Spy Game (2001)

User Rating:

6.9/10   

Director:

Tony Scott

Writers (WGA):

Michael Frost Beckner (story)
Michael Frost Beckner (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

21 November 2001 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Crime | Thriller

Tagline:

It's not how you play the game. It's how the game plays you.

Plot:

Retiring CIA agent Nathan Muir recalls his training of Tom Bishop while working against agency politics to free him from his Chinese captors.

Plot Keywords:

CIA | China | Retirement | Prison | Rescue

Awards:

3 nominations

Cast

Robert Redford	...	Nathan D. Muir
Brad Pitt	...	Tom Bishop
Catherine McCormack	...	Elizabeth Hadley
Stephen Dillane	...	Charles Harker
Larry Bryggman	...	Troy Folger
Marianne Jean-Baptiste	...	Gladys Jennip
Matthew Marsh	...	Dr. William Byars
Todd Boyce	...	Robert Aiken
Michael Paul Chan	...	Vincent Vy Ngo
Garrick Hagon	...	CIA Director Cy Wilson
Andrew Grainger	...	Andrew Unger
Bill Buell	...	Fred Kappler
Colin Stinton	...	Henry Pollard
Ted Maynard	...	CIA Administrator
Tom Hodgkins	...	CIA Lobby Guard

Also Known As:

Spy Game - Der finale Countdown (Germany)
Spy game - Jeu d'espions (France)

MPAA:

Rated R for language, some violence and brief sexuality.

Runtime:

126 min | Turkey:114 min (TV version)

Country:

Germany | USA | Japan | France

Language:

English | German | Arabic | French | Cantonese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:14 (Nova Scotia) | Canada:14A (Alberta/British Columbia) | Canada:AA (Ontario) | Canada:PA (Manitoba) | Iceland:12 | South Korea:12 | Brazil:12 | USA:R (certificate #38577) | New Zealand:M | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Finland:K-15 | France:U | Germany:12 | Hong Kong:IIB | Netherlands:16 | Norway:15 | Peru:14 | Philippines:PG-13 | Singapore:PG | Spain:13 | Sweden:15 | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | UK:15

Filming Locations:

Beirut, Lebanon

Company:

Universal Pictures

Trivia:

Dutch Oscar-winning director Mike van Diem was once attached to the project.

Goofs:

Plot holes: China has enough experience with cholera that it would not require foreign aid personnel to help deal with it. In any event, it's highly implausible that a foreigner would be allowed into a Chinese prison without being adequately screened.

Quotes:

Nathan Muir: [talking on the phone to the marines about his plan to get Bishop out of China. The marine commander says he is ready] That’s good. Operation Dinner Out is a go. Repeat, Operation Dinner out is a go.
CIA Administrator: [to the rest of the room] After all this time, he treats his retirement dinner as an CIA operation!

Movie Connections:

Featured in The Making of 'Spy Game' (2001) (V)

Soundtrack:

Siseler

Average moviegoer won't appreciate it

STYLE, SUBSTANCE AND CLASS! Spy Game will blow right over the heads of most audiences and it obviously has. It's an underrated, taut masterpiece that gets everthing right -- the writing, directing, editing, acting is all Oscar caliber. Not to mention it's one hell of an ambitious production. Spy Game is what happens when professionals in the business come together to make an intelligent, masterfully crafted thinking man's actioner that as a viewer you can have complete confidence in while viewing -- that's a rare thing these days in Hollywood. It's a rare gem that reminded me of Clear and Present Danger. Let's hope we see a lot more of this, and a lot LESS of X-Men, Mission Impossible, Rush Hour, Pearl Harbor, Lord of the Rings and other utter boring trash passed off as action fare.