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{{Short description|2001 action thriller film directed by Tony Scott}}
{{about|the film|the TV series of the same title|Spy Game (TV series)}}
{{other uses}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox film {{Infobox film
| name = Spy Game | name = Spy Game
Line 5: Line 7:
| caption = Theatrical release poster | caption = Theatrical release poster
| director = ] | director = ]
| producer = ]<br />]<br />] | producer = {{plainlist|
* ]
| writer = ]<br />]
* ]
| starring = ]<br />]<br />]
}}
| screenplay = {{plainlist|
* Michael Frost Beckner
* ]
}}
| story = Michael Frost Beckner
| starring = {{plain list|
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
}}
| music = ] | music = ]
| cinematography = ] | cinematography = ]
| editing = ] | editing = ]
| studio = {{plainlist|
| distributor = ]
* ]<ref name=afi>{{cite web|url=http://www.afi.com/members//catalog/DetailView.aspx?s=&Movie=62212|title=Spy Game|work=]|access-date=October 26, 2016}}</ref>
| released = November 19, 2001
* ]<ref name="bfi">{{cite web|title=Spy Game (2001)|website=British Film Institute (BFI)|url=https://www2.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b85ba2957|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180805190742/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b85ba2957|url-status=dead|archive-date=August 5, 2018}}</ref>
* ]<ref name="bfi"/>
}}
| distributor = {{plainlist|
* ]<ref name=afi />
* Beacon Pictures<ref name=afi />
}}
| released = {{Film date|2001|11|21}} (US)
| runtime = 126 minutes | runtime = 126 minutes
| country = United States | country = {{plainlist|
* United States
* France
* Germany
* Japan}}
| language = English | language = English
| budget = US$92,000,000 | budget = $115 million
| gross = $143,049,560 | gross = $143 million
}} }}


'''''Spy Game''''' is a 2001 ] ] film directed by ] and starring ]
'''''Spy Game''''' is a 2001 American drama film directed by ] and starring ] and ]. The film grossed $62,362,785 in the United States and ]143,049,560 worldwide.<ref>{{cite web |title = Spy Game (2001) |url = http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=spygame.htm |work = ] |accessdate = December 20, 2009 }}</ref>
and ]. The American–French–German–Japanese co-production grossed $62 million in the United States and $143 million worldwide on a $115 million budget and received mostly positive reviews from film critics.


==Plot== ==Plot==
In 1991, the ] and ] are close to a major trade agreement, with the ] due to visit China to seal the deal. The ] (CIA) learns that its asset Tom Bishop has been arrested at a ] prison in ] and will be executed in 24 hours unless the ] claims him and bargains for his release. Bishop's actions, unsanctioned by the CIA, risk jeopardizing the agreement. A group of CIA executives summon Nathan Muir, a veteran ] and Bishop's mentor, who plans to retire from the Agency at the end of the day. While purportedly interviewing Muir to learn his history with Bishop, the executives seek a pretext for not intervening on Bishop's imprisonment. Unknown to them, Muir was tipped off about Bishop's capture by fellow CIA veteran Harry Duncan, the Hong Kong Station Chief.
Spy Game is a true to life composite of many real intelligence operations. Spy Game is more real than fiction and is based on the life of intelligence operative Tom Golden, the son of an Arkansas dirt farmer. Golden was an army intelligence officer assigned to the ] ] during the Vietnam War. Nathan Muir was Golden’s CIA code name in Southeast Asia, and during his intelligence operations in ]. Golden served a distinguished career in the ] (DIA), ], and the CIA. He served in ], ], ], and ]. Tony Scott does a great job of presenting the true to life dangers faced by Intelligence Agents in the field and the bureaucratic decisions sometimes made in Washington that are driven by politics.


