15 Most Underrated Spy Movies Of All Time
4. Eye of the Needle
Directed by Jagged Edge's Richard Marquand, 1981's Eye of the Needle finally casts screen legend/suspicious face Donald Sutherland as a German spy during World War II, a role the actor was practically born to play.
The film follows his desperate, hopeless attempts to escape England, evade capture and detection, and inform his superiors about word he's uncovered regarding the forthcoming D-day landings.
Far from a glamorous escapade, this film's appeal was well summarised by legendary critics Roger Ebert when he compared it to the sub genre of "downbeat, plodding, grimly funny war movies" which Britain once made a cottage industry of supplying.
However this time around it's a German operative who the viewer can't help but rooting for, and there's a strange, fascinating irony in realising the flick's bleak ending is actually good news for the world at large.