# What are the best action/spy movies? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 12, 2004, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-action-spy-movies/228790 "2004-02-12T04:30:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Nareau](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/858c86/32.png) [@Nareau](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nareau)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2004, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-action-spy-movies/228790/1 "2004-02-12T04:30:31Z")
I’ve seen a lot of action movies, but not many of them were particularly good. So I’m on the hunt for the best of the best. Preferably pure action or spy movies, although some sci-fi/horror/drama is ok. In case you care, this is being done as research for a Spycraft D20 game I’m running soon. Nareau ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2004, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-action-spy-movies/228790/2 "2004-02-12T04:56:41Z")
I think this post belongs on Cafe Society, and I’m sure a mod would happily move it for you. You’ll get more responses there, for sure. But no list of action movies is complete without The Killer and Hard Boiled by John Woo. The last really good spy movie I saw was The Bourne Identity–much better than any recent James Bond films! ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2004, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-action-spy-movies/228790/3 "2004-02-12T06:12:39Z")
I’ve always been partial to the Brosnan bond movies. But NOT Roger Moore…the man was even worse than George Lazenby. [Our Man Flint](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0059557/) and [In Like Flint](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0061810/) are both good sendups of the genre. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2004, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-action-spy-movies/228790/4 "2004-02-12T06:58:45Z")
Moving this to Cafe Society. ---
**Author:** ![Mal\_Adroit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df788c/32.png) [@Mal\_Adroit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mal_Adroit)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2004, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-action-spy-movies/228790/5 "2004-02-12T13:56:29Z")
Off the top of my head, these are all on my classics list. 80’s/90’s _Diehard No Way Out Crimson Tide U-571 Hunt for Red October_ 70’s _The Taking of Pelham One Two Three The Osterman Weekend Three Days of the Condor Eye of the Needle The Parallax View_ Vintage stuff _The Ipcress File The Spy Who Came In From the COld North by Northwest The 39 Steps Foreign Correspondent_ ---
**Author:** ![jimmmy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/73ab20/32.png) [@jimmmy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jimmmy)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2004, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-action-spy-movies/228790/6 "2004-02-12T14:05:15Z")
2000’s Bourne Identity 90’s Mission Impossible (what? what?) 70’s Boys from Brazil Marathon Man ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2004, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-action-spy-movies/228790/7 "2004-02-13T19:34:16Z")
Spy Movies: **The Tailor of Panama** , in which Pierce Brosnan plays the anti-Bond. **The Spy who Came in from the Cold**. Action Movies: \*\*ffoulkes \*\* (sometimes released under the title **Assault Force** ), in which Roger Moore plays the anti-Bond. **The Wild Geese**. ---
**Author:** ![Ronnie\_Woo\_Woo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/34f0e0/32.png) [@Ronnie\_Woo\_Woo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ronnie_Woo_Woo)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2004, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-action-spy-movies/228790/8 "2004-02-13T20:26:05Z")
I thought Spy Game with Robert Redford and Brad Pitt was pretty good. I agree with the Bourne Identity too. I love the Connery Bond movies, but they’ve gotten pretty ridiculous recently. Yeah, I know, but the Roger Moore Bonds were supposed to be ridiculous. ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2004, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-action-spy-movies/228790/9 "2004-02-14T00:15:13Z")
Die Hard is without question the best action flick ever made. ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2004, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-action-spy-movies/228790/10 "2004-02-14T00:50:36Z")
Hell yeah, Top Five at the very least. ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2004, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-action-spy-movies/228790/11 "2004-02-14T01:15:17Z")
A different kind of spy movie that I adore is **Hopscotch**. Made in 1980/1ish. A well seasoned CIA feild agent with 30 years experience is given a desk assignment as punishment for letting a KGB spy go. Literally. (You will understand his motives.) Instead of being benched, the spy destroys his paper files(this is before computer stuff.) and decides to go walk about trying to figure out what to do with his life. He decides to write his tell all memoirs of the dirty secrets of the CIA. And he sends off one chapter at a time to the KGB, CIA, Interpol and Scotland Yard…leading a merry chase hopscotching about the globe one step ahead of the CIA. In the end, you are happy for him and how he takes care of his wonderfully egotistical boss. Walter Matthau plays the Agent. Sam Waterstone , a very young San Waterstone ( or whatever his name is from Law & Order) has a lovely little part. The Boss Who Gets His Comeuppence is the ever evil Ned Beatty. [Hopscotch](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080889/) More fun than cloak and dagger. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2004, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-action-spy-movies/228790/12 "2004-02-14T02:45:19Z")