Muir leaks the story to ] through an ] contact, Digby 'Digger' Gibson in Hong Kong, believing that public pressure would force American intervention. They are stalled briefly before a phone call to the ] from ] Charles Harker results in CNN retracting the story as a hoax. Muir met Bishop in 1975 when Bishop was a ] during the ]. Muir gives Bishop a mission to eliminate a high-ranking ] officer. Bishop and his spotter, Tran, assassinate the target despite being compromised, and Bishop downs a pursuing enemy attack helicopter. Bishop escorts the now wounded Tran to safety, impressing Muir. In 1976, Muir recruited Bishop as a CIA asset in ], where Bishop was tasked with procuring assets in ]. Then he discusses Bishop's spy work in ] in 1985, during the ], which was their last mission together.
Set in 1991, the film depicts the ] and ] Governments on the verge of a major trade agreement with the ] due to pay a visit to China to seal the deal. The ] gets word that their ] operative Tom Bishop (]) has been captured trying to free an Englishwoman, Elizabeth Hadley (]), from a Chinese prison near Su Chou (]). Bishop is being questioned under torture and will be executed within twenty-four hours unless he is claimed by the ], so they scramble to decide what to do. Lacking the courage to save their agent's life, they say that if they claim Bishop as an agent, they risk destroying the trade agreement. Exacerbating the situation is the fact that Bishop was operating in a "rogue" capacity without permission from the Agency.


In a series of flashbacks, Bishop is troubled by Muir's conviction that civilian "assets" who endangered a mission should be sacrificed to preserve the "greater good." After Bishop attempts to countermand Muir during a mission to save the life of an asset, Muir emphasizes that he will not tolerate dissent, and would not rescue Bishop if he was captured going "off the reservation". During a mission in ], Bishop, posing as a ], meets relief worker Elizabeth Hadley. While using her to connect with an asset for the mission, they became romantically involved. Muir distrusts Hadley and reveals to Bishop that she was exiled from the ]. Hadley later confesses to Bishop that she was involved in the bombing of a Chinese building in Britain, which was supposed to be empty but contained Chinese nationals. Bishop reveals to Hadley his true identity. Muir elects again to sacrifice a civilian asset for the sake of their mission, and Bishop cuts professional ties with Muir. Muir, fearing that Hadley could threaten the Agency and potentially Bishop, makes a deal with the Chinese, exchanging Hadley in return for an arrested U.S. diplomat. Chinese agents kidnap Hadley, and a ] is forged and left for Bishop.
In an attempt to quickly deal with the situation, CIA executives call in Nathan Muir (]), an aging mid-level case officer on his last day before retirement, and the man who recruited Bishop. Although they tell Muir that they simply need him to act as a "stop gap" to fill in some holes in their background files, the officials are in reality hoping that what he gives them is the ] they need to justify letting Bishop die. Realizing as much, Muir attempts to save Bishop by leaking the story to ] through a contact in ], believing that the CIA will rescue Tom once a public outcry puts pressure on them to do so. Unfortunately for Muir, the tactic only stalls them, as a phone call to the ] from a high ranking executive results in CNN retracting the story.


In the present, Muir realizes that Bishop went to China for Hadley. In a series of misdirections, he forges a directive signed by the ] to begin "Operation Dinner Out", a rescue mission spearheaded by a ] team that Bishop had developed as a "Plan B" for his own attempt at rescuing Hadley. Using $282,000 of his life savings and a misappropriated file on Chinese coastline satellite imagery, Muir enlists Duncan to assist him in bribing a Chinese energy official to cut power to the prison for 30 minutes, during which the SEAL rescue team will retrieve Bishop and Hadley. Harker is suspicious that Muir is working against the CIA, but when he confronts Muir before the gathered executives, Muir "confesses" to unprofessionally using company resources to gather information about his intended retirement home, which he has distorted the evidence to support. Bishop is rescued along with Hadley and surmises that Muir was responsible for saving him when he hears the helicopter pilot refer to "Operation Dinner Out", which was also the code name for an operation Bishop used to get a birthday gift for Muir while they were in Lebanon. When the CIA officials are belatedly informed of the rescue, Muir has already left the building and is seen driving safely off into the countryside.
During the debriefing, referred to above, Muir describes how he met Bishop in Vietnam and how he recruited Bishop in Berlin in 1975 and continued to work together there. Both sub-plots are given extensive time in the film. Considerable time is also devoted to Muir and Bishop's spy work in Lebanon.

