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Movies / On DVD / Spy Game
Spy Game

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Spy Game (2001)

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Reviews Counted:28

Fresh:19

Rotten:9

Average Rating:6.5/10

Consensus: The outcome of the kinetic Spy Game is never in doubt, but it is fun watching Robert Redford and Brad Pitt work.

Rated: R [See Full Rating] for language, some violence and brief sexuality

Runtime: 2 hrs 7 mins

Genre: Dramas

Theatrical Release:Nov 21, 2001 Wide

Box Office: $62,326,785

Synopsis: Robert Redford stars as veteran CIA agent Nathan Muir in this thriller from Tony Scott (TOP GUN, ENEMY OF THE STATE). Set in 1991, Muir expects his last day before retirement to be an easy one.... Robert Redford stars as veteran CIA agent Nathan Muir in this thriller from Tony Scott (TOP GUN, ENEMY OF THE STATE). Set in 1991, Muir expects his last day before retirement to be an easy one. Instead, he finds that his protégé, Tom Bishop (Brad Pitt), is being held on espionage charges in a Chinese prison will be executed in 24 hours. A seasoned agent, Muir has played spy games for a long time and quickly realizes that the CIA may not be acting in Bishop's best interest. Even as an agency committee is grilling Muir, he is secretly working to secure his former charge's freedom. Action-packed flashbacks establish the relationship between the two men: their first meeting during the Vietnam War, Muir's recruitment of Bishop following the war, Bishop's training and early missions in Berlin, and an important operation in Beirut. Similarly, the flashbacks trace the evolution of Bishop from an eager, brand-new agent in 1975 to a disillusioned veteran in the mid-1980s who is at odds with his mentor, Muir. This last layer of conflict adds extra suspense to SPY GAME, as Muir must decide whether to help his old friend or take the easy way out. [More]

Starring: Robert Redford, Brad Pitt, Catherine McCormack, Stephen Dillane

Starring: Robert Redford, Brad Pitt, Catherine McCormack, Stephen Dillane, Larry Bryggman

Director: Tony Scott

Director: Tony Scott
Screenwriter: David Arata, Michael Frost Beckner
Producer: Douglas Wick, Marc Abraham
Composer: Harry Gregson-Williams
Studio: Universal Pictures

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Release:

Aug 16, 2009

[DVD Details]
 
 

DVD Features:

  • Region [unknown]
  • Collectors Edition
 
 
 
 

Reviews for Spy Game

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1 - 20 (sorted by date)
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N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Variety | comment Comment
03/10/09
Todd McCarthy
Todd McCarthy
Variety
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The performances are the biggest asset.

Full Review Source: Minneapolis Star Tribune | comment Comment
11/06/02
Jeff Strickler
Jeff Strickler
Minneapolis Star Tribune
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N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Denver Rocky Mountain News | comment Comment
08/09/02
Robert Denerstein
Robert Denerstein
Denver Rocky Mountain News
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: New Republic | comment Comment
12/26/01
Stanley Kauffmann
Stanley Kauffmann
New Republic
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

I'll admit the main story is implausible, but the flashbacks were spectacular, and the cast is really good here.

Full Review Source: Ebert & Roeper | comment Comment
12/03/01
Richard Roeper
Richard Roeper
Ebert & Roeper
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

It's clever and shows great control of craft, but it doesn't care, and so it's hard for us to care about.

Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times | comment Comment
11/30/01
Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Chicago Sun-Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

A yawn, and the two glamour boys (who, by the way, look awful) are both snoring.

Full Review Source: New York Observer | comment Comment
11/28/01
Rex Reed
Rex Reed
New York Observer
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Happily, beneath the film's nostalgic veneer and tooth-rattling visual and aural effects lies a mature ambiguity that's unusual for a holiday blockbuster.

Full Review Source: Village Voice | comment Comment
11/27/01
Mark Holcomb
Mark Holcomb
Village Voice
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Redford dazzles in his best role in decades.

Full Review Source: San Francisco Chronicle | comment Comment
11/27/01
Edward Guthmann
Edward Guthmann
San Francisco Chronicle
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

It trades in the kinds of shadings and moral quandaries that have been meat and drink to Le Carre.

comment Comment
11/25/01
Jay Carr
Jay Carr
Boston Globe
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Scott films every scene, no matter how routine, as if he's covering the launch of a nuclear missile.

Full Review Source: CNN.com | comment Comment
11/21/01
Paul Tatara
Paul Tatara
CNN.com
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Spy Game is never boring and rarely predictable except in its broad, overall us-versus-them outline.

Full Review Source: Chicago Tribune | comment Comment
11/21/01
Mark Caro
Mark Caro
Chicago Tribune
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

With its cast of back-stabbing functionaries and desk jockeys, Spy Game makes the sport and hard work of espionage seem chillingly real.

Full Review Source: Washington Post | comment Comment
11/21/01
Michael O'Sullivan
Michael O'Sullivan
Washington Post
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

A taut, timely and intelligent thriller with cloak-and-swaggering performances from Robert Redford and Brad Pitt.

Full Review Source: Washington Post | comment Comment
11/21/01
Rita Kempley
Rita Kempley
Washington Post
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

If you can't find a copy of Condor, you can learn everything you probably need to know about espionage by pairing Spy Game with Spy Kids.

Full Review Source: USA Today | comment Comment
11/21/01
Mike Clark
Mike Clark
USA Today
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

A glossy, suffocatingly predictable star vehicle for Robert Redford and Brad Pitt.

Full Review Source: New York Post | comment Comment
11/21/01
Lou Lumenick
Lou Lumenick
New York Post
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Enemies can bury the hatchet; journalists can bury the lead; but who would have thought that a screenwriter could bury the plot.

Full Review Source: Globe and Mail | comment Comment
11/21/01
Rick Groen
Rick Groen
Globe and Mail
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

What Spy Game lacks in bonafide suspense, it more than recoups in the dynamic interaction of its two stars.

Full Review Source: Detroit News | comment Comment
11/21/01
Susan Stark
Susan Stark
Detroit News
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

At times, it just seems like the movie is engaged in a game, itself, to keep us from noticing its faults.

Full Review Source: Denver Post | comment Comment
11/21/01
Steven Rosen
Steven Rosen
Denver Post
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

I spy something bland.

Full Review Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution | comment Comment
11/21/01
Bob Longino
Bob Longino
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
 
 
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Latest News for Spy Game

October 13, 2005: Critical Consensus: "Domino" Topples, "Elizabethtown" Disappoints
This week, the wide releases regale us with tales of beautiful bounty hunters ("Domino"), existential romance ("Elizabethtown"), and masses of deadly... More...

April 28, 2005: Clive Owen to Headline "Children of Men"
"Sin City" do-gooder Clive Owen has recently signed up to star in Alfonso Cuaron's "Children of Men." Based on the novel by P.D. James, the story sounds like... More...

October 31, 2001: With pyrotechnics for the men and two generations of hunks for the women, Spy Game could have universal appeal. Opens in new window
More...

August 20, 2001: Spy Game reunites Pitt with both Redford, who directed him in 1992's A River Runs Through It, and director Scott. Opens in new window
More...

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