Skip to main content
Games Radar
  • Newsarama
  • Total Film
  • Edge
  • Retro Gamer
  • SFX
Total Film The smarter take on movies
Sign in
  • View Profile
  • Sign out
flag of UK
UK
flag of US
US
flag of Canada
Canada
flag of Australia
Australia
  • News
  • Reviews
  • Features
  • More
    • PS5
    • Xbox Series X
    • Nintendo Switch
    • Nintendo Switch 2
    • PC
    • Platforms
    • Tabletop Gaming
    • Comics
    • Toys & Collectibles
    • SFX
    • Newsarama
    • Retro Gamer
    • Newsletters
    • About us
    • Features
Gaming Magazines
Gaming Magazines
Why subscribe?
  • Subscribe from just £3
  • Takes you closer to the games, movies and TV you love
  • Try a single issue or save on a subscription
  • Issues delivered straight to your door or device
From$12
View
Trending
  • Best Netflix Movies
  • Best movies on Disney Plus
  • Movie Release Dates
  • Best Netflix Shows
Recommended reading
Leonardo DiCaprio as Trooper William "Billy" Costigan Jr. undercover and sneaking next to a wall during a scene in The Departed.
Thriller Movies The 25 best thriller movies to send a shiver down your spine
Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning
Mission Impossible Movies The best Mission: Impossible movies ranked, including The Final Reckoning
Jesse Plemons in Game Night
Movies The 32 most underrated movie comedies of all time
Tom Cruise hangs from a plane in Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning
Action Movies Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning review: "Wraps up this spy franchise in spectacular style with Tom Cruise in peak condition, even if its villain lacks terror"
Tom Holland in new Netflix movie The Devil All the Time
Thriller Movies The 25 best Netflix thrillers to watch right now
Harry Potter
Fantasy Movies The best Harry Potter movies ranked from worst to wand-erful
Mission Impossible movies in order: Tom Cruise as Ethan Hunt hanging from a wire during the first Mission Impossible movie.
Mission Impossible Movies How to watch the Mission: Impossible movies in order
  1. Entertainment
  2. Movies

Best & Worst: Movie Spies

Features
By Joshua Winning published 9 July 2010

Super sleuths and their not-so-super colleagues…

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

Best: James Bond

Best: James Bond

Arguably the best of the Bonds (ducks from rock-throwing onslaught), not least because Roger Moore here has to face the metal-mouthed menace that is Jaws. Almost twice his size, we’re sure this is the foe that’s gonna get Bond at last. But 007 turns out to be a little thicker in the neck than Jaws’ last adversary, and a fleet-footed expert in unattainability.

Also, this is the Bond that has the Lotus Esprit sub, and Stromberg’s awesome water-base Atlantis.

Page 1 of 19
Page 1 of 19
Worst: Johnny English

Worst: Johnny English

An obvious send-up of the aforementioned double-o agent, and a wilfully stupid buffoon who makes a meal out of just about every situation he's plonked down into. We can’t get past the fact that Mr. Bean is being shoved down our throats as a Bond-style spy, with Rowan Atkinson doing most of his acting with those slug-like eyebrows. Pure tack.

Page 2 of 19
Page 2 of 19
Best: Jack Ryan

Best: Jack Ryan

Not many men could stand in the Oval House and stare down the president himself. But then, Jack Ryan isn’t just any man. Appointed the Deputy Director of Intelligence (not the same Intelligence found in Team America , rest assured), Ryan fights against illegal drug trading in Columbia, only to find he might be fighting on the wrong side…

Page 3 of 19
Page 3 of 19
Worst: Maxwell Smart

Worst: Maxwell Smart

“Missed it by that much!” winces Agent 86 aka Maxwell Smart, having slammed into a wall in a daredevil bid for freedom by rope-swing. Yup, more spoof antics gone awry, as Steve Carell brings the ‘60s TV serial gurning into the new millennium.

Smart is the name, public humiliation is the game. Possibly the least stealthy spy ever, Smart couldn’t make more of a mess of his operations if he had a fish for a gun and rollerskates for shoes.

Page 4 of 19
Page 4 of 19
Best: Harry Tasker

Best: Harry Tasker

Considering the Austrian Oak’s considerable girth and height, you’d be right to assume he’d stick out like a big Austrian thumb during undercover missions. No worries – Harry’s adept at the art of assimilation, suaving up when necessary, kicking butt if needed.

