There's likely a lot more paperwork involved than what we see in the movies! Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the films that are the most faithful to the workings of U.S. secret intelligence agencies - even with some dramatic liberties taken. Warning: There’ll be some major spoilers.
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00:00Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the films that are most
00:15faithful to the workings of the US secret intelligence agencies, even with some dramatic
00:20liberties taken. Warning, there'll be some major spoilers.
00:34Number 10. Sicario. Directed by Denis Villeneuve, this thriller follows FBI agents and their
00:40mission to bring down the Sonora Cartel. They hope to apprehend cartel leader Manuel Diaz,
00:46venturing into Ciudad Juarez. The film is by and large faithful to the real-life violence
00:52involved in the FBI raids, as well as at the US-Mexican border with its hundreds of tunnels.
01:06The Mexican substance trafficking depicted is also true to life, with Ciudad Juarez being
01:11one of the most violent. That said, the film did inspire controversy, with the mayor of
01:17Ciudad Juarez calling for a boycott. Even so, he claims the film is accurate only until
01:35about 2010, before the measures to keep the peace came into play. Talk about redeeming
01:40it with faint criticism.
01:47Number 9. Three Days of the Condor. CIA analyst Joe Turner's lunch break turns into the fight
01:54for his very life, as his colleagues are killed by armed men. Desperate, Turner finds out
01:59the truth in a very dark twist. Ironically, Turner's job involves looking through media
02:14to examine depictions of CIA operations for accuracy and potential leaks. Would this thriller
02:20be one of those accurate depictions? The CIA turning on its own agents may be a little
02:37out there. However, the film was released in the wake of massive scandals, especially
02:42in the agency's role in the economic destabilization of South America. Director Sidney Pollack
02:56also invited former CIA head Richard Helms for a day of shooting, who approved of the
03:02project. Turner would probably mark this film as a leak.
03:09Number 8. North by Northwest. A cinematic classic by legendary director Alfred Hitchcock,
03:24this film also has the advantage of historical accuracy. The film follows Roger Thornhill's
03:29perilous journey as he is mistaken by spies for a fictional CIA agent. While the plot
03:43and characters are fictitious, the central premise came from Hitchcock's conversation
03:49with journalist Otis L. Guernsey during a cocktail party. Guernsey told him a true story
03:55of British operatives in World War II inventing the name of a fictitious spy in the Middle
04:00East. Called Operation Mincemeat, the agents planted misleading papers of the fake spy
04:06to be discovered by the Germans as a disinformation scheme. Life imitates fiction imitates life.
04:21Number 7. Zero Dark Thirty. The manhunt for Osama Bin Laden, leader of Al Qaeda, had finally
04:27borne fruit in this critically acclaimed action thriller. But how accurate is it? It turns
04:32out Zero Dark Thirty has been embroiled in controversy in all aspects. The film does
04:45an excellent job in distilling a decades-long manhunt into two hours, while still being
04:50largely faithful. There were still significant changes, such as over-exaggerating the use
04:56and efficacy of torture and the focus on Jessica Chastain's character. The filmmakers, however,
05:10defended themselves against the allegations, claiming the film questioned the use of torture
05:15in an investigation. Any film that garners this much controversy must have pressed some
05:20very true buttons.
05:26Number 6. Spy Game. This is another thriller starring Robert Redford that is known for
05:31its accuracy. While this film was only a mid-level hit, it has become a favorite of actual secret
05:37agents due to it being basically factual. When CIA new guy Tom Bishop gets arrested
05:55in China, it's up to his veteran mentor Nathan Muir to rescue him. Former CIA agent Mark
06:01Davidson praises the film's realistic depiction of the spy life, as well as the camaraderie
06:06between Robert Redford and Brad Pitt. All in all, the film is a good balance between
06:19real-life details of espionage and cinematic chills and thrills.
06:34Number 5. The Hunt for Red October. This critically acclaimed Cold War spy film follows another
06:41hunt, this time for a submarine, the titular Red October. It's based on the best-selling
06:46Tom Clancy novel, which some believe was inspired by a true story about a Soviet Navy
06:51officer who defected from the Soviet Union. In real life, the officer had planned for
07:04another communist revolution, one purer than the corrupted Soviet regime. But, like in
07:09the movie, the officer's mutiny led to a frantic search and recovery. Another source
07:24of inspiration is likely the 1968 disappearance of the Soviet submarine K-129. Either way,
07:31both Clancy's novel and the film show a fidelity to how intelligence agencies respond in such
07:37situations.
07:50Number 4. Red Sparrow. This twisty tale of a ballerina-turned-Russian spy is more faithful
07:55to the spy life than you'd think. Based on the book by the same name, author Jason Matthews
08:01was in fact an ex-CIA station chief. The film follows the book faithfully, capturing
08:18the real-life techniques of sexpionage. Young women seducing diplomats into revealing sensitive
08:24information was indeed a technique used by the Soviets for blackmail purposes. While
08:35Soviet spy schools were not common, there was at least one Russian spy academy operating
08:41in the 60s and 70s, now closed. This is one movie that is actually less strange than real
08:47life.
09:01Number 3. The Good Shepherd. Loosely based on the life of CIA chief James Jesus Angleton,
09:07this spy film also doubles as a dramatization of the then-fledgling CIA after the Bay of
09:13Pigs fiasco. Angleton eventually grew paranoid that enemy spies had infiltrated the CIA and
09:31was forced to resign. The movie is rich in period detail, depicting actual equipment
09:38used at the time, as well as the CIA's original headquarters on E Street. But many question
09:54its accuracy on other points. There are still composite characters, for example, and time
09:59compression and jumping. Still, this spy thriller sheds crucial light on a notoriously shadowy
10:05career.
10:15Number 2. Bridge of Spies. One of Steven Spielberg's more ambitious historical dramas, Bridge of
10:21Spies tells the tale of a lawyer who must negotiate the release of a CIA pilot, Francis
10:26Gary Powers. In exchange, the CIA would hand over convicted Soviet spy Rudolf Abel. Powers'
10:42son Gary was involved in the making of the film, and helped keep the pilot's storyline
10:47accurate. The scene where CIA agents confront Abel is also very true to life. Other details,
11:10such as the use of a fake nickel in relaying messages, were also accurate. Although not
11:15everything in Bridge of Spies is 100% accurate, its basic fidelity gives it an authentic ring.
11:22And it went on to be nominated for six Academy Awards.
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11:51Number 1. Argo. Winning the Academy Award for Best Picture, this Ben Affleck directed
11:57thriller is among the most historically accurate dramas out there. The film follows a CIA plot
12:02to rescue Americans stranded in Iran by pretending to be filmmakers location scouting for a bogus
12:09sci-fi film titled Argo. Even how they came up with the name of the flick is accurate,
12:23after an explicit knock-knock joke. There are some artistic liberties, such as the climactic
12:28chase, although it was still pretty tense in real life. In 2023, declassified documents
12:52showed two agents who were not in the movie. Dramatic license has to be taken to make a
12:56film, but overall Argo is faithful to events. Which other CIA or FBI film do you feel is
13:17eerily true to life? Let us know in the comments down below.