Movies like The Cold War Killers (1986)
The best movies like The Cold War Killers (1986) are Red Joan (2018), The Courier (2020) and The Spy Who Loved Me (1977). If The Cold War Killers hooked you, these 20 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedThe Lady Vanishes (1938)7.4/10 from 1,079 votes
- NewestOn a Wing and a Prayer (2023)Released 2023
Red Joan (2018)
London, England, May 2000. The peaceful life of elderly Joan Stanley is suddenly disrupted when she is arrested by the British Intelligence Service and accused of providing information to communist Russia during the forties.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Courier (2020)
Cold War spy Greville Wynne and his Russian source try to put an end to the Cuban Missile Crisis.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Spy Who Loved Me (1977)
Russian and British submarines with nuclear missiles on board both vanish from sight without a trace. England and Russia both blame each other as James Bond tries to solve the riddle of the disappearing ships. But the KGB also has an agent on the case.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBridge of Spies (2015)
During the Cold War, the Soviet Union captures U.S. pilot Francis Gary Powers after shooting down his U-2 spy plane. Sentenced to 10 years in prison, Powers' only hope is New York lawyer James Donovan, recruited by a CIA operative to negotiate his release. Donovan boards a plane to Berlin, hoping to win the young man's freedom through a prisoner exchange. If all goes well, the Russians would get Rudolf Abel, the convicted spy who Donovan defended in court.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Fourth Protocol (1987)
Led by Kim Philby, Plan Aurora is a plan that breaches the top-secret Fourth Protocol and turns the fears that shaped it into a living nightmare. A crack Soviet agent, placed under cover in a quiet English country town, begins to assemble a nuclear bomb, whilst an MI5 agent attempts to prevent its detonation.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTelefon (1977)
Nicolai Dalchimski, a mad KGB agent steals a notebook full of names of "sleeping" undercover KGB agents sent to the U.S. in the 1950's. These agents got their assignments under hypnosis, so they can't remember their missions until they're told a line of a Robert Frost poem. Dalchimski flees to the U.S. and starts phoning these agents who perform sabotage acts against military targets.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSpy Game (2001)
On the day of his retirement, a veteran CIA agent learns that his former protégé has been arrested in China, is sentenced to die the next morning in Beijing, and that the CIA is considering letting that happen to avoid an international scandal.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Kremlin Letter (1970)
After an unauthorized letter suggesting U.S. support for a Russian attack on China is sent to Moscow, a former naval officer and his team go undercover to retrieve it. Their plans are disrupted when a cunning politician raids their hideout.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisMurder on the Orient Express (1974)
In 1935, when his train is stopped by deep snow, detective Hercule Poirot is called on to solve a murder that occurred in his car the night before.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisTinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011)
George Smiley, the aging master spy of the Cold War and once heir apparent to Control, is brought back out of retirement to flush out a top level mole within the Circus. Smiley must travel back through his life and murky workings of the Circus to unravel the net spun by his nemesis Karla 'The Sandman' of the KGB and reveal the identity of the mole before he disappears.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFirefox (1982)
The Soviets have developed a revolutionary new jet fighter, called 'Firefox'. Worried that the jet will be used as a first-strike weapon—as there are rumours that it is undetectable by radar—the British send ex-Vietnam War pilot, Mitchell Gant on a covert mission into the Soviet Union to steal the Firefox.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Ghost Writer (2010)
A writer stumbles upon a long-hidden secret when he agrees to help former British Prime Minister Adam Lang complete his memoirs on a remote island after the politician's assistant drowns in a mysterious accident.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Man from U.N.C.L.E. (2015)
At the height of the Cold War, a mysterious criminal organization plans to use nuclear weapons and technology to upset the fragile balance of power between the United States and Soviet Union. CIA agent Napoleon Solo and KGB agent Illya Kuryakin are forced to put aside their hostilities and work together to stop the evildoers in their tracks. The duo's only lead is the daughter of a missing German scientist, whom they must find soon to prevent a global catastrophe.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisJasper Jones (2017)
Fourteen-year-old Charlie's life changes when Jasper takes his help to dispose of the body of his girlfriend, Laura. He decides to look for the murderer and falls in love with Laura's younger sister.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Lady Vanishes (1938)
On a train headed for England a group of travelers is delayed by an avalanche. Holed up in a hotel in a fictional European country, young Iris befriends elderly Miss Froy. When the train resumes, Iris suffers a bout of unconsciousness and wakes to find the old woman has disappeared. The other passengers ominously deny Miss Froy ever existed, so Iris begins to investigate with another traveler and, as the pair sleuth, romantic sparks fly.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisShadow in the Cloud (2021)
A WWII pilot traveling with top secret documents on a B-17 Flying Fortress encounters an evil presence on board the flight.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisOn a Wing and a Prayer (2023)
After their pilot dies unexpectedly mid-flight, passenger Doug White must safely land a plane and save his entire family from insurmountable danger.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Lady Vanishes (1979)
On the eve of World War II, zany heiress Amanda Kelly travels by train to Switzerland. While passing through Germany, she meets a sweet elderly lady, who suddenly vanishes. Distraught, she questions her fellow passengers who claim that the woman was never there. Unsure if it's all in her mind or if there's a more sinister plot afoot, Amanda teams up with photographer Robert Condon to discover the truth.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDie Hard 2 (1990)
One year after his heroics in Los Angeles, John McClane is an off-duty cop who is the wrong guy in the wrong place at the wrong time. On a snowy Christmas Eve, as he waits for his wife's plane to land at Washington Dulles International Airport, terrorists take over the air traffic control system in a plot to free a South American army general and drug smuggler being flown into the US to face drug charges. It's now up to McClane to take on the terrorists, while coping with an inept airport police chief, an uncooperative anti-terrorist squad, and the life of his wife and everyone else trapped in planes circling overhead.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Saint (1997)
Simon Templar (The Saint), is a thief for hire, whose latest job to steal the secret process for cold fusion puts him at odds with a traitor bent on toppling the Russian government, as well as the woman who holds its secret.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Cold War Killers?
The closest matches to The Cold War Killers are Red Joan (2018), The Courier (2020) and The Spy Who Loved Me (1977). Below are 17 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Cold War Killers?
Start with Red Joan (2018), the closest match to The Cold War Killers.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Cold War Killers?
The Lady Vanishes (1938), rated 7.4/10 by 1,079 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Cold War Killers?
On a Wing and a Prayer (2023) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like The Cold War Killers?
Yes: Red Joan (2018), The Courier (2020) and The Spy Who Loved Me (1977).
How are movies similar to The Cold War Killers chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Cold War Killers, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.