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10 Movies That Were Strongly Inspired By The James Bond Franchise

Published 1 month ago12 minute read

The franchise is one of the longest-running and most widely acclaimed movie series of all time, and it’s inspired countless other spy films and high-stakes thrillers since its conception. Every single James Bond movie offers something new and exciting, with many different actors portraying the character throughout the years and bringing something new to the table. It’s a franchise that’s been able to constantly reinvent itself, which is arguably why it’s stuck around for so long.

There’s an argument to be made that every single spy movie of the past few decades was inspired by James Bond to some extent - or at least by Ian Fleming’s original novels, which popularized the genre for mainstream audiences. However, there are certain movies that wear their influences more proudly than others, directly referencing Bond through their fast-paced narratives and old-fashioned tropes. While the future of James Bond is somewhat unclear, these films all prove that there will always be a place for this timeless hero.

Mission Impossible Ghost Protocol movie poster
Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol
ScreenRant logo

7/10

December 15, 2011

2h 13m

Brad Bird

Christopher McQuarrie

Mission: Impossible, Mission: Impossible 2, Mission: Impossible III

The fourth film in the franchise, Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol, is an action-thriller film set years after the events of Mission: Impossible 3. It sees Ethan Hunt and the Impossible Missions Force (IMF) see themselves falsely accused of a crime. Following a terrorist attack on the Kremlin, the IMF is implicated in the attack, forcing the government to disavow knowledge of them. To clear their names and find the true culprit, the United States initiates the "Ghost Protocol," forcing them all to go off the grid with no support to solve the case.

Paramount Pictures

Paramount Pictures

While it’s fair to say that the entire Mission: Impossible franchise was inspired by James Bond on some level, Ghost Protocol is arguably the most obvious example of this. The film marks the fourth entry in this beloved action franchise, taking protagonist Ethan Hunt on a dangerous mission through the Kremlin in search of the tools that will help them prevent a nuclear war. , and Brad Bird’s fluid direction gives it an extremely unique visual style.

James Bond's 10 Campest Movie Moments

Related

James Bond's 10 Campest Movie Moments

Although the most recent James Bond movies have been dark and gritty, the 007 franchise has a long history of delightfully campy moments.

The film , from its focus on secrets and espionage to the gradual revelation that Hunt is dealing with a force much larger and more complicated than he’s initially led to believe. This is something that happens in countless Bond stories, from Moonraker to Spectre, and it works brilliantly here too.

True Lies

July 15, 1994

141 minutes

James Cameron

James Cameron

In James Cameron's 1994 action comedy True Lies, the spy Harry Tasker (Arnold Schwarzenegger) lives a double life as a mellow computer salesman and keeps his real job secret from his wife Helen (Jamie Lee Curtis). However, she joins him when he discovers a terrorist plot to destroy America.

20th Century

20th Century, Universal Pictures

True Lies is one of James Cameron’s best movies, and while it may not have the epic scope of something like Avatar or the monumental filmmaking of Titanic, it displays an excellent command of storytelling on a smaller, more intimate level. The story follows Arnold Schwarzenegger’s protagonist, a secret agent in search of missing nuclear warheads, who quickly realizes that his dangerous lifestyle is pulling his marriage apart.

Jamie Lee Curtis gives one of the strongest performances in any of Cameron’s movies in True Lies, which helps ground the story in a more personal dimension instead of running away with the theatrics of the Bond-esque narrative. This is where , but it’s all the better for this slight subversion.

The Bourne Identity
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10/10

June 14, 2002

119 minutes

Doug Liman

Tony Gilroy, W. Blake Herron

Jason Bourne, The Bourne Legacy, The Bourne Ultimatum, The Bourne Supremacy

After waking up at sea with no memory of who he once was, Jason Bourne travels the world to discover his identity while mysterious assassins try to kill him. Matt Damon stars as Jason Bourne, a character first appearing in Robert Ludlum's 1980 spy novel The Bourne Identity. The film was followed by The Bourne Supremacy and The Bourne Ultimatum, both of which were also adaptations of Ludlum's work.

Universal Pictures

Universal Pictures

The Bourne Identity is the first in this long-running franchise that soon became renowned for its similarities to James Bond, and it’s arguably the strongest in the series. Introducing Matt Damon as an undercover spy who’s lost his memories, The Bourne Identity follows his character as he learns more about where he came from and the mission that he’s supposed to be undertaking.

