Best Non-James Bond Films?
November 21, 2023 4:25 PM Subscribe
Hi all, I am a fan of the James Bond series--specifically Connery, Moore, and Dalton, the best. Are there any similar non-James Bond films that kind of have an identical feel? I love Hitchcock's film North By Northwest (1959), which has a James Bond tone. Are there any other films from the 1960s to 1990s that are similar?
A couple of 60s Paul Newman films come to mind, Torn Curtain & the The Prize.
posted by juv3nal at 5:11 PM on November 21, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by juv3nal at 5:11 PM on November 21, 2023 [1 favorite]
Here's a list of 1960s Spy/Espionage/Cold War films from IMDB. I suspect a lot of these will check the boxes.
posted by VirginiaPlain at 5:16 PM on November 21, 2023
posted by VirginiaPlain at 5:16 PM on November 21, 2023
While not a “spy thriller” per se (more a British Crime drama), Layer Cake is said to be the movie that won Daniel Craig the Bond role.
Ok you said older. There’s a slough of movies based on Alistair McClain books that might fit like Guns of Navaronne.
The Eiger Sanction, Manchurian Candidate (the original) also come to mind.
posted by bitdamaged at 5:19 PM on November 21, 2023 [1 favorite]
Ok you said older. There’s a slough of movies based on Alistair McClain books that might fit like Guns of Navaronne.
The Eiger Sanction, Manchurian Candidate (the original) also come to mind.
posted by bitdamaged at 5:19 PM on November 21, 2023 [1 favorite]
Even though The Night Manager is a series, not a film, and in the present day, not the 90s, I'm going to suggest it, because
* Tom Hiddleston has Bond levels of charisma
* The locations are extremely Bond-film-esque
* Overall despite being Le Carre, and supposedly Anti-Bond as a result, it still has a lot of Classic Bond in its DNA, quips aside.
posted by Jon Mitchell at 5:40 PM on November 21, 2023 [6 favorites]
* Tom Hiddleston has Bond levels of charisma
* The locations are extremely Bond-film-esque
* Overall despite being Le Carre, and supposedly Anti-Bond as a result, it still has a lot of Classic Bond in its DNA, quips aside.
posted by Jon Mitchell at 5:40 PM on November 21, 2023 [6 favorites]
The Thomas Crown Affair (1999) was, I think, Pierce Brosnan’s kiss-off to the Bond franchise. I haven’t seen the 1968 Steve McQueen film of which Brosnan’s is a remake, but it’s probably worth watching that one first.
posted by Pallas Athena at 5:46 PM on November 21, 2023 [5 favorites]
posted by Pallas Athena at 5:46 PM on November 21, 2023 [5 favorites]
They're not really my cup of tea but certainly the film's based on Robert Ludlum's "Jason Bourne" character found a huge audience and seem like a deliberate attempt to build an espionage franchise to rival Bond.
posted by Nerd of the North at 5:51 PM on November 21, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by Nerd of the North at 5:51 PM on November 21, 2023 [2 favorites]
Also, I'm going to throw in a curveball recommendation.. 1980's "Hopscotch" is a small gem of a film about a competent and experienced retiring spy running rings around the social-climbing supervisor who is pushing him out of the profession. Very definitely a comedy and it plays differently than the Bond films but makes a great mirror in which to consider them, and is just a fun watch to boot.
Slightly dated but only slightly - it has held up much better than a lot of films from that era.
posted by Nerd of the North at 6:00 PM on November 21, 2023 [6 favorites]
Slightly dated but only slightly - it has held up much better than a lot of films from that era.
posted by Nerd of the North at 6:00 PM on November 21, 2023 [6 favorites]
A bit earlier, but if you love North by Northwest (one of my absolute favorites!), you might also love Notorious, also by Hitchcock. Cary Grant, Ingrid Bergman, Claude Rains, espionage, romance, exotic locale?
posted by mochapickle at 6:02 PM on November 21, 2023 [4 favorites]
posted by mochapickle at 6:02 PM on November 21, 2023 [4 favorites]
Response by poster: @mochapickle Notorious is a brilliant and well crafted film—Hitchcock is my favourite hence my username!
posted by RearWindow at 6:05 PM on November 21, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by RearWindow at 6:05 PM on November 21, 2023 [2 favorites]
Bart and Jenna at cinema60 have had several Bootleg Bond episodes. I'm personally not that much a fan, but you can find them with a search like this.