He also gets the one-liners (“There is no us, you psychopathic bitch!”), mans a Herrier jet, and does away with a naughty terrorist with the rather un-subtle AIM-9 Sidewinder missile.

Page 5 of 19
Page 5 of 19
Worst: John Steed & Emma Peel

Worst: John Steed & Emma Peel

Not even former Bond Sean Connery can give this shallow, vapid update of the original '60s series a touch of class.

To be fair, he doesn’t help as a bloke who seizes control of the weather (um, okay), while Uma Thurman (a year after other car wreck Batman & Robin ) looks fetching in a curve-hugging leather catsuit, but ruins it when she opens her mouth and a plummy British accent spews out. We won’t even start on Ralph Fiennes…

Page 6 of 19
Page 6 of 19
Best: Jason Bourne

Best: Jason Bourne

The man who can make a weapon out of anything exudes cool bravado. First pitching up with no memory, then discovering he has the reflexes of a cat and the deadly mind of an expertly trained assassin, Bourne looks like the boy next door but is actually the guy who killed the box next door in order to set up surveillance of your house.

Turns out Bourne’s a member of Medusa, recruited during Vietnam to root out and kill members of the Viet Cong. Proving just how cool he is, he has a clutch of awesome pseudonyms, including Jean-Pierre, Delta One, Cain, Mr. Cruet and Gilberto de Piento.

Page 7 of 19
Page 7 of 19
Worst: Spencer Aimes

Worst: Spencer Aimes

Are we really expected to believe that Ashton Kutcher has the smarts to be a spy? “Let’s just say I work for the blah blah blah, and they gave me a licence to blah,” says his cerebrally-challenged character, pretty much proving our point for us. And that’s before Katherine Heigl gets in the way and royally messes up his grand spy designs.

Page 8 of 19
Page 8 of 19
Best: Joe The Condor Turner

Best: Joe The Condor Turner

“I’m not a field agent, I just read books!” Sydney Pollack directs Robert Redford (looking for all he’s worth like Brad Pitt, or should that be the other way around?) as the titular Condor. Not that that’s his real name, of course. A CIA employee who scours books for unusual activity, he’s set on a path to conspiracy and intrigue as he’s the only one left alive in his office.

Basically, Condor’s the Bourne of his day, using similar wiles and wit to survive deadly situations (just witness that boiling pan moment). “Do you believe the condor is really an endangered species?” Boo-yah!

Page 9 of 19
Page 9 of 19
Worst: Austin Powers

Worst: Austin Powers

Like Bond, Austin spends more time chasing tail than doing the job he’s paid for. Unlike Bond, Austin only ever really gets the job done by accident, and persists in being an annoying British stereotype replete with bad teeth, dodgy accent and “oh no he di’nt” chest hair.

Obvious Roger Moore nods imbue Austin with a bit of charm, but in the end he’s just another materialistic goof.

Page 10 of 19
Page 10 of 19
Best: Roger Thornhill

Best: Roger Thornhill

Recruited against his will into the USA’s top spy organisation, and then framed for murder, Thornhill is a man on the run, completely clueless as to why he’s running and what exactly from. A reluctant, self-made spy, then.

Though his idea of undercover generally involves shoving on a pair of shades (that’ll fool ‘em Cary!), his gentlemanly charms are generally what gets him through. He’s also not bad with the words… “I've got a job, a secretary, a mother, two ex-wives and several bartenders that depend upon me, and I don't intend to disappoint them all by getting myself slightly killed.”

Page 11 of 19
Page 11 of 19
Worst: Kelly &Alex

Worst: Kelly &Alex

Yet another big, dumb update of a ‘60s TV series (yeah, ‘cos the others were so good), I Spy finds Owen Wilson’s Special Agent Scott paired with Eddie Murphy’s annoying-as-a-human-vuvuzela middleweight boxer. “I’m gonna be 009 and a half,” puns Murphy. We all groan and wish we could turn our brains off.

If that wasn’t bad enough, the plot revolves around an invisible plane (fitting considering X-Men ’s Famke Janssen is involved), as well as awkward and dated ‘comedy’ spins on typical spy scenarios (ceiling suspension etc).

Page 12 of 19
Page 12 of 19
Best: Nikita

Best: Nikita

This is more like it – a girl with a gun. Criminal Nikita (the stunning Anne Parillaud) is recruited into French intelligence to work as a seriously fatal femme fatale. This broad wields weapons while wearing nothing but her knickers – yup, it’s all back to basics here.

