Spy: 166

In Mission: Impossible II (2000), a thrilling spy movie directed by John Woo, Tom Cruise takes on the roles of both producer and star. Here, bio-genetics scientist Dr. Vladimir Nekhorvich reaches out to the IMF agency to warn his old friend Dimitri (Ethan Hunt) about his employer’s nefarious plans. Biocyte Pharmaceuticals has coerced him into creating a biological weapon for their own financial gain. Desperate to stop them, Nekhorvich injects himself with the Chimera virus and carries its antidote, Bellerophon, in a bag. However, things take a dangerous turn when ...

Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999), directed by Jay Roach, is an American spy comedy film. Its title is a witty nod to the James Bond classic, The Spy Who Loved Me (1977). In the film, Austin Powers, a time-displaced British spy from the 1960s, is on his honeymoon with his wife Vanessa Kensington when she is revealed to be a fembot controlled by Dr. Evil. Following her explosive demise, Austin realizes he is once again a free agent and can indulge in casual affairs. Meanwhile, NATO observes Dr. Evil’s comeback from space and his reunion with his estranged son Scott, who later appears on ...

The spy film, The World Is Not Enough (1999), is the nineteenth installment in the James Bond series by Eon Productions. It features Pierce Brosnan as the iconic MI6 agent, James Bond, and is directed by Michael Apted. In Bilbao, Bond meets with Swiss banker Lachaise to retrieve funds for British oil tycoon Sir Robert King at the request of M. While attempting to extract information from Lachaise about an MI6 agent’s assassin, Bond is interrupted by his murder. He manages to escape with the money. At MI6 headquarters in London, it is discovered that the ...

Ronin (1998) is a American action thriller film directed by John Frankenheimer. At a bistro in Montmartre, IRA operative Deirdre meets with two Americans, Sam and Larry, a Frenchman named Vincent, an Englishman called Spence, and a German named Gregor. The group is comprised of ex-government agents or former military members now working as mercenaries. Deirdre assigns them with the mission to steal a mysterious metallic briefcase from a heavily guarded convoy. Before carrying out the main mission, they must first acquire weapons, but this proves to be a trap. Despite surviving the setup and obtaining the weapons, Sam ...

The film Enemy of the State (1998), directed by Tony Scott, follows Senior NSA Assistant Director Thomas Reynolds as he meets with Congressman Phil Hammersley in a public park. The two discuss a controversial counterterrorism bill that would greatly increase surveillance powers of American intelligence agencies over individuals and groups. However, Hammersley remains steadfast in his opposition to the bill, arguing that the potential benefits are not worth sacrificing the privacy rights of ordinary citizens. On the other hand, Reynolds is determined to see the bill passed in order to secure a long-awaited promotion. He ...

The American sci-fi action comedy film, Men in Black (1997), is based on Lowell Cunningham’s comic book series and a popular conspiracy theory. At the Mexico–United States border, two men dressed in black suits known as Agent K and Agent D, intervene in a border patrol operation. They apprehend an extraterrestrial disguised as a human named Mikey who was attempting to cross the border. When Mikey attacks one of the patrol officers, K is forced to shoot him and use their memory-erasing device to cover up the incident as an underground gas pipeline explosion. With D choosing retirement due to his age, he asks K to ...

Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997) is an American spy comedy film directed by Jay Roach. In 1967, British spy Austin Powers saves the day by stopping an assassination attempt by his archenemy, Dr. Evil, at a London nightclub. Following the incident, Dr. Evil flees to space and freezes himself cryogenically. To ensure that he is ready in case of a future threat from Dr. Evil, Austin willingly goes into cryostasis himself. Three decades later, Dr. Evil returns to find that his henchman Number 2 has turned Virtucon, the front for his empire, into a highly profitable business venture. However, instead of ...

Based on the French film Nikita by Luc Besson, La Femme Nikita (1997–2001) (literally ‘The Woman Nikita’; called Nikita in Canada), is a Canadian action-drama television series. Co-produced by Jay Firestone of Fireworks Entertainment and Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution, it was adapted for television by Joel Surnow. The show premiered on the USA Network cable channel on January 13, 1997, and had a successful five season run until March 4, 2001. It also aired on the CTV Television ...

Tomorrow Never Dies (1997), a spy film and the eighteenth in the James Bond series produced by Eon Productions, stars Pierce Brosnan as fictional MI6 agent James Bond. Directed by Roger Spottiswoode and written by Bruce Feirstein, the film follows Bond as he is sent into the field by MI6 to investigate a terrorist arms bazaar on the Russian border. Despite M’s insistence on allowing Bond to complete his reconnaissance mission, Royal Navy Admiral Roebuck takes matters into his own hands and orders the frigate ...

The Secret Agent (1996), a British drama-thriller film written and directed by Christopher Hampton, is set in London during the late 19th century. This bustling city serves as a refuge for various political exiles, including refugees, partisans, and anarchists. One such exile is Verloc, who earns his living as a spy for the Russian government. In addition to this role, he also provides information to Chief Inspector Heat of the London police force. However, when the new Russian ambassador challenges Verloc to prove his loyalty or lose his salary, he sets in motion a tragic series of events involving his alluring wife ...

