Mercenaries, Spies and Private Eyes
My favorite movies about soldiers for hire, secret agents, detectives and adventurers. These movies are mostly realistic though there will be some titles that have fantastical elements in it.
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260 titles
- DirectorAndrew V. McLaglenStarsRichard BurtonRoger MooreRichard HarrisA British banker hires a group of British mercenaries to rescue a deposed African President from the hands of a corrupt African dictator.
- DirectorRoman PolanskiStarsJack NicholsonFaye DunawayJohn HustonA private detective hired to expose an adulterer in 1930s Los Angeles finds himself caught up in a web of deceit, corruption, and murder.
- DirectorKathryn BigelowStarsJessica ChastainJoel EdgertonChris PrattA chronicle of the decade-long hunt for al-Qaeda terrorist leader Osama bin Laden after the September 2001 attacks, and his death at the hands of the Navy S.E.A.L.s Team 6 in May 2011.
- DirectorRobert De NiroStarsMatt DamonAngelina JolieRobert De NiroThe tumultuous early history of the Central Intelligence Agency is viewed through the prism of one man's life.
- DirectorJohn FrankenheimerStarsRobert De NiroJean RenoNatascha McElhoneA freelancing former U.S. Intelligence Agent tries to track down a mysterious package that is wanted by the Irish and the Russians.
- DirectorSidney J. FurieStarsMichael CaineNigel GreenGuy DolemanIn London, a wisecracking spy investigates the kidnapping and brainwashing of British scientists while dealing with the constraints of his agency's bureaucracy.
- DirectorTerence YoungStarsSean ConneryUrsula AndressBernard LeeA resourceful British government agent seeks answers in a case involving the disappearance of a colleague and the disruption of the American space program.
- DirectorTomas AlfredsonStarsGary OldmanColin FirthTom HardyIn the bleak days of the Cold War, espionage veteran George Smiley is forced from semi-retirement to uncover a Soviet Agent within MI6.
- DirectorSydney PollackStarsRobert RedfordFaye DunawayCliff RobertsonA bookish CIA researcher in Manhattan finds all his co-workers dead, and must outwit those responsible until he figures out who he can really trust.
- DirectorJohn IrvinStarsChristopher WalkenTom BerengerColin BlakelyMercenary James Shannon, on a reconnaissance job to the African nation of Zangaro, is tortured and deported. He returns to lead a coup.
- DirectorJean-Pierre MelvilleStarsLino VenturaPaul MeurisseJean-Pierre CasselAn account of underground resistance fighters in Nazi-occupied France.
- DirectorWim WendersStarsFrederic ForrestPeter BoyleMarilu HennerFictional account of real-life mystery writer Dashiell Hammett, and his involvement in the investigation of a beautiful Chinese cabaret actress' mysterious disappearance in San Francisco.
- DirectorTerence YoungStarsSean ConneryRobert ShawLotte LenyaJames Bond willingly falls into an assassination plot involving a naive Russian beauty in order to retrieve a Soviet encryption device that was stolen by the organization Spectre.
- DirectorGuy HamiltonStarsMichael CaineOscar HomolkaPaul HubschmidSent to East Berlin to retrieve a Communist defector, British spy Harry Palmer suspects the situation is not what his superiors believe it to be.
- DirectorBob RafelsonStarsJames CaanDina MeyerDavid KeithAn aging Phillip Marlowe gets mixed up with blackmail and murder amongst the elite social set in 1963.
- DirectorMartin RittStarsRichard BurtonOskar WernerClaire BloomInstead of coming in from the Cold War, British agent Alec Leamas chooses to face another mission.
- DirectorStephen GaghanStarsGeorge ClooneyMatt DamonAmanda PeetA politically charged epic about the state of the oil industry in the hands of those personally involved in and affected by it.
- DirectorJohn MaddenStarsHelen MirrenSam WorthingtonTom WilkinsonIn 1965, three Mossad Agents cross into East Berlin to apprehend a notorious Nazi war criminal. Thirty years later, the secrets the Agents share come back to haunt them.
