Espionage flicks come in many different flavors. While some are action packed Impossible Missions and others quietly work the tradecraft, spy movies as a genre run across the entire dramatic spectrum. We want to look at them category by category, breaking down all the surveillance, intelligence, eavesdropping and infiltration we can think of. Here are our picks for the Top 10 Spy Movies of All Time.

While every genre has it's different sub-styles, there's something about spy movies that have to match your mood. If you want a light caper than Alfred Hitchock invented an entire sub genre for you with films like The 39 Steps or The Man Who Knew Too Much, but action fueled fare like Matt Damon in The Bourne Identity won't work at all. Robert Redford in Sneakers or Robert De Niro in Ronin might scratch a heist itch, only 007 will do if you're feeling like a suave spy, while Zero Dark Thirty or Argo lean into the thriller side of things. The point is, for an already specific subgenre, spy movies can break down even further.

This Movie List was written by Billy Jackson and edited by Owen Carter.

The Picks:

Comedy - Top Secret! (1974) dir. Zucker, Abrams, Zucker
Light Caper - North by Northwest (1959) dir. Alfred Hitchcock
Action - True Lies (1994) dir. James Cameron
Heist - Mission: Impossible (1996) dir. Brian De Palma
Suave - From Russia With Love (1964) dir. Terence Young
Romance - Lust, Caution (2007) dir. Ang Lee
Quiet - The Lives of Others (2007) dir. Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck
Thriller - Munich (2005) dir. Steven Spielberg
Art Film - The Conformist (1970) dir. Bernardo Bertolucci
Murky - The Spy Who Came In From The Cold (1965) dir. Martin Ritt

For more CineFix Movie Lists be sure to subscribe to IGN Movies & TV and also check out our deep dives into other genres!

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