30 Spy/Espionage films from Hollywood and Beyond
Spy fiction is as old as the times. These tales of tale of deceit, deception, and tension continue to be staple of filmed entertainment. Spy films broadly fall under two categories of relative realism (such as the adaptations of John Le Carré) or as fantasy thriller (such as James Bond). There are numerous sub-genres mixing elements of film-noir, comedy, romance and murder mystery with varying degrees of success.
Starting from the silent era, spy films perhaps reached their peak during and immediately after World War II. Cold war spy thrillers relied more on building up tension as opposed to action to entertain. Post cold war films have grown to reflect social tensions and international challenges relevant today. The genre has been visited by some of the best directors of our times and and it is difficult to come up with any rankings or classification. The list should be treated as nothing more than a collection of personal favorites are not as per any ranking. Comments and suggestions are welcome.
Starting from the silent era, spy films perhaps reached their peak during and immediately after World War II. Cold war spy thrillers relied more on building up tension as opposed to action to entertain. Post cold war films have grown to reflect social tensions and international challenges relevant today. The genre has been visited by some of the best directors of our times and and it is difficult to come up with any rankings or classification. The list should be treated as nothing more than a collection of personal favorites are not as per any ranking. Comments and suggestions are welcome.
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30 titles
- DirectorFritz LangStarsRudolf Klein-RoggeGerda MaurusWilly FritschThe mastermind behind a ubiquitous spy operation learns of a dangerous romance between a Russian lady in his employ and a dashing agent from the government's secret service.Fritz lang's silent master piece was the genesis of formula that formed staple of numerous later spy films. For example a secret agent known by a number, and a beautiful foreign female agent who comes to love the hero.
- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsJohn GielgudMadeleine CarrollRobert YoungAfter three British Agents are assigned to assassinate a mysterious German spy during World War I, two of them become ambivalent when their duty to the mission conflicts with their consciences.Early Hitchcock classic
- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsCary GrantEva Marie SaintJames MasonA New York City advertising executive goes on the run after being mistaken for a government agent by a group of foreign spies, and falls for a woman whose loyalties he begins to doubt.Features perhaps the single most recognizable image of American cinema, carry grant running from a crop duster biplane.
- DirectorJohn FrankenheimerStarsFrank SinatraLaurence HarveyJanet LeighAn American POW in the Korean War is brainwashed as an unwitting assassin for an international Communist conspiracy.
- DirectorTerence YoungStarsSean ConneryRobert ShawLotte LenyaJames Bond willingly falls into an assassination plot involving a naive Russian beauty in order to retrieve a Soviet encryption device that was stolen by S.P.E.C.T.R.E.A James Bond film focused more on traditional spy craft.
- DirectorMartin RittStarsRichard BurtonOskar WernerClaire BloomInstead of coming in from the Cold War, British agent Alec Leamas chooses to face another mission.Adaptation of novel by John le Carré. Portraying the moral uncertainty of espionage world. Grim and realistic.
- DirectorSidney J. FurieStarsMichael CaineNigel GreenGuy DolemanIn London, a wisecracking spy investigates the kidnapping and brainwashing of British scientists while dealing with the constraints of his agency's bureaucracy.Michael Caine is excellent as Harry Palmer a somewhat slippery British operative. Cold war classic.
- DirectorGuy HamiltonStarsMichael CaineOscar HomolkaPaul HubschmidSent to East Berlin to retrieve a Communist defector, British spy Harry Palmer suspects the situation is not what his superiors believe it to be.A worthy sequel to Ipcress File, more of a comedy in large parts, but with a clever story. Follow on films are utter crap.
- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsFrederick StaffordDany RobinJohn VernonA French Intelligence Agent becomes embroiled in the Cold War politics first with uncovering the events leading up to the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, and then back to France to break up an international Russian spy ring.Based on a book by Leon Uris. One of better Hitchcock spy films, minus the usual Hollywood starpower.
- DirectorAnthony MannLaurence HarveyStarsLaurence HarveyTom CourtenayMia FarrowThe British and Soviet Intelligence services attempt to out-fox one another using the homesick double-agent Krasnevin a.k.a. Alexander Eberlin as a pawn in a complex spy-game which takes place in Berlin.Anthony Mann's unfinished project. Depicts the story from an opposite viewpoint.
- DirectorJohn HustonStarsBibi AnderssonRichard BooneNigel GreenDuring the Cold War a Naval Intelligence officer endowed with a powerful photographic memory is transferred to the CIA to participate in a covert operation in Moscow.Underrated cold war spy thriller with elements of film noir.
- DirectorHenri VerneuilStarsYul BrynnerHenry FondaDirk BogardeA Soviet diplomat hatches a complicated plan to enable him to defect to the West.Intriguing European spy flick.
- DirectorFrancis Ford CoppolaStarsGene HackmanJohn CazaleAllen GarfieldA paranoid, secretive surveillance expert has a crisis of conscience when he suspects that the couple he is spying on will be murdered.A disturbing Psychological thriller set in the murky world of espionage.
- DirectorSydney PollackStarsRobert RedfordFaye DunawayCliff RobertsonA bookish CIA researcher in Manhattan finds all his co-workers dead, and must outwit those responsible until he figures out who he can really trust.Sydney Pollacks's instant and enduring classic.
