MovieChat Forums > Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (1980) Discussion > one of the best spy movie/mini-series he...

one of the best spy movie/mini-series here is a list of others ...

posted 19 years ago by Renard-4
31 replies | jump to latest

I've done this one before but it must have been deleted, I don't remember where I wrote it.

But in this last post where I wanted to know if there was other spy material out there. Someone point it to me this serie and Smiley's people. Which I'm grateful to, because I wouldn't have pick this one on my own.

So I know the list is getting (hopefully and not, because I want to discover other materials) complete.

So that's what I know of spy movie or serie, and that I like.
(of course the genre can be associated to war movies, and closer to our time; smuggling, detectives work... so I try to restrict myself whenever I could...)
The important thing is: it's about suspense, paranoia, action, riddles, and much more...

Tinker, Sailor, Spy, soldier
Smiley's people

3 days of the condor
The man who never was
Marathon man
The Jack Ryan trilogy
The Hunt for Red October
...
The James Bond serie
...

The manchurian candidates
The spy who came from the cold
The taylor of panama
The russia house
No way out
Spy game
Alias
The man who knew too much
North by northwest
Notorius
Charade
The day of the jackal
The quiet american
The conversation
Mission impossible 1 & 2
the Bourne trilogy
The man from U.N.C.L.E.
Conspiracy Theory
Firefox
The good shepherd
Breach
The Company

Some I had seen but forgotten

The constant gardener (thx Slowrain)
Spartan
Sneakers (thx Agrippina121)
The Perfect Spy (thx CmdrCody) I didn't got as involved as the others series... maybe I guess where it was going. I ought to finish it.
Danger Man (thx marjoriem)
The Third Man (thx ubu55)

Agents secrets french movie, but not so good despite the great actors.

Those are border line: (more like investigation than spy works or having spies in it not doing much... NDLR: only my opinion)

The sea wolves
All the president's man
The prisonner
La femme nikita
Point of no return
Little nikita
Conspiracy Theory
Ronin
The name of the rose
Casablanca
The maltese falcon
Syriana
The good german
Shooter
Gorkin Park
The Rhinemann Exchange

24 The TV serie...

Those are not so good: (to be polite in some cases)

The recruit
The saint the movie
XXX??

I know also there is some comedy spoof on the theme:

Austin powers
Top secret
Spies likes us
True Lies

I spy
Our man Flint Haven't seen those two

OSS 117 I didn't fancy it.

I don't know how is the serie : spooks or MI5 PS unfortunately Spooks seems unavailable, and only the edited MI5 would be, I don't know if I want to see that.

Haven't seen it but want to:

Arabesque
Philby, Burgess and Maclean

So what am I missing?

Here is a resume of what you (gratefully) suggested and That I didn't know about:

The Assignment
The Spanish Prisoner
Heist
Decision Before Dawn
Little Drummer Girl
The Fourth Protocol
Sandbaggers
Edge of Darkness
Callan
Reilly: Ace of Spies
The avengers ?
The Kremlin Letter
Our Man in Havana
Cambridge Spies
Operation Crossbow
Topaz
Cloak and dagger

thx also, for their input, to :
davidcronan, matthewormrod, mapsnmad, bmwhtly, bris_krs, bytor4,

Looking forward to purchase in Bluray : The Company (http://imdb.com/title/tt0488352/) thx Ridd. [edit]done!

Well that somes up the spy stuff... so far.
I need now to get to the store, since there is a lot more to see. Cheers everyone for your input, and keep them coming.

I might be stretching it, but is there some asian movies about spy, That we don't know about... Some Hong Kong stuff: maybe like James Clavell's Noble house just came out... I presume there is spy stuff in it, but would it be the premise of the show?
I would love to see a spy movie made, for example, by Johnnie To; he would take the time to built up suspense.
Of course, some of those movies might be more or less spy movies. I'll try to get the list down if the needs arise. And I'm a bit shy for not having more french spy movies in the list (being francophone) I'll try to scratch my brain for some good ones.

Once again many thanks.

Salut
my growing DVD collection
http://www.intervocative.com/DVDCollection.aspx/chauffard

[–] bugsweed 15 years ago

The Ipcress Files
The Day of the Jackal
The Black Windmill

[–] angelofvic 13 years ago

Also:

Reilly: Ace of Spies

Codename: Kyril

.

[–] m-j-mooney 12 years ago

Can't believe nobody has mentioned "Game, Set and Match", based on the Len Deighton trilogy, and starring Ian Holm as Bernard Samson. It has the added bonus of a FANTASTIC Richard Harvey soundtrack, very hard to get hold of now, but worth hunting down.

[–] cambiot 12 years ago

A fine play, movie version, is Alan Bennett's A Question of Attribution:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0105204/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1

about Anthony Blunt. Not a thriller, but a nice (fictional) account of a real spy at the end of his career.

[–] Bitterblogger 12 years ago

The List of Adrian Messenger (serious)
The President's Analyst (spoof)

[–] MrEdnablackadder 11 years ago

Another good one is "A Dandy in Aspic" by Anthony Mann. Laurence Harvey and Tom Courtenay are very good in it and it's interesting to see Peter Cook cast against type as a spy.

I would also recommend "Devices and Desires", based on P.D. James. It's more of a thriller than a real spy story, but the elements of political intrigue at its heart are very engaging.

Of those that have been nominated so far, I'm very fond of "Day of the Jackal", "The Black Windmill", "The Spy who came in from the Cold", "The Ipcress File" and "3 Days of the Condor"

As far as TV shows are concerned, my favourites are Mission: Impossible (Seasons 1-3 in particular), Seasons 1-2 of the "Man From U.N.C.L.E." (before the show was turned into a tedious frace) and Seasons 2-3 of "The Avengers" (with Honor Blackman). "The Prisoner" is of course one of the all-time great achievements in TV, but it goes beyond every category. On that account, "the Wild, Wild West" (the show, not the abominable movie) is also recommended: espionage stories set in the West with a steampunk element to them.

[–] kennellygerard 11 years ago

philip seymour hoffman 'A MOST WANTED MAN'

[–] rhythmandblues1800 11 years ago

Nobody's mentioned it, so I will put it out there. I don't know if you've seen this old tv series called Callan. It is about a British intelligence agency known as the Section. Not exactly a thriller but it is wonderfully scripted and superbly acted. Edward Woodward plays the titular character with Russell Hunter as Lonely. Definitely worth checking out.

"A man's reach must exceed his grasp, dear boy, or what the dickens is a heaven for?"

[–] suicidea 11 years ago

I had just started watching Callan =) So far it's interesting.

Never be complete.

[–] vince-volaju 9 years ago

The Op author's list was pretty good. It included the underrated 'The Good Shepherd'.

If anybody mentioned the "The Traitor Within" I missed it. Based on the op to catch Aldrich Ames, this mini-series is more realistic than many espionage flicks.

Hey, look, you can watch it on YouTube. Free.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2JtVJQrePg

http://vincentandmorticiasspeakeasy14846.yuku.com/directory

[–] Toshi51 8 years ago

"The Secret Agent", John Gielgud. a 1936 Hitchcock film. Not to be missed.