The spy film genre, which is mainly the subgenre of thriller and action, deals with the subject of fictional espionage, either in a realistic way or as a basis for fantasy. So with that being said I'm going to bring you my top 10 favorite spy films of all-time. So without further ado...
10. Syriana
This is an amazing movie and it really gives an insight into backdoor politics. As a career CIA operative (played by George Clooney) begins to uncover the disturbing truth about the work he has devoted his life to, an up-and-coming oil broker faces an unimaginable family tragedy and finds redemption in his partnership with an idealistic Gulf prince. A corporate lawyer (played by Jeffery Wright) faces a moral dilemma as he finesses the questionable merger of two powerful U.S. oil companies, while across the globe, a disenfranchised Pakistani teenager falls prey to the recruiting efforts of a charismatic cleric. Each plays their small part in the vast and complex system that powers the industry, unaware of the explosive impact their lives will have upon the world. Syriana was nominated for 2 Academy Awards including Best Supporting Actor and Best Original Screenplay while winning the award for Best Supporting Actor and it has a rating of 72% on rottentomatoes.com.
9. Taken
This movie is really thrilling and it really brought Liam Neeson back into the spotlight. An ex-soldier (played by Liam Neeson) traveling through Europe embarks on a frantic quest to rescue his daughter (played by Maggie Grace) after the young girl is abducted by slave traders in District B13 director Pierre Morel's contemporary thriller Taken. Taken has a rating of 58% on rottentomatoes.com.
8. The Hunt for Red October
I absolutely loved the book and this film did the book justice. Marko Ramius (played by Sean Connery) sets the plot in motion when he murders his political adviser, burns his orders, and steers his sub Red October towards American waters, hoping to defect. The CIA, aware that the Red October was about to embark on an evasive mission to demonstrate its ability to avoid detection and fire its nuclear missiles upon U.S. installations, believes that Ramius is insane, and that he plans to start World War III. To cover their own behinds, the Russians back up the CIA's suspicion. Only Jack Ryan (played by Alec Baldwin) believes that Ramius' mission is not as apocalyptic as it seems -- and it is Ryan who is assigned to infiltrate the Red October to prove his theory. The Hunt for Red October was nominated for 3 Academy Awards including Best Sound Mixing, Best Sound Editing and Best Film Editing while winning the award for Best Sound Editing and it has a rating of 96% on rottentomatoes.com.
7. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
This movie is really intense and it showed just how good of an actor Gary Oldman is. George Smiley (Gary Oldman), a disgraced British spy, is rehired in secret by his government - which fears that the British Secret Intelligence Service, a.k.a. MI-6, has been compromised by a double agent working for the Soviets. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy was nominated for 3 Academy Awards including Best Actor, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Original Score and it has a rating of 83% on rottentomatoes.com.
6. The Bourne Ultimatum
This film is the best of The Bourne franchise. Jason Bourne (played by Matt Damon) races to solve the mystery of his past while being hunted by members of the very organization he was hired into. The Bourne Ultimatum was nominated for 3 Academy Awards including Best Sound Mixing, Best Film Editing and Best Sound Editing while winning all 3 and it has a rating of 94% on rottentomatoes.com.
5. Goldfinger
This is one of my favorite Bond films and it really put the Bond film franchise on the map. Bond (played by Sean Connery) gets his Aston Martin, spars with two statuesque British beauties (played by Honor Blackman and Shirley Eaton) and pits his wits against a memorable villain, Auric Goldfinger (played by Gert Fröbe). Goldfinger has a rating of 96% on rottentomatoes.com,
4. Spies Like Us
This film is absolutely hilarious and the chemaistry between Chevy Chase and Dan Aykroyd is amazing. Two loser misfits (played by Chevy Chase and Dan Aykroyd) who dwell in the lower ranks of the Central Intelligence Agency are convinced (despite much evidence to the contrary) that they're prime secret agent material, both men keep taking service exams in an effort to win promotion. Caught cheating on their latest round of tests, Austin and Emmett expect to be fired but are instead made full field agents and ushered into intense training. Little do they know that it's all a ruse and that they're about to be dumped in Pakistan to throw Russian spies off the scent of two real agents with an important clandestine assignment. Spies Like Us has a rating of 35% on rottentomatoes.com.
