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espionage/spy movies

post #1 of 30
7/22/02 at 8:13pm
Thread Starter 
i saw The Bourne Identity and enjoyed it.

im looking for suggestions of movies like it (espionage/spy type stuff).

not like James Bond or True Lies or Mission Impossible, not big action movies, just something with lots of spy games/mystery

i hope im getting my point across
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post #2 of 30
7/22/02 at 8:51pm
I stumbled onto a great spy series last month at the video store, the Harry Palmer series with The Ipcress File and Funeral in Berlin. Both are on dvd and are just gems of a spy movie.

Others I have really enjoyed (off the top of my tired head)that fit into good spy movies that are not over the top:

The Assignment
Talior of Panama
No Way Out?


-- Matt
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post #3 of 30
7/22/02 at 9:34pm
The Falcon and the Snowman
Kiss of the Spider Woman
Midnight Express

Ross, while the last two are not explicity spy movies, I think they tap into the spirit of what you're searching for.
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post #4 of 30
7/23/02 at 6:29am
Midnight Express?

How does a movie about a guy caught smuggling hash relate to spy movies?

-- Matt
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post #5 of 30
7/23/02 at 6:54am
I'll second The Ipcress File and Funeral in Berlin, as well as No Way Out. Also would recommend (though not all could be classified as "espionage films"):

•The 39 Steps
•The Manchurian Candidate
•Seven Days in May
•Three Days of the Condor
•The Parallax View
•Marathon Man
•The Eiger Sanction
•The Day of the Jackal
•Sneakers
•Ronin
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post #6 of 30
7/23/02 at 7:05am
Everyone has covered the videos part. Ecks vs. Sever with Antonio Banderas/Lucy Liu is another espionage/spy film that's coming out in theaters late September that I'm looking forward to. I'm hoping they let Ray Park show some of his martial arts skill also. He hasn't done much fighting since Darth Maul in TPM and he was wasted in X-Men.
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post #7 of 30
7/23/02 at 9:18am
Quote:
How does a movie about a guy caught smuggling hash relate to spy movies?


Do you even take time to read the entirety of a one-sentence post? Or are you too busy with your pedantry?

As I said, the last 2 suggestions were not explicity spy movies. However, I felt that they are evocative of the same spirit - tension, secretiveness, and subversion.

Care to be constructive in your response and stick with providing a list of your own?
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post #8 of 30
7/23/02 at 12:56pm
How about Spy Game? I thought that one was fairly interesting and dealt with the not-so-glamorous side of life in the CIA. Interesting political thriller.

John G
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post #9 of 30
7/23/02 at 1:42pm
Thinking back upon all the great spy thrillers I've seen, I notice that there has been a definite lack of quality titles since the 70's. That sucks. These stories are so much more intersting than the standard shoot 'em up action fare of today.
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post #10 of 30
7/23/02 at 1:49pm
How about:

North by Northwest
Notorious
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post #11 of 30
7/23/02 at 3:43pm
You might try “The Spy Who Came In From the Cold”, based on the novel by John Le Carré. Richard Burton is very good as is Claire Bloom and others.
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post #12 of 30
7/23/02 at 5:08pm
Peter,
I wasn't intending to be rude. I guess it looked that way, but it was not my intention. But actually one of curiosity. I'll agree through that Midnight Express is a very tense and suspenseful film.

And I did provide a list already.

I notice that there has been a definite lack of quality titles since the 70's.


I agree 100%. That was why after I rented the Ipcress File and Funeral in Berlin. I was just on cloud nine. Its so hard to find a good spy movie anymore.

-- Matt
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post #13 of 30
7/23/02 at 5:33pm
Quote:
I wasn't intending to be rude. I guess it looked that way, but it was not my intention. But actually one of curiosity.

No harm done. I can see your point now. I can be intolerant to a fault.
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post #14 of 30
7/23/02 at 10:40pm
Thread Starter 
ok, i rented North By Northwest and The Tailor of Panama because they were the first ones I could find in the store.

i watched North by Northwest and enjoyed it.

thanks

i'll see if i can find a few more
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post #15 of 30
7/24/02 at 2:30am
So does anyone know why Ipcress File and Funeral in Berlin have been released on DVD but no Ken Russell's Billion Dollar Brain on DVD?
kd
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post #16 of 30
7/24/02 at 4:02am
Don't forget:

-Hopscotch
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post #17 of 30
7/24/02 at 4:09pm
Well I'm a little late to this party. Let me just second some excellent choices & add a few others worth mentioning.

