30 Best Spy Films

It started the whole genre in a way which influence James Bond which influenced everything else from Bourne to numerous action/spy thrillers. Also it is my personal favorite Hitchcock film with some of the most iconic scenes in cinematic history.

It's a personal favorite though not very realistic, it heavily influenced they spy-fi and action movie genres both respectively. With memorable lines and characters like the titular Goldfinger, his henchman Oddjob, and naturally Pussy Galore, and one awesome car, this is the film that put 007 on the map and affirmed Connery as the best of them.

A classic in all respects, though not as famous to younger or less experience audiences, Sinatra and Landsbury steal the show as two opposing forces tearing someone they love apart and mowing down everything in the way, making for the ultimate entertaining Cold War tale.

The best in the series, though not the first action packed conspiracy film, Matt Damon gives what will likely always be his most memorable performance. The film gives great action pieces, heart pounding moments, and ambiguous characters that put an emphasis on the idea that a spy can trust no one.

This is the prototype for the Bourne films as a CIA agent is ousted by his own people after he learns something he shouldn't, and must evade ruthless assassins and calculating spy masters to uncover a large scale conspiracy. Redford and Dunaway have great chemistry and Von Sydow steals the show as the cheif assassin, Joubert.

One of the great original spy films with top performances all around, this is one of Hitchcock's crown jewels of the 1940's as Ingrid Bergman and Cary Grant play two American agents trying to uncover the plot of a neo-Nazi terrorist organization based in Rio. The film also was remade as Mission Impossible 2 by director John Wo with some elements remade, however this remains the superior film.

A Bond film that is a little more grounded and may be viewed widely as one of the best in the franchise if not the best by some. The film features great performances from Sean Connery as always but also from Lotte Lenya and Robert Shaw as the villain and henchman respectively.

Here my bias for 007 may show a little but Skyfall is certainly a great entry in any spy list. A modern classic by action standards, the film again features the perfect cast and addresses the modern relevance of 007 and shows that after 50 years the series hasn't lost it's touch and that the game of espionage can spawn revenge among it's best players.

The franchise revisits Bond's first mission and brings audiences back to the Connery days. The film uses gadgetry to a minimal and while some say it reinvented the franchise, I see it as a modernized flashback thats as endearing to audiences today as Dr.No was to audiences in the 60's .

Instead of copying Bourne, the Mission Impossible Franchise took a leap and went back to old Bond with villains and their henchmen ploting World War 3. Naturally the plot isn't original but much like the Bond films the stunts and locales make up for it all producing a great popcorn flick and a notable entry into the cannon.

Its not as good as its successor, but a knockout performance by Phillip Seymour Hoffman, great stunts from a helicopter chase to a UAV attack on a bridge, and lots of lens flares. J.J Abrams saved the franchise and created a third entry better than its predecessors.

Tom Clancy is the modern spy novel god next to LeCarre and the adaption of his most famous novel does not disappoint as Die Hard director John McTiernan gives a thrilling chase between the CIA and KGB for the world's most powerful weapon and it's mysterious captain with his own ambiguous agenda.

Another Jack Ryan entry which I like better than Patriot Games for some reason. The film has both Jack Ryan and John Clarck and deals with deception from all sides and adresses the CIA's campaign against the cartels back in the day as well as the gritty and disgusting nature of Washington politics.

It's a mouthful to say, and boring at times, but an all-star cast gives John LeCarre's most famous novel the thrill it needs to be a great movie. The top credits go to Gary Oldman and Bennedict Cumberbatch as the master and protege, giving electrifying yet droll performances that make you want Smiley's People to come out already.

The infamous novel becomes a detailed and thrilling tour de force of a movie as Michael Lonsdale and Edward Fox try to outwit each other as one tries to kill Charles De Gaulle for a terrorist network and the other works to prevent it. The film goes into detail describing the process and precautions assasins take to carry out their hit as well as the investigative lengths agencies may go to try and stop them.

It's a LeCarre classic and features a great performance by Richard Burton in a tedius yet realistic portrait of a spy's life in the Cold War and how despite the glamour there's not always a happy ending.

I don't know how much is true, and how much is a lie, but I know this is a gritty look at the hunt for Osama Bin Laden that is probably just the tip of the iceberg but gives audiences as close a look as they may ever see to the manhunt for one of the world's most dangerous terrorists.

Again fiction and reality are blurred into a thrilling movie that may give a little more grandeur to the actual operation for entertainment's sake but hey that's Hollywood and it's still an awesome movie that deserved it's praise.

Basically it was the first spy movie and it's a Hitchcock classic as well as a classic in literature and that's all I'll say.

It's in the vein of The Guns of Navarone but has a more clandestine nature as a group of commando's and an MI6 and OSS agent must infiltrate a German stronghold to uncover the identity of the top Nazi agent in England. Burton and Eastwood have some pretty good moments together.

Now don't let this spot fool you because this is one of the greatest movies of all time with Martin Sheen playing a terrific tortured hero, squaring off against Marlon Brando's terrific tortured villain. Now I chose this spot because first and foremost this is a war movie, but at the same time the protagonist is a CIA assassin on a mission so it qualifies by a small extent and i suppose is just as valid as Where Eagles Dare but has a less covert nature to it all the same.

Again it's mostly a war flick but it's an operation carried out by MI6 assassins or commandos I suppose. The film is a classic and if you haven't seen it I would highly recommend that you do at some point for Gregory Peck's phenomenal performance and a just plain terrific and suspenseful WWII yarn.

Again it's a military operation carried out by an OSS Squad durring WWII to stop an insane British General from assisting the Japanese build a supply line via a train bridge. The film won best picture and while it can get boring it's mostly good.

This is either a parody or a tribute to the aforementioned war/spy films, but an all Jewish OSS team assisted by MI6 and a German actress must kill Hitler and avoid being caught by the most sadistic man in all the Third Reich, the memorable and show stealing Hans Landa. This movie doesn't exactly deserve a spot here either nor do many of the war/spy movies but they do feature spies so once again I let it count and this is my favorite Tarintino flick.

Dustin Hoffman learns his brother was a spy trying to uncover a Neo-Nazi network and the monster behind it, the memorable villain Dr. Szell played by Lawrence Olivier. A superb 70's thriller and over all worth the watch.

Ex-Spies fight over a widow who may know the location to a large sum of money they and her dead husband acquired over the war. Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn steal the show in the greatest move Hitchcock never made.

It's doesn't have the best Bond or a famous reputation, but its a thrilling and pivotal entry in the 007 franchise and inspired Christopher Nolan to become a director.

It's Hitchcock and it has that famous Doris Day song. Honestly there isn't a Hitchcock movie you shouldn't watch and this is a remake of his own film so be sure to try out the original for a great Peter Lorre performance as the villain which this entry lacks.

Spy-Fi to the max. It's more a heist flick but its heavy on 007 influence and has many covert elements, espionage has never been so cerebral in my favorite Nolan flick.

It's a lot of fun and the extended cut is better than the theatrical though missing a good action sequence I feel it makes Salt a little more interesting character. I may like a sequel some day.