Here are 58 spy movies that illustrate the best of this surprisingly versatile genre, from Alfred Hitchcock to Ethan Hunt to Brangelina—plus, three more that’ll have us back at the multiplex as soon as they arrive.
Best Spy Movies of All Time
Best Bond Movies
Casino Royale(2006)
One of the most successful franchise reboots of all time, Casino Royale introduced Daniel Craig as a younger, scruffier and more emotionally volatile James Bond. It was the movie that brought 007 into the new millennium–not least of all, by giving its sexy star the camera’s full adoration, instead of reserving it for bikini-clad Bond girls.
Goldfinger (1964)
Nothing in Goldfinger is plausible: not the death-by-gold-paint, not Odd Job’s killer hat, not the Aston Martin with rotating license plates for “every country” and especially not the name Pussy Galore. But Sean Connery’s third film is quite a ride, and contains perhaps the best villain line of the series: “No, Mr. Bond, I expect you to die.”
You Only Live Twice (1967)
Roald Dahl (yes, the children’s book author) wrote the screenplay for this fast-paced Bond adventure, which finally brings 007 face-to-face with cat-stroking villain Ernst Stavro Blofeld (Donald Henry Pleasence). Most of the film’s absurdities (the hidden volcano lair, the gyrocopter in a suitcase) are delightful; the part where Connery goes undercover as a Japanese man is a highly unfortunate exception.
Skyfall (2012)
Bond film as a character study (but still with lots of explosions), Sam Mendes’ sweeping psychological thriller centers on his relationship with M (Judi Dench) and the ghosts of his past (represented by Javier Bardem’s slinky villain Raoul Silva). The story builds perfectly to the final shootout at Bond’s rural childhood home.
Tomorrow Never Dies (1997)
A fun and prescient plot device–a media mogul (Jonathan Pryce) is secretly orchestrating world events and printing the “news” before it happens–instigates the best of Pierce Brosnan’s Bond films, with a memorable turn by Michelle Yeoh as a kickass Bond girl who doesn’t die.
Thunderball (1965)
The fourth Bond film showed that its formula can work like gangbusters in any setting–even underwater. On assignment in Nassau to retrieve a bomb hijacked by SPECTRE, Connery’s 007 ends the film by fighting off sharks and U.S. Navy frogmen.
Dr. No(1963)
The world’s most suave secret agent was introduced in this film, along with the first soaking-wet Bond girl (gorgeous Ursula Andress), the first shaken-not-stirred martini, the first villain who over-explains his plan–you get the idea. Many of the tropes in Dr. No would be reused for decades, and it’s exciting to watch the puzzle pieces click together for the first time.
On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969)
The most romantic of Bond films sees 007 (one-shot Bond actor George Lazenby) falling in love with the best Bond girl (Diana Rigg) as he attempts to foil the best Blofeld (Telly Savalas). Lazenby isn’t a great Bond, but the film’s snowy ’60s setting is classic–as is Blofeld’s fantastic scheme to contaminate the world’s food supply by deploying a team of 12 beautiful, brainwashed women with food allergies.
The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)
Roger Moore’s somewhat lackluster Bond run peaked with his exceptional third film, which gave him a great foil-turned-love-interest in Soviet agent Anya Amasova (Barbara Bach). It also gave him a trip to the Egyptian pyramids and a car that turns into a submarine, as well as giving viewers their first look at metal-toothed henchman Jaws (Richard Kiel).
From Russia with Love (1964)
Take a Bond movie, strip away most of the gadgets and chase scenes, and what do you have? Connery’s second outing, in which Bond goes on a mission to Istanbul to meet a sexy Russian defector and gets caught in a SPECTRE trap, is more about story than big-budget set pieces. And it’s riveting–particularly when the villains, played by Lotte Lenya (in poison-dagger shoes) and Robert Shaw, come into play.
