87 replies to this topic

[Steve9]

Excluding James Bond, who is or are your other personal favorite film spy
character/s depicted so far and please why for any pick ?

Doesn't matter if the film that the character/s is in, wasn't as good as it should've been in your opinion and didn't do the character justice.

[Tanger]

Does Simon Templar really count as a spy? If so he's my favourite and in a funny way, he's a better character than Bond(films). In fact I think if it came down to it, I'd rather be Templar than Bond.

[DLibrasnow]

I am not sure you really can call Simon Templar a spy, he is really more of an adventurer. If he does qualify I would choose Roger Moore's The Saint of the 1960s, I am coming to the end of the Megaset I purchased a couple of months ago and I have become a real admirer of the Moore series.

In other more conventional spy fare I remember a movie from the 1980s titled "S.H.E." it was written by Richard Maibaum and starred Omar Sheriff as the main villain. I forget exactly what it was about (something to do with global domination) but it was a LOT of fun.

I also really like " When Eight Bells Toll" [1971] in which Anthony Hopkins played the secret agent of the Alistair McLean novel.

[Icephoenix]

Jack Ryan in RED was good, but other then Bond, I'm a big fan of JASON BOURNE, great character.

[Tarl_Cabot]

Jason Bourne is a cool character(books)and I liked the 'Eiger Sanction' with Clint Eastwood as 'Johnathan Hemlock', assassin and art collector...fun movie.

[JackChase007]

I'm a huge fan of THE BOURNE IDENTITY (both novel and movie), and I'm REALLY looking forward to the release of THE BOURNE SUPREMACY in little less than a year.

I'm also a fan of John Drake from SECRET AGENT, or DANGER MAN, depending on where you're from. What a great show...

[DLibrasnow]

Originally posted by JackChase007
and I'm REALLY looking forward to the release of THE BOURNE SUPREMACY in little less than a year.

I am curious about this movie because I really was not that thrilled with the book...it lacked a lot of what I really liked about the novel "The Bourne Identity"...

I think they will have to make some dramatic changes to the plot of "The Bourne Supremacy".

[JackChase007]

Yeah, I think that they're planning to, which should be fine - I started reading the novel, and stopped about 100 pages into it. Hopefully the film will have the same energetic feel that the first one did.

[Triton]

The question is, can we really call James Bond a spy character? I would say that he is more of a gentleman adventurer in the films than what I would consider to be a spy, even though he is employed by MI6. Calling James Bond a spy is like calling Indiana Jones an archeaologist.

Bond seldom gathers intelligence information covertly. He spends far too much of his time baiting the villain, forcing him or her to reveal themselves, engaged in extreme sports, or being very visible at the gambling casinos.

My favorite spy characters on film and television are:

Sigmund Rosenblum, aka Sydney Reilly, from Reilly: Ace of Spies, played by Sam Neill.

Harry Palmer portrayed by Micheal Caine in The Ipcress File, Funeral in Berlin, and The Billion Dollar Brain.

George Smiley portrayed by Alec Guiness in Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy and Smiley's People.

Charlie Muffin portrayed by David Hemmings.

[DLibrasnow]

Originally posted by Triton


Harry Palmer portrayed by Micheal Caine in The Ipcress File, Funeral in Berlin, and The Billion Dollar Brain.

Oooooh yes, I have the first two on DVD, I don't think they have released the third one on DVD yet.

Incidently Caine revived the Harry Palmer series for one of the US premium movie channels in the 1990s...
The first of the new Palmer movies was "Bullet to Beijing" and there was another one that co-starred Jason Connery and was set in St. Petersburg, Russia.

[Simon]

Originally posted by Triton
The question is, can we really call James Bond a spy character?  I would say that he is more of a gentleman adventurer in the films than what I would consider to be a spy, even though he is employed by MI6. Calling James Bond a spy is like calling Indiana Jones an archeaologist.

Huh?