60’s Spy films
Manchurian Candidate
The Ipcress File
Funeral in Berlin
The Thousand Eyes of Dr Mabuse

Not on DVD but 2 of the best realistic spy films.
The Spy Who Came in from the Cold
The Counterfeit Traitor

Seven Days in May is also excellent but I consider it more of a Political Thriller rather than a espionage film

70’s & 80’s
Three Days of the Condor
Marathon Man
The Falcon and the Snowman

90’s & Recent
Ronin
The Tailor of Panama
Hunt for Red October
Patriot Games
Clear and Present Danger

Hitchcock spy films (All are excellent)
North by Northwest
Notorious
Foreign Correspondent
The Lady Vanishes
39 Steps
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post #18 of 30
7/24/02 at 11:53pm
In answer to Kim Donald's question about the unavailability of BILLION DOLLAR BRAIN on DVD, it is controlled by MGM (BDB was a United Artists release), and there's a bit of Beatles music on the film soundtrack that is causing "music rights" issues.

Here are several more espionage titles, not yet mentioned (many of these aren't on DVD in Region 1 yet, though):

MAN HUNT (1941)
THE HOUSE ON 92ND STREET (1945)
13 RUE MADELEINE (1946)
CLOAK & DAGGER (1946)
O.S.S. (1946)
I WAS A COMMUNIST FOR THE FBI (1951)
DECISION BEFORE DAWN (1952)
FIVE FINGERS (1952)
SHOOT FIRST (1952)
THE FBI STORY (1959)
OUR MAN IN HAVANA (1960)
MASQUERADE (1965)
ARABESQUE (1966)
THE DEFECTOR (1966)
THE LIQUIDATOR (1966)
THE QUILLER MEMORANDUM (1966)
TORN CURTAIN (1966)
WHERE THE SPIES ARE (1966)
THE DOUBLE MAN (1967)
FRAULEIN DOKTOR (1968)
THE DEADLY AFFAIR (1967)
THE NAKED RUNNER (1967)
A DANDY IN ASPIC (1968)
THE CHAIRMAN (1969)
TOPAZ (1969)
WHERE EAGLES DARE (1969)
THE KREMLIN LETTER (1970)
INNOCENT BYSTANDERS (1973)
SCORPIO (1973)
THE BLACK WINDMILL (1974)
THE CONVERSATION (1974)
THE KILLER ELITE (1975)
TELEFON (1976)
EYE OF THE NEEDLE (1981)
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post #19 of 30
4/12/04 at 7:25pm
I'm gonna resurrect this thread with another suggestion:

The Russia House
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post #20 of 30
4/13/04 at 2:16am
Thread Starter 
:b

i had forgotten about this. keep the suggestions coming if you have them.
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post #21 of 30
4/13/04 at 4:23am
The Spy Who Came in from the Cold & The Counterfeit Traitor have just been announced as coming out on DVD in July.

Very much worth checking out if you're interested in this genre.

Also coming out are The Assassination Bureau starring Oliver Reed & Diana Rigg & the cult classic Danger Diabolik. Both of which I'm interested in seeing for the first time.
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post #22 of 30
4/13/04 at 4:43am
Quote:
Ecks vs. Sever with Antonio Banderas/Lucy Liu is another espionage/spy film that's coming out in theaters late September that I'm looking forward to. I'm hoping they let Ray Park show some of his martial arts skill also. He hasn't done much fighting since Darth Maul in TPM and he was wasted in X-Men.
Oy...:p)
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post #23 of 30
4/13/04 at 4:44am
The Counterfeit Traitor - is that the one about someone in diplomatic service, WW II?

When I came on this thread this am, I kept trying to think of some movie that I'd seen once on TV, that would fit in the genre, but all I can remember of the title is "countefeit"
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post #24 of 30
4/13/04 at 7:25am
not like James Bond or True Lies or Mission Impossible, not big action movies, just something with lots of spy games/mystery


Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy is out on DVD, hopefully Smiley's People will follow. These mini-series are pretty much the antithesis of James Bond type spy flicks. Terrific cast including the late, great, Alec Guiness as the lead character, George Smiley.
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post #25 of 30
4/13/04 at 8:29am
Ronin should be up there.
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post #26 of 30
4/13/04 at 9:22am
Target with Gene Hackman
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post #27 of 30
4/13/04 at 11:11am

The Counterfeit Traitor - is that the one about someone in diplomatic service, WW II?

When I came on this thread this am, I kept trying to think of some movie that I'd seen once on TV, that would fit in the genre, but all I can remember of the title is "countefeit"


Yes it could be the film you're referring to. It takes place during WWII and stars William Holden as a Swedish Oil Trader who is spying on the Nazis.
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post #28 of 30
4/13/04 at 11:39am
That's it, William Holden. Very tense as I recall.

Thanks!
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post #29 of 30
3/4/08 at 10:43am

Re: espionage/spy movies

Quote:
Originally Posted by Shawn_McD
Ronin should be up there.

yeah Ronin was a very good movie ..
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post #30 of 30
3/4/08 at 3:01pm

Re: espionage/spy movies

Quote:
Originally Posted by John Gates
How about Spy Game? I thought that one was fairly interesting and dealt with the not-so-glamorous side of life in the CIA. Interesting political thriller.

John G

I'll second Spy Game

Everyone likes Ronin - Could be the best Car Chase on film (2 of um) and a super cool retro big band score.
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