I searched far and wide for lists of best spy movies of all time. Criteria included the movies being ranked, not just listed, and covering all time, not just a decade. The lists were generally created by groups, whether teams or committees or based on general public voting (like Ranker.com).

I was able to find 31 lists. I took the 31 lists and added all their content into a spreadsheet, noting the rank of every film. The total number was almost 1,000 including all the repeats. I experimented with different formulas, trying to balance the value of being ranked high on any list and being included on the most lists. I ended up averaging the rankings each movie got (there were 147 that were on at least 2 lists) and dividing that average by a factor of the number of lists that movie was on. The lowest score meant a high ranking average on many lists. The complete spreadsheet is attached at the bottom.

The movies that were on the most lists (out of 31) were:

  • Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011) – 23 lists
  • The Bourne Identity (2002) – 20 lists
  • North By Northwest (1959) – 19 lists
  • Bridge of Spies (2015) – 19 lists
  • Argo (2012) – 17 lists
  • Mission: Impossible – Fallout (2018) – 16 lists
  • Spy Game (2001) – 16 lists
  • Skyfall (2012) – 14 lists
  • Three Days of the Condor (1973) – 14 lists
  • Munich (2005) – 14 lists
  • The Lives of Others (2006) – 13 lists
  • Casino Royale (2006) – 13 lists
  • Zero Dark Thirty (2012) – 13 lists
  • The Conversation (1974) – 13 lists

Here are links to the lists I used along with dates the lists were created:

Best-Spy-Movies-of-All-TimeDownload

Loading