The Best Spy Movies

What it's about: Cobb, a skilled thief who commits corporate espionage by infiltrating the subconscious of his targets is offered a chance to regain his old life as payment for a task considered to be impossible: "inception", the implantation of another person's idea into a target's subconscious.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (HBO), stream on a popular TV everywhere service (HBO) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Microsoft & 3 others).

What it's about: A tragic love story set in East Berlin with the backdrop of an undercover Stasi controlled culture. Stasi captain Wieler is ordered to follow author Dreyman and plunges deeper and deeper into his life until he reaches the threshold of doubting the system.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Netflix) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 8 services (iTunes, Google Play & 6 others).

What it's about: In Casablanca, Morocco in December 1941, a cynical American expatriate meets a former lover, with unforeseen complications.

Where to Watch: Available to rent or buy from $2.99 on 7 services (iTunes, Google Play & 5 others).

What it's about: Le Chiffre, a banker to the world's terrorists, is scheduled to participate in a high-stakes poker game in Montenegro, where he intends to use his winnings to establish his financial grip on the terrorist market. M sends Bond—on his maiden mission as a 00 Agent—to attend this game and prevent Le Chiffre from winning. With the help of Vesper Lynd and Felix Leiter, Bond enters the most important poker game in his already dangerous career.

Where to Watch: Available to rent or buy from $2.99 on 7 services (iTunes, Google Play & 5 others).

What it's about: Advertising man Roger Thornhill is mistaken for a spy, triggering a deadly cross-country chase.

Where to Watch: Available to rent or buy from $2.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: When Bond's latest assignment goes gravely wrong and agents around the world are exposed, MI6 is attacked forcing M to relocate the agency. These events cause her authority and position to be challenged by Gareth Mallory, the new Chairman of the Intelligence and Security Committee. With MI6 now compromised from both inside and out, M is left with one ally she can trust: Bond. 007 takes to the shadows - aided only by field agent, Eve - following a trail to the mysterious Silva, whose lethal and hidden motives have yet to reveal themselves.

Where to Watch: Available to rent or buy from $2.99 on 8 services (iTunes, Google Play & 6 others).

What it's about: The story of a super-secret spy organization that recruits an unrefined but promising street kid into the agency's ultra-competitive training program just as a global threat emerges from a twisted tech genius.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular TV everywhere service (FX) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Prime Video & 4 others).

What it's about: Ethan and team take on their most impossible mission yet—eradicating 'The Syndicate', an International and highly-skilled rogue organisation committed to destroying the IMF.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular TV everywhere service (FX & Epix) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 9 services (iTunes, Google Play & 7 others).

What it's about: Special agent 007 comes face to face with one of the most notorious villains of all time, and now he must outwit and outgun the powerful tycoon to prevent him from cashing in on a devious scheme to raid Fort Knox -- and obliterate the world's economy.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video & Starz), stream on a popular TV everywhere service (Starz & Epix) & rent or buy from $13.99 on 7 services (iTunes, Google Play & 5 others).

What it's about: During the Cold War, the Soviet Union captures U.S. pilot Francis Gary Powers after shooting down his U-2 spy plane. Sentenced to 10 years in prison, Powers' only hope is New York lawyer James Donovan, recruited by a CIA operative to negotiate his release. Donovan boards a plane to Berlin, hoping to win the young man's freedom through a prisoner exchange. If all goes well, the Russians would get Rudolf Abel, the convicted spy who Donovan defended in court.

Where to Watch: Available to rent or buy from $2.99 on 7 services (iTunes, Google Play & 5 others).

What it's about: Ethan Hunt and his team are racing against time to track down a dangerous terrorist named Hendricks, who has gained access to Russian nuclear launch codes and is planning a strike on the United States. An attempt to stop him ends in an explosion causing severe destruction to the Kremlin and the IMF to be implicated in the bombing, forcing the President to disavow them. No longer being aided by the government, Ethan and his team chase Hendricks around the globe, although they might still be too late to stop a disaster.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular TV everywhere service (FX) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 9 services (iTunes, Google Play & 7 others).

