MRQE Ranks: Best Cold War Movies

1

Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)

Cast: Peter Sellers, George C. Scott, Sterling Hayden, Keenan Wynn, Slim Pickens

Director: Stanley Kubrick

Synopsis: In 1964, with the Cuban Missile Crisis fresh in viewers' minds, the Cold War at its frostiest, and the hydrogen bomb relatively new and frightening... [MORE]

2

The Third Man (1949)

Cast: Joseph Cotten, Valli, Orson Welles, Trevor Howard, Paul Hoerbiger

Director: Carol Reed

Synopsis: In this Cold War spy classic, Holly Martins (Joseph Cotten), a third-rate American pulp novelist, arrives in postwar Vienna, where he has been prom... [MORE]

3

The Manchurian Candidate (1962)

Cast: Laurence Harvey, Frank Sinatra, Angela Lansbury, James Gregory, Janet Leigh

Director: John Frankenheimer

Synopsis: An unusually tense and intelligent political thriller, The Manchurian Candidate was a film far ahead of its time. Its themes of thought control, po... [MORE]

4

Das Leben der Anderen (2006)

Cast: Martina Gedeck, Ulrich Mühe, Sebastian Koch, Ulrich Tukur, Thomas Thieme

Director: Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck

Synopsis: A man who has devoted his life to ferreting out "dangerous" characters is thrown into a quandary when he investigates a man who poses no threat in ... [MORE]

5

Apocalypse Now (1979)

Cast: Martin Sheen, Marlon Brando, Robert Duvall, Frederic Forrest, Larry Fishburne

Director: Francis Ford Coppola

Synopsis: One of a cluster of late-1970s films about the Vietnam War, Francis Ford Coppola's Apocalypse Now adapts the Joseph Conrad novella Heart of Darknes... [MORE]

6

Kiss Me Deadly (1955)

Cast: Ralph Meeker, Gaby Rodgers, Paul Stewart, Maxine Cooper, Albert Dekker

Director: Robert Aldrich

Synopsis: Regarded by many critics as the ultimate film noir, and by many more as the finest movie adaptation of a book by Mickey Spillane, Kiss Me De... [MORE]

7

The Iron Giant (1999)

Cast: Eli Marienthal, Vin Diesel, Jennifer Aniston, Harry Connick, Jr., Christopher McDonald, Cloris Leachman, John Mahoney

Director: Brad Bird

Synopsis: A boy's best friend is his robot in this animated adventure from Brad Bird, best known for his TV work on such series as The Simpsons, King of the ... [MORE]

8

Good Night, and Good Luck. (2005)

Cast: David Strathairn, Patricia Clarkson, George Clooney, Jeff Daniels, Robert Downey Jr.

Director: George Clooney

Synopsis: George Clooney pays homage to one of the icons of American broadcast journalism, Edward R. Murrow, in this fact-based drama, which was Clooney's se... [MORE]

9

The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)

Cast: Michael Rennie, Patricia Neal, Hugh Marlowe, Sam Jaffe, Billy Gray

Director: Robert Wise

Synopsis: All of Washington, D.C., is thrown into a panic when an extraterrestrial spacecraft lands near the White House. Out steps Klaatu (Michael Rennie, i... [MORE]

10

Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978)

Cast: Donald Sutherland, Brooke Adams, Leonard Nimoy, Veronica Cartwright, Art Hindle

Director: Philip Kaufman

Synopsis: This remake of the 1956 horror classic Invasion of the Body Snatchers moves the action from small-town USA to 1970s San Francisco and replaces at l... [MORE]

11

From Russia with Love (1963)

Cast: Sean Connery, Daniela Bianchi, Robert Shaw, Lotte Lenya, Pedro Armendáriz

Director: Terence Young

Writer: Ian Fleming

Synopsis: From Russia With Love, the second in the series of James Bond films, is the film that solidifies all the Bond film elements into a formula -- the a... [MORE]

12

The Quiet American (2002)

