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Movies / On DVD / Spy Game
Spy Game

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Spy Game (2001)

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Reviews Counted:129

Fresh:83

Rotten:46

Average Rating:6.2/10

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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81 - 100 (sorted by date)
Text View | |< << 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 >> >|
Arrange By:Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
 
 

Scott ... can’t figure out how to overcome the awkwardness of the flashback device and get any real dramatic momentum going.

Full Review Source: Boxoffice Magazine | comment Comment
11/22/01
Michael Tunison
Michael Tunison
Boxoffice Magazine

So well put together that its substantial gaps in plausibility don’t cause grievous harm.

Full Review Source: Apollo Guide | comment Comment
11/22/01
Brian Webster
Brian Webster
Apollo Guide

Watching [Redford] so winningly wrap himself around an interesting role made me feel as if he'd never left his peak leading-man stature of more than a generation ago.

Full Review Source: Kansas City Star | comment Comment
11/22/01
Brian McTavish
Brian McTavish
Kansas City Star

An energetic but immature espionage caper, one that hurtles forward with the inelegant enthusiasm of a kindergartner playing dress-up in his father's best suit.

Full Review Source: Orlando Weekly | comment Comment
11/22/01
Steve Schneider
Steve Schneider
Orlando Weekly

Robert Redford gives perhaps the slyest performance of his career, projecting both the piss and vinegar of Butch Cassidy and the stoicism of the Sundance Kid.

Full Review Source: NUVO Newsweekly | comment Comment
11/21/01
Edward Johnson-Ott
Edward Johnson-Ott
NUVO Newsweekly

If you dig on spy films, I don't see any reason why you wouldn't thoroughly enjoy this movie.

Full Review Source: JoBlo's Movie Emporium | comment Comment
11/21/01
JoBlo
JoBlo
JoBlo's Movie Emporium

Even within the limits of its fictional spy 'game' sensibility, it is depressingly unthoughtful.

Full Review Source: Philadelphia City Paper | comment Comment
11/21/01
Cynthia Fuchs
Cynthia Fuchs
Philadelphia City Paper

"Spy Game" might have worked better if it didn't try to straddle the line between war and peace like an inept double agent.

Full Review Source: Lawrence Journal-World | comment Comment
11/21/01
Dan Lybarger
Dan Lybarger
Lawrence Journal-World

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

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

Director Tony Scott got the tone, atmosphere, and grime of the story right.

Full Review Source: FilmsInReview.com | comment Comment
11/21/01
Victoria Alexander
Victoria Alexander
FilmsInReview.com

This is dazzling, first-rate Hollywood popcorn fluff. It thinks it's got more substance than it actually does, but Redford’s performance is like one big wink: he's in on the joke, too.

Full Review Source: Flick Filosopher | comment Comment
11/21/01
MaryAnn Johanson
MaryAnn Johanson
Flick Filosopher

Make no mistake: This will never be mistaken as a CIA recruiting film.

Full Review Source: Fresno Bee | comment Comment
11/21/01
Donald Munro
Donald Munro
Fresno Bee

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

As silly as a Roger Moore James Bond flick.

Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide | comment Comment
11/21/01
Frank Lovece
Frank Lovece
TV Guide's Movie Guide

Scott, who's made numerous big-star action movies, brings some unexpected humor and elegance to this otherwise predictable film.

Full Review Source: Seattle Times | comment Comment
11/21/01
Moira MacDonald
Moira MacDonald
Seattle Times

What Redford gets away with is putting over a convoluted and occasionally implausible story with his wit and charm.

Full Review Source: Salt Lake Tribune | comment Comment
11/21/01
Sean Means
Sean Means
Salt Lake Tribune

A fairly decent effort with enough engaging spy-related developments and occasionally crackling dialogue to make it a fairly enjoyable entry in the genre.

Full Review Source: Screen It! | comment Comment
11/21/01
Jim Judy
Jim Judy
Screen It!
 
 
81 - 100 (sorted by date)
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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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