Rating: 
Summary: Eye Candy
Review: This is a fairly by the numbers spy thriller but with better acting than usual. Both Pitt and Redford give good performances but even so you don't feel to much for any of the characters and you can pretty much see all the plot twists and turns coming from a mile away. That said this is not a bad nbit of entertainment for your dollar. Much can be said for a decent director and some good acting. If your into the spy thriller genre, and by the looks of Tom Clancys paychecks many people are, then this will please even the most discerning fan.
Rating: 
Summary: The CIA Meltdown because of a girl??
Review: All you need to know about this movie (horribly overdirected as usual by the insecure Tony Scott) is that all the gyrations, life risking moves by so called ultraintelligent guys is as a result of one's love for a girl who seems to be a leftist terrorist sympathizer....in other words, this moview makes no sense.
Rating: 
Summary: Both absurd and frightening
Review: It is a good thing that this movie is too absurd to be taken seriously; otherwise it would be frightening. Imagine for yourself the consequences of a Chinese invasion of a prison in say, LA. Redford's character is willing to risk WWIII for his dumb friend,
who does such nonsense as giving bubble gum to a Chinese prisoner. I would rate this movie "black hole" instead of one star but unfortunately the category does not exist. I respect Robert Redford's talents but this one is a turkey. No, more than that: it is a frightening example of Hollywood's mindless, even immoral, choices of plots. Hollywood has a responsibility to foster and encourage peace and brotherhood in our sad world.This sort of movie encourages the wrong sort of thinking. Yes, I am aware of the politically correct gesture offered in the kiss "Gladys" (Redford's character's black secretary) received in the movie and the questioning of collateral damage in the Beirut assasination. These seem to me to be mere gestures, obligatory additions with no weight. The main actions rests on the "cowboy-style" rescue which I believe encourages the wrong type of thinking. The movie industry has indeed tried in the last few decades to give the public some good messages in their products such as tolerance of other races, religions and kindness and more. Several movies in recent years give us hope and encourage those qualities and attitudes that are salutary for the human race. This movie, in spite of the inclusion of gestures of political correctness, is not one.
Rating:
Summary: Mostly exposition. Very little actual plot.
Review: "Spy Game" is a movie that has a wonderful back story about a cagey CIA veteran's recruitment and development of a top Marine sniper for undercover work and the evolution of the their friendship. It gets bogged down by trying to slap a current day operation over the telling of the back story. This story is expertly developed as it shows CIA vet, Nathan Muir's (Robert Redford), introduction to a brash, young Marine, Tom Bishop (Brad Pitt) during Vietnam. Muir recruits Bishop to go on a very risky sniper mission to take out a top Vietnamese general. Bishop overcomes some tremendous obstacles (including an attack helicopter) and succeeds in his mission. An impressed Muir makes a mental note that he thinks Bishop would make a good agent and slowly begins working the machinery to make him a viable candidate (i.e. making it so he duty posts keep in Europe and away from people he knows, thereby cutting off his ties to others). Muir reappears in Bishop's life at a key moment where he feels Bishop will be most suggestible to CIA work. After putting Bishop through a couple of quick tests, Muir concludes that he will make an excellent operative and thus begins a relationship of more than 15 years (which this movie covers) in which the mentor continues to development and enhancement of his protégé in the world of espionage.
Of course, if that alone was the movie, "Spy Game" would have come across as a compelling look at the challenges this men take on and the sacrifices they make in the name of service to the country. Unfortunately, there is a whole separate act to this movie running parallel to this back story. In involves a current day operation (which, in this movie, is 1991) where Bishop, acting independently, poses as a public health worker to infiltrate a Chinese prison and free some unknown hostage. The mission gets compromised and Bishop gets scheduled for execution. When Muir's superiors at the CIA get wind of this, they essentially interrogate him about his relationship with Bishop while also trying to distance themselves from this action, lest an international incident occurs with China while trade talks are in the balance. In between Q&A sessions, Muir works hard behind the scenes to try and free Bishop (for he feels partly responsible for his predicament, even though he had no direct knowledge of it). During these sequences, the whole back story of Muir and Bishop is explained. The problem is, the present day situation isn't very compelling or interesting. When the movie ends, you realize that you got about 90 minutes of back story and only about 10 minutes of actual plot. That leads to inevitable feelings of disappointment when one realizes that this movie could have been so much more. Interestingly, had it been less, it would have been more. As it has been said, the back story of the relationship between Muir and Bishop is very well done and quite compelling. Left as that, this movie would have been enough. The tacked-on modern storyline just bogs down the rest of the picture and doesn't add much of anything to the entire package. "Spy Game" is still a good watch. It's just a shame it didn't become more than in is.
