The best spy film of all time according to spies themselves

Express ^ | Sun, Aug 10, 2025 | Maria Leticia Gomes

[bleach]

The Worricker Trilogy.
https://www.milkpublicity.com/projects/the-worricker-trilogy/

[FateAmenableToChange]

Also unfortunately Robert Redford, but really well done, and more modern, “Sneakers” was actually really good too as a quasi-spy movie.

I think it might also be the line of Jason Asano’s belief in “He Who Fights With Monsters” that numbers don’t behave like numbers when they get too large. But that’s a niche of literature geekiness.

[ptsal]

Bkmk

[GingisK]

...and the two of us are Wergans. ;-D

[virgil]

I have this movie in my collection somewhere. Watched it once, but not very memorable. I liked Tinker, Tailor, the movie and both tv series by BBC. I enjoyed The Night Manager too. I didn’t like John Le Carre’s resentment towards Americans though.

[George from New England]

Bump

[E. Pluribus Unum]

One of my favorites as well.

Max Von Sydow was perfect for his role.

[JZelle]

I know a little German.

[dfwgator]

There is sauerkraut in my lederhosen.

[dennisw]

Thanks...will get this.

[dennisw]

Cool and worth doing!

[Carry_Okie]

My fave is The President’s Analyst.

[chud]

I saw an interview with an old British intelligence agent (can't remember his name) and he said that his favorite spy film was The Ipcress File (Michael Caine, 1965).
He said he liked the film because it was the opposite of James Bond.

[nicollo]

I met a retired British spy who was stationed at Instanbul. He said that the best potrayal of CIA agents was in the Bond films’ character Felix Leiter — sticking out like a sore thumb.

[nwrep]

Agreed. What an ending.

[SuperLuminal]

Ditto!

[xp38]

One of the all time great movies.

[dfwgator]

The ending chokes me up everytime. Never has been a movie where you hate a character in the beginning and then feel so much for them at the end.

[DesertRhino]

Probably third place behind the lives of others and the best of all, the spy who came in from the cold. Both show how filthy that business actually is.

[DesertRhino]

You can’t ask spies. They will pick the one that’s most flattering to them, and flattering can mean oh woe is me, and look at the heavy burden we must carry for you. They will always pick self-aggrandizement.