With his plan quashed, Muir resorts to far more dangerous tactics, secretly creating a forged urgent operational directive from the CIA Director to commence ''Operation Dinner Out'': a daring rescue mission spearheaded by U.S. ]. Using ]282,000 of his life savings and a misappropriated file on Chinese coastline ] imagery, Muir bribes a Chinese energy official to cut power to the prison for thirty minutes, during which time the SEAL rescue team retrieves Bishop and Hadley.

Hadley, who fled the UK after carrying out a bombing of the Chinese Embassy, met Bishop in Lebanon. She was in the Chinese prison after being kidnapped and exchanged for an arrested US diplomat. It was in fact Muir himself who had arranged the kidnapping, believing she could possibly expose Bishop's true identity as a CIA paramilitary operative. After realizing that Hadley was the target of Bishop's daring rescue attempt, Muir finally learns that he greatly underestimated Bishop's feelings for her. It is this guilt which prompts him to part with his life savings in order to save her and Bishop, going against his warning to Bishop years previously in Berlin that he would not go after him if he went "off the reservation."

Bishop, who is rescued at the end of the film nearly 15 minutes prior to his scheduled execution, realizes Muir was behind his rescue since the name of the plan to rescue him, "Operation Dinner Out", was a reference to a birthday gift that Bishop gave Muir while they were in Lebanon.


==Cast== ==Cast==
<!--- ] ] - cast and order per Main Cast ], roles per ] scroll --->
{{Cast listing|
* ] as Nathan Muir * ] as Nathan Muir
* ] as Tom Bishop * ] as Tom Bishop
* ] as Elizabeth Hadley * ] as Elizabeth Hadley
* ] as Charles Harker * ] as Charles Harker, ]
* ] as Troy Folger * ] as Troy Folger, ]
* ] as Vincent Vy Ngo
* ] as Gladys Jennip * ] as Gladys Jennip
* ] as Li * ] as Li
* ] as Harry Duncan * ] as Harry Duncan, CIA Hong Kong office
}}
* ] as Vincent Vy Ngo

* ] as CIA Director Cy Wilson
In addition, ] appears as ] Cy Wilson. ] appears as Tran.
* ] as Estate Agent
* ] as Tran
* ] as Jiang
* ] as Beirut: Doumet
* ] as US Navy SEALS Commander Wiley
* ] as Anna Cathcart
* ] as Mitch Alford


==Production== ==Production==
An American–French–German–Japanese co-production,<ref name=afi /> it was shot in ] from November 5, 2000 to March 19, 2001, as well as in Budapest. The film was originally to be directed by ].<ref>{{Cite news |title=Hasselhoff gets to just be himself in 'Dieter' |work=] |date=21 May 2000 |page=E35}}</ref> Pitt passed on playing the title role in '']'' for this project.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Damon in Line to Play Bourne |agency=] |work=] |location= Fort Lauderdale |date=30 June 2000 |page=17}}</ref> It made its worldwide premiere at the Mann National Theatre on November 19, 2001.<ref>{{cite press release |title=Universal Pictures Celebrates World Premiere of 'Spy Game' - Update |agency=] |publisher=] |via=] |date=November 13, 2001 |url=http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/011113/latu108_1.html |access-date=June 26, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20011124000517/http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/011113/latu108_1.html |archive-date=November 24, 2001}}</ref>
Filming locations included:
* ], presented as the American ]. (Note that there is actually a U.S. consulate general, but no embassy in ].) See ]. The interior of the embassy was filmed at the ] in ].
* ], ] served as ] ] in the film. The film was shot there to save money, and also because Berlin has changed a lot since the fall of the ]. The ] landing in the film's climax was filmed at an ] near Budapest.
* ], ] became 1980s ] in the film. The crew started off in ], ], but had to shift to Morocco because of the ] which broke out in late 2000. The ] segment was also filmed in Morocco.
* ], ]: the former ], which closed in 1996, was used as the Chinese prison set in Su Chou (]). (It has since been converted into a luxury hotel.) Shots of the ambulance approaching the prison were also filmed in ] in Oxford.
* The ] research centre in ], England was used for exterior and some interior scenes at the ] headquarters. (Aerial shots of the real headquarters were also included.)
* The CIA lobby location was in the Senate House of the ]. Close-ups of Robert Redford as Muir driving from his home to the CIA headquarters were filmed in ], standing in for ].
* A ] filmed footage in Washington, D.C. and ] for the scenes of Muir driving to and from the CIA headquarters.