What it's about: A 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. Team 6 in May, 2011.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular TV everywhere service (IFC) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 7 services (iTunes, Google Play & 5 others).

What it's about: A private detective takes on a case that involves him with three eccentric criminals, a gorgeous liar, and their quest for a priceless statuette.

Where to Watch: Available to rent or buy from $1.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: A private eye investigates the apparent suicide of a fading porn star in 1970s Los Angeles and uncovers a conspiracy.

Where to Watch: Available to rent or buy from $3.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Microsoft & 3 others).

What it's about: A desk-bound CIA analyst volunteers to go undercover to infiltrate the world of a deadly arms dealer, and prevent diabolical global disaster.

Where to Watch: Available to rent or buy from $2.99 on 7 services (iTunes, Google Play & 5 others).

What it's about: In the film that launched the James Bond saga, Agent 007 battles mysterious Dr. No, a scientific genius bent on destroying the U.S. space program. As the countdown to disaster begins, Bond must go to Jamaica, where he encounters beautiful Honey Ryder, to confront a megalomaniacal villain in his massive island headquarters.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Starz), stream on a popular TV everywhere service (Starz & Epix) & rent or buy from $13.99 on 7 services (iTunes, Google Play & 5 others).

What it's about: Agent 007 is back in the second installment of the James Bond series, this time battling a secret crime organization known as SPECTRE. Russians Rosa Klebb and Kronsteen are out to snatch a decoding device known as the Lektor, using the ravishing Tatiana to lure Bond into helping them. Bond willingly travels to meet Tatiana in Istanbul, where he must rely on his wits to escape with his life in a series of deadly encounters with the enemy

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Starz & CBS All Access), stream on a popular TV everywhere service (Starz & Epix) & rent or buy from $13.99 on 7 services (iTunes, Google Play & 5 others).

What it's about: Tells the true story of a 60 Minutes television series exposé of the tobacco industry, as seen through the eyes of a real tobacco executive, Jeffrey Wigand.

Where to Watch: Available to rent or buy from $2.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: During America’s Civil War Union spies steal engineer Johnnie Gray's beloved locomotive The General - his lady love, Annabelle Lee, aboard an attached boxcar - and he single-handedly must do all in his power to both get The General back and to rescue Annabelle. Released throughout most of the world in 1927, this Silent comedy-action film flopped when originally released, but now is regarded as one of the great American motion pictures. The story is based on actual historic events.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (PopcornFlix & SnagFilms), stream on a subscription service (Fandor), stream on a popular TV everywhere service (Epix) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 1 service (Vudu).

What it's about: A martial artist agrees to spy on a reclusive crime lord using his invitation to a tournament there as cover.

Where to Watch: Available to rent or buy from $2.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: When an IMF mission ends badly, the world is faced with dire consequences. As Ethan Hunt takes it upon himself to fulfill his original briefing, the CIA begin to question his loyalty and his motives. The IMF team find themselves in a race against time, hunted by assassins while trying to prevent a global catastrophe.

Where to Watch: Available to rent or buy from $0.99 on 8 services (iTunes, Google Play & 6 others).

What it's about: At the height of the Cold War, a mysterious criminal organization plans to use nuclear weapons and technology to upset the fragile balance of power between the United States and Soviet Union. CIA agent Napoleon Solo and KGB agent Illya Kuryakin are forced to put aside their hostilities and work together to stop the evildoers in their tracks. The duo's only lead is the daughter of a missing German scientist, whom they must find soon to prevent a global catastrophe.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular TV everywhere service (TBS) & rent or buy from $2.49 on 5 services (iTunes, Microsoft & 3 others).

What it's about: Veteran Secret Service agent Frank Horrigan is a man haunted by his failure to save President Kennedy while serving protection detail in Dallas. Thirty years later, a man calling himself "Booth" threatens the life of the current President, forcing Horrigan to come back to protection detail to confront the ghosts from his past.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Sony Crackle) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Prime Video & 3 others).