- DirectorAnton CorbijnStarsPhilip Seymour HoffmanRachel McAdamsDaniel BrühlA Chechen Muslim illegally immigrates to Hamburg, where he gets caught in the international war on terror.
- DirectorDoug LimanStarsFranka PotenteMatt DamonChris CooperA man is picked up by a fishing boat, bullet-riddled and suffering from amnesia, before racing to elude assassins and attempting to regain his memory.
- DirectorPaul GreengrassStarsMatt DamonFranka PotenteJoan AllenWhen Jason Bourne is framed for a CIA operation gone awry, he is forced to resume his former life as a trained assassin to survive.
- DirectorPaul GreengrassStarsMatt DamonEdgar RamírezJoan AllenJason Bourne dodges a ruthless C.I.A. official and his Agents from a new assassination program while searching for the origins of his life as a trained killer.
- DirectorTony GilroyStarsJeremy RennerRachel WeiszEdward NortonAn expansion of the universe from Robert Ludlum's novels, centered on a new hero whose stakes have been triggered by the events of the previous three films.
- DirectorLewis GilbertStarsSean ConneryAkiko WakabayashiMie HamaJames Bond and the Japanese Secret Service must find and stop the true culprit of a series of space hijackings, before war is provoked between Russia and the United States.
- DirectorJohn McTiernanStarsSean ConneryAlec BaldwinScott GlennIn November 1984, the Soviet Union's best submarine captain violates orders and heads for the U.S. in a new undetectable sub. The American CIA and military must quickly determine: Is he trying to defect or to start a war?
- DirectorFrancis Ford CoppolaStarsGene HackmanJohn CazaleAllen GarfieldA paranoid, secretive surveillance expert has a crisis of conscience when he suspects that the couple he is spying on will be murdered.
- DirectorSam MendesStarsDaniel CraigJavier BardemNaomie HarrisJames Bond's loyalty to M is tested when her past comes back to haunt her. When MI6 comes under attack, 007 must track down and destroy the threat, no matter how personal the cost.
- DirectorPhillip NoyceStarsHarrison FordWillem DafoeAnne ArcherCIA Analyst Jack Ryan is drawn into an illegal war fought by the US government against a Colombian drug cartel.
- StarsAlec GuinnessMichael JaystonAnthony BateIn the bleak days of the Cold War, espionage veteran George Smiley is forced out of semi-retirement to uncover a Soviet agent within MI6's echelons.
- StarsAlec GuinnessEileen AtkinsBill PatersonThe murder of a Soviet defector forces his old handler, British spymaster George Smiley, out of retirement. His investigation leads to an old nemesis, the Soviet spymaster known only as "Karla". This will be their final dance.
- CreatorRobert W. LenskiStarsTom BowerDavid CanaryMalachy McCourtPrivate eye investigates diamond theft, and becomes involved with an ancient family curse.
- DirectorJames CameronStarsArnold SchwarzeneggerJamie Lee CurtisTom ArnoldA fearless, globe-trotting, terrorist-battling secret agent has his life turned upside down when he discovers his wife might be having an affair with a used-car salesman while terrorists smuggle nuclear war heads into the United States.
- DirectorClive DonnerStarsPeter O'TooleJohn StandingAlastair SimIn 1939 when an English hunter takes aim at Adolf Hitler with a rifle, he is captured, tortured and left for dead. He escapes but his captors pursue him to England.
- DirectorFernando MeirellesStarsRalph FiennesRachel WeiszDanny HustonA widower's transcontinental quest to find answers about his wife's death leads him to explosive secrets.
- DirectorRobert YoungStarsFrank LangellaAlan ArkinKevin SpaceyHow the brilliant Canadian munitions engineer, Dr. Gerald Bull, agreed to build a super-gun for Saddam Hussein in 1988, when the U.S. cut his funding for the experiment, and how it attracted the attention of several intelligence agencies.