Cast: Michael Caine, Brendan Fraser, Do Thi Hai Yen, Rade Serbedzija, Tzi Ma

Director: Phillip Noyce

Synopsis: Graham Greene's allegorical novel about America's role in the Vietnam conflict, and how it was perceived by the rest of the world, is brought to th... [MORE]

13

The Hunt for Red October (1990)

Cast: Sean Connery, Alec Baldwin, Scott Glenn, Sam Neill, James Earl Jones

Director: John McTiernan

Synopsis: The first of several films based on Tom Clancy's "Jack Ryan" technothrillers, Hunt for Red October stars Alec Baldwin as eccentric CIA analyst Ryan... [MORE]

14

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011)

Cast: Alec Guinness, Michael Aldridge, Bernard Hepton, Ian Richardson, Michael Jayston, Terence Rigby, Alexander Knox, Hywel Bennett, Ian Bannen, Joss Ackland, Anthony Bate, Hilary Minster, George Pravda, Timothy Stetson, John Standing, Patrick Stewart, Sian Phillips

Director: John Irvin

Synopsis: Living a premature and somewhat humbling retirement, elderly British spy George Smiley (Alec Guinness) is abruptly resurrected by his former boss L... [MORE]

15

Thirteen Days (2000)

Cast: Kevin Costner, Bruce Greenwood, Steven Culp, Dylan Baker, Henry Strozier

Director: Roger Donaldson

Synopsis: Director Roger Donaldson teams up with star Kevin Costner for another political thriller (after their 1987 pairing, No Way Out), only this time wit... [MORE]

16

No Way Out (1987)

Cast: Kevin Costner, Gene Hackman, Sean Young, Will Patton, Howard Duff

Director: Roger Donaldson

Synopsis: No Way Out is told in flashback as Naval officer Tom Farrell (Kevin Costner) is grilled by his superiors regarding a recent "unpleasantness." While... [MORE]

17

WarGames (1983)

Cast: Matthew Broderick, Dabney Coleman, Ally Sheedy, John Wood, Barry Corbin

Director: John Badham

Synopsis: Once more, a wise-guy teenager tries to prove he's smarter than any adult-and nearly destroys the whole world in the process-in WarGames. Computer-... [MORE]

18

X-Men: First Class (2011)

Cast: James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Kevin Bacon, Caleb Landry Jones, Nicholas Hoult

Director: Matthew Vaughn

Synopsis: Set in the era before Professor Charles Xavier and Erik Lehnsherr became mortal enemies as Professor X and Magneto, respectively, director Matthew ... [MORE]

19

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008)

Cast: Harrison Ford, Shia LaBeouf, Karen Allen, Cate Blanchett, John Hurt

Director: Steven Spielberg

Synopsis: Everyone's favorite archeologist adventurer dusts off his hat and trusty whip for yet another globetrotting trek as Indiana Jones returns to the bi... [MORE]

20

Miracle (2004)

Cast: Kurt Russell, Patricia Clarkson, Noah Emmerich, Sean McCann, Kenneth Welsh

Director: Gavin O'Connor

Synopsis: Gavin O'Connor directs the sports drama Miracle, based on the true story of the 1980 Winter Olympics at Lake Placid. Kurt Russell stars as hockey c... [MORE]

21

Shutter Island (2010)

Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Ruffalo, Ben Kingsley, Michelle Williams, Max von Sydow

Director: Martin Scorsese

Synopsis: Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio team up for a fourth time for this adaptation of Shutter Island, a novel by Dennis Lehane (Mystic River). The... [MORE]

22

Watchmen (2009)

Cast: Billy Crudup, Jackie Earle Haley, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Malin Akerman, Matthew Goode

Director: Zack Snyder

Synopsis: 300's Zack Snyder brings Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons' critically acclaimed comic book Watchmen to the big screen, courtesy of DC Comics and Warner ... [MORE]

23

The Good Shepherd (2006)