==Box office== ==Soundtrack==
{{main|Spy Game (soundtrack){{!}}''Spy Game'' (soundtrack)}}
The film opened at #3 in its opening weekend at the U.S. Box office.

==Home video==
The film was released by ] on ] and ] on April 9, 2002.<ref>{{cite web|first=Enrique|last=Rivero|url=http://www.hive4media.com/news/html/Product_article.cfm?article_id=2629|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020305135212/http://www.hive4media.com:80/news/html/Product_article.cfm?article_id=2629|title=UPDATE: Spy Game DVD Features Clandestine OPS|website=hive4media.com|archive-date=March 5, 2002|date=February 20, 2002|access-date=September 10, 2019}}</ref>

==Reception==
===Box office===
''Spy Game'' grossed $62.4{{nbsp}}million domestically (United States and Canada) and $80.7{{nbsp}}million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $143{{nbsp}}million, against a budget of $115{{nbsp}}million.<ref name=BOM>{{Cite Box Office Mojo |access-date=2024-11-30}}</ref> It peaked at No. 3, in its opening weekend, and spent its first five weeks in the Top{{nbsp}}10 at the domestic box office.<ref name=BOMWeek>{{cite web |title=''Spy Game'' {{!}} Domestic Weekly |website=] |publisher=] |url=https://www.boxofficemojo.com/release/rl2138277377/weekly/?ref_=bo_rl_tab#tabs |access-date=2024-11-30}}</ref>

===Critical response===
{{RT prose|{{RT data|score}}|{{RT data|average}}|{{RT data|count}}| The outcome of the kinetic Spy Game is never in doubt, but it is fun watching Robert Redford and Brad Pitt work.|ref=yes|access-date={{RT data|access date}}}} {{MC film|63|29|ref=yes|access-date=2024-11-30}}

] of the '']'' gave the film two and a half stars out of four and said, "It is not a bad movie, mind you; it's clever and shows great control of craft, but it doesn't care, and so it's hard for us to care about."<ref>{{cite news |last=Ebert |first=Roger |title=Spy Game |url=https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/spy-game-2001 |work=] |date=November 27, 2001 |access-date=October 24, 2021 |via=]}}</ref>
{{Expand section|date=December 2018}}<!-- more critics needed -->

==Novels==
In 2022, Michael Frost Beckner, the co-screenwriter of ''Spy Game'', published a trilogy of novels featuring characters from the film: ''Muir’s Gambit'', ''Bishop's Endgame'', and ''Aiken in Check''.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Michael Frost Beckner |url=https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/22483516.Michael_Frost_Beckner |access-date=2023-10-12 |website=www.goodreads.com}}</ref>

== See also ==
* ]
*]


==References== ==References==
{{reflist}} {{Reflist}}


==External links== ==External links==
{{Wikiquote|Spy Game}} {{Wikiquote|Spy Game}}
* {{imdb title|0266987|Spy Game}} * {{IMDb title}}
* {{Amg movie|255937}}
* {{rotten-tomatoes|spy_game}}
* {{metacritic film|spygame}}
* {{mojo title|spygame}}
* at Script-o-Rama


{{Tony Scott}} {{Tony Scott}}


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Latest revision as of 05:24, 16 January 2025

2001 action thriller film directed by Tony Scott For other uses, see Spy Game (disambiguation).

