There are so many great spy movies, and while it seems the best are from Britain, there are many made in America that stand up to the competition. When people talk about spy films, it seems to start with Britain's James Bond, and it appears that the U.K. is the home to the most famous of these espionage thrillers.
However, while the U.K. has delivered some incredible spy movies, such as Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and co-productions like The Third Man, there are also plenty of American-made options. Whether looking at straight spy movies or films with espionage themes and spies as part of the story, America has some great options.
Austin Powers: International Man Of Mystery (1997)
Austin Powers looking confused at a Reebok shoe
It wasn't the first American spoof movie about spies, as Top Secret! was a fantastic comedy set in that world. However, the Austin Powers franchise was the most successful of the genre. Mike Myers stars as both the secret agent Austin Powers and his evil nemesis Dr. Evil, and both characters became icons.
The first film sees secret agent Austin Powers cryogenically frozen in 1967, with the plan to revive him if another evil genius tried to conquer the world. This happened in 1997 when Dr. Evil was also revived during that time frame. The two former enemies then go face-to-face.
While this is a comedy making fun of spy movies, it is a great time as a fish-out-of-water film as well. It is never mean, lovingly spoofing Sean Connery's James Bond movies, while Myers' performance as Dr. Evil stole the show. It also spawned two sequels, both of which are also very funny in their own right.
Will Smith talking on the phone with someone in Enemy of the State
Enemy of the State is a more fan-friendly spy movie, with Tony Scott delivering his trademark frenetic camerawork and high-energy storytelling. The movie is a political action thriller, and although the main character is not a spy, it is still firmly set in that world.
Will Smith is a lawyer named Robert working on a case involving a racketeer. However, he ends up involved in a giant conspiracy thanks to the new surveillance powers the National Security Agency is implementing. When the NSA director orders a congressman's murder, Robert gets the tape with proof and ends up on the run.
This is a frightening look at how the government's overreach can allow them to see anyone, anywhere, at any time, and the dangers of surveillance that allows corrupt government officials to get away with almost anything. Gene Hackman also elevates the film with his involvement in the cast.
The Hunt For Red October (1990)
Marko Ramius (Sean Connery) looking down in The Hunt For Red October.
While the most prolific British spy movies are based on the novels by Ian Fleming, the most successful American spy movie franchise is also based on a series of novels. From the books by Tom Clancy, The Hunt for Red October started the Jack Ryan movie franchise, although he was the least interesting character.
Instead, this first film in the series starred Sean Connery as a Russian submarine captain who wants to defect during the Cold War, and Jack Ryan (Alec Baldwin) is sent to help get the captain across dangerous waters and into America. The film was a huge success, launching the franchise.
Harrison Ford, Ben Affleck, Chris Pine, and John Krasinski all played Jack Ryan in the following years, but it was this movie with Connery as a Russian defector that remains the best of the spy movie franchise.
Argo (2012)
Ben Affleck and Bryan Cranston in Argo
Ben Affleck directed Argo, a movie based on the true story concerning the rescue of U.S. hostages in Tehran in 1979. It was Affleck's most successful directorial effort, winning the Oscar for Best Picture, although some critics feel it might not have deserved the win. Despite that, it was a tight and interesting American spy movie.
Affleck takes on the role of CIA agent Tommy Mendez, who comes up with an elaborate plan to free some hostages from the U.S. embassy in Iran by pretending to go into the country to shoot a fake Canadian movie. While based on a true story, Affleck focused more on drama, action, and thrills than anything.
There were complaints about the film's accuracy, and the politics almost overshadowed the spy and espionage thrills. However, it won over critics and fans at the time and remains a successful American spy movie release.
Bridge Of Spies (2015)
Tom Hanks as James B. Donovan in Bridge of Spies
Steven Spielberg has made several incredible political thrillers, and his two best are Munich and Bridge of Spies, both based on true stories. Bridge of Spies stars Tom Hanks as a lawyer named James B. Donovan, a man who is asked to work out a trade of a political prisoner to the Soviet Union for an American citizen.
