espionage/spy movies (1 Viewer)

[RossTerry]

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

 

[Matt Pasant]

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

 

[Peter Kim]

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.

 

[Matt Pasant]

Midnight Express?

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

-- Matt

 

[Michael*K]

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

 

[AJ Johnson]

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.

 

[Peter Kim]

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?

 

[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

 

[Michael*K]

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. :frowning:

 

[Jeff Gross]

How about:
North by Northwest
Notorious

 

[Lew Crippen]

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.

 

[Matt Pasant]

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 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

 

[Peter Kim]

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.

 

[RossTerry]

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

 

[KDHM]

So does anyone know why Link Removed and Link Removed have been released on DVD but no Ken Russell's Link Removed on DVD?
kd

 

[Veli-Matti Reitti]

Don't forget:

-Hopscotch

 

[Jim_K]

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

 

[Peter M Fitzgerald]

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)

 

[Philip Verdieck]

I'm gonna resurrect this thread with another suggestion:

The Russia House

 

[RossTerry]

:b

i had forgotten about this. keep the suggestions coming if you have them.