What’s so interesting about The Bourne Identity is how effortlessly it flips the spy genre on its head, dismissing the existing tropes where action heroes are totally in control of the story and always come out on top.

What’s so interesting about The Bourne Identity is how effortlessly it flips the spy genre on its head, dismissing the existing tropes where action heroes are totally in control of the story and always come out on top. Jason Bourne is a very flawed character, and for the majority of this narrative, he doesn’t even know who he is., and it’s a key reason that it remains one of the best Jason Bourne movies.

Furious 7
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6/10

April 3, 2015

2h 20m

James Wan

Chris Morgan

Fast 5, The Fast And The Furious, 2 Fast 2 Furious, The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, Fast and Furious 6

The seventh film in the Fast & Furious franchise, Furious 7 follows Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel), Brian O'Conner (Paul Walker), and their found family of street racing criminals as they're enlisted by the mysterious Mr. Nobody (Kurt Russell) to help save the world. When a cyberterrorist (Djimon Hounsou) threatens to steal the powerful hacking program known as God's Eye, the Fast Family race into action in a high-octane thrill ride in order to stop him. 

Universal Pictures

Universal Pictures

Furious 7 is a very unique entry in the Fast & Furious franchise, clearly marking the moment that the series took a bold U-turn and completely changed its existing style. Whereas the previous movies had been more grounded, personal stories about a group of criminals whose thirst for adventure constantly got them into trouble, .

Many audiences took issue with Fast & Furious’ dramatic change of style, arguing that it was no longer about cars and had betrayed the long-term fans that invested themselves in this franchise over a decade prior. While that’s a slight overreaction given the excellent storytelling and memorable set pieces in Furious 7, it certainly became true when the later sequels doubled down on this high-octane, forceful storytelling.

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Johnny English

July 18, 2003

87 Minutes

Peter Howitt

Neal Purvis, Robert Wade, William Davies

Eric Fellner, Mark Huffam, Tim Bevan, Frédéric Bovis

Johnny English: Johnny English stars Rowan Atkinson as a bumbling MI7 agent who is unexpectedly promoted to super spy. After a series of mishaps eliminate other agents, he must retrieve stolen Crown Jewels during a high-profile exhibition. The film marks a comedic foray into espionage, blending humor with adventure.

There were countless parodies of the James Bond movies throughout the ‘90s and early 2000s, but Johnny English is the one that best stood the test of time. The story follows the titular spy, a brash and confident member of British intelligence, who is assigned to protect the Crown Jewels after his colleagues are all killed in action. Ironically, .

Johnny English Movies

Release Year

Johnny English

2003

Johnny English Reborn

2011

Johnny English Strikes Again

2018

Johnny English leans into the comedic, satirical side of this genre by making fun of the Bond movies and their outdated, often misogynistic tropes. English has all the confidence and bravado of somebody like Bond, but none of the street smarts to make it seem anywhere near as suave. While Daniel Craig played a much darker version of James Bond at the time, Johnny English existed to counteract that and remind audiences of how intrinsically goofy these stories could be.

Tenet Poster
Tenet
ScreenRant logo

8/10

September 3, 2020

150 minutes

Christopher Nolan

Christopher Nolan

Tenet

Armed with only one word—Tenet—and fighting for the survival of the entire world, a nameless Protagonist journeys through a twilight world of international espionage on a mission that will unfold in something beyond real time.

Warner Bros. Pictures

Warner Bros. Pictures

Christopher Nolan may not initially seem like the kind of director to wear his influences so brashly on his sleeve, but the references to James Bond were used all throughout Tenet’s marketing.

Timothy Daltons First James Bond Movie Was Almost A Prequel To Dr No

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Timothy Dalton's First James Bond Movie Was Almost A Prequel To Sean Connery's Dr. No, Breaking 007's Timeline

Timothy Dalton's first James Bond movie was originally developed as a prequel to the very first film, Dr. No, that would fill in 007's origin story.

Although Tenet wasn’t considered one of Christopher Nolan’s best films upon its release in 2020, the film has aged particularly well in the years since. It features strong performances from John David Washington and Robert Pattinson, whose characters do a great job of explaining this complex world to the audience without making it feel too expository. Nolan’s writing is sharp as ever, and while the film requires a few watches to fully understand, it’s more than worth it.

