# What are the best spy films of all time?

> From Cold War paranoia to slick modern action, spy cinema has produced some of the sharpest, most stylish films ever made. Whether you prefer the cerebral or the explosive, the classics or the blockbusters — which one is the ultimate?

*By YPB Team · Published April 8, 2026 · https://youpick.best/ranking/what-are-the-best-spy-films-of-all-time*

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## Current results (no votes yet)

1. **Casino Royale**
   The 2006 reboot starring Daniel Craig as a newly minted 007, reinventing Bond with raw intensity and a gripping poker showdown.
2. **Skyfall**
   Sam Mendes's 2012 Bond film exploring 007's origins, featuring Javier Bardem as one of the franchise's most memorable villains.
3. **The Bourne Identity**
   Matt Damon as Jason Bourne, an amnesiac assassin piecing together his identity while evading CIA pursuit in this 2002 thriller.
4. **Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy**
   Gary Oldman as George Smiley hunting a Soviet mole inside British intelligence in this meticulously crafted 2011 Cold War thriller.
5. **Mission: Impossible**
   Brian De Palma's 1996 thriller starring Tom Cruise as Ethan Hunt on an impossible mission to expose a mole inside the IMF.
6. **GoldenEye**
   Pierce Brosnan's debut as James Bond in 1995, battling a rogue agent wielding a devastating orbital weapon.
7. **Atomic Blonde**
   Charlize Theron as a lethal MI6 agent navigating Cold War Berlin in this 2017 action spy thriller based on a graphic novel.
8. **Bridge of Spies**
   Tom Hanks as lawyer James Donovan negotiating the release of a captured U-2 pilot in Steven Spielberg's 2015 Cold War drama.
9. **North by Northwest**
   Alfred Hitchcock's 1959 masterpiece following Cary Grant as a man mistaken for a government agent pursued across America.

Tags: movies, action, thriller, spy