Mission: Impossible (1996) is a film that falls into the action genre. It was directed by Brian De Palma and features Tom Cruise, who also produced and starred in the film. The screenplay was written by David Koepp and Robert Towne with a story by Koepp and Steven Zaillian. During their time in Kyiv, Jim Phelps and his new IMF team are sent to Prague on a mission to prevent rogue ...

Get Smart (1995), an American sitcom sequel to the original 1965–1970 NBC/CBS show starring Don Adams and Barbara Feldon as Maxwell Smart and Agent 99, aired on Fox for seven episodes from January to February 1995. In this installment, Max and 99 are joined by their son Zach, who is a newly-minted spy, and his partner Agent 66. With Max as Chief of Control and 99 as a Congresswoman overseeing Control’s budget, they must work together to prevent KAOS from taking over the world. Maxwell Smart, the head of CONTROL, works alongside ...

GoldenEye (1995) is the seventeenth installment in the James Bond franchise brought to you by Eon Productions. Starring Pierce Brosnan as MI6 agent James Bond and directed by Martin Campbell, this film strays from utilizing any story elements from Ian Fleming’s novels. In 1986, Bond and his fellow MI6 agent Alec Trevelyan infiltrate a Soviet chemical weapons facility known as Arkangel. After a failed mission and Trevelyan’s apparent death at the hands of Colonel Arkady Grigorovich Ourumov, Bond destroys ...

The action thriller film Clear and Present Danger (1994), directed by Phillip Noyce, is based on Tom Clancy’s novel of the same name. The plot centers around a United States Coast Guard vessel in the Caribbean Sea, which discovers an American yacht with evidence that its owner and passengers – businessman Peter Hardin and his family – were killed by the Colombian crew on board. CIA analyst Jack Ryan uncovers that Hardin was involved in money laundering for the notorious Cali Cartel in South America. It is revealed that drug lord Ernesto Escobedo ordered ...

James Cameron’s True Lies (1994) is an action-packed comedy following the double life of Harry Tasker. Unknown to his family, he carries out top-secret missions for the U.S. counterterrorism agency Omega Sector while pretending to be a traveling software salesman. Along with fellow agents Albert ‘Gib’ Gibson and Faisil, Harry attends a high-class party in Switzerland hosted by billionaire Jamal Khaled, where he encounters art dealer Juno Skinner. Unbeknownst to Harry, she is working for terrorist group ‘Crimson Jihad’, specifically their leader Salim Abu Aziz. Pretending to be interested in ...

Point of No Return (1993) is an American action film directed by John Badham. In Washington, D.C., Maggie Hayward is a drug addict convicted of murdering a police officer during a robbery shootout, and is about to face lethal injection. However, her demise is faked and she instead receives a proposition from ‘Bob’, a spy. Reluctantly agreeing to cooperate, she undergoes extensive training including martial arts, firearms, etiquette, and computer use under the guidance of Senior Operative Amanda. Through this training, Maggie transforms into a refined and elegant woman. At dinner with Bob, she learns about ...

Patriot Games (1992), an American action thriller film directed by Phillip Noyce and based on Tom Clancy’s novel of the same name, follows Jack Ryan. He is a former CIA analyst who now teaches history at the United States Naval Academy. While in London with his physician wife, Cathy, and young daughter Sally, Ryan witnesses and intervenes in a terrorist kidnapping attempt on Lord William Holmes. He is wounded but manages to disarm one terrorist and fatally shoot two others before subduing Sean Miller. The attack was carried out by a radical IRA splinter cell led by ...

A Murder of Quality (1991) was directed by Gavin Millar and written by John le Carré. Based on his 1962 novel of the same name, the film first aired on ITV in the UK on April 10th and later in the US on A&E network on October 13th. In this crime drama, George Smiley is summoned by his former colleague Ailsa Brimley to look into the murder of Stella Rode. Brimley had received a letter from Rode outlining a supposed plot by her husband Stanley, a teacher at Carne School, to kill her. As Smiley delves deeper into the case, he uncovers buried secrets, including one involving Terence Fielding, a house master at Carne who was being ...

The Hunt for Red October (1990), directed by John McTierna, is an American spy thriller based on Tom Clancy’s bestselling novel of the same name. This action-packed film follows protagonist Jack Ryan in his first adventure. In November 1984, Soviet submarine captain Marko Ramius takes command of Red October, a state-of-the-art Typhoon-class ballistic missile sub equipped with an undetectable ‘caterpillar drive’. As part of a training exercise, Ramius sets out to sea with former student Captain Tupolev aboard the Alfa-class attack sub V. K. Konovalov. ...

Luc Besson wrote and directed the French-language action thriller film La Femme Nikita (1990). The movie follows the story of Nikita, a teenage junkie with a nihilistic outlook. One night, she takes part in a robbery at her friend’s parents’ pharmacy which turns into a shootout with the police. Tragically, her partners-in-crime are killed and she is left suffering from withdrawal symptoms. Desperate, she ends up killing a police officer. As a result, Nikita is convicted of murder and given a life sentence in prison. However, government officials have another plan for her. Faking her death, they extract her ...