Jones is an archeologist who gets caught up in adventures.
Bond is a spy who goes looking for them.

As far as the job titles are concerned, then that is who they are.

We have an adventurous spy and an adventurous archeologist.

[DLibrasnow]

Originally posted by Triton
The question is, can we really call James Bond a spy character?  I would say that he is more of a gentleman adventurer in the films than what I would consider to be a spy

He is a spy by profession...If you want an example of a gentleman adventurer look at Simon Templar....

[Simon]

Originally posted by Tanger
Does Simon Templar really count as a spy? If so he's my favourite and in a funny way, he's a better character than Bond(films). In fact I think if it came down to it, I'd rather be Templar than Bond.

The nature of being a spy or an agent is that one is employed. Templar wasn't employed (for the most part; but when he was, it was on his terms, job based and with loose terms for just what he regarded as the method and amount of salaried recompense.) so couldn't be a spy per se.

[Triton]

Originally posted by DLibrasnow


Oooooh yes, I have the first two on DVD, I don't think they have released the third one on DVD yet.

Incidently Caine revived the Harry Palmer series for one of the US premium movie channels in the 1990s...
The first of the new Palmer movies was "Bullet to Beijing" and there was another one that co-starred Jason Connery and was set in St. Petersburg, Russia.

The other made-for-television Harry Palmer film with Jason Connery is Midnight in St. Petersburg (1997). Bullet to Beijing, or Beijing Express it's alternative title, was also made in 1997.

[Triton]

Originally posted by Simon


Huh?

Jones is an archeologist who gets caught up in adventures.
Bond is a spy who goes looking for them.

As far as the job titles are concerned, then that is who they are.

We have an adventurous spy and an adventurous archeologist.

I am principally commenting on the attitudes and actions of the characters rather than their job titles. Professor Henry "Indiana" Jones II is more of a fortune hunter or "tomb raider" than an archeologist. He is willing to destroy thousand year old temples if he can get the most interesting bits, such as gold idols or the ark of the covenant, or escape. A real professor of archeology would be shocked and saddened by the destruction of the Well of Souls.

The same is true of James Bond. His job title is spy with MI6 who has a license to kill in the line of duty. Most spying is covert intelligence gathering and analysis, jobs which James Bond finds hideously boring and to be avoided at all costs. Spies hide in the shadows and don't draw attention to themselves. James Bond is a jet setter who is conspicuously in the open, spends huge sums of money, and drives lavish super cars. He also seems to be found out very early in the James Bond movies and spends his time provoking the villain so he or she will reveal what they are up too. Most spies in his position would have been killed and disposed of long ago.

For these reasons, I believe that James Bond is more of gentleman adventurer than a spy.

[ChandlerBing]

Agent WD-40 in Spy Hard.

[DLibrasnow]

Originally posted by Triton


The other made-for-television Harry Palmer film with Jason Connery is Midnight in St. Petersburg (1997).  Bullet to Beijing, or Beijing Express it's alternative title, was also made in 1997.

Thanks Triton....I remember being really unimpressed with both of them, but they are intresting on a purely trivia level.

[JackChase007]

I know people might argue this one, but Dirk Pitt (although not a spy by profession) is thrown into many different situations where he ends up spying on the enemy and obtains crucial information just in time enough to save the world repeatedly.

[DLibrasnow]

Originally posted by JackChase007
I know people might argue this one, but Dirk Pitt (although not a spy by profession) is thrown into many different situations where he ends up spying on the enemy and obtains crucial information just in time enough to save the world repeatedly.

I agree with you....he does conduct espionage operations on behalf of NUMA. In the book "Iceberg" for example (which I am reading now) he employs espionage tactics when investigating the ship entombed in the berg.

[Triton]

Originally posted by DLibrasnow


Thanks Triton....I remember being really unimpressed with both of them, but they are intresting on a purely trivia level.

