Nobody does it better. Those are the words Carly Simon sang in reference to film’s favorite spy, James Bond. For seven decades, audiences have watched as various stars have donned tuxedos and gone on globe-trotting adventures, stopping megalomanical madmen while seducing dozens of women. EON’s Bond franchise has grossed over $7 billion dollars worldwide, won multiple Academy Awards, and set the standard for spy escapism on the big screen.

That kind of success will always breed imitation. From the beginnings of Bond’s adventures, multiple spoofs, knock-offs, and homages have been produced trying to cut in on 007’s action. Some of these imitators even managed to best the spy at what he does best, since MI6’s most famous fictional agent has had his own production struggles. With the future of the Bond franchise looking rather grim, audiences can find comfort in the films that have tried to follow in his footsteps. These are the ten best movies that were inspired by James Bond.

10

‘Kingsman: The Secret Service’ (2014)

Directed by Matthew Vaughn

There have been many modern attempts to create a new Bond, but crafting an heir to one of the most beloved fictional spies is no small task. The closest any modern attempt has come to being successful was in Matthew Vaughn’s Kingsman: The Secret Service. The first installment in this R-rated franchise, based on the comic book series by Mark Millar and Dave Gibbons, not only gave audiences a badass Colin Firth as a seasoned spy, but also a compelling new protagonist in Taron Egerton’s Eggsy. A rebellious youth with a toxic home life, Eggsy is recruited by Firth’s handsomely dressed spy to be a part of the elite intelligence organization known as Kingsman.

While the lackluster follow-ups have failed to capitalize on what made the franchise great, this initial entry makes good on the promise of a more adult take on a Bond-esque adventure, with plenty of blood spattered throughout. The apex of this is in the film’s Church-set shootout, where Firth gets to violently unload on some rage-triggered bigots. The ending also pays homage to the innuendo-filled days of Roger Moore’s tenure as Bond with a wickedly tasteless sex joke. The future may be uncertain for the franchise, but this first film is still one of the most outright entertaining spy movies.

Release Date

February 13, 2015

Director

Matthew Vaughn

Runtime

2h 10m

9

‘The Man From U.N.C.L.E. (2015)

Directed by Guy Ritchie

The year following Vaughan’s modern update, fellow lad filmmaker Guy Ritchie released his own take on the spy genre, with the 60s set throwback The Man From U.N.C.L.E. Based on the TV series of the same name, the film has multiple layers of homage to Bond, since the character’s creator Ian Fleming was a contributor to the original series, and Ritchie adopts much of the style of Fleming’s signature film franchise. Henry Cavill proves why he should be the next Bond as CIA operative Napoleon Solo, who reluctantly teams up with a KGB agent, played by Armie Hammer, to protect the daughter of a nuclear scientist, played by Alicia Vikander.

Cavill and Hammer have terrific chemistry together, which Ritchie take full advantage of with his trademark banter, all while staging some very slick action sequences. The film was, unfortunately, not a box office success, which killed any chance of a potential sequel, let alone a full-blown franchise. The last decade of Ritchie’s career has seen the director pump out some surprisingly entertaining movies that have flown under the radar. The first step for audiences to rectify this would be to catch up on this stylish, charming spy thriller.

The Man From U.N.C.L.E.

Release Date

August 14, 2015

Runtime

116 Minutes

8

‘OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies’

Directed by Michel Hazanivicius

The bounty of Bond parodies is so plentiful they could fill up several lists of spy comedies all on their own. Our Man Flint kicked off a swinging American series of spoofs with James Coburn in the lead, and those films also deeply influenced Mike Myer’s Austin Powers franchise. Rowan Atkinson even took on the tuxedo with three Johnny English films. The most specific satire of them all is the French OSS 117 series. This franchise, which was based on a series of non-comedic novels that had been previously been adapted several times, was developed as both a loving homage and a send-up of classic spy films, notably the Sean Connery era of Bond.

Director Michel Hazanivicius borrowed many of the outdated filming techniques employed in the early Bond adventures, such as rear-screen projection in the driving sequences, to emulate those films in great detail. The lead spy character, played by Jean Dujardin, is also accurate to the era, being depicted as a sexist misogynist who nevertheless manages to defeat evil. The first film OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies is easily the best of the franchise, and is a fun-filled romp that will leave many Bond fans in stitches thanks to its adherence to matching the visuals and attitudes of the influential classics.

OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies is available to rent on Prime Video in the U.S.