- DirectorDon SiegelStarsCharles BronsonLee RemickDonald PleasenceA Russian officer is sent to the U.S. to try and stop sleeper agents who will mindlessly attack government entities when they hear certain coded words.Charles Bronson's action oriented cold war spy thriller.
- DirectorJohn SchlesingerStarsTimothy HuttonSean PennPat HingleThe true story of a disillusioned military contractor employee and his drug pusher childhood friend who became walk-in spies for the Soviet Union.An unglamorous look at the banality of espionage world and the ordinary nature of people who enter it. Based on true story of Christopher John Boyce.
- DirectorRoger DonaldsonStarsKevin CostnerGene HackmanSean YoungA coverup and witchhunt occur after a politician accidentally kills his mistress.A slick and tight film by Roger Donaldson, who made some other interesting espionage films like The Recruit (2003).
- DirectorFred SchepisiStarsSean ConneryMichelle PfeifferRoy ScheiderA British publisher is sent a manuscript detailing Soviet Union nuclear missile capabilities. British Intelligence intercept it and recruit him to investigate the author's editor, a beautiful Russian woman he claims never to have met.Another John le Carré story. Filmed on location in Soviet Union, beautiful visuals and underrated style.
- DirectorEric RochantStarsYvan AttalRichard MasurAllen GarfieldAt 18, Ariel Brenner leaves Paris and his family to live in Israel. He secretly joins the Mossad, the Isreali secret service. After years of training, his first mission is in Paris to steal secrets from Remy Prieur, a French atomic scientist. We will assist to the methods, the manipulations, the abuses, the machiavellism, the doubts of secret agents.Portrays from a revisionist point of view, the ambiguous ways of spy craft for a Mossad agent, where loyalties and ideologies are never constant.
- DirectorJohn BoormanStarsPierce BrosnanGeoffrey RushJamie Lee CurtisA tailor living in Panama reluctantly becomes a spy for a British Agent.Another John le Carré story.
- DirectorTony ScottStarsRobert RedfordBrad PittCatherine McCormackRetiring CIA agent Nathan Muir recalls his training of Tom Bishop while working against agency politics to free him from his Chinese captors.Tony Scott's slick presentation of classic spy world. One of the definitive spy films, has a grandiose feel to it.
- DirectorPhillip NoyceStarsMichael CaineBrendan FraserDo Thi Hai YenAn old British reporter vies with a young U.S. doctor for the affections of a beautiful Vietnamese woman.Graham Greene's classic and moving story, set in the backdrop of the growing American involvement in Vietnam in the initial years. Michael Caine shines as always, and some really good piece of acting from Brendan Fraser.
- DirectorDoug LimanStarsFranka PotenteMatt DamonChris CooperA man is picked up by a fishing boat, bullet-riddled and suffering from amnesia, before racing to elude assassins and attempting to regain his memory.An adrenalin rush from start to finish. It is actually an action film, the sequels more so. The first one however, still has elements of the traditional skulduggery of the spy game.
- DirectorHyeon-jeong KimStarsHan Suk-kyuKo So-youngChun Ho-jinA North Korean diplomat defects to the South during the Cold War, but the South Koreans have their suspicions as to whether he is an actual defector or a double agent.A Korean spy thriller, with a plausible plot concerning a North Korean defector. Like most Korean cinema, it is is good.
- DirectorMiguel CourtoisStarsEduardo NoriegaJose CoronadoMélanie DouteyIn the 1970s, Spanish dictatorship's secret service recruited a construction worker to infiltrate the Basque separatist underground and become a mole for the fascist state.Based on real life story of Mikel Lejarza a Spanish intelligence operative who was a long term infiltrator in ETA. Story of a real life legend.
- DirectorJeffrey NachmanoffStarsDon CheadleGuy PearceArchie PanjabiWhen straight arrow FBI agent Roy Clayton heads up the investigation into a dangerous international conspiracy, all clues seem to lead back to former U.S. Special Operations officer, Samir Horn.A sensible film with sensible storyline. Spying in the times of war on terror, where enemies are less well defined. Don Cheadle given a powerhouse performance.
- DirectorChristian CarionStarsGuillaume CanetEmir KusturicaAlexandra Maria LaraThe French intelligence service alerts the U.S. about a Soviet spy operation during the height of the Cold War, which sets off an unfortunate chain of events.Excellent French cold war film. Set during the last days of the cold war.
- DirectorTomas AlfredsonStarsGary OldmanColin FirthTom HardyIn the bleak days of the Cold War, espionage veteran George Smiley is forced from semi-retirement to uncover a Soviet Agent within MI6.A retro cold war spy film based on John le Carré famous book. Captures the essence of the times and lives gone forever.
- DirectorDavid HareStarsBill NighyRachel WeiszTom HughesJohnny works for MI5. His neighbor Nancy approaches him. When his best friend and boss suddenly dies, Johnny's left to sort out things about the PM, MI5 and US.A look in to the contemporary espionage scene and its political dynamics. A world devoid of agendas, morality and heroes. Bill Nighy is brilliant.
- DirectorEric RochantStarsJean DujardinCécile de FranceTim RothAn FSB officer falls in love with his agent, an American woman, who works as a trader in a Russian bank.Slow burning, some time melodramatic but always interesting spy story, Jean Dujardin shines as always!