What it's about: When Ethan Hunt, the leader of a crack espionage team whose perilous operation has gone awry with no explanation, discovers that a mole has penetrated the CIA, he's surprised to learn that he's the No. 1 suspect. To clear his name, Hunt now must ferret out the real double agent and, in the process, even the score.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular TV everywhere service (Epix) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 9 services (iTunes, Google Play, Prime Video & 6 others). Coming soon to Prime Video on May 30th, 2019 (PDT).

What it's about: During the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich, eleven Israeli athletes are taken hostage and murdered by a Palestinian terrorist group known as Black September. In retaliation, the Israeli government recruits a group of Mossad agents to track down and execute those responsible for the attack.

Where to Watch: Available to rent or buy from $2.99 on 7 services (iTunes, Google Play & 5 others).

What it's about: Rufus T. Firefly is named president/dictator of bankrupt Freedonia and declares war on neighboring Sylvania over the love of wealthy Mrs. Teasdale.

Where to Watch: Available to rent or buy from $2.99 on 7 services (iTunes, Google Play & 5 others).

What it's about: Harry Tasker is a secret agent for the United States Government. For years, he has kept his job from his wife, but is forced to reveal his identity and try to stop nuclear terrorists when he and his wife are kidnapped by them.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a subscription service (Cinemax) & stream on a popular TV everywhere service (Cinemax).

What it's about: When his peaceful life is threatened by a high-tech assassin, former black-ops agent, Frank Moses reassembles his old team in a last ditch effort to survive and uncover his assailants.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a subscription service (IndieFlix) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: It's a dreary Christmas 1944 for the American POWs in Stalag 17. For the men in Barracks 4, all sergeants, have to deal with a grave problem - there seems to be a security leak. The Germans always seem to be forewarned about escapes and in the most recent attempt the two men, Manfredi and Johnson, walked straight into a trap and were killed. For some in Barracks 4, especially the loud-mouthed Duke, the leaker is obvious: J.J. Sefton, a wheeler-dealer who doesn't hesitate to trade with the guards and who has acquired goods and privileges that no other prisoner seems to have. Sefton denies giving the Germans any information and makes it quite clear that he has no intention of ever trying to escape. He plans to ride out the war in what little comfort he can arrange, but it doesn't extend to spying for the Germans.

Where to Watch: Available to rent or buy from $2.99 on 7 services (iTunes, Google Play & 5 others).

What it's about: An undercover MI6 agent is sent to Berlin during the Cold War to investigate the murder of a fellow agent and recover a missing list of double agents.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a subscription service (Cinemax), stream on a popular TV everywhere service (Cinemax) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 8 services (iTunes, Google Play & 6 others).

What it's about: A graduate student and obsessive runner in New York is drawn into a mysterious plot involving his brother, a member of the secretive Division.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi TV), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video), stream on a popular TV everywhere service (Epix) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 7 services (iTunes, Google Play & 5 others).

What it's about: A criminal organization has obtained two nuclear bombs and are asking for a 100 million pound ransom in the form of diamonds in seven days or they will use the weapons. The secret service sends James Bond to the Bahamas to once again save the world.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Starz & CBS All Access), stream on a popular TV everywhere service (Starz & Epix) & rent or buy from $13.99 on 7 services (iTunes, Google Play & 5 others).

What it's about: Poetic journey through the shards and shadows of one boy's war-ravaged youth.

Where to Watch: Available to rent or buy from $2.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: Russian and British submarines with nuclear missiles on board both vanish from sight without a trace. England and Russia both blame each other as James Bond tries to solve the riddle of the disappearing ships. But the KGB also has an agent on the case.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video & Starz), stream on a popular TV everywhere service (Starz & Epix) & rent or buy from $13.99 on 7 services (iTunes, Google Play & 5 others).

What it's about: A cryptic message from Bond’s past sends him on a trail to uncover a sinister organization. While M battles political forces to keep the secret service alive, Bond peels back the layers of deceit to reveal the terrible truth behind SPECTRE.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular TV everywhere service (FX & Epix) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 8 services (iTunes, Google Play & 6 others).

