Cool Cool Cold War
I have compiled a list of the best Cold War movies and shows I've seen + a few that I'm pretty sure are cool, including a '73 mini-series "The World At War", which I'm sure will give good background info to all you youngsters who might be interested in this kind of thing. For all of us who remember the Cold War, I do realize calling that era and all that it implies "cool" is sort of a showing of poor taste, as there is a definite nastyness to the whole spy business. That being said, who is to say spies aren't cool? Or who dares claim nuclear submarines don't give him or her "the willies"? And in the case of the Cold War, it's already happened, as oppposed to the **it that is going on right now. So I say a certain nostalgia towards the Cold War era is allowed - since we all know we pulled through and the Earth actually survived. I actually meant to keep the list as a straight forward, entertaining yet mostly factual Top List of the Best Spy Thrillers Ever Made. However . . . there's just too much good stuff to ignore when making a list like this. So I added a few documentaries - and even an animated film "The Iron Giant" which, I think, gives a fairely good view of what the Americans might have felt during the brezhnevian era of Soviet Russia. So, here it goes! And don't forget "The Night Manager" which is written by John Le Carre yet played out - quite beautifully I might add - in the modern era by Tom Hiddleston and Hugh Laurie. Hope you enjoy!
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- StarsLaurence OlivierAverell HarrimanAnthony EdenA groundbreaking 26-part documentary series narrated by the actor Laurence Olivier about the deadliest conflict in history, World War II.
- DirectorTomas AlfredsonStarsGary OldmanColin FirthTom HardyIn the bleak days of the Cold War, espionage veteran George Smiley is forced from semi-retirement to uncover a Soviet Agent within MI6.
- DirectorTony ScottStarsRobert RedfordBrad PittCatherine McCormackRetiring CIA agent Nathan Muir recalls his training of Tom Bishop while working against agency politics to free him from his Chinese captors.
- CreatorAnna WingerJörg WingerStarsJonas NayMaria SchraderUlrich NoethenMartin Rauch is recruited by the HVA to infiltrate the West Germany army. As a rookie spy, his decisions constantly put his cover at risk and force his agency to take extreme measures.
- DirectorRobert De NiroStarsMatt DamonAngelina JolieRobert De NiroThe tumultuous early history of the Central Intelligence Agency is viewed through the prism of one man's life.
- DirectorKathryn BigelowStarsHarrison FordSam SpruellPeter StebbingsWhen Russia's first nuclear submarine malfunctions on its maiden voyage, the crew must race to save the ship and prevent a nuclear disaster.
- DirectorShamim SarifStarsRebecca FergusonCharles DanceAnthony HeadIn Cold War Moscow, a female spy steals secrets from an idealistic politician - and falls in love with him.
- DirectorStanley KramerStarsSpencer TracyBurt LancasterRichard WidmarkIn 1948, an American court in occupied Germany tries four Nazis judged for war crimes.
- DirectorBrad BirdStarsEli MarienthalHarry Connick Jr.Jennifer AnistonA young boy befriends a giant robot from outer space that a paranoid government agent wants to destroy.
- CreatorToby WhithouseStarsTom HughesJonathan ArisVictoria HamiltonA Cold War spy thriller that tells the story of invisible wars fought by MI5.
- StarsGreg KinnearBarry PepperKatie HolmesThe triumphs and tragedies of the most popular political family in American history.
- DirectorGregor JordanStarsJoaquin PhoenixAnna PaquinEd HarrisA criminal subculture operates among U.S. soldiers stationed in West Germany just before the fall of the Berlin wall.
- DirectorMick JacksonStarsKaren MeagherReece DinsdaleDavid BrierlyThe effects of a nuclear holocaust on the working class city of Sheffield, England and the eventual long-term effects of nuclear war on civilization.
- DirectorNorman JewisonStarsCarl ReinerEva Marie SaintAlan ArkinWithout hostile intent, a Soviet submarine runs aground off New England. Men are sent for a boat, but many villagers go into a tizzy, risking bloodshed.
- DirectorJohn FrankenheimerStarsBurt LancasterKirk DouglasFredric MarchUnited States military leaders plot to overthrow the President because he supports a nuclear disarmament treaty and they fear a Soviet sneak attack.
- StarsJodie WhittakerPaul RhysHarriet WalterCIA counter-intelligence officer Sandy Grimes works to save Soviet intelligence officers from being exposed by a mole inside her organization.
- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsFrederick StaffordDany RobinJohn VernonA French Intelligence Agent becomes embroiled in the Cold War politics first with uncovering the events leading up to the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, and then back to France to break up an international Russian spy ring.
- StarsChris O'DonnellAlfred MolinaMichael KeatonReal-life figures from the Cold War-era mix with a fictional story based on a group of C.I.A. operatives and their counterparts in the K.G.B., MI6, and the Mossad.
- DirectorOtto PremingerStarsFranchot ToneLew AyresHenry FondaThe polarizing search for a new Secretary of State has far-reaching consequences.
- DirectorJohn McTiernanStarsSean ConneryAlec BaldwinScott GlennIn November 1984, the Soviet Union's best submarine captain violates orders and heads for the U.S. in a new undetectable sub. The American CIA and military must quickly determine: Is he trying to defect or to start a war?
- DirectorFrank PiersonStarsChristopher JonesPia DegermarkRalph RichardsonFrom the John le Carré novel about a British spy who sends a Polish defector to East Germany to verify missile sites.
- DirectorSidney J. FurieStarsMichael CaineNigel GreenGuy DolemanIn London, a wisecracking spy investigates the kidnapping and brainwashing of British scientists while dealing with the constraints of his agency's bureaucracy.
- DirectorGuy HamiltonStarsMichael CaineOscar HomolkaPaul HubschmidSent to East Berlin to retrieve a Communist defector, British spy Harry Palmer suspects the situation is not what his superiors believe it to be.
- DirectorKen RussellStarsMichael CaineKarl MaldenEd BegleyBritish spy-turned-detective Harry Palmer stumbles upon an oil tycoon's plot to overthrow Communism using a supercomputer.
- DirectorMike NicholsStarsTom HanksJulia RobertsPhilip Seymour HoffmanA drama based on a Texas congressman Charlie Wilson's covert dealings in Afghanistan, where his efforts to assist rebels in their war with the Soviets have some unforeseen and long-reaching effects.
- DirectorChristian DuguayStarsAidan QuinnDonald SutherlandBen KingsleyAn American naval officer is recruited for an operation to eliminate his lookalike, the infamous terrorist Carlos The Jackal.
- DirectorRoger DonaldsonStarsKevin CostnerBruce GreenwoodShawn DriscollIn October 1962, the Kennedy administration struggles to contain the Cuban Missile Crisis.
- DirectorBenjamin BondarStarsJoshua M. BottJohn HerzogNikita BogolyubovDuring the height of the Soviet Union expansion, fear of nuclear war lead both the KGB and the CIA to deploy spies for reconnaissance, espionage, and assassination. Apart from Cold War tensions, the Soviet Union was already fighting a war of its own, a war against Christianity; as it desperately tried to replace faith in God with faith in mankind. After a long career of following questionable orders and pursuing the Soviet Union's atheist agenda, KGB Chairman Shelepin searches for common ground with another zealous government agent from the opposite side, CIA agent Garver. However, while imprisoned by the Soviets for assassination and hoping for extradition; Garver discovers a Bible amongst the dead corpses in his cell and begins to transform into an even bigger enemy of the Soviet Union.
- DirectorJulian CareyStarsKeeley HawesJerry RobertsJack CopelandThis is a documentary about unsung heroes of World War II. In 1943, a 24-year-old maths student and a GPO engineer combined to hack into Hitler's personal super-code machine - not Enigma but an even tougher system, which he called his 'secrets writer'. Their break turned the Battle of Kursk, powered the D-day landings and orchestrated the end of the conflict in Europe. But it was also to be used during the Cold War - which meant both men's achievements were hushed up and never officially recognized.
- DirectorMichael AptedStarsWilliam HurtLee MarvinBrian DennehyA Moscow police officer investigates a vicious triple homicide and stumbles upon a high-level international political conspiracy.
- DirectorRichard GrayStarsYulia KlassRobert PatrickIn the midst of the Cold War, a Soviet soldier makes his way across the Bering Strait to the frozen shores of Alaska. When he is found by an armed hunter, he must convince her, without being able to speak English, that he is a genuine defector.
- StarsDmitriy PevtsovMariya MironovaAlina SergeevaIn WW2, a Soviet sniper and a German sharpshooter develop a personal feud and their animosity continues even after the war, in the Soviet occupied Germany.
