Spy Movie Rankings - Best Films Based on 50 Rankings

Scene from Alfred Hitchcock's North by Northwest (1959), top ranked spy movie

Welcome to our Reel Fives pre-launch movie rankings for the best spy movies of all time. Our Reel Fives team has found over 50 published ranked lists of the best spy movies published online. Our aggregated rankings contain the top 74 spy movies. For each ranked list of top movies for the spy movie genre we have taken the top five ranked spy films. The rankings on top spy movies are included at the bottom of this post and include rankings created by movie experts as well as rankings from polling sites, such as ranker.com.

Spy movies take the viewer on a journey through a mission. Whether the mission succeeds or fails becomes the plot. Suspense with a dose of comedy are two prominent elements of a great spy movie. Consider Burn After Reading (2008), two average lives become entangled with CIA spies leading the viewer on a hilarious journey of blackmail. Some spy movies, such as the James Bond and Bourne films, are more serious and less relatable. Those films offer exhilaration and take the viewer across the globe to beat the villain. Not all spy movies are alike, but what they all share is a desire to thrill the viewers—and the good ones do just that through suspense and/or humor.

The James Bond films define the spy movie genre and dominate our list because they tell an extraordinary story and exhilarate the audience. Each era has its own James Bond. From Sean Connery to Daniel Craig, James Bond has always managed to make saving the world attractive. James Bond always has a suit, gun, and a martini on hand along with a beautiful woman by his side. Bond films have a classic formula that has been tweaked to perfection and in this way, Bond could also be a sub-genre of the spy movie genre. The stories build on each other, yet they can also stand alone. We expect James Bond to continue to have a strong presence in the spy movie genre for years to come.

The rankings were fair and paid homage to the classics and there were no real surprises, with the number one being North by Northwest (1959). The newer films that made the list, such as The Bourne Ultimatum (2007) and The Bourne Identity (2002), did not drift too far from the classics in terms of the techniques in the films. In most of the films, there is conflict, followed by a plan that almost works, then another smaller conflict, and concludes with hero winning. We would like to see how Spectre (2015) ranks, as it gives women a more prominent role. Most spy films are filled with strong male spies, but with the diversification of Hollywood, will spy movies also become more diverse and if so, how will they stack up? The answers to these questions will impact the future rankings of spy movies.  

 

