia With Love and Goldeneye? Each has an OK plot, a good villain (in place of the ridiculous "Jaws"), and - most important - the best fights in any Bond films: Sean Connery v. Robert Shaw on the Orient Express in Russia, and Pierce Brosnan v. Sean Bean in the machine room in Goldeneye. For someone with such good sense, how could you rank any
Roger Moore movie over those two gems?

Fun thread - and thanks for the tip on Enigma, which I haven't seen.

Posted by: Brown Line on August 2, 2005 07:34 PM

Top Secret! is #1 in my book.

Nick Rivers: Listen to me Hillary. I'm not the first guy who fell in love with a woman that he met at a restaurant who turned out to be the daughter of a kidnapped scientist only to lose her to her childhood lover who she last saw on a deserted island who then turned out fifteen years later to be the leader of the French underground.
Hillary Flammond: I know. It all sounds like some bad movie.
[Long pause. Both look at camera]

Classic.

The original Day of the Jackyl is close behind.

And I enjoyed Confessions of a Dangerous Mind.

Posted by: Rob@L&R on August 2, 2005 07:43 PM

Excitable Andy has been officially replaced as Ace's muse. I hereby claim the position for myself, with Andy filling in only while I'm on mission.

(Anyone who makes "position" or "filling in" jokes will be summarily shot.)

Posted by: Megan on August 2, 2005 07:47 PM

I must register another recommendation for the Conversation with Gene Hackman. What's cooler is that he played what seems to be the same exact character in Enemy of the State with Will Smith (though that is a far lesser movie than The Conversation is)

Posted by: ArrMatey on August 2, 2005 07:47 PM

I've always wanted to see that... just somehow I never have.

Is it technically a spy movie? Isn't it more of a cop thing?

Posted by: ace on August 2, 2005 08:14 PM

.
Top Secret: The scene with the Pinto...classic! You KNEW what was going to happen, and it was still cr*p your pants funny.

Parallax View: Faye Dunaway (?) has one of the best lines in any movie, ever: "Breasts are like martini's: one's not enough, and three's too many." Killer.

Posted by: speedster1 on August 2, 2005 08:23 PM

If you want actual spy-type movies that aren't cops, then "The Ipcress File" and "The Falcon and the Snowman" are both really good. "The Double Man" was pretty decent too, but I don't know if anyone but me has seen that Yul Brynner flick.

For cop-spy-type action, what about "The French Connection?"

And "Top Secret" is a favorite around here, and was really cheap on DVD.

Later,
bbeck

Posted by: bbeck on August 2, 2005 08:24 PM

The Bourne movies were good,,,,but:

I don't know if anyone commenting on the Bourne movies has actually read the books.
Yes the movies were enjoyable, but other than a nod toward location and character names, NOTHING else was carried over from the books. Which btw were pretty good, if not a little overwrought.

-k

Posted by: admin.newsorama on August 2, 2005 10:08 PM

Whenever I think of spy movies I immediately think of my favorite "Fourth Protocol". Every Tuesday I foolishly spend time looking through Amazon's list of upcoming new DVD releases for it to be released and am still disappointed it's not as yet out on DVD.

I also enjoyed "Eye of the Needle", "Tinker, Tailor , Soldier, Spy" and even "True Lies" and all three would be high on my list. However, the one series I haven't seen mention though is also one of my favorites. It starred Sam Neill and is based on a real spy called Sigmund Rosenblum who changes his monicker to Sidney Reilly. The series is called "Reilly: Ace of Spies" and is over 10 hours long. More than likely it won't be seen by many here, but if you have the opportunity, I recommend it highly.

Posted by: Bob Gailey on August 2, 2005 10:18 PM

One of my favorite movies:

Point of No Return with Bridget Fonda. Kinda a spy movie....she works for some secret government organization. Does that count?

Posted by: on August 3, 2005 12:28 AM

gotta try cagney in 13 rue madelaine lots of spy action during ww2 prior to the normandy invasion.

Posted by: tim on August 3, 2005 01:21 AM

Point of No Return is a remake of a far superior movie La Femme Nikita. If it had not had Gabriel Byrne and Harvey Keitel in it, I would probably not have watched it. Exceedingly pleased to see that The Third Man made the comments list, as well as The Conversation. Both are wonderfull.