- DirectorRidley ScottStarsLeonardo DiCaprioRussell CroweMark StrongA CIA agent on the ground in Jordan hunts down a powerful terrorist leader while being caught between the unclear intentions of his American supervisors and Jordan Intelligence.
- DirectorBrian De PalmaStarsTom CruiseJon VoightEmmanuelle BéartAn American agent, under false suspicion of disloyalty, must discover and expose the real spy without the help of his organization.
- DirectorTerence YoungStarsSean ConneryClaudine AugerAdolfo CeliJames Bond heads to the Bahamas to recover two nuclear warheads stolen by S.P.E.C.T.R.E. Agent Emilio Largo in an international extortion scheme.
- DirectorGuy HamiltonStarsSean ConneryGert FröbeHonor BlackmanWhile investigating a gold magnate's smuggling, James Bond uncovers a plot to contaminate the Fort Knox gold reserve.
- DirectorRichard MarquandStarsDonald SutherlandKate NelliganStephen MacKennaA ruthless German spy, trying to get out of Britain with vital information about D-Day, must spend time with a young woman and her crippled husband.
- DirectorBrad BirdStarsTom CruiseJeremy RennerSimon PeggThe IMF is shut down when it's implicated in the bombing of the Kremlin, causing Ethan Hunt and his new team to go rogue to clear their organization's name.
- DirectorJay RoachStarsMike MyersElizabeth HurleyMichael YorkA world-class playboy and part-time secret agent from the 1960s emerges after thirty years in a cryogenic state to battle with his nemesis Dr. Evil.
- DirectorPierre MorelStarsLiam NeesonMaggie GraceFamke JanssenA retired CIA agent travels across Europe and relies on his old skills to save his estranged daughter, who has been kidnapped while on a trip to Paris.
- DirectorDoug LimanStarsNaomi WattsSean PennSonya DavisonCIA operative Valerie Plame discovers her identity is allegedly leaked by the government as payback for an op-ed article her husband wrote criticizing the Bush administration.
- DirectorJohn SturgesStarsRock HudsonErnest BorgninePatrick McGoohanUSN nuclear sub USS Tigerfish must rush to the North Pole to rescue the staff of Drift Ice Station Zebra weather station.
- DirectorFlorian Henckel von DonnersmarckStarsUlrich MüheMartina GedeckSebastian KochIn 1984 East Berlin, an agent of the secret police conducting surveillance on a writer and his lover finds himself becoming increasingly absorbed by their lives.
- DirectorMorten TyldumStarsBenedict CumberbatchKeira KnightleyMatthew GoodeDuring World War II, the English mathematical genius Alan Turing tries to crack the German Enigma code with help from fellow mathematicians while attempting to come to terms with his troubled private life.
- DirectorSteven SoderberghStarsMatt DamonTony HalePatton OswaltThe U.S. government decides to go after an agro-business giant with a price-fixing accusation, based on the evidence submitted by their star witness, vice president-turned-informant Mark Whitacre.
- DirectorSteven SpielbergStarsEric BanaDaniel CraigMarie-Josée CrozeAfter the Black September capture and massacre of Israeli athletes at the 1972 Olympics, five men are chosen to eliminate the people responsible for that fateful day.
- DirectorPierre MorelStarsSean PennIdris ElbaJasmine TrincaA sniper on a mercenary assassination team kills the minister of mines of the Congo. Terrier's successful kill shot forces him into hiding. Returning to the Congo years later, he becomes the target of a hit squad himself.
- DirectorClint EastwoodStarsClint EastwoodGeorge KennedyVonetta McGeeClassical art professor and collector Dr. Jonathan Hemlock, who doubles as a professional assassin, is coerced out of retirement to avenge the murder of an old friend.
- DirectorJohn MackenzieStarsMichael CainePierce BrosnanNed BeattyJohn Preston is a British Agent with the task of preventing the Russians detonating a nuclear explosion next to an American base in the UK. The Russians are hoping this will shatter the "special relationship" between the two countries.