In fact, Nikita was so popular she inspired an American remake starring Bridget Fonda ( The Assassin ) as well as two TV series – ‘90s show La Femme Nkita , and brand-new-this-year Nikita , with Maggie Q in the titular role.

Page 13 of 19
Page 13 of 19
Worst: Bob Ho

Worst: Bob Ho

Hurrah! A modern day comedy spy that isn’t an upgrade of a ‘60s television show. But oh – those same tired ceiling-drop gags are still being sent up, this time by Jackie Chan, who really deserves a lot better. Going the well-treaded path of action stars selling out for family friendly fare, Chan’s retired spy must win over his girlfriend’s royally annoying kids before she agrees to marry him.

They’re so annoying in fact that they’re entirely responsible for the slipshod plotting - when one of the nippers downloads a confidential formula on Ho’s computer, a Russian terrorist to make his move on Ho. Tired, dull and criminally devoid of chuckles.

Page 14 of 19
Page 14 of 19
Best: Peter Joshua

Best: Peter Joshua

“Has it occurred to you that I’m having a tough time keeping my hands off you?” Oh Cary Grant, you old dawg. Slippery as a nipple, Peter Joshua has a list of aliases to challenge Bourne’s, and is adept at subterfuge. In reality, he works as an agent of the US Treasury. Which sort of plays second fiddle to his epic romance with Audrey Hepburn.

Page 15 of 19
Page 15 of 19
Worst: Boysie Oakes

Worst: Boysie Oakes

Code-named simply ‘L’ (hmm, we wonder why), Boysie is recruited into the Secret Service after a completely misinterpreted act of bravery during World War II. Not up to the task, Boysie is so rubbish at his new job that he hires a freelance assassin to carry out the dirtier work for him. Worst. Spy. Ever.

Page 16 of 19
Page 16 of 19
Best: US Operative Scott

Best: US Operative Scott

“There is nothing I will not do,” attests Operative Scott. Late-night karaoke sessions and boozy pool parties, then? Nah, he’s more into tracking down scum and making them pay for their crimes and misdemeanours.

He’s a former Marine, see, charged with finding the people responsible for kidnapping the President’s daughter. Can he do it? We’d place our bets on an optimistic/realistic “yuhuh!”

Page 17 of 19
Page 17 of 19
Worst: James Bond

Worst: James Bond

By now, James Bond’s looking a bit dog-tired. His 20th film, and perhaps the deepest low point in the series since A View To Kill . The gags are tired, there’s an invisible car (sigh), and Madonna makes a cameo.

We’re also left feeling even more ‘double-o who?’ when Halle Berry sweeps in and is ten times cooler than Brosnan – and looks much better in a bikini. Oh James, how the mighty fall. But wait, is that Daniel Craig on the horizon?

Page 18 of 19
Page 18 of 19
Best: Harry Caul

Best: Harry Caul

“The best bar none,” say his colleagues. We can’t help but agree with them (even if they’re not referring to his spying abilities). Adept at bugging anybody, anywhere, any time, Caul is trained in the art of listening.

But he has a crisis of faith when he begins to suspect that a couple he has been bugging are on the black list, marked for death. Cue a tale of paranoia and in one of Francis Ford Coppola’s finest works. Best spy bar done? He’s got our vote.

Page 19 of 19
Page 19 of 19
Joshua Winning
Social Links Navigation

Josh Winning has worn a lot of hats over the years. Contributing Editor at Total Film, writer for SFX, and senior film writer at the Radio Times. Josh has also penned a novel about mysteries and monsters, is the co-host of a movie podcast, and has a library of pretty phenomenal stories from visiting some of the biggest TV and film sets in the world. He would also like you to know that he "lives for cat videos..." Don't we all, Josh. Don't we all.  

