Spy movies are a perfect blend of action movies and intense thrillers. This combination creates a much deeper story than most action movies, and at the same time, with the high stakes and fast pace, it's so entertaining to watch. This is one of the reasons why these types of stories have been popular for a long time. One of the most famous spies in movie history? He likes his Martinis shaken, not stirred.
You don't really have to like the subgenre to know the character James Bond. With 25 movies (or 26, inclusive Never say never again), the British espionage franchise has achieved something no one has ever achieved before. However, because this character is so popular and reinvents himself in every movie (sometimes quite literally when it changes the actor playing him), many viewers don't try out other spy stories that are just as good.
Here are some of the best spy movies that don't involve the agent authorized to kill.
8 Kingsman: The Secret Service
Not all spy stories and movies are serious, and some are incredibly funny. Having fun with the 007 franchise and the subgenre as a whole, Kingsman: The Secret Service takes all the beloved elements (that can be a bit ridiculous sometimes when you really think about it) and explores them.
The chemistry and storyline between Colin Firth and Taron Egerton make this more than a satirical take on the genre. There was also no better actor than Samuel L. Jackson, to play an outrageous villain and nail it. The action, high stakes and immaculate suits pleased audiences so much that a second film, Kingsman: The Golden Circlewas made.
7 Argo
Some of the best spy movies combine action with political thrillers and the Academy Award winning movie Argo do that. Ben Affleck directed and played the role of the cop who has the best bad idea (as said in the film) to get the six American prisoners held hostage in Iran - they are going to pretend to make a movie to get into the country .
With a great cast, it's an intense film that doesn't shy away from the absurdity of its plan, using a bit of comedy when it's needed. Although the film is based on a true story, it has been criticized for altering some facts, such as the claim that the British and New Zealand embassies rejected the American ambassadors when they helped them get hold of the prisoners.
6 BlackKkKlansman
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Directed and written by Spike Lee, BlackKkKlansman may not fall into every category of a spy movie. However, it delves into one of the most extreme and intense situations a spy and cops have to do: go undercover. Lee won an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay because the movie is based on a memoir called Black Klansman by Ron Stallworth.
Dealing with segregation and the Ku Klux Klan is a heavy subject that Lee masterfully balances with humor. A black police officer, Ron Stallworth (John David Washington), infiltrates the KKK with the help of Flip Zimmerman (Adam Driver), a Jewish white man who eventually infiltrates the Klan.
5 Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Based on the novel by John Le Carré, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy was inspired by the author's experiences in the special investigations section. The film had to do a lot to surpass the 1979 BBC miniseries.
The movie is directed by Tomas Alfredson, who brings the same cold, edgy style he perfected in his vampire movie, Let the right one in. This film is set in the Cold War when an agent (Mark Strong) is on a mission to find out who the Soviet spy is who infiltrated MI6. The cast is filled with stars, including Gary Oldman, who now plays another spy on the Apple TV+ show Slow horses. This is a much more cerebral thriller than an action packed one.
4 Bridge of Spies
A 2015 spy movie directed by none other than Steven Spielberg, Bridge of Spies is based on a true story. There are many spy stories set in the Cold War, so it can be hard to innovate and stand out from the crowd. Nevertheless, the astute director tells an emotional and suspenseful story in this film starring Tom Hanks and Mark Rylance.
The US and the Soviets are negotiating to exchange prisoners. From the government assessing how much information and how valuable their citizens are to the actual image of the Bridge of Spies, a bridge with snipers on both sides where the exchange took place, it's an intense and well-written screenplay from the Coen Brothers.
3 Three days of the Condor
The protagonists of this kind of spy movies are usually charming and very physical guys who can take down anyone in seconds. However, when bookish CIA investigator Joseph Turner (Robert Redford) returns from lunch to find all his colleagues murdered in the office, he must quickly learn who to trust. Directed by Sydney Pollack, Three days Condor delves into the distrust and betrayal of the American people towards the government in the 1970s.
The movie stands out from the other spy movies as most of them like to idolize the government and see it through rose colored glasses and always make the other countries the bad guy. The film is an adaptation of the novel by James Grady and Richard Elms, a former CIA director, who worked as a consultant.
2 The conversation
Written and directed by Francis Ford Coppola, The conversation is a claustrophobic story about obsession and moral dilemmas. The film was released as the Watergate scandal settled down. The film is a mystery thriller that delves into ethics when a security expert is paid to record a couple's conversation.
The expert (played to perfection by Gene Hackman) begins to wonder what to do, haunted by an old case gone wrong when the tape reveals a possible murder. You could say the 1970s were Coppola's decade The conversation lost the Best Picture Academy Award The godfather part II - another one of his productions - prior to his masterpiece Apocalypse now.
1 north-northwest
It can be debated whether anyone has changed cinema, especially a single genre, as much as Alfred Hitchcock. north-northwest is his spy film featuring one of the most iconic scenes in film history: the pursuit of the crop sprayer.
The Master of Suspense creates a thrilling tale of mistaken identity and a cross-country chase. The movie was released in 1959, so it's safe to say it probably influenced the spy movies that came after it in some way - especially the ones on this list.
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