# 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:** 3\ **Page:** 2
**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 17, 2004, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-action-spy-movies/228790/21 "2004-02-17T13:13:04Z")
> [@rjk](#): > > [The Manchurian Candidate (1962)](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0056218/) is one of the best spy thrillers around… 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!” Hm… in the version I heard, Kennedy was already familar with the book, because when he heard they were making the movie, he had one excited question: “Who’s playing the mother?” I agree with you they were nuts to attempt a remake of this Citizen Kane of thrillers, but you could do worse than Jonathan Demme, Liev Schrieber, and the great Denzel. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2004, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-action-spy-movies/228790/22 "2004-02-17T13:51:22Z")
**The Day of the Jackal** is my all-time favorite. The Fred Zinneman/Edward Fox version, of course, not the Bruce Willis monstrosity. The entire story of how the Jackal is recruited, prepares, and goes gunning for deGaulle is made far more believable than any other flick of this sort. **In the Line of Fire** , while good, gets hung up on a lot of highly improbable encounters between Clint Eastwood’s and John Malkovich’s characters. It was Frederick Forsythe’s book that made it all possible, of course. Of Forsythe’s other filmed books, **The Odessa File** is probably the best. I wasn’t as fond of **The Dogs of War** or **The Fourth Protocol**. Despite their ludicrous flamboyancy, I love the Bond movies – even the bad ones. But \*\*From Russia with Love, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, For Your Eyes Only, \*\* and **The Living Daylights** are the best, possibly with the addition of **Die Another Day** (all IMHO) Hitchcock always claimed that they stole the Bond movie style from **North by Northwest**. Great film. **The Spy Who Came in from the Cold** is a very well-made Spy film – the perfect antithesis of the colorful, escapist, unrealistic Bond thrillers. It’s black-and-white, claustrophobic, and depressing. If you’re looking for lighter stuff, I recommend (as I have before) **Charade** – great cast, direction, music, and Peter Stone script. Ignore the recent remake, The Trouble with Charlie. ---
**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 17, 2004, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-action-spy-movies/228790/23 "2004-02-17T13:59:58Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > If you’re looking for lighter stuff, I recommend (as I have before) **Charade** – great cast, direction, music, and Peter Stone script. I heartily concur. (Peter Stone also did the fabulous screenplay for one of my picks, _The Taking of Pelham One Two Three._) You know what movie everyone (including myself) is forgetting? _JFK_! Regardless of where you stand on the Kennedy assassination question, it’s hard to deny that Stone made one of the most riveting political thrillers ever. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-action-spy-movies/228790.md?page=1)