- StarsCraig R. WhitneyWalter MondaleJohn PowersAt the Winter Olympics of 1980, after two tense weeks amidst growing Cold War fears, the U.S. Olympic hockey team found themselves playing improbably against the legendary unbeatable Soviet Army hockey team for a chance at Olympic Gold. From the live footage taken at Lake Placid, NY, and through interviews beginning with the team's assembly through the experience of winning the gold medal, we meet the young hockey legends Jim Craig, Mike Eruzione, Jack O'Callahan, Coach Herb Brooks, Manager Craig Patrick, and Russian players Vladislav Tretiak and Boris Mikhailov, with commentary by ABC Sports broadcasters Al Michaels (who yelled, "Do you believe in miracles?" as time expired) and Jim Lampley.
- DirectorGabe PolskyStarsViacheslav FetisovVladislav TretiakScotty BowmanThe story of the Soviet Union's famed Red Army hockey team through the eyes of its players.
- StarsTom WilkinsonPeter EyreLesley NightingaleSuspicions are aroused when a British trawler goes missing... Tom Wilkinson leads the astonishing BBC Cold War drama inspired by real events. Enter a nightmarish world of political cover-ups of international consequence in the last decade of the Cold War in this six-part BBC drama. When an ordinary British fishing vessel and its 36-man crew mysteriously disappears off the coast of Norway, journalist Martin Taylor (Tom Wilkinson) is determined to find out why. His father was on board, and is now missing. His investigations soon lead him to run up against the twin barriers of Royal Navy stonewalling and an impenetrable Soviet Politburo. The notorious finale shocked audiences when it was first aired in 1983. The haunting theme 'A Cold Wind', sung by June Tabor, was so popular it was released as a single. Spyship is based on the fictional novel by Brian Haynes and Tom Keene, former reporters who researched the real life sinking of the FV Gaul in 1974 which was shrouded in mystery.
- DirectorJaak KilmiStarsKiur AarmaJaak KilmiAlo KõrveA story about growing up in the Soviet Union. The film tells the story of a strange kind of information war, where a totalitarian regime stands face to face with the heroes of popular culture. And loses. It was a time when it was possible for erotic film star Emmanuelle to bring down the Red Army and MacGyver to outdo an entire school administration. It is a film about our generation, who were unknowingly brought to the front line of the Cold War. Western popular culture had an incomparable role shaping Soviet children's world views in those days. Finnish television was a window to a world of dreams that the authorities could not block in any way. Though Finnish channels were banned, many households found some way to access the forbidden fruit.
- DirectorVladimir MenshovStarsVera AlentovaAnatoliy LobotskiyAleksandr Feklistov1983 Television editor Sonya and French translator Andre met in Moscow and fell in love. Sonya has a teenage son and a husband, a successful writer. Andre also has family in Paris. And suddenly everything disappeared for them except the sudden surge of passion. For several days of their lives they were absolutely happy, but the gods did not remain indifferent.
- DirectorSteve AllenStarsDean CampbellWesley ClarkLewis MacKenzieThe people and events that lead to U.S. General Douglas MacArthur's invasion at Inchon Korea in 1950.
- StarsCatherine MercierGeorge StroumboulopoulosDavid WelchAlthough they were allies during WWII, the United States and the Soviet Union, fueled by their fundamental ideological differences, embarked on what would be called the Cold War starting in the post-WWII era. As both sides would eventually have nuclear and atomic bomb technology which potentially spelled the end of the world if used, both sides instead largely used propaganda to win the Cold War. The propaganda was both official (i.e. issued by the government) and unofficial, and was designed to make its own side look good while making the other side look bad. The propaganda was aimed to its own citizens, to the other side and to others around the world, who were often looking to the two superpowers for support. One problem often was that the propaganda had to match the reality that people saw and faced on the ground.
- DirectorSteven SpielbergStarsTom HanksMark RylanceAlan AldaDuring the Cold War, an American lawyer is recruited to defend an arrested Soviet spy in court, and then help the CIA facilitate an exchange of the spy for the Soviet captured American U2 spy plane pilot, Francis Gary Powers.
- CreatorAbi MorganStarsRomola GaraiBen WhishawDominic WestA behind-the-scenes drama and espionage thriller in Cold War-era England that centers on a journalist, a producer, and an anchorman for an investigative news programme.