Best Spy Movie Blockbusters
The Bourne Trilogy: The Bourne Identity, The Bourne Supremacy, The Bourne Ultimatum (2002-2007)
When it comes to achieving the ideal spy-movie ratio of tense character drama and killer action sequences, it’s hard to beat the first three Bourne movies. Matt Damon builds a sympathetic hero in Jason Bourne, an ex-CIA agent piecing together his past–and then trying to outrun it–after developing amnesia. Supremacy and Ultimatum director Paul Greengrass changed the genre with his jumpy, fast-moving camera (not for the easily motion-sickened) and morally conflicted hero. True stans should check out the 2016 sequel Jason Bourne, but needn’t bother with The Bourne Legacy, a 2012 attempt to relaunch the franchise with Jeremy Renner.
Mission: Impossible (1996)
Tom Cruise’s superspy franchise really hit its stride in the 2010s, but the original Brian De Palma action film (featuring Cruise’s incredible cable-drop scene) is a fun, fast-paced kick-off. Just don’t think too hard about the plot.
Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (2011)
Impossible Missions Force agent Ethan Hunt (Cruise) infiltrates the Kremlin and climbs the Burj Khalifa in director Brad Bird’s imaginative installment of the high-tech, stunt-filled franchise.
Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation (2015)
The IMF takes on an “anti-IMF” in the fifth Mission: Impossible film, which gives a meatier role to Ethan Hunt’s lovable sidekick Benji (Simon Pegg) and features a stunning attempted-assassination scene at the Vienna State Opera. Cruise’s trademark death-defying stunts include a three-minute underwater sequence and a ride on the exterior of an airplane.
Mission: Impossible – Fallout (2018)
Dazzling, shot-on-location action sequences are the centerpiece of writer-director Christopher McQuarrie’s second M:I film, a breathtaking thriller with a climactic fight that takes place on the edge of a cliff.
The Hunt for Red October (1990)
Hollywood’s first Tom Clancy adaptation stars Alec Baldwin as Jack Ryan, a deskbound CIA analyst who always seems to get thrown into the action. The Hunt for Red October, in which Ryan must discern whether a Soviet submarine captain (Sean Connery) intends to defect to the U.S. or fire missiles at it, is infused with the same delicious tension that director John McTiernan brought to his previous film, Die Hard. And between Baldwin, Connery and James Earl Jones, it boasts three of the most iconic voices in Hollywood.
Clear and Present Danger (1994)
Harrison Ford proved to be cinema’s most popular Jack Ryan. In this better sequel to Patriot Games, the CIA agent takes on a Colombian drug cartel with the help of black-ops agent John Clark (a memorable Willem Dafoe).
Best Spy Comedy Movies
Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997)
Filmmakers have been turning out James Bond satires since the 1960s, but none as affectionate or good-natured as Austin Powers. Mike Myers’ original ‘90s blockbuster is funny even if you’ve never seen an early Bond film, and downright hilarious if you have.
Spy (2015)
It didn’t get as much buzz as predecessors Bridesmaids and The Heat, but this comic gem from director Paul Feig gave Melissa McCarthy one of her finest roles, as a CIA desk worker coerced into going on an undercover mission. More homage than satire, Spy is a great spy film in its own right, with wildly funny performances by McCarthy as the heroine, Rose Byrne as the sexy villain and Jason Statham as an intense, overachieving field agent.
SPY Kids (2001)
Director Robert Rodriguez is known for hyper-violent action films, but this terrifically imaginative espionage adventure–about a brother and sister who discover that their parents (Antonio Banderas and Carla Gugino) are spies, and must save them from an evil children’s-show host (Alan Cumming)–is a family-friendly delight. Alas, the three sequels (one of which stars tiny Taylor Lautner) are strictly for kids.
Sneakers (1992)
Robert Redford leads an insanely talented cast (including Sidney Poitier, River Phoenix, Mary McDonnell, Ben Kingsley, David Strathairn and Dan Aykroyd), all of whom seem to be having a blast in this clever, scrappy ensemble comedy. Redford plays a security hacker whose team of misfit geniuses and spies is recruited by the NSA for a top-secret mission.
Miss Congeniality(2000)
Sandra Bullock is endearingly goofy as an FBI agent who goes undercover at a beauty pageant in this beloved rom-com, which also gave us the definitive description of the perfect date.