Cast: Matt Damon, Angelina Jolie, Alec Baldwin, Tammy Blanchard, Billy Crudup

Director: Robert De Niro

Synopsis: One man bears witness to the secret history of America during the Cold War in this drama directed by celebrated actor Robert De Niro. In 1939, Edwa... [MORE]

24

Top Gun (1986)

Cast: Tom Cruise, Kelly McGillis, Anthony Edwards, Val Kilmer, Tom Skerritt

Director: Tony Scott

Synopsis: Devil-may-care navy pilot Pete Mitchell (Tom Cruise) is sent to Miramar Naval Air Station for advanced training. Here he vies with Tom Kasansky (Va... [MORE]

25

Buffalo Soldiers (2001)

Cast: Joaquin Phoenix, Ed Harris, Scott Glenn, Anna Paquin, Elizabeth McGovern

Director: Gregor Jordan

Synopsis: Australian director Gregor Jordan makes his sophomore effort with this tale about crooked U.S. soldiers based in Germany during the waning days of ... [MORE]

26

Rambo III (1988)

Cast: Sylvester Stallone, Richard Crenna, Marc de Jonge, Kurtwood Smith, Spiros Focas

Director: Peter MacDonald

Synopsis: The third entry in the ultra-macho Rambo action movie series finds muscle-bound warrior John Rambo (co-writer and star Sylvester Stallone) refusing... [MORE]

27

Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985)

Cast: Sylvester Stallone, Richard Crenna, Charles Napier, Steven Berkoff, Julia Nickson

Director: George Pan Cosmatos

Synopsis: The dark-horse box-office hit First Blood spawned this even more successful sequel in which Sylvester Stallone, reprising his role as ex-Green Bere... [MORE]

28

Big Miracle (2012)

Cast: John Krasinski, Drew Barrymore, Kristen Bell, Ted Danson, Dermot Mulroney

Director: Ken Kwapis

Synopsis: When a family of grey whales becomes trapped in the Arctic Circle, a Greenpeace volunteer and a small-town reporter go to extraordinary lengths to ... [MORE]

29

Blast from the Past (1999)

Cast: Brendan Fraser, Alicia Silverstone, Christopher Walken, Sissy Spacek, Dave Foley

Director: Hugh Wilson

Synopsis: In 1962, Calvin Webber (Christopher Walken) was a brilliant but somewhat paranoid scientist living with his Donna Reed-esque wife, Helen (Sissy Spa... [MORE]

30

Rocky IV (1985)

Cast: Sylvester Stallone, Dolph Lundgren, Talia Shire, Burt Young, Carl Weathers

Director: Sylvester Stallone

Synopsis: The third sequel to Sylvester Stallone's boxing blockbuster combines the ringside sports melodrama of the previous installments with the Cold War p... [MORE]

31

Red Dawn (1984)

Cast: Patrick Swayze, C. Thomas Howell, Ron O'Neal, Lea Thompson, Jennifer Grey

Director: John Milius

Synopsis: Set at an indeterminate point in the future, this drama with an overt anti-communist message begins as an ostensible war movie: Russian and Cuban f... [MORE]

32

The Ugly American (1963)

Cast: Marlon Brando, Eiji Okada, Sandra Church, Pat Hingle, Arthur Hill

Director: George Englund

Synopsis: Taken from a best-selling book, this is an uneven, politically tinged drama by George Englund that does not really follow the book that closely. Ma... [MORE]

33

Spies Like Us (1985)

Cast: Chevy Chase, Dan Aykroyd, Steve Forrest, Donna Dixon, Bruce Davison

Director: John Landis

Synopsis: Director John Landis helmed this Cold War farce starring Dan Aykroyd and Chevy Chase as Austin Millbarge and Emmett Fitz-Hume -- two loser misfits ... [MORE]

34

The Russians Are Coming the Russians Are Coming (1966)

Cast: Carl Reiner, Alan Arkin, Eva Marie Saint, Jonathan Winters

Director: Norman Jewison

Synopsis: Just because The Russians are Coming, the Russians are Coming was vastly overrated by contemporary critics does not make it any less amusing. The s... [MORE]