They certainly are unimpressive from a production value standpoint, either they were made for cable or went direct to video tape. But I actually enjoyed watching both of these films, which are in reality parts one and two of the same story, and I enjoyed seeing Michael Caine reprise his Harry Palmer role thirty years later and how they tied these two films with the other Harry Palmer pictures. Its also amazing to see how Jason Connery is so unlike his father, he must take alot after his mother Diane Cilento.

I also thought that the Russian locations were interesting. I was amazed by the dirt and decay of the former Soviet Union. There was a lot of tension and humor when Harry and Nikolai Petrov flew in the dilapidated Aeroflot turbo-prop. I also thought that the story was a bit more plausible than other spy or espionage thrillers.

But if you were expecting the new films to be like the 1960s Harry Saltzman produced movies you may be disappointed.

[DLibrasnow]

They were made for cable movies, so take that as an indication of their interest. I think it was interesting to see an updated Harry Palmer and they certainly filmed in locations that would have been impossible in the 1960s.

[Triton]

I am surprised that no one has mentioned John Steed, portrayed by Patrick Macnee, from The Avengers television series.

[Genrewriter]

I like Michael Caine's character in The Fourth Protocol. In addition to being a wonderful thriller, it also is refreshingly low key and Caine brings a certain world-weariness to the man that is quite entertaining.

[DLibrasnow]

Originally posted by Genrewriter
I like Michael Caine's character in The Fourth Protocol.  In addition to being a wonderful thriller, it also is refreshingly low key and Caine brings a certain world-weariness to the man that is quite entertaining.

I quite like that thriller too....It also offered Pierce Brosnan as a Russian secret agent!

[Turn]

Originally posted by Triton
I am surprised that no one has mentioned John Steed, portrayed by Patrick Macnee, from The Avengers television series.

I was going to include Steed, by far the suavest spy of all. I also like Napoleon Solo and Ilya Kuriyakin, the men from UNCLE. And even though he's not necessarily a spy, Simon Templer.

A special mention, as Jack Chase did, for John Drake/Number 6 of Secret Agent/Danger Man and The Prisoner fame. He would get my vote as THE coolest spy. He did most of his missions alone, didn't believe in using a gun unless it was absolutely necessary and had fewer gadgets than some of the others. Patrick McGoohan's clipped style of dialogue is one of the other unique aspects to the character.

I want this new DVD megaset to relive some of these adventures soon.

[DLibrasnow]

Actually I am surprised noone has mentioned Derek Flint. Although I am not personally a fan, I know he does have quite a following....


Personally speaking I am a fan of Racquel Welch as Fathom in the movie "Fathom"...

[JackChase007]

Yeah, Drake surpassed even Bond in coolness, and McGoohan was incredible. It's a shame that he turned down the role of 007...

[Mister Asterix]

Okay, he’s not a film spy, but I am a huge fan of Roger T. ‘Race’ Bannon from ‘Jonny Quest’. Yes, yes I hear you, he’s an overpaid babysitter. True. However, I always saw Race as a Bond type spy/assassin who was sick of the killing and was ready to get out of the business. He was handed Quest File O-37 as a way to keep the best man on board.

Yes sir, If I can’t have Bond as my International Superspy then Give me Race.

[Matt Helm]

I'm a big fan of Matt Helm (obviously). I enjoyed the campy Dean Martin films as a kid (The Silencers hits DVD later this year) but now I'm hooked on the Donald Hamilton novels.

Although no substitute for Bond (but nobody really is), Hamilton's Helm is a strong character with 27 adventures under his belt.

For anyone who has read all the Bond novels already and is thirsting for something else, I recommend you track down "Death of a Citizen" (the 1st Helm novel) and see if you don't get hooked.

By the way, if there are any other fans out there who knows anything about the new movie allegedly in the works please fill me in. I don't know if they've picked an actor yet or a title for the film.

[CommanderBond]

sorry to bring it up but i have to Derek Flint because hes friggn got a lighter with 82 gadgets not including the lighter....... if thats not cool then i dont know what is...