What it's about: In the bleak days of the Cold War, espionage veteran George Smiley is forced from semi-retirement to uncover a Soviet mole within his former colleagues at the heart of MI6.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Starz), stream on a popular TV everywhere service (Starz) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 8 services (iTunes, Google Play & 6 others).

What it's about: An Indian spy is married to a Pakistani military officer during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 2 services (iTunes & Google Play).

What it's about: It has been twenty years since Don Diego de la Vega fought Spanish oppression in Alta California as the legendary romantic hero, Zorro. Having escaped from prison he transforms troubled bandit Alejandro into his successor, in order to foil the plans of the tyrannical Don Rafael Montero who robbed him of his freedom, his wife and his precious daughter.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Sony Crackle) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 7 services (iTunes, Google Play & 5 others).

What it's about: Popular and dashing American singer Nick Rivers travels to East Germany to perform in a music festival. When he loses his heart to the gorgeous Hillary Flammond, he finds himself caught up in an underground resistance movement. Rivers joins forces with Agent Cedric and Flammond to attempt the rescue of her father, Dr. Paul, from the Germans, who have captured the scientist in hopes of coercing him into building a new naval mine.

Where to Watch: Available to rent or buy from $2.99 on 7 services (iTunes, Google Play & 5 others).

What it's about: When an attack on the Kingsman headquarters takes place and a new villain rises, Eggsy and Merlin are forced to work together with the American agency known as the Statesman to save the world.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a subscription service (Cinemax), stream on a popular TV everywhere service (Cinemax) & rent or buy from $14.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Prime Video & 4 others).

What it's about: When diabolical genius, Dr. Evil travels back in time to steal superspy Austin Powers's ‘mojo’, Austin must return to the swingin' '60s himself – with the help of American agent, Felicity Shagwell – to stop the dastardly plan. Once there, Austin faces off against Dr. Evil's army of minions and saves the world in his own unbelievably groovy way.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Netflix) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: After he reunites with an old pal through Facebook, a mild-mannered accountant is lured into the world of international espionage.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular TV everywhere service (TBS & TNT) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Microsoft & 3 others).

What it's about: A mysterious space craft kidnaps a Russian and American space capsule and brings the world on the verge of another World War. James Bond investigates the case in Japan and meets with his archenemy Blofeld. The fifth film from the legendary James Bond series starring Sean Connery as the British super agent.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video & Starz), stream on a popular TV everywhere service (Starz & Epix) & rent or buy from $13.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: CIA Analyst Jack Ryan is drawn into an illegal war fought by the US government against a Colombian drug cartel.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Starz), stream on a popular TV everywhere service (Starz & Epix) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 8 services (iTunes, Google Play & 6 others).

What it's about: In 1942, an intelligence officer in North Africa encounters a female French Resistance fighter on a deadly mission behind enemy lines. When they reunite in London, their relationship is tested by the pressures of war.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video), stream on a popular TV everywhere service (Epix) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 9 services (iTunes, Google Play & 7 others).

What it's about: On the day of his retirement, a veteran CIA agent learns that his former protégé has been arrested in China, is sentenced to die the next morning in Beijing, and that the CIA is considering letting that happen to avoid an international scandal.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Starz), stream on a popular TV everywhere service (Starz) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 8 services (iTunes, Google Play & 6 others).

What it's about: Quantum of Solace continues the adventures of James Bond after Casino Royale. Betrayed by Vesper, the woman he loved, 007 fights the urge to make his latest mission personal. Pursuing his determination to uncover the truth, Bond and M interrogate Mr. White, who reveals that the organization that blackmailed Vesper is far more complex and dangerous than anyone had imagined.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Showtime), stream on a popular TV everywhere service (Showtime) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: Russian terrorists conspire to hijack the aircraft with the president and his family on board. The commander in chief finds himself facing an impossible predicament: give in to the terrorists and sacrifice his family, or risk everything to uphold his principles - and the integrity of the nation.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Vudu) & rent or buy from $2.49 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).