- DirectorPhil Alden RobinsonStarsBen AffleckMorgan FreemanIan MongrainCIA analyst Jack Ryan must stop the plans of a Neo-Nazi faction that threatens to induce a catastrophic conflict between the United States and Russia's President by detonating a nuclear weapon at a football game in Baltimore, Maryland.
- DirectorMimi LederStarsGeorge ClooneyNicole KidmanMarcel IuresA US Army colonel and a civilian woman supervising him must track down stolen Russian nuclear weapons before they're used by terrorists.
- DirectorPeter R. HuntStarsGeorge LazenbyDiana RiggTelly SavalasBritish agent James Bond goes undercover to pursue the villainous Ernst Stavro Blofeld, who is planning to hold the world to ransom.
- DirectorFred SchepisiStarsSean ConneryMichelle PfeifferRoy ScheiderA British publisher is sent a manuscript detailing Soviet Union nuclear missile capabilities. British Intelligence intercept it and recruit him to investigate the author's editor, a beautiful Russian woman he claims never to have met.
- DirectorClint EastwoodStarsClint EastwoodFreddie JonesDavid HuffmanA pilot is sent into the Soviet Union on a mission to steal a prototype jet fighter that can be partially controlled by a neuralink.
- DirectorJohn BoormanStarsPierce BrosnanGeoffrey RushJamie Lee CurtisA tailor living in Panama reluctantly becomes a spy for a British Agent.
- DirectorKen RussellStarsMichael CaineKarl MaldenEd BegleyBritish spy-turned-detective Harry Palmer stumbles upon an oil tycoon's plot to overthrow Communism using a supercomputer.
- DirectorRobert AldrichStarsRalph MeekerAlbert DekkerPaul StewartA doomed female hitchhiker pulls Mike Hammer into a deadly whirlpool of intrigue, revolving around a mysterious "great whatsit".
- DirectorBrian G. HuttonStarsRichard BurtonClint EastwoodMary UreAllied agents stage a daring raid on a castle where the Nazis are holding American brigadier general George Carnaby prisoner, but that's not all that's really going on.
- DirectorFrank PiersonStarsChristopher JonesPia DegermarkRalph RichardsonFrom the John le Carré novel about a British spy who sends a Polish defector to East Germany to verify missile sites.
- DirectorPaul VerhoevenStarsRutger HauerJeroen KrabbéSusan PenhaligonDuring World War II, Dutch students join the resistance movement against the German occupation of the Netherlands.
- DirectorPaul VerhoevenStarsCarice van HoutenSebastian KochThom HoffmanIn the Nazi-occupied Netherlands during World War II, a Jewish singer infiltrates the regional Gestapo headquarters for the Dutch resistance.
- StarsChris O'DonnellAlfred MolinaMichael KeatonReal-life figures from the Cold War-era mix with a fictional story based on a group of C.I.A. operatives and their counterparts in the K.G.B., MI6, and the Mossad.
- DirectorTony ScottStarsRobert RedfordBrad PittCatherine McCormackRetiring CIA agent Nathan Muir recalls his training of Tom Bishop while working against agency politics to free him from his Chinese captors.
- CreatorAlex GansaHoward GordonStarsClaire DanesMandy PatinkinDamian LewisA bipolar CIA operative becomes convinced a prisoner of war has been turned by al-Qaeda and is planning to carry out a terrorist attack on American soil.
- DirectorChristian CarionStarsGuillaume CanetEmir KusturicaAlexandra Maria LaraThe French intelligence service alerts the U.S. about a Soviet spy operation during the height of the Cold War, which sets off an unfortunate chain of events.
- DirectorSydney PollackStarsRobert RedfordLena OlinAlan ArkinIn 1950s Cuba, a professional gambler falls for a woman heavily involved in the revolution movement.
- DirectorGillo PontecorvoStarsMarlon BrandoEvaristo MárquezRenato SalvatoriIn 1844, a British mercenary helps the revolting slaves of an Antilles island colony gain independence from Portugal, but later returns to hunt down a local rebel leader and former protégé.