35

Ice Station Zebra (1968)

Cast: Rock Hudson, Ernest Borgnine, Patrick McGoohan, Jim Brown, Tony Bill

Director: John Sturges

Synopsis: A top-secret Soviet spy satellite -- using stolen Western technology -- malfunctions and then goes into a descent that lands it near an isolated Ar... [MORE]

36

The Damned (1963)

Cast: Macdonald Carey, Shirley Anne Field, Viveca Lindfors, Alexander Knox, Oliver Reed

Director: Joseph Losey

Synopsis: Joseph Losey directed this unusual science fiction effort, which has won a small but fervent cult following. Simon Wells (MacDonald Carey) is an Am... [MORE]

37

The Bedford Incident (1965)

Cast: Richard Widmark, Sidney Poitier, James MacArthur, Martin Balsam, Wally Cox

Director: James B. Harris

Synopsis: The Bedford Incident was an attempt by Columbia Pictures -- which had previously made Dr. Strangelove and released Fail-Safe -- to tap the well of ... [MORE]

38

Torn Curtain (1966)

Cast: Paul Newman, Julie Andrews, Lila Kedrova, Hansjorg Felmy

Director: Alfred Hitchcock

Synopsis: A double agent has to contend with enemies on both sides of the political fence as well as the woman he loves in this thriller directed by Alfred H... [MORE]

39

Invasion U.S.A. (1985)

Cast: Chuck Norris, Richard Lynch, Melissa Prophet, Alexander Zale, Dehl Berti

Director: Joseph Zito

40

The Russians Are Coming the Russians Are Coming (1966)

Cast: Carl Reiner, Alan Arkin, Eva Marie Saint, Jonathan Winters

Director: Norman Jewison

Synopsis: Just because The Russians are Coming, the Russians are Coming was vastly overrated by contemporary critics does not make it any less amusing. The s... [MORE]

41

The Odessa File (1974)

Cast: Jon Voight, Maximilian Schell, Maria Schell, Mary Tamm, Derek Jacobi

Director: Ronald Neame

Synopsis: The Odessa File is set in Hamburg in the winter of 1963. Jon Voight plays Peter Miller, a German reporter who is investigating the whereabouts of m... [MORE]

43

The Ipcress File (1965)

Cast: Michael Caine, Nigel Green, Guy Doleman, Sue Lloyd, Gordon Jackson

Director: Sidney J. Furie

Synopsis: Michael Caine made his first appearance as novelist Len Deighton's bespectacled British-spy Harry Palmer in The Ipcress File. Palmer has no real lo... [MORE]

44

The Atomic Cafe (1982)

Director: Jayne Loader, Kevin Rafferty, Pierce Rafferty

Synopsis: The Atomic Cafe is a sometimes hilarious, sometimes sobering collection of film clips taken from American propaganda films of the 1950s. The thrust... [MORE]

45

Heartbreak Ridge (1986)

Cast: Clint Eastwood, Marsha Mason, Everett McGill, Moses Gunn, Eileen Heckart

Director: Clint Eastwood

Synopsis: Having spent much of his directorial career emulating Don Siegel and John Ford, Clint Eastwood borrows a page from the catalogue of Sam Fuller in H... [MORE]

46

The 49th Man (1953)

Cast: John Ireland, Richard Denning, Robert C. Foulk, Suzanne Dalbert, Mike Connors

Director: Fred F. Sears

Synopsis: U.S. security agent John Ireland suspects that someone is smuggling atomic devices into America. When he makes his report, Ireland is assured by hi... [MORE]

47

The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (1965)

Cast: Richard Burton, Claire Bloom, Oskar Werner, Cyril Cusack, Peter Van Eyck

Director: Martin Ritt

Synopsis: Based on the novel by John Le Carre, The Spy Who Came in from the Cold stars Richard Burton as a dispirited, end-of-tether British secret agent. He... [MORE]