Your favorite spy movie/show/book/comics
 

Maybe the topic doesn't deserve a separate thread, but while the popularity of Zeztz's debut hasn't died down, it's just begging to be covered. Share your favorite (or simply memorable) spy media. Maybe it'll be useful to someone?

I was really into the James Bond films when I was in college. Fell off it during the Daniel Craig years, though; they just didn't feel like the same series.

I’m more into spoofs of the spy genre, like Kingsman or Spy.

Speaking of Bond, for me the best Agent 007 is Brosnan. Self-confident, elegant, equally convincing both as an action hero and as a seducer. And without the absurdities inherent in the movies with Conery, who occupy an honorable second place. And the movies themselves with Brosnan-Bond are very spectacular and dynamic. There's an interesting interaction with Michelle Yeoh's character, a villainous media mogul who meddles in politics, essentially holding all forms of power in his hands, and the film is generally very tonally balanced and doesn't feel like a dud.
As for Craig, he should be different. He was cast with the idea of ​​making Bond more down-to-earth and realistic due to the success of the Bourne films and Nolan's Batman, which proved that even a more fantastic hero could be made more convincing. And I would say that Craig is quite convincing in this capacity. Another thing is that later the public's tastes changed, incredible stunts and gadgets returned to the franchise and, in my opinion, it's time to change Bond again.

For me, Kingsman occupies a rather strange place. I mean, there are the obvious parodies, like Johnny English or Austin Powers. There are serious spy films, like The Spy Who Came in from the Cold or the Soviet Seventeen Moments of Spring. There are the more entertainment-oriented Bond films. And then there's Kingsman, which kind of mocks Bond, but doesn't slide into pure comedy and uses the same techniques. I think Kingsman can be considered the Scream of the spy movie world. Or grown-up Spy Kids.

Well, it's time for me to tell you about a spy (sort of) movie that has stuck in my mind. I'll say right away that I won't mention dark political thrillers, because the theme is inspired by Zeztz, and Baku clearly likes a different type of spy story. So I'll share something entertaining and full of adventures.
From 1966 to 1971, the Soviet Union released a tetralogy of films about the Elusive Avengers. It's a story about four teenagers, not ninja turtles, but certainly with attitudes (a communist attitude, of course), fighting in the Civil War and after. In the first part, they are guerrillas:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vl0uzTY0M9Y
but already from the second one a full-fledged spy action begins:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZgOZELyW__U
Unfortunately, the finale of "The Crown of the Russian Empire", divided into two films (it turns out that we were the first to think of this technique) turned out to be a failure and is interesting only for comparison of how the characters have changed:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8v-UtmTahjQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjZISgiuBvI
Overall, these movies were very ridiculous even at the time of filming, but at the same time they were very entertaining and popular. So even now I sometimes enjoy watching them again.

Archer and Kingsman come to mind. And though not the typical suit and tie agent, MacGyver too.

I've been meaning to watch MacGyver for a long time. I'll have to close this gestalt somehow.

Old school MacGyver was fun. It was fun seeing Richard Dean Anderson coming up with makeshift solutions and gadgets. On a side note, I also caught a few eps of the reboot from not too long ago and loved whenever he'd ask people for their smartphones so he could take it apart and get things done. :lolol
Reboot MacGyver has Lucas Till, who played Havok in the 2010s Fox X-Men movies, as MacGyver.

I love James Bond, and one of my favorite portrayals is Timothy Dalton. I feel this phase is often overlooked for being so short, but in a way Dalton was the prototype gritty Bond before the Craig era.

The Bond movie I never see much praise for is "For Your Eyes Only". Tonally the direct opposite of its predecessor "Moonraker", FYEO is a great back-to-basics globetrotting thriller with a grounded but regal performance by Roger Moore