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7

‘Danger: Diabolik’ (1968)

Directed by Mario Bava

The 60s and 70s were filled with plenty of Bondsploitation knock-offs that tried to mimic the spy’s mainstream success with increasingly outlandish plots and characters. The Eurospy subgenre was especially prolific, with many releases coming out of Spain, France, and Italy. The most memorable of these was the comic-book based, psychedelic action movie Danger: Diabolik from acclaimed filmmaker Mario Bava. Just as he did with the gothic horror and sci-fi genres, Bava crafted a wholly unique and visually arresting crime caper that feels like the groovy lovechild of 60s Batman and Bond.

Diabolik is the name of a high-profile thief whose antics cause the police to take extreme measures to stop him, including collaborating with a dangerous gangster. What sounds like the plot to a gritty crime thriller is elevated by Bava’s visuals which closely emulate the comic book source material. The lead character’s costume is equal parts superhero and S&M fetish wear. Add to that an iconic pop rock infused score by Ennio Morricone, and Danger: Diabolik is easily the most unique of the films to pull influence from the world of Bond.

Danger: Diabolik is currently available to watch on Kanopy in the U.S.

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6

‘True Lies’ (1994)

Directed by James Cameron

What if Bond was American…and married…and was a 90s action hero? That’s basically the premise behind James Cameron’s True Lies, a remake of a French film that stars Arnold Schwarzenegger as Harry Tasker, a supposedly boring computer sales rep, natch, who is in actuality a spy for a secret government organization. It’s a completely bogus premise, but one that allows for some farcical fun as Harry’s wife, played by Jamie Lee Curtis, gets involved in his secret life. It also lets Cameron stage some of the most explosive action of his career, taking influence from Bond and dialing it up to eleven.

From the opening infiltration of a Swiss château that pays direct homage to Goldfinger, to a bathroom fight scene that rivals the iconic one from Mission: Impossible – Fallout, Cameron is firing on all cylinders as an action director. The plot, outside the familial drama, is inconsequential, and suffers from some poorly dated stereotypical depictions of women and Middle Eastern ethnic groups, but taken as pure spy escapist fantasy, it’s hard to top. Curtis’ performance is one of her best as she convincingly transforms from suburban homemaker to badass Bond girl. That, and Bill Paxton as the weaseliest Bill Paxton character ever, are more than enough to recommend True Lies.

True Lies

Release Date

July 15, 1994

Director

James Cameron

Runtime

141 minutes

5

‘The Rock’ (1996)

Directed by Michael Bay

The Rock is a bombastic American action film that also happens to star the original Bond star himself, Sean Connery. Connery channels an older Bond as a former SAS operative, now imprisoned, who is called back into action when Alcatraz Island is taken over by a rogue military squad with chemical weaponry. Connery’s grizzled performance as an aging agent is what led many fans to dub The Rock an unofficial Bond sequel.

Michael Bay’s direction is as unsubtle as ever, but it’s tempered here by the performances of Connery, Nicolas Cage as an analyst out of his depth, and especially Ed Harris, who goes hard as the sympathetic villain. Never Say Never Again was a serviceable Bond send-off that acknowledged Connery’s age, but The Rock feels even more appropriate as a farewell as it truly allows Connery to layer in a bitterness to the character without trying to fit into the Bond mold. It’s a more liberated performance because the character is explicitly not Bond, all while echoing Connery’s most famous role all the same. Connery disappearing off into the sunset is as fitting a tribute to his action star legacy as audiences will ever get.

Release Date

June 7, 1996

Runtime

136 minutes

4

‘Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation’ (2015)

Directed by Christopher McQuarrie

The original Mission: Impossible TV series was one of many heavily influenced by the success of Bond. That influence remained as the series was rebooted into a film franchise starting with the twisty Brian DePalma directed original in the 90s. Since then, the Mission: Impossible series has evolved into its own distinct franchise that places high value on spectacle and stunt work. That shift has helped make the franchise one of the best in the action genre, but its debt to Bond can still be felt, no more so than in Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation.

The globe-trotting fifth installment of the franchise brought in Christopher McQuarrie as writer/director, and he has continued to shepherd the series ever since. He also brought a level of espionage and intrigue back to the series, as star Tom Cruise, as IMF agent Ethan Hunt, takes on the shadowy organization known as the Syndicate. It’s a conflict that in many ways mirrors Bond’s fight against Spectre in his earlier exploits, and McQuarrie reaches even further back to take inspiration from Alfred Hitchcock, a filmmaker who had a great deal of influence on the early Bond adventures. The opera house sequence in Rogue Nation is clearly inspired by Hitchcock’s Royal Albert Hall scene from The Man Who Knew Too Much, and is another link in the chain of Bond influences that runs through the history of spy cinema.