Top 74 Movies based on 52 published rankings
Percent of online top fives movie included in shown
1 . North by Northwest (1959): 34.6%
2 . Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011): 30.7%
3 . The Bourne Ultimatum (2007): 26.9%
4 . The Bourne Identity (2002): 25%
5 . The Spy Who came in from the Cold (1965): 21.1%
6 (tied). Three Days of The Condor (1975): 19.2%
6 (tied). Notorious (1946): 19.2%
8 . Casino Royale (2006): 17.3%
9 (tied). The Ipcress File (1965): 15.3%
9 (tied). From Russia with Love (1963): 15.3%
11 (tied). Goldfinger (1964): 13.4%
11 (tied). The 39 Steps (1935): 13.4%
11 (tied). Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol (2011): 13.4%
11 (tied). Mission: Impossible (1996): 13.4%
15 . Argo (2012): 11.5%
16 (tied). Munich (2005): 9.61%
16 (tied). The Lives of Others (2006): 9.61%
16 (tied). The Bourne Supremacy (2004): 9.61%
16 (tied). The Manchurian Candidate (1962): 9.61%
20 (tied). The Third Man (1949): 7.69%
20 (tied). Spy Game (2001): 7.69%
20 (tied). True Lies (1994): 7.69%
20 (tied). Dr. No (1962): 7.69%
20 (tied). No Way Out  (1987): 7.69%
25 (tied). Body of Lies (2008): 5.76%
25 (tied). Zero Dark Thirty (2012): 5.76%
25 (tied). Skyfall (2012): 5.76%
25 (tied). The Spy who Loved me (1977): 5.76%
25 (tied). Kingsman: The Secret Service (2014): 5.76%
30 (tied). Patriot Games (1992): 3.84%
30 (tied). Spies Like Us (1985): 3.84%
30 (tied). Knight and Day (2010): 3.84%
30 (tied). Golden Eye (1995): 3.84%
30 (tied). The Lady Vanishes (1938): 3.84%
30 (tied). Eye of The Needle (1978): 3.84%
30 (tied). Ronin (1998): 3.84%
30 (tied). Mr. and Mrs. Smith (2005): 3.84%
30 (tied). The Good Shepherd (2006): 3.84%
30 (tied). Confessions of a dangerous mind (2002): 3.84%
40 (tied). The Quiller Memorandum (1966): 1.92%
40 (tied). Taken (2009): 1.92%
40 (tied). Die Another Day (2002): 1.92%
40 (tied). Burn After Reading (2008): 1.92%
40 (tied). Postmortem (1990): 1.92%
40 (tied). The Fourth Protocol (1987): 1.92%
40 (tied). Present Danger (1994): 1.92%
40 (tied). Enemy of the State (1998): 1.92%
40 (tied). Colonel Redl (1985): 1.92%
40 (tied). Enigma (2001): 1.92%
40 (tied). Where Eagles Dare (1968): 1.92%
40 (tied). Funeral in Berlin (1966): 1.92%
40 (tied). The Bourne Legacy (2012): 1.92%
40 (tied). 13 Rue Madeleine (1947): 1.92%
40 (tied). Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997): 1.92%
40 (tied). Five Graves to Cairo (1943): 1.92%
40 (tied). Quantam of Solace (2008): 1.92%
40 (tied). The Day of The Jackal (1973): 1.92%
40 (tied). Our Man in Havana (1959): 1.92%
40 (tied). Mask of Dimitros (1944): 1.92%
40 (tied). Spy Kids (2001): 1.92%
40 (tied). Green Zone (2010): 1.92%
40 (tied). Charlie Wilson's War (2007): 1.92%
40 (tied). Contraband (1940): 1.92%
40 (tied). The Man who knew too much (1934): 1.92%
40 (tied). Spies (1928): 1.92%
40 (tied). Army of Shadows (2006): 1.92%
40 (tied). Fair Game (2010): 1.92%
40 (tied). Rogue Male (1939): 1.92%
40 (tied). You only Live Twice (1967): 1.92%
40 (tied). Red (2010): 1.92%
40 (tied). Marathon Man (1976): 1.92%
40 (tied). The Debt (2010): 1.92%
40 (tied). Sneakers (1992): 1.92%
74 . The Tailor of Panama (2001): 0%
Online Spy Movie Ranking Sources
Allerton Ave	List of top 7 (link)
allmovie	List of top 268 (link)
AMC	List of top 10 (link)
AMC	List of top 10 (link)
az central	List of top 10 (link)
before the bombs fall	List of top 10 (link)
Bloody Murder	List of top 20 (link)
COED	List of top 7 (link)
Culture Fly	List of top 10 (link)
Daily Mail	List of top 10 (link)
Daily News	List of top 10 (link)
Droids youre looking for	List of top 7 (link)
Entertainment Monthly	List of top 9 (link)
Esquire	List of top 10 (link)
Fandango	List of top 10 (link)
film racket	List of top 10 (link)
film school wtf	List of top 70 (link)
Flick Chart	List of top 50 (link)
Flick Chart	List of top 604 (link)
i make news	List of top 5 (link)
imdb	List of top 100 (link)
imdb	List of top 30 (link)
io9	List of top 10 (link)
Letterboxd	List of top 100 (link)
Listal	List of top 17 (link)
Made Man	List of top 10 (link)
Movie Mail	List of top 10 (link)
Movies Review 101	List of top 5 (link)
next movie	List of top 5 (link)
No perfect Movie	List of top 10 (link)
omg story	List of top 5 (link)
paperblog	List of top 5 (link)
Porcupine Sundae	List of top 5 (link)
PR Buzz	List of top 10 (link)
Radass	List of top 27 (link)
Ranker	List of top 125 (link)
Rankopedia	List of top 25 (link)
Reelz	List of top 10 (link)
Screen Junkies	List of top 10 (link)
Screen Picks	List of top 125 (link)
Share Ranks	List of top 23 (link)
Showbiz Junkies	List of top 10 (link)
Spy Maniac	List of top 10 (link)
Taste Of Cinema	List of top 25 (link)
The Film Stage	List of top 10 (link)
The Hollywood Reporter	List of top 5 (link)
The xx committee	List of top 5 (link)
thomasrye	List of top 10 (link)
Top10HQ	List of top 10 (link)
Watch Mojo	List of top 10 (link)
Youtube	List of top 10 (link)
Youtube	List of top 10 (link)
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