Hopscotch (1980)
There are suave, sophisticated movie spies, and then there’s Walter Matthau as a wisecracking CIA agent in the delightful comedy-caper Hopscotch. Matthau plays Miles Kendig, a disgruntled American spy who turns the tables on his superiors with the help of a Viennese ex-girlfriend (the perfectly acerbic Glenda Jackson).
Burn After Reading (2008)
Writer-directors the Coen brothers bring their inimitable comic style to this dizzying tale of a disgruntled CIA analyst (John Malkovich) whose memoirs become a hot commodity. The star-powered ensemble features Brad Pitt, Tilda Swinton, Frances McDormand and George Clooney.
Best Spy Love Movies
Duplicity (2009)
Perhaps Julia Roberts’ most underrated film, this twisty comedy tells the story of two rival ex-government spies (Roberts and Clive Owen) who conspire to steal a valuable secret from a pharmaceutical company. Sexy, sophisticated and surprising, it will make you wish there were more films about corporate espionage.
Notorious (1946)
Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman share one of cinema’s all-time hottest kisses in this hauntingly beautiful film noir, a tale of two spies that leaves lingering questions about how well we can ever know the people we love.
Lust, Caution (2007)
Director Ang Lee followed Brokeback Mountain with this NC-17-rated Chinese-language drama, an intensely sexy tale about a Chinese university student (Wei Tang) recruited to seduce and spy on a power player in the Japanese-controlled puppet government (Tony Leung) in the late 1930s.
Mr. & Mrs. Smith(2005)
Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt play a bored couple whose marriage gets its heat back when they discover they’re both contract killers, hired to assassinate each other. This is the movie that created Brangelina, and it’s easy to understand why: the sexual chemistry is so palpable that it’s practically a character in itself.
Mata Hari (1931)
Legend Greta Garbo is mesmerizing in this largely fictionalized drama about the exotic dancer turned WWI German spy, and her romance with very handsome Russian soldier (Ramon Novarro).
M. Butterfly (1993)
A French diplomat living in 1960s Beijing (Jeremy Irons) has a decades-long affair with a Chinese opera singer (John Lone)–while not realizing that the singer is a man, let alone a spy–in this unique romance, based on a jaw-dropping true story.
Best Classic Spy Movies
North by Northwest(1959)
A mild-mannered advertising executive (Cary Grant) must flee for his life when he’s targeted by the government for assassination–though he has no idea why. The scene in which Grant is chased by a crop duster is one of the most famous in cinema history.
Charade (1963)
Sparks and witty repartee fly between Grant and Audrey Hepburn in Stanley Donen’s funny, stylish whodunit, in which a young Parisian woman (Hepburn) tries to outrun three rogue OSS agents and find the fortune her late husband stole.
The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956)
Yes, Doris Day sings “Que Sera Sera” one too many times, but you can’t beat the climactic concert-assassination scene of this thriller, a remake of Hitchcock’s own 1934 film. Day and James Stewart play an American couple whose Moroccan vacation entangles them in an international assassination plot.
The 39 Steps (1935)
The first example of the classic “Hitchcock hero” (an unsuspecting man who finds himself swept up in a murderous conspiracy, usually because of mistaken identity), this highly enjoyable mystery film–about a civilian on the run from a spy ring in Scotland–packs plenty of twists into 86 minutes.
The Lady Vanishes (1938)
Yes, the title gives away the plot of this film–but that’s just the beginning. How does a woman vanish from a moving train and the memories of everyone aboard? And how are spies involved? We won’t spoil it for you.
The Third Man (1950)
Gorgeously shot on location in post-war Vienna, this film noir masterpiece stars Joseph Cotten as a hard-drinking American who tries to find out why his friend Harry (Orson Welles) died, and uncovers a shocking conspiracy.
The Conversation (1974)
Francis Ford Coppola directed this fascinating thriller about a professional surveillance expert (Gene Hackman) who fears that he has overheard a murder being planned. The twist at the end will floor you.
The Manchurian Candidate (1962)
Anyone who only knows Angela Lansbury from Murder She Wrote needs to immediately delve into her film catalog, beginning with this eerie, timely drama. Lansbury received her third Oscar nomination for playing the manipulative mother of a Korean war veteran (Laurence Harvey) who has unknowingly been recruited as a sleeper agent.