The Coen brothers wrote the script, and the entire movie is a tense drama, similar to old-school spy flicks, set in the midst of the Cold War. While it is a slow movie, it is also extremely dramatic and offers some of the best acting of the year. Mark Rylance won an Oscar playing the Soviet spy, Rudolf Abe.
Bridge of Spies also earned five other Oscar nominations, including Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay.
Mission: Impossible – Fallout (2018)
Henry Cavill, Tom Cruise, and Rebecca Ferguson in Mission Impossible Fallout
Mission: Impossible — Fallout is the best movie in that long-running series, and it is also one of the best spy movies ever made in America. Tom Cruise is back as Ethan Hunt, and in this movie, he is paired with a CIA agent named August Walker, played by Henry Cavill, one of the best new characters in Mission: Impossible.
The action on display is some of the best in the entire franchise, and the pairing of Cavill and Cruise offered something unique for fans, as they delivered every step of the way. It also provided some more light-hearted spy action compared to the ever-growing dark look of the James Bond movies.
Cruise proved once again that he will do anything to ensure that his movies are exciting, once again delivering almost all of his own stunts, and it is easy to tell when watching this movie. While the franchise slightly dropped off after this, Fallout is still top-tier American spy movie entertainment.
The Bourne Identity (2002)
Matt Damon reloading a shotgun as Jason Bourne in The Bourne Identity
The Bourne Identity was the first movie in the successful Bourne line of films. This movie stars Matt Damon as Jason Bourne, a man who washes ashore with a gunshot wound and no memory of his past. However, he soon learns he has special talents and quickly realizes his past involved him as a dangerous government assassin.
This is another movie that showed how the U.S. government will betray its own citizens to get away with underhanded and corrupt dealings, and even kill its own to cover its trail. The sequels received more award recognition, but this first film was a perfect little spy action movie with great acting and action.
Three Days Of The Condor (1975)
Robert Redford in Three Days of the Condor
Sydney Pollack was one of the best directors of his era, and in 1975, he directed the spy movie Three Days of the Condor. During a time when James Bond movies were taking the world by storm from the U.K., this film offered a nice change of pace with a very different spy movie from America.
This did the opposite of James Bond, who was self-assured and cocky, and it replaced the protagonist with a scared and unsure man running for his life. Robert Redford stars as Joe Turner, a CIA code-breaker who went out for lunch and returned to find everyone in his office had been murdered.
When he learns his own government agency ordered the assassinations to cover up corrupt dealings, he goes on the run when they realize he wasn't there for the massacre. Like similar films, this shows that American spies can't even trust their own government, and the enemy could even come from within.
Casablanca (1942)
Ilsa confronts Rick in Casablanca.
Not everyone considers Casablanca to be a spy movie, but it fits well in the genre thanks to its tale of betrayal and political intrigue. Set in the French-controlled city of Casablanca in 19541, Humphrey Bogart stars as Rick Blaine, an American expatriate who owns a nightclub and tries to keep his head down and out of trouble.
However, when his former lover, Ilsa (Ingrid Bergman), shows up and asks if he can help her get her resistance leader husband Victor (Paul Henreid) out of the country so he can take the fight to Nazi Germany, Rick finds that he might not be able to stay out of the political ordeals.
While the movie is a drama with a love story as its basis, Rick is pulled into a situation involving a "nest of spies," and this includes most of the people he allows in his bar, with the promise of safety. Casablanca won the Oscar for Best Picture and was entered into the National Film Registry in its first year, 1989.
North By Northwest (1959)
Alfred Hitchcock was the master of suspense for a reason, and there might not be a better look at his crowd-pleasing side than North by Northwest. The film stars one of Hitchcock's top stars, Cary Grant, playing the everyman that he perfected over his career. Like some of the best American spy movies, the hero isn't a spy at all.
Instead, Grant plays a regular guy, an advertising executive who ends up thrown into a complicated conspiracy he knows nothing about. He ends up running for his life, and Hitchcock created some of the greatest set-pieces of his career, specifically the iconic crop duster chase scene through the corn field.
This makes the movie so intriguing because Grant plays a character no different from the viewers, and then finds himself in a situation he doesn't understand. Since the entire film is Grant running for his life, this is a breathtaking spy movie, and one everyone needs to see at least once.
