Movies You Have Not Seen But Should: Spy Games

Redford. Pitt. Burgett. This week’s MYHNSBS!

Spy Game

Welcome back to “Movies You Have Not Have Seen….But You Should”. This week’s installment looks at the 2001 drama Spy Game. This film features two heavyweight actors in Robert Redford and Brad Pitt.

The setting for the film takes place in the year 1991. C.I.A. agent Tom Bishop (played by Pitt) has been captured in China while trying to rescue a woman named Elizabeth Hadley (played by Cathering McCormack, who has also starred in such films as Braveheart and 28 Weeks Later) from a prison outside of Shanghai. Bishop went in on his own and without the clearance of the U.S. Government. He is tortured and is given 24 hours before he is to be executed unless the government claims him. Because he was working without the knowledge of the Agency & the fact that the U.S. was working on a trade agreement & did not want to upset the negotiations, the Agency was willing to bury the story of Bishop. However, an old friend at the Agency named Nathan Muir (played by Redford) finds out about Bishop & works behind the scenes to spring his old friend by using every trick in the book.

The film has drama, suspense, intrigue as well as action. There is an interesting dynamic between Redford and Pitt. Throughout most of the film, they are on different sides of the world. The only time the two actors share the screen together is in flashbacks. But the friendship between the two characters is what drives the narrative of the story. It’s their friendship that makes Redford’s character do all it can to save Pitt’s character.

It was directed by the late Tony Scott, who is also known for such huge films as Top Gun, Days of Thunder, Crimson Tide & Enemy of the State. Interesting fact: Spy Game also has a connection to the Star Wars saga. That connection is actor Garrick Hagon. Hagon, who plays CIA Director Cy Wilson in Spy Game, is best known for his role as Biggs Darklighter in Star Wars IV: A New Hope.

Spy Game is available on Blu-Ray, DVD & streaming on Amazon Prime Instant. This is a good film to check out if you’re in the mood for a good spy thriller or if you’re a fan of Brad Pitt or Robert Redford. From beginning to end it’ll have you caught up in the action. It’s one you may not have seen, but you should.