Three Days of the Condor (1975)
CIA book reader Joe Turner (Robert Redford in his prime) keeps saying he’s “not a spy,” but when he realizes that someone in the government is trying to kill him, he turns out to be a pretty good one. The Stockholm Syndrome-y romance with Faye Dunaway hasn’t aged well, but this taut thriller will keep you guessing.
Oscar-Winning Spy Movies
Argo (2012)
A group of CIA operatives pose as the producers of a sci-fi film in order to rescue hostages from Tehran in Ben Affleck’s Best Picture-winning drama, based on actual events.
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011)
A who’s-who of male British actors (Oldman, Firth, Hurt, Hardy, Cumberbatch) deliver layered performances in this understated Cold War thriller, in which MI-6 officers try to find a mole who is collaborating with the KGB. Based on the John le Carré novel (previously adapted as a 1979 BBC miniseries), Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy received three Oscar nominations and was nominated for 12 BAFTAs (the British Oscars), winning three.
Bridge of Spies (2015)
Line up all of Tom Hanks’ performances as an everyman with a strong moral compass, and James Donovan in Bridge of Spies is a strong frontrunner for first place. Steven Spielberg’s sophisticated Cold War thriller tells the true story of a Brooklyn lawyer (Hanks) who is assigned to negotiate a hostage exchange with Russia. The rub is that the hostage he must exchange for an American pilot is a convicted Soviet spy whom he defended in court (played by the incredible Mark Rylance, who won the film’s only Oscar).
New Spy Classics
The Tailor of Panama (2001)
Pierce Brosnan doesn’t need an Aston Martin and a suitcase full of gadgets to make a great spy movie. The former Bond is perfectly cast as a disgraced MI6 agent who is reassigned to Panama, where he recruits a well-connected tailor (Geoffrey Rush) to spy on the local government. Little does he suspect that the tailor has secrets of his own, plus a smoking hot wife (Jamie Lee Curtis).
Ronin (1998)
A motley crew of international spies and criminals (including possible ex-CIA agent Robert De Niro) is summoned to Paris by the IRA and assigned to retrieve a briefcase at any cost, without knowing the contents. Director John Frankenheimer’s spare, atmospheric thriller will get your pulse pounding.
La Femme Nikita(1991)
A down-and-out junkie on the run from the law (the mesmerizing Anne Parillaud) is rehabilitated and given a normal life, but there’s a catch: she has to carry out murders-for-hire whenever she gets the call. This early French-language thriller from director Luc Besson is one of his best.
Spy Game (2001)
A retiring CIA veteran (Robert Redford) has 24 hours to save his protégée (Brad Pitt) from execution by the People’s Liberation Army in China–against the government’s wishes–in this slick and clever thriller, which tells the story of the agents’ relationship in flashbacks.
Salt (2010)
Playing a role originally written for Tom Cruise, Angelina Jolie is dynamic as an accused KGB agent fighting to clear her name in this action flick.
Enemy of the State (1998)
Director Tony Scott’s prescient thriller stars Will Smith as a Washington, D.C. lawyer targeted for assassination by the NSA, which uses every technology at its disposal to find him–an illustration of techno-surveillance that was shocking in 1998.
Atomic Blonde(2017)
The dynamite Charlize Theron puts all other action heroes on notice with her performance as MI6 agent Lorraine Broughton in this hyper-violent, Berlin-set thriller. The ten-minute stairwell fight scene will leave you gasping for air.
The Long Kiss Goodnight (1996)
Years before Jason Bourne burst onto the scene, Geena Davis played an amnesiac mom discovering (with the help of Samuel L. Jackson) that she’s actually a government assassin in this character-driven action thriller.
Cult-Favorite Spy Movies
Haywire (2011)
Mixed martial arts fighter Gina Carano gives every male action hero a run for his money in director Steven Soderbergh’s electric 90-minute thriller. Carano plays Mallory Kane, a private intelligence operative hired by governments to do their dirty work–until suddenly, she becomes the target.
