30 Spy/Espionage films from Hollywood and Beyond
by shanksinha | created - 06 Mar 2012 | updated - 04 Jul 2015 | PublicSpy 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.
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1. Spies (1928)
Not Rated | 90 min | Romance, Thriller
The 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.
Director: Fritz Lang | Stars: Rudolf Klein-Rogge, Gerda Maurus, Willy Fritsch, Lien Deyers
Votes: 3,942
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.
2. Secret Agent (1936)
Not Rated | 86 min | Mystery, Thriller
After 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.
Director: Alfred Hitchcock | Stars: John Gielgud, Madeleine Carroll, Robert Young, Peter Lorre
Votes: 9,036
Early Hitchcock classic
3. North by Northwest (1959)
Approved | 136 min | Action, Adventure, Mystery
A 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.
Director: Alfred Hitchcock | Stars: Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint, James Mason, Jessie Royce Landis
Votes: 345,803 | Gross: $13.28M
Features perhaps the single most recognizable image of American cinema, carry grant running from a crop duster biplane.
4. The Manchurian Candidate (1962)
PG-13 | 126 min | Drama, Thriller
An American POW in the Korean War is brainwashed as an unwitting assassin for an international Communist conspiracy.
Director: John Frankenheimer | Stars: Frank Sinatra, Laurence Harvey, Janet Leigh, Angela Lansbury
Votes: 79,736
5. From Russia with Love (1963)
PG | 115 min | Action, Adventure, Thriller
James 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.
Director: Terence Young | Stars: Sean Connery, Robert Shaw, Lotte Lenya, Daniela Bianchi
Votes: 145,241 | Gross: $24.80M
A James Bond film focused more on traditional spy craft.
6. The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (1965)
Approved | 112 min | Drama, Thriller
Instead of coming in from the Cold War, British agent Alec Leamas chooses to face another mission.
Director: Martin Ritt | Stars: Richard Burton, Oskar Werner, Claire Bloom, Sam Wanamaker
Votes: 18,794
Adaptation of novel by John le Carré. Portraying the moral uncertainty of espionage world. Grim and realistic.
7. The Ipcress File (1965)
Passed | 109 min | Drama, Thriller
In London, a wisecracking spy investigates the kidnapping and brainwashing of British scientists while dealing with the constraints of his agency's bureaucracy.
Director: Sidney J. Furie | Stars: Michael Caine, Nigel Green, Guy Doleman, Sue Lloyd
Votes: 17,570
Michael Caine is excellent as Harry Palmer a somewhat slippery British operative. Cold war classic.
8. Funeral in Berlin (1966)
Not Rated | 102 min | Thriller
Sent to East Berlin to retrieve a Communist defector, British spy Harry Palmer suspects the situation is not what his superiors believe it to be.
Director: Guy Hamilton | Stars: Michael Caine, Oscar Homolka, Paul Hubschmid, Eva Renzi
Votes: 7,770
A worthy sequel to Ipcress File, more of a comedy in large parts, but with a clever story. Follow on films are utter crap.
9. Topaz (1969)
M/PG | 143 min | Drama, Thriller
A 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.
Director: Alfred Hitchcock | Stars: Frederick Stafford, Dany Robin, John Vernon, Karin Dor
Votes: 19,527 | Gross: $8.37M
Based on a book by Leon Uris. One of better Hitchcock spy films, minus the usual Hollywood starpower.
10. A Dandy in Aspic (1968)
Approved | 107 min | Action, Drama, Thriller
The 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.
Directors: Anthony Mann, Laurence Harvey | Stars: Laurence Harvey, Tom Courtenay, Mia Farrow, Harry Andrews
Votes: 1,287
Anthony Mann's unfinished project. Depicts the story from an opposite viewpoint.
11. The Kremlin Letter (1970)
M/PG | 120 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
During 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.
Director: John Huston | Stars: Bibi Andersson, Richard Boone, Nigel Green, Dean Jagger
Votes: 2,306 | Gross: $0.24M
Underrated cold war spy thriller with elements of film noir.
12. The Serpent (1973)
PG | 113 min | Drama, Thriller
A Soviet diplomat hatches a complicated plan to enable him to defect to the West.
Director: Henri Verneuil | Stars: Yul Brynner, Henry Fonda, Dirk Bogarde, Philippe Noiret
Votes: 1,197
Intriguing European spy flick.
13. The Conversation (1974)
PG | 113 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller
A paranoid, secretive surveillance expert has a crisis of conscience when he suspects that the couple he is spying on will be murdered.
Director: Francis Ford Coppola | Stars: Gene Hackman, John Cazale, Allen Garfield, Frederic Forrest
Votes: 121,718 | Gross: $4.42M
A disturbing Psychological thriller set in the murky world of espionage.
14. Three Days of the Condor (1975)
R | 117 min | Crime, Mystery, Thriller
A 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.
Director: Sydney Pollack | Stars: Robert Redford, Faye Dunaway, Cliff Robertson, Max von Sydow
Votes: 62,456 | Gross: $41.51M
Sydney Pollacks's instant and enduring classic.
15. Telefon (1977)
PG | 102 min | Action, Crime, Drama
A 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.
Director: Don Siegel | Stars: Charles Bronson, Lee Remick, Donald Pleasence, Tyne Daly
Votes: 6,239
Charles Bronson's action oriented cold war spy thriller.
