cold war spy movies

Reznik

So I was at a super interesting talk at a security conference the other day, and it was a guy from the Canadian Forces talking about... well, basically spy tech. Project GUNMAN and the kind of stuff that evolved from that. It was fascinating as hell, so now in addition to researching the real deal, I would like to watch some movies on the subject.

I've already seen Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. It was good. I'd like something closer to that, and less James Bond.

Bonus points if it's on Netflix.

xraydog

Spies Like Us? :P That's a silly movie but really funny!

Try looking through this list and see if there's anything you like

http://www.imdb.com/search/keyword?keywords=cold-war,spy&sort=moviemeter,asc&mode=advanced&page=1&ref_=kw_ref_key

bsjezz

i think internet archive has a copy of the spy who came in from the cold, which is a profoundly good book (though i haven't seen the film version). it's another lecarre story though and i believe has at least one crossover character from tinker, tailor, soldier, spy.

BlindZenDriver

I'd start by watching "The Third Man", it's in way pre cold war but very much worth a watch. From there take a look at what you can find written by Federick Forsythe and for something entertaining that is more cold war than spy stuff there is of course Dr. Strangelove.

The Third Man

Zavian

bsjezz wrote: »

i think internet archive has a copy of the spy who came in from the cold, which is a profoundly good book (though i haven't seen the film version). it's another lecarre story though and i believe has at least one crossover character from tinker, tailor, soldier, spy.

The Spy Who Came In From The Cold is a very good film and is available from Criterion on DVD

Nocren

Not sure if it's still on Netflix, but I watched the first season of Mission Impossible and it was pretty good, showing the planning and preparation that went into certain things and how undercover operatives had to be quick to think on their feet and be aware of their surroundings. Thinks like delivery of a coded message through a normal conversation that's being monitored and being caught in a lie or wrong place while undercover.

It's kinda quaint nowadays though and if you've seen A-team or Burn Notice you'll recognize a lot of the similar plot points.

Something a bit more modern that I enjoyed was Breech, about the CIA mole from 2001. Guy was such a good double-agent that he was leading the task force to find the leak he was causing.

Zavian

Also, Kiss Me Deadly is very good and available on DVD by Criterion, although it's more of a Cold War Noir Detective Thriller than Spy Thriller. The original Manchurian Candidate is good as well.

V1m

Reznik wrote: »

So I was at a super interesting talk at a security conference the other day, and it was a guy from the Canadian Forces talking about... well, basically spy tech. Project GUNMAN and the kind of stuff that evolved from that. It was fascinating as hell, so now in addition to researching the real deal, I would like to watch some movies on the subject.

I've already seen Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. It was good. I'd like something closer to that, and less James Bond.

Bonus points if it's on Netflix.

Len Deighton wrote some extremely excellent cold war spy novels, a few of which were turned into films: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Len_Deighton

The Harry Palmer books are a bit more James Bondy than Le Carre's, but still hugely less James Bondy than the Bond books: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Palmer

The Bernard Samson books are closer to le Carre's work and are also some of my favourite books ever. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernard_Samson

They really are good. Game Set & Match was turned into a TV series but it's bloody hard to get hold of, it took me a couple of years to hunt down a decent set for my dad.

Akilae

For another Le Carre adaptation, The Russia House. I also want to say Spy Game.