Rating: 
Summary: Operation "Dinner Out"
Review: This movie has not only plenty of action, but also tells a story of the relationship between CIA agent Nathan Muir and his recruit, Tom Bishop. Muir teaches Bishop all about the tricks of the trade (including how to spot and use assets). Muir seems to be intrigued, at the least, by Bishop's quiet demonstration of strength and devotion when they first meet. As the two spend more time together and Bishop is real enough to not brown-nose but to ask questions when things don't seem right to him, Muir seems to be thinking over Bishop's many questions while playing back his memories during his questioning by other CIA agents (on Muir's last day on the job, no less) - who seem bent on leaving Bishop in a Chinese jail to die. Muir has a few good tricks up his sleeve, including Operation "Dinner Out," and the details of Muir's careful planning are satisfying and make the operation seem less simple. What bothered me was never really finding out WHY Muir had to single-handedly mastermind Bishop's rescue operation (he had some back-up, but why not more openly willing agents?) and WHY the panel of questioning agents was so bent on NOT helping Bishop.
Rating:
Summary: Be careful
Review: The first run of these DVD's are defective. They have problems with the Closed Captioning for the hearing impared being turned on by default (I verified this on two DVD players plus a PS2, problem occured on all three systems). You can turn it of in the subtitles section, but it then proceeds to turn itself back on and off at random times during the movie. During dialogue you are looking at very large text obscuring a large part of the screen. This was overly distracting and rendered the movie unwatchable for me. If you buy this DVD, be sure to check it soon. If you recieve a defective one, you can return it to the publisher for a replacement. 1 star for not testing the DVD before releasing it. address for returns:
Spy Game DVD Return
PO Box 224468
Dallas, TX 75260
Rating:
Summary: Unsatisfying
Review: Sadly, this kind of movie is what qualifies as a top-notch espionage thriller nowadays. Riddled with cliches, SPY GAME benefits only from the solid performances by Redford and Pitt. The plot is somewhat intricate though never very compelling.
An espionage thriller must at least be grounded in plausibility to be truly involving for the viewer, and this one never quite gets there.
I may be nitpicking here, but for me the movie lost some credibility in the first reel: Rogue CIA agent Pitt enters a Chinese prison under the guise of a relief worker giving medical aid, and from there he orchestrates a prisoner rescue. In searching the prison for his target, he spies a prisoner huddled in a corner and gives him a piece of chewing gum. Soon after, Pitt's cover is blown when that prisoner is seen walking around blowing bubbles with the gum. It was CHEWING gum, not BUBBLE gum. I didn't look for a reason to nitpick -- this one just jumped out at me.
Most of the film is told through flashback while Redford sits in a CIA boardroom with his superiors. But if it weren't for director Tony Scott repeatedly showing us a countdown clock to Pitt's impending execution, there would be very little sense of urgency to the proceedings. As with many cliche-ridden plotlines, things get wrapped up a bit too conveniently and in the nick of time.
I don't recommend this one for purchase. Maybe a rental, though you can easily do better with another Redford film called SNEAKERS. SNEAKERS is sort of a domestic espionage thriller/comedy, and infinitely more entertaining and intelligent than SPY GAME.
Rating:
Summary: Apparent Operational Error Makes a Great Story Fail
Review: *SPOILERS*
I withhold a fifth star of an otherwise excellent film because of what appears to be a glaring error in the unfolding sequence that leads to the ultimate rescue of Bishop (Pitt). The apparent gaff is this: Muir (Redford) cleverly forges a document claiming to come from the Director of Central Intelligence to a commander on a U.S. Navy warship near China. The forged document orders the U.S. Commander to organize and execute a clandestine mission in China to free Bishop (Pitt) from prison. The Navy commander phones Muir (Redford) for confirmation of the mission, receives it, and executes the mission successfully.
To my knowledge, there is no way that a U.S. Navy commander would follow the order of the Director of the CIA without going through either the Commander in Chief (President) or from the normal U.S. Navy chain of command. The Director of CIA is not authorized, unless directly empowered by the President, to order U.S. military actions against a foreign country. No U.S. Navy commander would follow such an order. He would check it out with his superiors.
This gap makes the entire movie fall flat because the ultimate outcome, the rescue, could never have occurred on the orders, forged or not, from the Director of CIA.
Rating: 
Summary: AMAZING
Review: I absolutely LOVED this movie!!! Robert Redford is Nathan Muir, a CIA agent about to retire. His protege, Tom Bishop[Brad Pitt], is thrown into a prison and will be executed within 24 hours. Muir cunningly sets up an operation to get Bishop out. This is an action-packed, thrilling, suspenseful movie! It's very accurate in its portrayal of the CIA. I HIGHLY recommend this movie! I was not a major fan of action thrillers, but after I watched Spy Game, I was amazed! This movie is awesome...watch it now!!!!
Rating:
Summary: Access Hidden Features
Review: 2 Hidden features of the DVD. Impress Your Friends!!1) You need to watch the movie twice in a row. Then a "Classified" folder will show up on the TV screen. Highlight and hit Enter to get Behind the Scenes. 2) Watch the movie and then after play it again, then use the skip screen button stop and start the fast forward a few times then the emblem will appear. Then just press enter.
This will give you a third ending to the movie.
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