Solemplex
To me, this movie is perfection.
Grimossfer
Clever and entertaining enough to recommend even to members of the 1%
Senteur
As somebody who had not heard any of this before, it became a curious phenomenon to sit and watch a film and slowly have the realities begin to click into place.
Lidia Draper
Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.
Devin Bell
Fritz Lang is one of my favorite directors and ''Metropolis'' is my favorite film. I love ''Woman in the Moon'', ''M'', and ''The Testament of Dr. Mabuse''. ''Spies'', sadly, is incredibly average. Don't get me wrong, this film has great moments. The opening is thrilling. The train scene is suspenseful. And the last 10 minutes are really good. Everything in between is uninteresting and drawn out. I got bored a lot (this is coming from somebody who loves 2001: A Space Odyssey) and found myself looking at the time displeased. I usually despise when studios cut films (Metropolis), but Paramount was smart in cutting this from 130 minutes to 90 minutes. I got the pleasure of seeing an original Paramount copy at the Denver Silent Film Festival and found myself enjoying Spies much more. In conclusion, ''Spies'' has some standout sequences, but is a major step down from ''Metropolis''
Robert Bloom
Fritz Lang's silent crime thriller pits a government agent (Willy Fritsch) against a scheming international banker who is stealing government documents. Considered an overlooked, but crucial part of Lang's impressive canon and an important influence on the thrillers of Alfred Hitchcock; it does have some first-rate cutting and painterly images of the city's dense layering. However, (this version at least) is simply way too long. One can anticipate what is going to happen later in the film with more than ½ hour to go. The film could easily afford to lose some where in the order of one hour of its footage. A necessary viewing for anyone interested in the work of Fritz Lang all the same.
Thorkell A Ottarsson
Spione is a mixture of brilliance and stupidity. The camera-work was amazing and the same goes for the set. And the film has one of the greatest finale of all time.Spoilers Ahead!!! But then there are some really stupid scenes like when Haghi (the bad guy) shoots him self in the head but still talks and stands on his own to feet. And if Haghi was so powerful why didn't he just have No. 326 shot in the beginning in stead of waiting it out? And why should a spy working for the government help a women who has just shot a man, like he does for Sonya? And I have to say that the love story between No. 326 and Sonya was way too much over the top.Spoilers Finished!!! But don't misunderstand me. I think it was an fantastic film (8/10), better than Dr. Mabuse, der Spieler - Ein Bild der Zeit (1922). It was also interesting to see how much Bond has borrowed from it. It also reminded me of North by Northwest (1959) by Hitch. Not to mention Dr. Mabuse. I really felt like I was watching Dr. Mabuse no. II.I saw the Masters Of Cinema edition of the film (R2). The transfer is amazing. Extremely well done. I didn't care so much for the music though.
marissas75
"Spies" is much more entertaining than you would expect an old German silent movie to be, and at first, it's hard to say why. The character types are familiar from hundreds of other spy movies: a villain who is bent on world domination and has multiple secret identities, a beautiful blonde who works as a spy for the villain, a dashing enemy agent who falls in love with the female spy. The plot is fairly ludicrous, though it moves along briskly and provides for some great set-pieces, such as an exhilarating chase scene. But despite all the clichés found in "Spies," the movie still feels fresh and vital. You get drawn into the world of the film and accept the clichés, rather than becoming distracted by them. I'm sure most of the credit for this has to go to the director, Fritz Lang. His films ("Metropolis," "M") often have a very dark world view, but the overall tone of "Spies" is escapist adventure-fantasy. It aims to provoke thrills, not shock or outrage. Lang creates some stunning visual compositions and proves to be a very detail-oriented directorhe delights in close-ups of spy gadgetry! His innovative use of montages, dramatic lighting, camera movement, and other techniques gives the film an interesting stylization. I'm writing this review after watching the 90-minute American version of "Spies". But I had such a good time that I may have to seek out the 146-minute version!