See more Movies Features
Read more
Leonardo DiCaprio as Trooper William "Billy" Costigan Jr. undercover and sneaking next to a wall during a scene in The Departed.
The 25 best thriller movies to send a shiver down your spine
Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning
The best Mission: Impossible movies ranked, including The Final Reckoning
Jesse Plemons in Game Night
The 32 most underrated movie comedies of all time
Tom Cruise hangs from a plane in Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning
Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning review: "Wraps up this spy franchise in spectacular style with Tom Cruise in peak condition, even if its villain lacks terror"
Tom Holland in new Netflix movie The Devil All the Time
The 25 best Netflix thrillers to watch right now
Harry Potter
The best Harry Potter movies ranked from worst to wand-erful
Latest in Movies
Beast
Superman star confirms he won't be returning as his Marvel X-Men character in Avengers: Doomsday, but is "excited to see" the original Beast back on screen: "It'll be fun to see how they incorporate those characters into that world"
David Corenswet as Superman
DC boss James Gunn says we can expect to see Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman on screen together in the DCU, but not just yet
María Gabriela de Faría as The Engineer
James Gunn's Superman may be setting up The Authority movie with its enigmatic villain The Engineer
The Fantastic Four: First Steps
The Fantastic Four: First Steps gets a puzzling "first look" months after footage was initially released
The Super Mario Bros. Movie
Nintendo and Illumination are "working hard" on Super Mario Bros. Movie 2, with Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto saying the idea for the sequel is an "interesting" one
David Dastmalchian in Ant-Man
New Street Fighter movie continues to rival the '94 flop for unconventional casting choices, adds The Suicide Squad's Polka-Dot Man as eccentric big bad M. Bison
Latest in Features
María Gabriela de Faría as The Engineer
James Gunn's Superman may be setting up The Authority movie with its enigmatic villain The Engineer
Sam sits in a bike looking across at a city in Death Stranding 2: On the Beach
70 hours in, Death Stranding 2 is one of few open world games that justifies having such a huge map
Nintendo Switch 2
I can't use the Switch 2's handheld mode, so I'm hoping a Lite is on the horizon
Guy Gardner, Hawkgirl, and Mister Miracle as the Justice Gang in Superman
The Justice Gang explained - The non-Justice League in James Gunn's Superman may be influenced by team of classic DC supervillains
Team Fortress 2 characters looking at a map
I have 464 games on my Steam wishlist, 23 games in my Steam Summer Sale shopping cart, and I can feel my already overstuffed library giving me the side-eye
Heavy Metal Death Can demo screenshot
I got a nicotine rush and set zombies on fire in this PS1-style survival horror demo, and it's basically Resident Evil on a submarine
  1. Sam fires at the ghost mech squid boss in Death Stranding 2: On the Beach
    1
    Death Stranding 2: On the Beach review: "This tarpunk delivery epic is more Metal Gear Solid than ever, for better and worse"
  2. 2
    Rematch review: "As with Rocket League, the just-one-more-game pull is magnetic"
  3. 3
    Tron: Catalyst review: "Disc slinging is a thrill in this gorgeous rendition of the series, but I'm let down by a time-loop story that falls flat"
  4. 4
    FBC: Firebreak review: "A disappointingly bland multiplayer FPS that's missing far too much of what made Control special"
  5. 5
    Dune: Awakening review: "Both extremely compelling and extraordinarily boring, sometimes at the same time – yet still a true Dune love letter"
  1. A T-rex in Jurassic World Rebirth
    1
    Jurassic World Rebirth Review: "An unscary sequel that needed a little more time in amber"
  2. 2
    M3GAN 2.0 review: "A bold sequel with a slightly underwhelming conclusion"
  3. 3
    28 Years Later Review: "Enough terror, splatter and suspense to satisfy”
  4. 4
    Predator: Killer of Killers review: "Great characters, thrilling action, and gorgeous Arcane-esque animation"
  5. 5
    From the World of John Wick: Ballerina review: "Brilliant action, even if the plot gives you a sense of déjà vu"
  1. Lee Jung-jae as Gi-hun in Squid Game season 3
    1
    Squid Game season 3 review: "A staggeringly excellent final season wraps up one of the greatest Netflix shows ever"
  2. 2
    Ironheart review: "A relic of Marvel's content-at-all-costs era"
  3. 3
    Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 3 review: "The show's most assured run of episodes to date"
  4. 4
    Doctor Who season 2, episode 8 spoiler review: 'The Reality War' is "a mix of the good, the bad, and the truly baffling"
  5. 5
    Doctor Who season 2, episode 7 spoiler review: 'Wish World' is "an exciting and ambitious" start to the season finale, with hints of WandaVision

GamesRadar+ is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site.

  • About Us
  • Contact Future's experts
  • Terms and conditions
  • Privacy policy
  • Cookies policy
  • Advertise with us
  • Review guidelines
  • Write for us
  • Accessibility Statement
  • Careers

© Future US, Inc. Full 7th Floor, 130 West 42nd Street, New York, NY 10036.

Please login or signup to comment

Please wait...