Spy Game
Theatrical release poster
Directed byTony Scott
Screenplay by
Story byMichael Frost Beckner
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyDan Mindel
Edited byChristian Wagner
Music byHarry Gregson-Williams
Production
companies
Distributed by
Release date
  • November 21, 2001 (2001-11-21)
(US)
Running time126 minutes
Countries
  • United States
  • France
  • Germany
  • Japan
LanguageEnglish
Budget$115 million
Box office$143 million

Spy Game is a 2001 action thriller film directed by Tony Scott and starring Robert Redford and Brad Pitt. The American–French–German–Japanese co-production grossed $62 million in the United States and $143 million worldwide on a $115 million budget and received mostly positive reviews from film critics.

Plot

In 1991, the United States and China are close to a major trade agreement, with the President due to visit China to seal the deal. The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) learns that its asset Tom Bishop has been arrested at a People's Liberation Army prison in Suzhou and will be executed in 24 hours unless the U.S. government claims him and bargains for his release. Bishop's actions, unsanctioned by the CIA, risk jeopardizing the agreement. A group of CIA executives summon Nathan Muir, a veteran case officer and Bishop's mentor, who plans to retire from the Agency at the end of the day. While purportedly interviewing Muir to learn his history with Bishop, the executives seek a pretext for not intervening on Bishop's imprisonment. Unknown to them, Muir was tipped off about Bishop's capture by fellow CIA veteran Harry Duncan, the Hong Kong Station Chief.

Muir leaks the story to CNN through an MI6 contact, Digby 'Digger' Gibson in Hong Kong, believing that public pressure would force American intervention. They are stalled briefly before a phone call to the FCC from Deputy Director for Operations Charles Harker results in CNN retracting the story as a hoax. Muir met Bishop in 1975 when Bishop was a United States Marine Corps Scout Sniper during the Vietnam War. Muir gives Bishop a mission to eliminate a high-ranking Laotian Army officer. Bishop and his spotter, Tran, assassinate the target despite being compromised, and Bishop downs a pursuing enemy attack helicopter. Bishop escorts the now wounded Tran to safety, impressing Muir. In 1976, Muir recruited Bishop as a CIA asset in West Berlin, where Bishop was tasked with procuring assets in East Germany. Then he discusses Bishop's spy work in Beirut in 1985, during the War of the Camps, which was their last mission together.

In a series of flashbacks, Bishop is troubled by Muir's conviction that civilian "assets" who endangered a mission should be sacrificed to preserve the "greater good." After Bishop attempts to countermand Muir during a mission to save the life of an asset, Muir emphasizes that he will not tolerate dissent, and would not rescue Bishop if he was captured going "off the reservation". During a mission in Lebanon, Bishop, posing as a photojournalist, meets relief worker Elizabeth Hadley. While using her to connect with an asset for the mission, they became romantically involved. Muir distrusts Hadley and reveals to Bishop that she was exiled from the United Kingdom. Hadley later confesses to Bishop that she was involved in the bombing of a Chinese building in Britain, which was supposed to be empty but contained Chinese nationals. Bishop reveals to Hadley his true identity. Muir elects again to sacrifice a civilian asset for the sake of their mission, and Bishop cuts professional ties with Muir. Muir, fearing that Hadley could threaten the Agency and potentially Bishop, makes a deal with the Chinese, exchanging Hadley in return for an arrested U.S. diplomat. Chinese agents kidnap Hadley, and a Dear John letter is forged and left for Bishop.