16. The Falcon and the Snowman (1985)
R | 131 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
The true story of a disillusioned military contractor employee and his drug pusher childhood friend who became walk-in spies for the Soviet Union.
Director: John Schlesinger | Stars: Timothy Hutton, Sean Penn, Pat Hingle, Joyce Van Patten
Votes: 12,660 | Gross: $17.10M
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.
17. No Way Out (1987)
R | 114 min | Action, Crime, Drama
A coverup and witchhunt occur after a politician accidentally kills his mistress.
Director: Roger Donaldson | Stars: Kevin Costner, Gene Hackman, Sean Young, Will Patton
Votes: 45,864 | Gross: $35.51M
A slick and tight film by Roger Donaldson, who made some other interesting espionage films like The Recruit (2003).
18. The Russia House (1990)
R | 123 min | Drama, Romance, Thriller
A 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.
Director: Fred Schepisi | Stars: Sean Connery, Michelle Pfeiffer, Roy Scheider, James Fox
Votes: 17,525 | Gross: $23.00M
Another John le Carré story. Filmed on location in Soviet Union, beautiful visuals and underrated style.
19. The Patriots (1994)
TV-MA | 138 min | Drama, Thriller
At 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... See full summary »
Director: Eric Rochant | Stars: Yvan Attal, Richard Masur, Allen Garfield, Yossi Banai
Votes: 1,557
Portrays from a revisionist point of view, the ambiguous ways of spy craft for a Mossad agent, where loyalties and ideologies are never constant.
20. The Tailor of Panama (2001)
R | 109 min | Drama, Thriller
A tailor living in Panama reluctantly becomes a spy for a British Agent.
Director: John Boorman | Stars: Pierce Brosnan, Geoffrey Rush, Jamie Lee Curtis, Leonor Varela
Votes: 31,084 | Gross: $13.73M
Another John le Carré story.
21. Spy Game (2001)
R | 126 min | Action, Crime, Thriller
Retiring CIA agent Nathan Muir recalls his training of Tom Bishop while working against agency politics to free him from his Chinese captors.
Director: Tony Scott | Stars: Robert Redford, Brad Pitt, Catherine McCormack, Stephen Dillane
Votes: 166,954 | Gross: $0.03M
Tony Scott's slick presentation of classic spy world. One of the definitive spy films, has a grandiose feel to it.
22. The Quiet American (2002)
R | 101 min | Drama, Romance, Thriller
An old British reporter vies with a young U.S. doctor for the affections of a beautiful Vietnamese woman.
Director: Phillip Noyce | Stars: Michael Caine, Brendan Fraser, Do Thi Hai Yen, Rade Serbedzija
Votes: 29,716 | Gross: $12.99M
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.
23. The Bourne Identity (2002)
PG-13 | 119 min | Action, Mystery, Thriller
A 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.
Director: Doug Liman | Stars: Franka Potente, Matt Damon, Chris Cooper, Clive Owen
Votes: 575,838 | Gross: $121.66M
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.
24. Double Agent (2003)
123 min | Action, Thriller
A 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.
Director: Hyeon-jeong Kim | Stars: Han Suk-kyu, Ko So-young, Chun Ho-jin, Song Jae-ho
Votes: 386
A Korean spy thriller, with a plausible plot concerning a North Korean defector. Like most Korean cinema, it is is good.
25. El Lobo (2004)
R | 125 min | Thriller
In 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.
Director: Miguel Courtois | Stars: Eduardo Noriega, Jose Coronado, Mélanie Doutey, Silvia Abascal
Votes: 3,737
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.
26. Traitor (2008)
PG-13 | 114 min | Action, Crime, Drama
When 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.
Director: Jeffrey Nachmanoff | Stars: Don Cheadle, Guy Pearce, Archie Panjabi, Saïd Taghmaoui
Votes: 59,090 | Gross: $23.53M
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.
27. Farewell (2009)
Not Rated | 113 min | Drama, Romance, Thriller
The 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.
Director: Christian Carion | Stars: Guillaume Canet, Emir Kusturica, Alexandra Maria Lara, Ingeborga Dapkunaite
Votes: 6,980
Excellent French cold war film. Set during the last days of the cold war.
28. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011)
R | 127 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller
In the bleak days of the Cold War, espionage veteran George Smiley is forced from semi-retirement to uncover a Soviet Agent within MI6.
Director: Tomas Alfredson | Stars: Gary Oldman, Colin Firth, Tom Hardy, Mark Strong
Votes: 212,358 | Gross: $24.15M
A retro cold war spy film based on John le Carré famous book. Captures the essence of the times and lives gone forever.
29. Page Eight (2011 TV Movie)
Not Rated | 99 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Johnny 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.
Director: David Hare | Stars: Bill Nighy, Rachel Weisz, Tom Hughes, Michael Gambon
Votes: 19,612
A look in to the contemporary espionage scene and its political dynamics. A world devoid of agendas, morality and heroes. Bill Nighy is brilliant.
30. Möbius (2013)
R | 103 min | Drama, Thriller
An FSB officer falls in love with his agent, an American woman, who works as a trader in a Russian bank.
Director: Eric Rochant | Stars: Jean Dujardin, Cécile de France, Tim Roth, Émilie Dequenne
Votes: 5,804
Slow burning, some time melodramatic but always interesting spy story, Jean Dujardin shines as always!
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