3. Argo
This film is just brilliant and is one of the only films that I agree should have won Best Picture at the Academy Awards. Acting under the cover of a Hollywood producer scouting a location for a science fiction film, CIA agent Tony Mendez (played by Ben Affleck) launches a dangerous operation to rescue six Americans in Tehran during the U.S. hostage crisis in Iran in 1980. Argo was nominated for 7 Academy Awards including Best Original Score, Sound Editing, Sound Mixing, Film Editing, Picture, Adapted Screenplay and Supporting Actor, while winning 3 (Best Picture, Adapted Screenplay and Film Editing) and it has a rating of 96% on rottentomatoes.com.
2. Mission Impossible III
This film is action packed and it has one of best villainous performances of all-time. Impossible Mission Forces (IMF) agent Ethan Hunt (played by Tom Cruise) is back into the field just when he was planning on marrying his girlfriend, Julia (played by Michelle Monaghan). The agency asks Hunt to save an operative (played by Keri Russell) he trained after weapons dealer Owen Davian (played by Philip Seymour Hoffman) kidnaps her. With the help of his field team of Luther Stickell (played by Ving Rhames), Declan Gormley (played by Jonathan Rhys-Meyers), and Maggie Q Hunt achieves his goal, but becomes involved in a web of double-crosses that leave him wondering if he can trust his superiors John Musgrave and Theodore Brassel (played by Billy Crudup and Laurence Fishburne respectively). Eventually Davian threatens Julia's life in order to get away with his evil plan. Mission Impossible III has a rating of 70% on rottentomatoes.com.
1. Skyfall
This is the best Bond film to date and it proved that Bond is back for good. James Bond (played by Daniel Craig)'s loyalty to M (played by Dame Judi Dench) is tested as her past comes back to haunt her. As MI6 comes under attack, 007 must track down and destroy the threat, no matter how personal the cost. Skyfall was nominated for Best Original Score, Best Original Song, Best Sound Editing, Best Sound Mixing and Best Cinematography while winning 2 (Best Original Song and Best Sound Editing) and it has a rating of 92% on rottentomatoes.com.
So ladies and gentlemen what are some of your favorite spy films and what do you think of my list? Let me know in the comments section below and let your voice be heard.
Jonah Sparks
10. Syriana
This is an amazing movie and it really gives an insight into backdoor politics. As a career CIA operative (played by George Clooney) begins to uncover the disturbing truth about the work he has devoted his life to, an up-and-coming oil broker faces an unimaginable family tragedy and finds redemption in his partnership with an idealistic Gulf prince. A corporate lawyer (played by Jeffery Wright) faces a moral dilemma as he finesses the questionable merger of two powerful U.S. oil companies, while across the globe, a disenfranchised Pakistani teenager falls prey to the recruiting efforts of a charismatic cleric. Each plays their small part in the vast and complex system that powers the industry, unaware of the explosive impact their lives will have upon the world. Syriana was nominated for 2 Academy Awards including Best Supporting Actor and Best Original Screenplay while winning the award for Best Supporting Actor and it has a rating of 72% on rottentomatoes.com.
9. Taken
This movie is really thrilling and it really brought Liam Neeson back into the spotlight. An ex-soldier (played by Liam Neeson) traveling through Europe embarks on a frantic quest to rescue his daughter (played by Maggie Grace) after the young girl is abducted by slave traders in District B13 director Pierre Morel's contemporary thriller Taken. Taken has a rating of 58% on rottentomatoes.com.
8. The Hunt for Red October
I absolutely loved the book and this film did the book justice. Marko Ramius (played by Sean Connery) sets the plot in motion when he murders his political adviser, burns his orders, and steers his sub Red October towards American waters, hoping to defect. The CIA, aware that the Red October was about to embark on an evasive mission to demonstrate its ability to avoid detection and fire its nuclear missiles upon U.S. installations, believes that Ramius is insane, and that he plans to start World War III. To cover their own behinds, the Russians back up the CIA's suspicion. Only Jack Ryan (played by Alec Baldwin) believes that Ramius' mission is not as apocalyptic as it seems -- and it is Ryan who is assigned to infiltrate the Red October to prove his theory. The Hunt for Red October was nominated for 3 Academy Awards including Best Sound Mixing, Best Sound Editing and Best Film Editing while winning the award for Best Sound Editing and it has a rating of 96% on rottentomatoes.com.
7. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
This movie is really intense and it showed just how good of an actor Gary Oldman is. George Smiley (Gary Oldman), a disgraced British spy, is rehired in secret by his government - which fears that the British Secret Intelligence Service, a.k.a. MI-6, has been compromised by a double agent working for the Soviets. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy was nominated for 3 Academy Awards including Best Actor, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Original Score and it has a rating of 83% on rottentomatoes.com.
6. The Bourne Ultimatum
This film is the best of The Bourne franchise. Jason Bourne (played by Matt Damon) races to solve the mystery of his past while being hunted by members of the very organization he was hired into. The Bourne Ultimatum was nominated for 3 Academy Awards including Best Sound Mixing, Best Film Editing and Best Sound Editing while winning all 3 and it has a rating of 94% on rottentomatoes.com.
5. Goldfinger
This is one of my favorite Bond films and it really put the Bond film franchise on the map. Bond (played by Sean Connery) gets his Aston Martin, spars with two statuesque British beauties (played by Honor Blackman and Shirley Eaton) and pits his wits against a memorable villain, Auric Goldfinger (played by Gert Fröbe). Goldfinger has a rating of 96% on rottentomatoes.com,
4. Spies Like Us
This film is absolutely hilarious and the chemaistry between Chevy Chase and Dan Aykroyd is amazing. Two loser misfits (played by Chevy Chase and Dan Aykroyd) who dwell in the lower ranks of the Central Intelligence Agency are convinced (despite much evidence to the contrary) that they're prime secret agent material, both men keep taking service exams in an effort to win promotion. Caught cheating on their latest round of tests, Austin and Emmett expect to be fired but are instead made full field agents and ushered into intense training. Little do they know that it's all a ruse and that they're about to be dumped in Pakistan to throw Russian spies off the scent of two real agents with an important clandestine assignment. Spies Like Us has a rating of 35% on rottentomatoes.com.
3. Argo
This film is just brilliant and is one of the only films that I agree should have won Best Picture at the Academy Awards. Acting under the cover of a Hollywood producer scouting a location for a science fiction film, CIA agent Tony Mendez (played by Ben Affleck) launches a dangerous operation to rescue six Americans in Tehran during the U.S. hostage crisis in Iran in 1980. Argo was nominated for 7 Academy Awards including Best Original Score, Sound Editing, Sound Mixing, Film Editing, Picture, Adapted Screenplay and Supporting Actor, while winning 3 (Best Picture, Adapted Screenplay and Film Editing) and it has a rating of 96% on rottentomatoes.com.
2. Mission Impossible III
This film is action packed and it has one of best villainous performances of all-time. Impossible Mission Forces (IMF) agent Ethan Hunt (played by Tom Cruise) is back into the field just when he was planning on marrying his girlfriend, Julia (played by Michelle Monaghan). The agency asks Hunt to save an operative (played by Keri Russell) he trained after weapons dealer Owen Davian (played by Philip Seymour Hoffman) kidnaps her. With the help of his field team of Luther Stickell (played by Ving Rhames), Declan Gormley (played by Jonathan Rhys-Meyers), and Maggie Q Hunt achieves his goal, but becomes involved in a web of double-crosses that leave him wondering if he can trust his superiors John Musgrave and Theodore Brassel (played by Billy Crudup and Laurence Fishburne respectively). Eventually Davian threatens Julia's life in order to get away with his evil plan. Mission Impossible III has a rating of 70% on rottentomatoes.com.
1. Skyfall
This is the best Bond film to date and it proved that Bond is back for good. James Bond (played by Daniel Craig)'s loyalty to M (played by Dame Judi Dench) is tested as her past comes back to haunt her. As MI6 comes under attack, 007 must track down and destroy the threat, no matter how personal the cost. Skyfall was nominated for Best Original Score, Best Original Song, Best Sound Editing, Best Sound Mixing and Best Cinematography while winning 2 (Best Original Song and Best Sound Editing) and it has a rating of 92% on rottentomatoes.com.
So ladies and gentlemen what are some of your favorite spy films and what do you think of my list? Let me know in the comments section below and let your voice be heard.
Jonah Sparks
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