In the present, Muir realizes that Bishop went to China for Hadley. In a series of misdirections, he forges a directive signed by the Director of Central Intelligence to begin "Operation Dinner Out", a rescue mission spearheaded by a SEAL team that Bishop had developed as a "Plan B" for his own attempt at rescuing Hadley. Using $282,000 of his life savings and a misappropriated file on Chinese coastline satellite imagery, Muir enlists Duncan to assist him in bribing a Chinese energy official to cut power to the prison for 30 minutes, during which the SEAL rescue team will retrieve Bishop and Hadley. Harker is suspicious that Muir is working against the CIA, but when he confronts Muir before the gathered executives, Muir "confesses" to unprofessionally using company resources to gather information about his intended retirement home, which he has distorted the evidence to support. Bishop is rescued along with Hadley and surmises that Muir was responsible for saving him when he hears the helicopter pilot refer to "Operation Dinner Out", which was also the code name for an operation Bishop used to get a birthday gift for Muir while they were in Lebanon. When the CIA officials are belatedly informed of the rescue, Muir has already left the building and is seen driving safely off into the countryside.

Cast

In addition, Garrick Hagon appears as CIA Director Cy Wilson. Benedict Wong appears as Tran.

Production

An American–French–German–Japanese co-production, it was shot in Morocco from November 5, 2000 to March 19, 2001, as well as in Budapest. The film was originally to be directed by Mike van Diem. Pitt passed on playing the title role in The Bourne Identity for this project. It made its worldwide premiere at the Mann National Theatre on November 19, 2001.

Soundtrack

Main article: Spy Game (soundtrack)

Home video

The film was released by Universal Studios Home Video on DVD and VHS on April 9, 2002.

Reception

Box office

Spy Game grossed $62.4 million domestically (United States and Canada) and $80.7 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $143 million, against a budget of $115 million. It peaked at No. 3, in its opening weekend, and spent its first five weeks in the Top 10 at the domestic box office.

Critical response

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 64% of 135 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 6.2/10. The website's consensus reads: " The outcome of the kinetic Spy Game is never in doubt, but it is fun watching Robert Redford and Brad Pitt work." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 63 out of 100, based on 29 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.

Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film two and a half stars out of four and said, "It is not a bad movie, mind you; it's clever and shows great control of craft, but it doesn't care, and so it's hard for us to care about."

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (December 2018)

Novels

In 2022, Michael Frost Beckner, the co-screenwriter of Spy Game, published a trilogy of novels featuring characters from the film: Muir’s Gambit, Bishop's Endgame, and Aiken in Check.

See also

References

  1. ^ "Spy Game". American Film Institute. Retrieved October 26, 2016.
  2. ^ "Spy Game (2001)". British Film Institute (BFI). Archived from the original on August 5, 2018.
  3. "Hasselhoff gets to just be himself in 'Dieter'". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. 21 May 2000. p. E35.
  4. "Damon in Line to Play Bourne". Sun Sentinel. Fort Lauderdale. Reuters. 30 June 2000. p. 17.
  5. "Universal Pictures Celebrates World Premiere of 'Spy Game' - Update" (Press release). PR Newswire. Universal Pictures. November 13, 2001. Archived from the original on November 24, 2001. Retrieved June 26, 2019 – via Yahoo! Finance.
  6. Rivero, Enrique (February 20, 2002). "UPDATE: Spy Game DVD Features Clandestine OPS". hive4media.com. Archived from the original on March 5, 2002. Retrieved September 10, 2019.
  7. "Spy Game". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved 2024-11-30.Edit this at Wikidata
  8. "Spy Game | Domestic Weekly". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved 2024-11-30.
  9. "Spy Game". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved December 1, 2024. Edit this at Wikidata
  10. "Spy Game". Metacritic. Fandom, Inc. Retrieved 2024-11-30.
  11. Ebert, Roger (November 27, 2001). "Spy Game". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved October 24, 2021 – via RogerEbert.com.
  12. "Michael Frost Beckner". www.goodreads.com. Retrieved 2023-10-12.

External links

Films directed by Tony Scott
Feature films
Short films
Related
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