- DirectorPaul Thomas AndersonStarsJoaquin PhoenixJosh BrolinOwen WilsonIn 1970, drug-fueled Los Angeles private investigator Larry "Doc" Sportello investigates the disappearance of a former girlfriend.
- DirectorAlan ParkerStarsMickey RourkeRobert De NiroLisa BonetA private investigator is hired by a man who calls himself Louis Cyphre to track down a singer named Johnny Favorite. But the investigation takes an unexpected and somber turn.
- DirectorAlain ResnaisStarsYves MontandIngrid ThulinGeneviève BujoldA middle-aged political activist tries to dissuade his young followers from taking radical action.
- DirectorSam MendesStarsDaniel CraigChristoph WaltzLéa SeydouxA cryptic message from James Bond's past sends him on a trail to uncover the existence of a sinister organisation named SPECTRE. With a new threat dawning, Bond learns the terrible truth about the author of all his pain in his most recent missions.
- DirectorDavid MametStarsVal KilmerDerek LukeWilliam H. MacyThe investigation into a kidnapping of the daughter of a high-ranking US government official.
- DirectorAlan J. PakulaStarsJane FondaDonald SutherlandCharles CioffiA small-town detective searching for a missing man has only one lead: a connection with a New York prostitute.
- DirectorRobert AltmanStarsElliott GouldNina van PallandtSterling HaydenPrivate investigator Philip Marlowe helps a friend out of a jam, but in doing so gets implicated in his wife's murder.
- DirectorAnthony MannLaurence HarveyStarsLaurence HarveyTom CourtenayMia FarrowThe British and Soviet Intelligence services attempt to out-fox one another using the homesick double-agent Krasnevin a.k.a. Alexander Eberlin as a pawn in a complex spy-game which takes place in Berlin.
- DirectorDouglas HickoxStarsJames CoburnSusannah YorkRobert CulpWhen an industrialist's wife and kids are kidnapped by terrorists in Greece, the woman's ex-husband comes to the rescue with a plan involving hang gliders.
- DirectorIan SharpStarsLewis CollinsJudy DavisRichard WidmarkIt's suspected that a peace/anti-nuke organization in UK has some extremists willing to use terrorism. The action will probably be against an embassy in London. The SAS/Special Air Service try to get the organization infiltrated.
- StarsTom HollanderToby StephensRupert Penry-JonesThe true story of a group of Cambridge University Students who are recruited to spy for the Soviet Union in the early 1930s.
- DirectorWladyslaw PasikowskiStarsMarcin DorocinskiMaja OstaszewskaPatrick WilsonThe most spectacular Polish spy of the Cold War era, Colonel Ryszard Kuklinski, informs Americans about the Communist Bloc's top secrets in the face of the upcoming martial law.
- DirectorBen AffleckStarsBen AffleckBryan CranstonJohn GoodmanActing under the cover of a Hollywood producer scouting a location for a science fiction film, a CIA agent launches a dangerous operation to rescue six Americans in Tehran during the U.S. hostage crisis in Iran in 1979.
- DirectorJohn SchlesingerStarsIsabella RosselliniAnthony HopkinsCampbell ScottA British telecommunication expert comes to 1950s Berlin to help the Americans spy on the USSR. He meets a cute, mysterious local woman.
- DirectorChristopher HamptonStarsBob HoskinsPatricia ArquetteGérard DepardieuVerloc lives in London 1886 with a pretty wife and her retarded brother. He's an agent for the Russian embassy. A new ambassador wants more from him than in the past years - something with a bomb. Verloc also informs the police.
- DirectorRobert YoungStarsSam NeillTalisa SotoJames FoxUK black-ops agent is sent to Argentina to find a kidnapped special-ops analyst and take out the terrorists who took him. When a pretty girl who might somehow be involved catches his eye, things get very complicated very quickly.
