What is the best secret agent movie of all time?

From suave Bond classics and gripping Cold War thrillers to gritty modern assassins and stylized female operatives, spy cinema spans decades of intrigue. Who gets the mission?

1

Goldfinger

Often considered the definitive James Bond film, the 1964 Sean Connery classic set the gold standard for spy cinema.

2

Casino Royale

Daniel Craig's 2006 Bond reboot strips 007 back to basics with raw action, emotional depth, and a thrilling poker showdown.

3

The Bourne Identity

Matt Damon redefined the action spy film in 2002 as amnesiac assassin Jason Bourne, with gritty realism and hand-to-hand combat.

4

Mission: Impossible – Fallout

Tom Cruise delivers jaw-dropping practical stunts in this 2018 peak of the Mission: Impossible franchise.

5

Skyfall

The 50th anniversary Bond film in 2012 — directed by Sam Mendes — is widely considered one of the best in the franchise's history.

6

North by Northwest

Cary Grant is mistaken for a government agent and chased across America by spies in Hitchcock's iconic 1959 thriller.

7

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Gary Oldman delivers a masterful performance as a retired intelligence chief hunting a Soviet mole inside MI6 in this 2011 cold war thriller.

8

Bridge of Spies

Tom Hanks plays a lawyer recruited by the CIA to negotiate the release of U-2 spy plane pilot Francis Gary Powers in this 2015 Spielberg film.

9

Three Days of the Condor

Robert Redford plays a CIA researcher who returns from lunch to find all his colleagues dead in this 1975 Cold War paranoia classic.

10

Atomic Blonde

Charlize Theron stars as a lethal MI6 agent navigating the chaos of the Berlin Wall's fall in this stylized 2017 action thriller.

11

La Femme Nikita

Luc Besson's 1990 French thriller follows a young woman trained as an assassin who struggles to maintain a normal life.

12

Munich

Steven Spielberg's gripping 2005 drama follows the covert Israeli team tasked with hunting down the organizers of the 1972 Olympic massacre.