Spies Like Us

I first saw Spies Like Us when I was a kid, when Chevy Chase was my favourite actor. I must have seen it about fifty times since then and I am almost word-perfect on the script. However, I've never owned the DVD since Warner have never released it in its original 1.85:1 aspect ratio. Thankfully it is currently available in HD on the PlayStation network.

Emmett Fitz-Hume and Austin Millbarge (Chase and Aykroyd) are two lowly government workers who are suddenly promoted to the elite GLG-20 spy status after they are caught cheating on a test. What they don't know is that they are just decoys to draw heat away from the real spies and are promptly dumped straight into enemy territory.

Chase and Aykroyd have great chemistry together and I'm surprised they didn't work together much after this (although they did hook up for The Couch Trip, Caddyshack 2 and Nothing But Trouble). There's loads of fun to had in watching them bumble from one zany situation from the next. And, as this is a Landis film, there are director cameos all over the place. Keep a lookout for Terry Gilliam, Martin Brest, Joel Coen, Sam Raimi etc.

Despite the fanbase, Warner have never showed this film any respect or given special treatment of any kind when it comes to the home video market. As I already said, as of yet the only DVD available is the fullscreen version from 1998. Even the HD version I watched was from a very murky print and has terrible sound. If Warner make a Blu Ray from this master it's still not worth buying.

Give it a rent unless a proper remaster is done. Which is unlikely.

Chevy Chase and Dan Aykroyd were at the height of their professional careers with the 80's "masterpiece" Spies Like Us. The cast alone makes this movie a triumph the 80's comedy. Although the same cast today would find itself on the video shelf and not the movie theaters, for the mid 80's this was a GIANT of a Hollywood cast. Second to only Doctor Strangelove, what other comedy is funnier when dealing with American / Russian relations during the cold war? Chevy and Aykroyd have terrific chemistry together that has been molded to perfection from their success on Saturday Night Live. The physical comedy in the first half of the movie is as funny as any Marx Brother film of its time. The comical situations that occur in the second half are as funny as any Blake Edwards production. Together, the movie is as funny as it gets for the 1980's.

I bought the DVD of this movie for six dollars. Best deal on a movie I've ever seen. Having been raised in the 90's I missed out on many of those fantastic 80's films. Dan and Chevy really make the movie work. Very few actors could have taken a movie with as little plot as Spies Like Us and turned into a funny soup bowl full of laughs. One more thing, perhaps the funniest scene in any movie happens early on. Where Chevy Chase is cheating on the test...Priceless. If you like over-the-top government action, with hilarious scenes and horrible attempts to hit on beautiful women. You'll love this movie.

If not...Then you need to take a moment to look at your life, relax, and just enjoy something every once in a while.

I loved this movie growing up, and it is one that I can still laugh at today. Chase and Aykroyd have always set the mid-80's standard of what was funny, and this movie proves it. Of course there are flaws, and it probably could've been better...but for what it's worth, I think it's definitely worth owning, let alone watching.

Judging by the comments given about Spies Like Us, it seems most people, in fact, do like it. Of course, it is meant to be a comedy and nothing else. If people were looking for a break-through in film by watching Spies Like Us, then, Yes...you would be let down.

Good characters, akward situations, nice changes in scenery, and classic one-liners....I'd give it an 8, overall.

Two bumbling government employees (Aykroyd and Chase) think they are American spies, only to discover that they are actually decoys for Nuclear War.

"Spies Like Us" was met with mixed to negative reviews at the time of its 1985 release, though it has since been viewed more favorably and has developed something of a cult following in the years since. I cannot imagine this getting a negative review, though I understand why it might be mixed. This is obviously not the funniest comedy from either Aykroyd or Chase.

I suppose the popularity has grown because there is something about 80s comedies that can't be replicated. Some would say a second-rate 80s comedy is better than many since then. Even if Aykroyd and Chase starred in something now (2016), it would come nowhere near the possibility it had then.