- DirectorÉric RohmerStarsKaterina DidaskalouSerge RenkoCyrielle ClairFrance, 1936-37. The Popular Front wins elections, the Spanish Civil War begins, and Hitler and Stalin are manipulating and spying. The brilliant exile, Fiodor Voronin, a general at 20, is the deputy at the White Russian Military Union, probably slated to replace the aging Général Dobrinsky soon. Fiodor's Greek wife, Arsinoé, paints and stays away from politics, befriending Communist neighbors. Her health declines; the attentive Fiodor arranges care and, against the backdrop of Stalin's Great Purge, considers his options. He plays a chess game in which love of country, love of Arsinoé, ideology, petty jealousies, and the machinations of power roil in matters of life and death.
- DirectorOle Christian MadsenStarsThure LindhardtMads MikkelsenStine StengadeA drama centered on two fighters in the Holger Danske World War II resistance group.
- DirectorRobert GuédiguianStarsSimon AbkarianVirginie LedoyenRobinson StéveninThe poet Missak Manouchian leads a mixed bag of youngsters and immigrants in a clandestine battle against the Nazi occupation. Twenty-two men and one woman fighting for an ideal and for freedom. News of their daring attacks, including the assassination of an SS general, eventually reaches Berlin.
- DirectorJack CardiffStarsRod TaylorTrevor HowardJill St. JohnColonel Mostyn of the British Intelligence Service suspects there is a leak in his department and hires an American expatriate to eliminate various targets working for the Soviets.
- DirectorJeannot SzwarcStarsMartin SheenSam NeillBrigitte FosseyA C.I.A. Agent tries to infiltrate Soviet intelligence to stop a murderous diabolical plot.
- DirectorDamian HarrisStarsEllen BarkinLaurence FishburneFrank LangellaNelson Crowe is a CIA operative under the thumb of the Company for a disputed delivery of $50,000 in gold. They blackmail him into working for the Grimes Organization, which is set up as a private company for hire, to blackmail prominent individuals. Crowe, working with Margaret Wells (another former Covert Operations operative), blackmails and bribes a State Supreme Court judge, but the deal sours. One of Crowe's co-workers, Tod Stapp, discovers Crowe's current CIA involvement in a plot to overthrow Grimes, and blackmails him to be cut in on the deal. More blackmail occurs as Wells manipulates Crowe to kill Grimes, then the CIA uses that discovery to blackmail Wells into killing Crowe. Who can you trust???
- DirectorPaul GreengrassStarsMatt DamonTommy Lee JonesAlicia VikanderThe CIA's most dangerous former operative is drawn out of hiding to uncover more explosive truths about his past.
- DirectorRoger DonaldsonStarsAl PacinoColin FarrellBridget MoynahanA brilliant young CIA trainee is asked by his mentor to help find a mole in the Agency.
- DirectorOtto PremingerStarsRichard AttenboroughNicol WilliamsonDerek JacobiWhen a leak of information in the African section of British Intelligence is discovered, security man Daintry is brought in to investigate.
- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsCary GrantEva Marie SaintJames MasonA New York City advertising executive goes on the run after being mistaken for a government agent by a group of foreign spies, and falls for a woman whose loyalties he begins to doubt.
- DirectorSteven SpielbergStarsTom HanksMark RylanceAlan AldaDuring the Cold War, an American lawyer is recruited to defend an arrested Soviet spy in court, and then help the CIA facilitate an exchange of the spy for the Soviet captured American U2 spy plane pilot, Francis Gary Powers.
- StarsRay McAnallyRüdiger WeigangAlan HowardThe rise and fall of Magnus Pym and his career through intelligence. From chance meetings with people will be important to him in the future to a life in Czechoslovakia, Pym weaves his way through the complicated world of espionage.
- StarsSam NeillMichael BryantNorman RodwayA dramatization of the missions and adventures of the greatest spy in British history.
- DirectorDaniel NettheimStarsWillem DafoeSam NeillMorgan DaviesMartin, a mercenary, is sent from Europe by a mysterious biotech company to the Tasmanian wilderness on a hunt for the last Tasmanian tiger.