posted by morspin at 6:09 PM on November 21, 2023
posted by morspin at 6:09 PM on November 21, 2023
Jumping on the Alistair MacLean bandwagon, Where Eagles Dare is superb. It features some remarkable segments with cablecars.
posted by Alensin at 6:13 PM on November 21, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by Alensin at 6:13 PM on November 21, 2023 [2 favorites]
I was thinking of parody Our Man Flint (and maybe Dr Goldfoot). Hey, a Wikipedia List of Bond parodies. Which also reminds me of those French OSS 117 films, which have good retro-art direction.
posted by ovvl at 6:58 PM on November 21, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by ovvl at 6:58 PM on November 21, 2023 [2 favorites]
Austin Powers? :)
posted by jozxyqk at 7:01 PM on November 21, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by jozxyqk at 7:01 PM on November 21, 2023 [1 favorite]
Charade with Cary Grant, Audrey Hepburn, Walter Matthau is a fun Hitchcock-like spy caper. Lots of twists.
posted by philip-random at 7:51 PM on November 21, 2023 [5 favorites]
posted by philip-random at 7:51 PM on November 21, 2023 [5 favorites]
Best answer: Hitchcock's Foreign Correspondent is about a hard-boiled reporter working to bust open a spy ring.
posted by SPrintF at 7:58 PM on November 21, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by SPrintF at 7:58 PM on November 21, 2023 [1 favorite]
To Catch a Thief
These are a little more Modern that you were looking for, but:
The Mission Impossible movies
The Kingsman
Sneakers (less over-to-top set pieces, but pretty good as a film)
The Man from U.N.C.L.E
Bullet Train
posted by willnot at 8:01 PM on November 21, 2023 [1 favorite]
These are a little more Modern that you were looking for, but:
The Mission Impossible movies
The Kingsman
Sneakers (less over-to-top set pieces, but pretty good as a film)
The Man from U.N.C.L.E
Bullet Train
posted by willnot at 8:01 PM on November 21, 2023 [1 favorite]
The Gene Hackman/Anne Archer movie Narrow Margin (1990) is about a deputy D.A. who is transporting a witness to a murder by train, and wouldn't you know it, hitmen are on the same train.
I though Spielberg's Munich (2005) fit the bill; it was set in the 1970s and is about the Mossad covert hit-squad targeting the 11 members of the Black September terror group.
posted by Sunburnt at 8:28 PM on November 21, 2023
I though Spielberg's Munich (2005) fit the bill; it was set in the 1970s and is about the Mossad covert hit-squad targeting the 11 members of the Black September terror group.
posted by Sunburnt at 8:28 PM on November 21, 2023
Barry Nelson, the original screen James Bond, only appeared once in the role in 1954's live television adaptation of Casino Royale. It features Peter Lorre as the villain Le Chiffre and can currently be seen on YouTube.
posted by fairmettle at 9:48 PM on November 21, 2023
posted by fairmettle at 9:48 PM on November 21, 2023
I made a Fanfare post about "A very secret service" - which is nominally a French Bond pastiche - but has its own charm.
The Sandbaggers was a UK TV series which is often recommended by those asking what a realistic Bond would be like.
posted by rongorongo at 11:32 PM on November 21, 2023 [4 favorites]
The Sandbaggers was a UK TV series which is often recommended by those asking what a realistic Bond would be like.
posted by rongorongo at 11:32 PM on November 21, 2023 [4 favorites]
True Lies has a lot of the same feel to me
posted by crocomancer at 11:41 PM on November 21, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by crocomancer at 11:41 PM on November 21, 2023 [1 favorite]
If animated works for you, the original Lupin animes are specifically based on Bond (much more so than the current French tv series mentioned by another commenter). They’re more on the lighthearted, spoof end of things, but closer to the original Bond films/less of a spoof than the Austin Powers films.
posted by eviemath at 3:37 AM on November 22, 2023
posted by eviemath at 3:37 AM on November 22, 2023
The Saint. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Saint_(Simon_Templar)#In_film
posted by starfishprime at 3:56 AM on November 22, 2023 [3 favorites]
posted by starfishprime at 3:56 AM on November 22, 2023 [3 favorites]
Roger Moore’s role in North Sea Hijack was supposed to be an attempt to get out of Bond and the Saint-style roles, but I’ve always mentally filed it in the same category of films.
posted by greycap at 4:21 AM on November 22, 2023
posted by greycap at 4:21 AM on November 22, 2023
Not a film, but Danger Man is as close as you can get ... to the point that Ian Flemming helped create the show. It's fun and quippy, but can be surprisingly sober and adult. A pleasure to watch! (Also, you know that song, Secret Agent Man? It's the theme song for American release of Danger Man ...)
