Summary

• Many movies set during the Cold War explore the era's psychological warfare, espionage, and proxy wars rather than major battles.
• The Cold War provides a rich backdrop for films, ranging from spy thrillers to sports dramas, revealing various facets of the era.
• Directors use the Cold War as a central focus or as a setting in movies, capturing the tension, fear, and paranoia of the time.

Directors making war movies often pass up the Cold War, because it didn't actually involve any major battles. It was more of a psychological game where both sides — the capitalist countries and the communist states — would try to one-up each other in terms of pride and achievements while spreading lies and propaganda about their enemies, gathering intelligence through acts of espionage, and funding small wars known as surrogate or "proxy wars." The conflict lasted from the end of the Second World War in 1945 to the fall of the USSR in 1991, allowing for a wide variety of the best Cold War movies to explore the era.

The decades keep marching on, opening the gap between the Cold War and the present day, and filmmakers keep making movies about it. They range from the typical spy thrillers to rousing sports dramas, from the beginning of the conflict itself to present-day movies. Some are based on real incidents while others are pure fiction, but they all use that period of cool hostility between the U.S.S.R and the U.S.A. for their story. Sometimes the movie happens with the Cold War as the central focus, while in other movies it lurks in the background as part of the setting.

25 Charlie Wilson's War (2007)

Tom Hanks Leads This Cold War Biopic

One of the most pivotal moments in the Cold War was the Soviet Union's invasion of Afghanistan, with their defeat striking a devastating blow that weakened the Soviets to a point they never recovered from. Charlie Wilson's War is a look behind the scenes of the complex conflict with Tom Hanks starring as real congressman Charlie Wilson. Wilson was largely known for his hard-drinking and various scandals, yet became instrumental in a CIA mission to arm the Afghan army.

The story of Charlie Wilson's War is adapted from journalist George Crile III's 2003 novel Charlie Wilson's War: The Extraordinary Story of the Largest Covert Operation in History. With a script by Aaron Sorkin, the movie is engrossing, funny, and powerful while also featuring a standout performance from Philip Seymour Hoffman. It was also the final movie by director Mike Nichols, best known for his work in the 1990s on such movies as Primary Colors and The Birdcage.

Charlie Wilson's War is available to stream on Max.

24 Three Days Of The Condor (1975)

Classic 1970s Paranoid Thriller

The subgenre of 1970s paranoid thrillers made for some excellent movies, with Three Days of the Condor being one of the best. This Cold War movie was helmed by Academy Award-winning director Sydney Pollack, best known for 1985's Out of Africa. Robert Redford stars as a CIA analyst who narrowly escapes an assassination and finds himself pursued by his own government and a shadowy operative (played by Max Von Sydow).

A much more optimistic take on Cold War thrillers

The movie is a much more optimistic take on Cold War thrillers, with the idea of the good guys winning against the more powerful villains and the sensuous relationship between Redford and Faye Dunaway being a big part of the story. However, it is an entertaining ride with Von Sydow's morally grey character is a perfect representation of a Cold War world without clear-cut heroes and villains.

Three Days Of The Condor is available to stream on Amazon Prime Video and Paramount+.

23 The Spy Who Came In From The Cold (1965)

A Conflicted Cold War Spy Questions His Morals