Spies will never go out of style in movies and TV shows. Case in point: the beloved 1960s spy TV series The Man From U.N.C.L.E. has been remade into a Guy Ritchie movie starring Henry Cavill and Armie Hammer opening in theaters this Friday.
The Man From U.N.C.L.E. isn't even the only espionage-filled film to hit theaters lately. Spy, the hit secret agent spoof starring Melissa McCarthy, helped kick off the summer movie season in June. The fifth movie in the Mission: Impossible franchise, subtitled Rogue Nation, recently opened in theaters. The latest James Bond movie, Spectre, will hit theaters on Nov. 6, 2015.
Spies have taken over our TV screens too, with FX's The Americans as one of the most critically-acclaimed series on the small screen right now. Person of Interest, a procedural about a thought-to-be-dead former CIA agent and a genius billionaire who team up to solve crimes before they happen using a special kind of surveillance program, will return mid-season for its fifth season on CBS.
None of this is really all that surprising. You've probably fantasized about being someone like James Bond or Sydney Bristow at least once in your life, and it's easy to see the appeal. Spy movies and TV shows are incredibly glamorous, filled with beautiful men and women, mind-blowing gadgets and death-defying action. Of course, most of us will never don disguises or use shoe phones to covertly take down bad guys or even drink a Vesper Martini as suavely as Bond, James Bond.
That's why it's essential to have movies and TV shows that allow us to live vicariously through the badass secret agents who can actually take part in these activities and look good doing it. Unsurprisingly, you'll find many of these movies and TV shows currently streaming on Netflix Instant Streaming, Hulu and Amazon Prime Instant Video if you subscribe to these services. Here are the very best that will give you all the thrills of being a spy while still letting you wear pajamas.
Netflix Instant Streaming:
Alias (Seasons 1-5)
Even though Jennifer Garner assumes various identities in this spy series, it helped make her a household name. Watch her in action as CIA double agent Sydney Bristow, and you'll see why (seasons 1-5 of Alias are also available on Hulu).
Archer (Seasons 1-5)
This FX animated series definitely puts a comedic spin on the usually straight-faced spy genre, but don't worry. Archer will still give you your fill of intense missions, debonair agents and high-tech weaponry, just in a less live-action kind of way (seasons 1-5 are also available on Hulu and Amazon Prime Instant Video).
Burn Notice (Seasons 1-7)
Once you've been a government spy, it's a little hard to just carry on with life normally, as if you haven't seen all of the things you've seen. No one knows that better than Michael Westen (Jeffrey Donovan), who spends Burn Notice trying to find the person who caused him to be dismissed by the U.S. government while also still using his special ops training to help others. See what I mean? You just can't hold a spy down (select episodes are also available on Hulu through a cable subscription).
Chuck (Seasons 1-5)
Chuck, an action-adventure comedy about an IT specialist-turned-government asset, has become something of a cult favorite in recent years. You can see what all the fuss is about with all five seasons streaming on Netflix right now.
Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (2002)
Chuck Barris was the king of game shows in the '60s and '70s, having created The Dating Game and The Newlywed game as well as serving as the host of The Gong Show. He also claimed to be a covert assassin for the CIA in his autobiography Confessions of a Dangerous Mind. Though the CIA has disavowed Barris' story, it sill made for a captivating movie starring Sam Rockwell as the former game show host, so that's something (also available on Amazon Prime Instant Video).
Harriet the Spy (1996)
Kids can be spies, too, and Harriet the Spy proves it. Harriet's snooping unsurprisingly does her more harm than good, but we can all learn a valuable lesson or two from this movie, no matter how old you are.
Inglorious Basterds (2009)
Much of Quentin Tarantino's 2009 film follows a special force of Nazi hunters during World War II, but the most compelling parts of the movie have to do with undercover agents and assassins trying to take down the top Nazi leaders, including Adolf Hitler. With so much going on in this movie, as is usually the case with Tarantino's films, their scenes are the ones that really stick with you.
Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit (2014)
This film adaptation of Tom Clancy's series of books featuring the character Jack Ryan has everything you could ever want out of an action thriller: a man who works on Wall Street by day and is a secret CIA agent by night; an all-star cast including Chris Pine, Keira Knightley, Kevin Costner and Kenneth Branagh; and international intrigue. If you ask for anything more, you're just being greedy (also available on Amazon Prime Instant Video).