Release Date

July 31, 2015

Runtime

131 Minutes

3

‘Inception’ (2010)

Directed by Christopher Nolan

No filmmaker has had a career more clearly inspired by Bond than Christopher Nolan. The director has been open about his admiration of the franchise, and how the films have influenced his own. That influence is plain to see in his Dark Knight Trilogy, particularly in the scenes where Bruce Wayne obtains new tech from Lucius Fox, which are clearly modeled on the famous Q branch scenes from the Bond films. Tenet was Nolan’s time travel spin on the spy film formula, but the film with the strongest influence from Bond in the director’s career was the 2010 mind heist thriller Inception. Nolan’s original film, about an elite team that specializes in infiltrating dreams, features all the hallmarks of Bond, including incredible action scenes.

Beyond the grand-scale of action that crosses multiple locations across the globe, Nolan pays direct homage to On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, his favorite Bond film, in the snowy ski chase climax. The director for years has been touted as the perfect choice to helm the next Bond film, but with the degree of creative control that he wields, and the famous spy franchise in flux after being purchased by Amazon, it doesn’t seem likely that the dream pairing will happen anytime soon. Fans can otherwise find a quantum of solace in rewatching one of the director’s best, and most Bond-like, films.

Release Date

July 16, 2010

Cast

Leonardo DiCaprio
, Joseph Gordon-Levitt
, Elliot Page
, Tom Hardy
, Ken Watanabe
, Dileep Rao
, Cillian Murphy
, Tom Berenger
, Marion Cotillard
, Pete Postlethwaite
, Michael Caine
, Lukas Haas
, Tai-Li Lee
, Claire Geare
, Magnus Nolan
, Taylor Geare
, Johnathan Geare
, Tohoru Masamune
, Yuji Okumoto
, Earl Cameron
, Ryan Hayward
, Miranda Nolan
, Russ Fega
, Tim Kelleher

Runtime

148 minutes

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2

‘The Incredibles’ (2005)

Directed by Brad Bird

Brad Bird’s animated superhero hit The Incredibles is absolutely bursting with Bondian delights. From Michael Giacchino’s jazzy score to the villain’s secret lair tucked inside a volcano, there’s no denying the influence. Though it sits comfortably within the superhero genre, it’s obvious that the most famous spy film franchise was far more of a visual touchstone for Bird and his creative team. The film’s retro-futuristic 60s setting adds to the overall Bond-like atmosphere.

Like all of Bird’s films, The Incredibles blends heart, humor, and action in equal measures, something that was often a feature of the best Bond movies. The family of original superheroes have become icons in their own right, and the film changed the superhero genre, and studio Pixar, for the better and forever. Years later it remains one of the greatest superhero films ever made, and its success helped launch Bird on to the A-list, where he would eventually direct an installment of competing spy franchise Mission: Impossible, which helped reinvigorate that series. Perhaps Bird’s name is the one that should be being trumpeted for the next Bond gig.

The Incredibles

Release Date

November 5, 2004

Director

Brad Bird

Runtime

115 minutes

1

‘Raiders of the Lost Ark’ (1981)

Directed by Steven Spielberg

On the surface, the Indiana Jones franchise doesn’t seem the most outwardly influenced by Bond, but drilling into the bones of the character, one is sure to find 007’s DNA. While George Lucas was inspired to create the character based on the film serials of the early 20th century, Steven Spielberg’s impetus for developing the first film Raiders of the Lost Ark, was his frustration at not being able to direct a James Bond movie. Lucas offered the director the adventuring archaeologist character as an alternative, and the duo, along with screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan, funneled aspects of Bond’s character into Jones. While the playboy nature of the character would be toned down, other aspects, such as having a new love interest in each adventure (until Kingdom of the Crystal Skull) and the overall devil-may-care attitude, carried over.

The influence would also carry over to the film’s structure, as Spielberg devised setting up the character through an opening action sequence independent of the film’s main storyline, a trademark of the Bond films. The subsequent films in the initial Indiana Jones trilogy took further steps toward homaging Bond, with Harrison Ford appearing at the beginning of Temple of Doom wearing the same white tuxedo as modeled by Sean Connery in Goldfinger. Connery himself would be pulled into the franchise to play Jones’ father for The Last Crusade, in a symbolic acknowledgment of the actor’s influence on the character through his own role. It all started with Raiders of the Lost Ark, and a love for one of the most iconic film franchises of all time.