Posted by: pinky on August 3, 2005 01:32 AM

Oh, come on! "The Ipcress Files" and "Funeral in Berlin"?

Harry Palmer is the Man! Any geeky quiet rebellious con man that can get the chicks and the bad guys is my anti-hero.

Posted by: Kelly on August 3, 2005 09:47 AM

Ace,

I'm with you on the whole morale equivalence thing; it is a weakness of the Bond films. In the novels (written in the 50s) the Russian SMERSH is more Bond's foe than SPECTRE is.

My understanding is that the Broccoli/Saltzman team, working in the early 60s, were so freaked out by the Cuban Missile crisis that they wanted to back off the East vs. West divide and provide some escapist fare. I don't think they did it because they sympathized with the commies or were trying to argue for moral equivalence per se -- neither of them were traditional Hollywood leftist types. If they had been, I'm sure our man Jimmy Stewart would have managed to rat them out or performed a barehanded strangulation on them. :-)

On another subject -- I always liked the Hitchcock movie Notorious -- not sure if it qualifies as a spy film per se; but it involves an intrigue with South American Nazis. Pretty cool.

On the Bourne front, the movies are indeed little more than a nod at the Ludlum books. The books are OK, but Ludlum is not Ian Fleming or John LeCarre, by any means. I thought the first movie was particularly well done; mainly because I kept being amazed that they got so much out of Matt Damon. I mean, he had to be the fifth or sixth guy on the list they approached to star in it (somewhere below Russell Crowe and somewhere above Tobey Maguire and Sean Astin), and yet he almost manages to actually seem like a tough, scary guy.

Kind of. I do find myself laughing at him from time to time, and expect a villain to just put a hand on his head while Damon vainly windmills away with his fists, hitting nothing but air. But still -- the director got hte most out of what he had. It's like the Little Spy Engine That Could.

Posted by: The Colossus on August 3, 2005 09:51 AM

Little Drummer Girl with Diane Keaton.

Posted by: Dman on August 3, 2005 11:03 AM

Spartan - w/Val Kilmer, if you liked Ronin you'll like this one. Mamet did both

Target(1985) - Gene Hackman, Matt Dillon

Spy Games would have been good if they had left in the deleted scenes. Makes it an entirely different movie.

La Femme Nikita - the original is so much better than Point of No Return.

The Professional - not so much spy movie, but close.

Posted by: Brad on August 3, 2005 03:03 PM

While I've never seen La Feme Nikita, I did greatly enjoy Point of No Return .... however, did anyone else find it curious that Harvey Keitel played practically the same role he did in Pulp Fiction? ...that of a "cleaner"...

Posted by: wolfybaby on August 3, 2005 06:43 PM

Ronin.

Heat and Collateral are both cop movies, but a lot of the tradecraft carried over.

Goldeneye, I have to have a Bond in there. Bean's taunting of Brosnan ("...and drink yet another vodka martini to drown the screams of the men you've killed...") is outstanding and cuts to the fact that no matter how fun the trappings can be (the cars, the guns, the women, the uniforms when Commander Bond, RNR bothers), the facts of the life often suck.

The World Is Not Enough was outstanding too even if the physics involved were laughable in the reacto r sequence, but then my wife and I danced to the title track at our wedding for non-Bond related reasons.
Also had BOTH Sophie Martineau AND Denise Richards for wank bait.

Funny how Sean Bean never got much work or credit on this side of the Atlantic save for bit parts in Goldeneye, Ronin, and Patriot Games. At least LOTR and National Treasure got him out of career hell, he has deserved better.

Posted by: SGT Dan on August 3, 2005 06:53 PM

Sean Bean's got quite the little career going. I didn't like him until LOTR. But now he's in a lot of movies. He's in the upcoming Jodie Foster thriller-on-an-airplane movie, for example.

Any actor getting consistent work in big-budget movies is doing a-ok.

Posted by: ace on August 3, 2005 07:31 PM

I forgot "The Billion Dollar Brain", with the crazy little Ross Perot guy that keeps saying "My arm is long and my vengance is total."

Posted by: Dave Munger on August 4, 2005 07:12 PM