Let’s not forget De Niro’s _Ronin_. It has quite a few spies-turned-mercenaries in it. And Jean Reno. ---
**Author:** ![DaddyTimesTwo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f07891/32.png) [@DaddyTimesTwo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DaddyTimesTwo)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2004, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-action-spy-movies/228790/13 "2004-02-14T02:51:10Z")
I remember thinking very highly of _The Fourth Protocol_, starring Michael Caine as a British secret agent and Pierce Brosnan as a Russian spy. It’s from 1987 or so. ---
**Author:** ![ReuvenB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9fc348/32.png) [@ReuvenB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ReuvenB)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2004, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-action-spy-movies/228790/14 "2004-02-14T02:54:14Z")
Boondock Saints. ---
**Author:** ![Estilicon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/848f3c/32.png) [@Estilicon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Estilicon)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2004, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-action-spy-movies/228790/15 "2004-02-14T18:27:56Z")
North by Northwest. No discussion. Recents movies of the kind that I enjoyed were “The Bourne Identity” and “Ronin” ---
**Author:** ![widdershins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f0a364/32.png) [@widdershins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/widdershins)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2004, 9:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-action-spy-movies/228790/16 "2004-02-16T09:10:57Z")
_The Tailor of Panama_ started out good but fell apart, IMO. I’d recommend the film based on the novel le Carre was paying homage to _Our Man In Havana_ starring Alec Guinness. How can we have gotten this far without a mention of the classic of classics, _The Third Man_? For recent HK action in the vein of _The Killer_ and _Hard Boiled_ (a personal favortie of mine) find Tsui Hark’s _Time and Tide_. The gun battle/ rappeling chase in the apartment building must be seen. Other spy/action movies I’d recommend: _The President’s Analyst_ - a spoof, but a clever one _Seven Days In May_ - cold war era Frankenheimer conspiracy/coup film. _Winterkills_ - like a conspiracy theorist’s wet dream _The Assassination Bureau_ - starring Oliver Reed and Diana Rigg. Very broadly “based” on an unfinished Jack London work, but a good mix of action comedy. _The Day of the Jackal_ - the 1973 version, not that Bruce Willis mess. _Clear and Present Danger_ - probably the film closest to the Boy Scout patriotic spirit and techno jargon fetish of the Tom Clancy novels. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2004, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-action-spy-movies/228790/17 "2004-02-16T14:28:41Z")
A couple of others I should mention: The Recruit - Basically another Pacino 10 minute rant at Colin Farrell. Falcon & The Snowman - Some old 80s movie with Sean Penn I think Hunt for Red October - I would have liked to have seen Montana True Lies - really just a fun Ahnold movie Austin Powers - well, someone had to say it ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2004, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-action-spy-movies/228790/18 "2004-02-16T15:22:34Z")
Crazy – wasn’t expecting to see you here, **Nareau**! Welcome, and we should get together and watch some of these. Daniel **Nareau’s** brother ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2004, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-action-spy-movies/228790/19 "2004-02-16T15:31:26Z")
My own thoughts: First, I had no idea that _The Spy who came in from the Cold_ was made into a movie; given how great the book is, I’m torn between eagerness and reluctance to see the movie. It has some high expectations to live up to. Hitchcock’s spy movies are never as good as I’m hoping they’ll be. _Notorious_ and _Topaz_ were big fat disappointments for me. _North by Northwest_, however, is a gem. Is that the one with the drunk driving scene? For silly over-the-top action, I’m partial to _Once Upon a Time in Mexico_: the carnage is so ridiculous that you can’t take it seriously, and the gadgets o’ death are great for giggling. I’m thinking that movies as inspiration for games will be good for: - Gadgets - Locations, both large (The New Zealand rainforests) and small (a Moroccan street-market). The more exotic, the better. The more things to destroy in a frenetic fight, the better. - Evil villain plots and mannerisms. Daniel ---
**Author:** ![rjk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ed655f/32.png) [@rjk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjk)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2004, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-action-spy-movies/228790/20 "2004-02-16T16:00:24Z")
[The Manchurian Candidate (1962)](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0056218/) is one of the best spy thrillers around. (No, not the remake. Please boycott everyone involved!) I heard somewhere around the time it was re-released that Frank Sinatra was so impressed by the book that he bought the rights, but the studio thought it was “too controversial”, so he called his buddy John Kennedy to explain the plot. Then the studio boss got a call from the President of the US saying “Make the movie!” Not long after it’s original release, Kennedy was shot, and the movie sat in the vault for years before coming out again. There’s a scene in there that will put you right off hydrangeas. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-action-spy-movies/228790.md?page=2)