Cypher (2002)
An unemployed accountant (Jeremy Northam) decides to go into the espionage business, and gets in way too deep, in this funny, surreal sci-fi thriller co-starring Lucy Liu (also released under the title Company Man).
Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (2002)
This off-kilter spy film is based on the autobiography of 1960s game show host Chuck Barris, who claimed that he had been secretly employed as a CIA assassin. Sam Rockwell plays Barris in George Clooney’s darkly funny directorial debut.
Hanna(2011)
Fifteen-year-old Hanna (Saoirse Ronan) has been raised in isolation by her father (Eric Bana), training for the day she has to defend herself against the mysterious CIA agent (Cate Blanchett) who wants her dead. That day finally arrives in Joe Wright’s fast-paced thriller, which climaxes in a spectacular face-off at an abandoned Berlin amusement park.
Red Sparrow (2018)
Entertaining and sexy though it may be, this Jennifer Lawrence thriller feels a bit like a Netflix miniseries stuffed into a feature-length box. Still, it has some solid twists and real chemistry between leads Lawrence (as a Russian secret agent) and Joel Edgerton (as a CIA operative working in Moscow).
Charlie’s Angels (2019)
A much better spy film than the 2000 McG blockbuster (though we do love that Destiny’s Child song), Elizabeth Banks’ underappreciated franchise reboot is a witty female-power fantasy, featuring the most flat-out fun performance of Kristen Stewart’s career.
New Spy Movies Coming in 2021
No Time to Die
Craig’s fifth (and allegedly final) go-round as 007 will find his suave alter ego coming out of retirement to help rescue a kidnapped scientist (DavidDencik), presumably from big, bad evildoer Lyutsifer Safin—a character that famed Bond producer BarbaraBroccoli has described as a “nasty piece of work” who “really gets under Bond’s skin.” Meanwhile, No Time to Die director CaryJoji Fukunaga (best known for helming the first season of TrueDetective) has described Safin as a “hyper-intelligent and worthy adversary [who ’s] more dangerous than anyone [Bond has] ever encountered.” Even better: Safin is played by Oscar winner RamiMalek, who’s just one piece of a super-stellar cast that also includes both new and returning stars to the franchise, such as Jeffrey Wright, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Ralph Fiennes, Léa Seydoux, Naomie Harris, Ana de Armas, Ben Whishaw and Christoph Waltz. Plus, Bond fans will be introduced to a new 007 in Lashana Lynch, playing the agent who took over Bond’s badge number during his retirement (and thus, in essence, the first Black and female “Bond”). Broccoli has also promised that Craig’s sendoff will come with “an emotionally satisfying conclusion.” No Time to Die will finally debut in U.S. theaters on October 8, 2021.
The King’s Man
Fiennes will also thrill fans later this year in another spy actioner, The King’s Man, which serves as a prequel to the 2014 and 2017 Kingsman flicks that starred Colin Firth. Here’s the story this time around, according to the new film’s logline: “As a collection of history’s worst tyrants and criminal masterminds gather to plot a war to wipe out millions, one man and his protégé must race against time to stop them.” The cast this time around also includes Gemma Arterton, Rhys Ifans, Matthew Goode and DjimonHounsou. Like No Time to Die, The King’s Man has been delayed extensively due to the pandemic, but it’s finally scheduled to hit theaters on December 22, 2021.
Black Widow
ScarJo’s Avengers alter ego is finally getting her own standalone film! Set after the events of Captain America: Civil War, Black Widow finds its title character (a.ka. Natasha Romanoff) in a dark place, as Johansson herself told Entertainment Weekly in 2019. “She’s got no one to call and nowhere to go. She’s really grappling with her own self,” she explained. “When something huge explodes and all the pieces are landing, you have that moment of stillness where you don’t know what to do next — that’s the moment that she’s in. In that moment, you actually have to face yourself.” Fans will also get to meet some new-to-the-MCU characters from BlackWidow’s past, including David Harbour as Aleksei Shostakov (a.k.a. Red Guardian) and Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova. Black Widow is slated to hit theaters soon, on July 9, 2021. Loyal to Bond? We ranked all 24 James Bond movies.