Naturally, the extraordinary quasi-sequel The Prisoner must also be mentioned, and cannot be recommended too highly.
posted by Mournful Bagel Song at 4:44 AM on November 22, 2023 [2 favorites]
Naturally, the extraordinary quasi-sequel The Prisoner must also be mentioned, and cannot be recommended too highly.
posted by Mournful Bagel Song at 4:44 AM on November 22, 2023 [2 favorites]
I just watched Deadlier Than the Male (1967) and Some Girls Do (1969) and they were pretty good, reminiscent of Connery era Bond. It's been years since I've seen them, but the Dean Martin spy movies from the 60s were good cheesy fun in a Roger Moore kind of way. Danger: Diabolik (1968) is a lot of fun.
Honestly, it seems like there are endless spy films in the 1960s, lots of material for a deep dive.
posted by jabah at 5:37 AM on November 22, 2023
Honestly, it seems like there are endless spy films in the 1960s, lots of material for a deep dive.
posted by jabah at 5:37 AM on November 22, 2023
If you want your ex-spy heroes to be rough and clearly not indestructible: ITC's Man in a Suitcase. Richard Bradford's McGill regularly gets the shit kicked out of him, but perseveres despite the odds. He isn't suave, he's got a grudge.
It was created to follow on from Danger Man when McGoohan decamped to make The Prisoner. It's extremely violent: amazing that it was allowed on UK television in the 1960s.
posted by scruss at 1:21 PM on November 22, 2023 [2 favorites]
It was created to follow on from Danger Man when McGoohan decamped to make The Prisoner. It's extremely violent: amazing that it was allowed on UK television in the 1960s.
posted by scruss at 1:21 PM on November 22, 2023 [2 favorites]
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is worth checking out if you want Ian Flemming’s writing but Roald Dahl’s screenplay and some great tunes. Kids film but the glamorous locations, beautiful women and one of Flemming’s best baddies, are all there.
posted by rongorongo at 2:57 PM on November 22, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by rongorongo at 2:57 PM on November 22, 2023 [2 favorites]
My suggestion is problematic and it really pisses me off because this was a great series: I Spy (1965, 3 seasons). It was groundbreaking at the time, the two stars had great chemistry, and it was filmed on locations all over the world, not on a Hollywood backlot. The storylines reflected Cold War era geo-politics and did not always have a tidy ending.
posted by TWinbrook8 at 3:54 PM on November 22, 2023
posted by TWinbrook8 at 3:54 PM on November 22, 2023
Response by poster: @rongorongo I own the Blu-ray disc—one of my favourite musical's of all time! I love the beach scenes.
posted by RearWindow at 6:11 PM on November 22, 2023
posted by RearWindow at 6:11 PM on November 22, 2023
The Pink Panther Strikes Again
posted by abraxasaxarba at 11:17 PM on November 23, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by abraxasaxarba at 11:17 PM on November 23, 2023 [1 favorite]
German series Kleo is about an East German specialist agent around the time the Berlin Wall came down. Lots of action, international travel and clever plotlines.
Other Hitchcock films: Maybe The Man Who Knew Too Much?
Talking of this - and of The Prisoner - but otherwise O/T - the story of Inverlair Lodge might interest you. It is where WW2 agents who... basically knew too much ... were sent lest what they knew be leaked. It was documented, in lightly anonymized form, in the The Cooler by George Markstein - and served as a template for the idea of the village in The Prisoner which was co-conceived by Markstein.
posted by rongorongo at 3:47 AM on November 24, 2023 [1 favorite]
Other Hitchcock films: Maybe The Man Who Knew Too Much?
Talking of this - and of The Prisoner - but otherwise O/T - the story of Inverlair Lodge might interest you. It is where WW2 agents who... basically knew too much ... were sent lest what they knew be leaked. It was documented, in lightly anonymized form, in the The Cooler by George Markstein - and served as a template for the idea of the village in The Prisoner which was co-conceived by Markstein.
posted by rongorongo at 3:47 AM on November 24, 2023 [1 favorite]
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posted by AndrewInDC at 4:34 PM on November 21, 2023 [6 favorites]