Kingsman The Secret Service
Kingsman: The Secret Service
ScreenRant logo

8/10

February 13, 2015

2h 10m

Matthew Vaughn

Matthew Vaughn, Jane Goldman

Kingsman: The Golden Circle, The King's Man

Based on the comic book series of the same name, Kingsman: The Secret Service tells the story of rebellious teen Eggsy (Taron Egerton) as he's inducted into a top-secret spy agency by a man codenamed Galahad (Colin Firth). After learning that billionaire Richmond Valentine (Samuel L. Jackson) plans to destroy the world, Eggsy and Galahad set out to avert international disaster and uncover widespread corruption that threatens to consume the Kingsman agency itself. 

20th Century

20th Century

Another movie that very confidently wears its James Bond influences on its sleeve, of this series that exists. The film uses the melodrama of characters like James Bond as a source of comedy, making its characters much less competent and more relatable as a result.

This first installment in the Kingsman series follows Taron Egerton’s protagonist Eggsy as he’s recruited into a secret organization of British spies who work independently to keep the country safe from external threats. Eggsy’s first mission brings him face-to-face with Samuel L. Jackson’s global terrorist, who plans to wipe out humanity in order to prevent climate change. It’s a very intense and high-stakes story, but it’s always played in a similar way to Johnny English, which manages to poke fun at James Bond through its exaggerated action and witty dialogue.

Atomic Blonde Movie Poster
Atomic Blonde
ScreenRant logo

6/10

July 26, 2017

115 minutes

David Leitch

Kurt Johnstad, Antony Johnston, Sam Hart

Based on a graphic novel, Atomic Blonde stars Charlize Theron as Lorraine Broughton, an MI6 agent who is attempting to locate a sensitive list of double agent spies before it is smuggled from East to West Germany, just before the collapse of the Berlin Wall. Theron is joined by a cast that includes James McAvoy, Sofia Boutella, and John Goodman. 

Focus Features

Focus Features

Atomic Blonde’s connections to James Bond aren’t as obvious as some other movies, but it’s clearly inspired nonetheless. The film centers around an MI6 spy who is sent on a mission to Berlin shortly in the late ‘80s, where she finds herself searching for a list of mysterious names of global importance.

Atomic Blonde has a great ending that excels at subverting the audience’s expectations, which is something that James Bond has always been great at doing. The journey there is also somewhat familiar: brutal fight sequences, covert operations of total secrecy, and a romantic subplot to tie everything together. ,

tinker-taylor-soldier-spy
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

September 16, 2011

127 minutes

Tomas Alfredson

Bridget O'Connor, Peter Straughan

Based on the novel of the same name by John le Carré, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy tells the story of a search for Russian spy deep within the British intelligence service, at the height of the Cold War in the 1970s.

StudioCanal

StudioCanal, Focus Features

. The two authors had very similar styles, and while Fleming’s characters were often more sensationalized while Le Carre favored more grounded stories, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy managed to find the best of both worlds.

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy received three Oscar nominations, including Best Actor for Gary Oldman.

The film tells the story of a retired spy who’s summoned by the government to help with a case pertaining to Russian spies inside the British intelligence system. It’s a very slow, methodical story that perfectly lays the framework for what’s to come in its final act, when the story explodes in a thrilling way that’s reminiscent of Bond’s most iconic villain showdowns.

Austin Powers International Man of Mystery Poster
Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery

May 2, 1997

89 Minutes

Director
Jay Roach

Writers
Mike Myers

Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery is the first film in Mike Myers' James Bond parody series. Myers plays both Austin Powers and Dr. Evil, arch-enemies who are frozen in time and brought back in the '90s. The film was followed by two sequels in 1999 and 2002, with a fourth film stuck in development hell.

Main Genre
Comedy

Studio(s)
New Line Cinema, Capella International, Moving Pictures, KC Medien, Eric's Boy

Distributor(s)
New Line Cinema

The Austin Powers movies are filled with iconic quotes and memorable jokes - to the extent that it’s easy to forget just how innovative and subversive they were for the time. These movies were the leading voice in a “James Bond parody” subgenre that became all-too-popular in the late ‘90s, but none of them captured the style quite as effectively as International Man of Mystery.

The film follows Austin Powers, a British spy from the 1960s who’s woken from cryogenic sleep in the 1990s, as he’s forced to battle his old nemesis Dr. Evil one more time. Every single aspect of the film draws from some stereotype of the old James Bond movies, whether it’s the protagonist’s unrequited promiscuity or the hilarious simplicity of Dr. Evil’s comically fallible plots.

Origin:
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