MacGyver (Seasons 1-7)
You've probably heard of MacGyver or at least used his name to refer to someone who's particularly resourceful. Now, you can actually see why MacGyver has made a name for itself in pop culture by watching all seven seasons of the series on Netflix now (seasons 1-7 are also available on Amazon Prime Instant Video).
Mission: Impossible (1996)
The fifth film in the Mission: Impossible franchise just hit theaters, but you can see where it all began on Netflix. Mission: Impossible introduces us to Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise), the secret agent trying to prove his innocence after being wrongfully accused of acting as a mole. You might even want to watch it just for that famous cable drop scene.
Mission: Impossible 2 (2000)
Ethan Hunt is back for more of the same kind of action and espionage in Mission: Impossible 2. Usually sequels are kind of meh or worse, but even if you haven't seen this movie, the fact that there's five of these films already should give clue you in about its quality, or at least how audiences feel about them.
Spy Kids (2001)
Spy Kids may seem pretty straightforward, but with well-known action-exploitation director Robert Rodriguez at the helm, this movie is anything but. Spy Kids gets real weird, real quick. Three sequels to this movie are also currently streaming on Netflix, but you can just pretend you don't know that (also available on Amazon Prime Instant Video).
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (2011)
Based on the John le Carré Cold War era novel of the same name, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy tells the story of a British spy suspected of working for the Soviets. Unlike many spy movies, there's more talking in Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy than action, but with performances from the likes of Gary Oldman, Colin Firth and John Hurt, there's never a dull moment.
Hulu:
Mission: Impossible III (2006)
If you subscribe to Showtime through Hulu, you can watch Mission: Impossible III through the streaming service. If you liked the first two, you'll probably like this one as well. However, Mission: Impossible III was J.J. Abrams' directorial debut for a feature film, so it was the beginning of something great for him and the action movie genre in general.
OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies (2008)
If you've seen The Artist, you know how suave Jean Dujardin can be. Before he won the Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role for that film, Dujardin was a hit with audiences in the French film OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies, which was a reboot of the OSS 117 series from the '60s. In this film, Dujardin plays French secret agent Hubert Bonisseur de la Bath, who is ordered to take the post of his murdered friend and colleague in Cairo. Hubert has the charisma of James Bond and the goofiness of Maxwell Smart, which definitely makes for an entertaining hour-and-a-half.
OSS 117: Lost in Rio (2009)
Since OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies was a hit, it's no surprise that it got a sequel. This one finds Hubert in Brazil on the hunt for a former high-ranking Nazi official. However, don't let the gravity of the plot fool you. This sequel is just as much fun as the original.
Spy (Seasons 1-2)
What's harder? Being a spy for Britain's MI5 intelligence agency or being a single dad trying to win the love of your preteen son? The British TV comedy Spy attempts to answer that question.
Amazon Prime Instant Video:
The Americans (Seasons 1-2)
The Americans is one of the most-talked about dramas on TV right now. The FX drama follows two married KGB spies as they pretend to be a typical family in 1980s suburban America so they can gather intelligence on the U.S. government. It doesn't get much more intense than that.
Covert Affairs (Seasons 1-5)
In Covert Affairs, Piper Perabo plays Annie Walker, a CIA trainee thrust into the field as an operative. Her special skill is that she speaks several languages, but the drama really lies in the fact that there's something in Annie's past that will come back to haunt her. Now you're talking.
Enigma (1983)
Enigma is yet another Cold War era spy movie. This one has CIA agent Alex Holbeck (Martin Sheen) trying to stop the murder of five Soviet dissidents by getting information from the Russians. However, when things go wrong, Alex finds himself on the run from KGB bigwig Dimitri Vasilikov (Sam Neill). You've got to love a good-old-fashioned caper.
Mission: Impossible (Seasons 1-7)
Long before we had five Mission: Impossible movies, we had seven seasons of the original '60s and '70s TV show of the same name starring Steven Hill, Peter Graves and Martin Landau. The series follows the Impossible Missions Force as they covertly save the world from complete and total destruction in each episode. Ah, the '60s. What a time for spies, eh?
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