--- title: "Spies Like Us" year: 1985 kind: "film" canonical: "https://film.one/film/spies-like-us" fi1m_id: "spies-like-us" imdb_id: "tt0090056" tmdb_id: 9080 wikidata_id: "Q1474279" fi1m_score: 47 critics_score: 41 critics_reviews: 4 published: "2026-10-04T19:08:12.591434+00:00" updated: "2026-10-04T19:08:20.436384+00:00" region: "EC" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Spies Like Us (1985) Directed by John Landis · 1h 42m · Comedy, Adventure ## Identity Spies Like Us - **Canonical:** https://film.one/film/spies-like-us - **Type:** Film - **Fi1m ID:** spies-like-us - **IMDb ID:** tt0090056 - **TMDB ID:** 9080 - **Wikidata ID:** Q1474279 - **Same entity:** https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0090056/, https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/9080, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1474279 **Fi1m score: 47** · Critics 41 (early) from 4 reviews *In a sentence:* The spies finish their training before the script has worked out what to do with them > Chevy Chase and Dan Aykroyd find a few laughs in hurried spy training, but John Landis lets the adventure outgrow the jokes. There is some pleasure in their company, though the thin writing makes 102 minutes feel generous. ## Synopsis Emmett Fitz-Hume (Chevy Chase) and Austin Millbarge (Dan Aykroyd) are two misfits facing a hurried education in espionage. They have to get through spy training and appear ready for work that demands more competence than they possess. A Test Monitor (Frank Oz) assesses candidates, while the military ranks include General Sline (Steve Forrest) and Colonel Rhumbus (Bernie Casey). Training puts the pair’s fitness for the job under scrutiny, with little time to remedy their shortcomings. Beyond these preparations lies a spy operation involving nuclear danger, and two recruits who still have much to learn. ## Review *Spies Like Us* has enough amusement for a few sketches and too little for a 102-minute adventure. John Landis puts Chevy Chase and Dan Aykroyd through an espionage spoof whose hurried training promises a comedy about ill-equipped recruits. For a while, that is a useful starting point: give these two a task and let their efforts to complete it provide the joke. The film becomes less funny as it acquires more business to attend to. The pairing does supply some pleasure. Chevy Chase is funniest when his confidence seems wholly unrelated to his abilities, while Dan Aykroyd gives the muddle a more industrious quality. Frank Oz’s Test Monitor suits a comedy in which being assessed is already a threat. We laughed during the rushed training because the distance between what the job requires and what these candidates can manage is immediately clear. These passages give the actors a specific comic task, and the film benefits from keeping things simple. The screenplay by Dan Aykroyd, Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel has much less to offer once that initial situation has been established. Espionage gives a comedy plenty to work with: secrecy, officiousness, people treating bad decisions as matters of national importance. Here, the nuclear danger increases the scale without giving the humour much more bite. We do not need a policy paper from a spy spoof, but we do need the next joke to do more than remind us that the heroes are unsuitable. Robert Paynter’s cinematography serves the adventure capably, although the comedy rarely gains much from the framing. Production designers Terry Ackland-Snow and Peter Murton give the espionage setting enough credibility for the pair to look out of place. Yet the film seldom finds much comic use for those surroundings beyond putting its leads into them. Too often the actors have to carry a scene through their manner alone, with little extra help from the staging or the writing. Malcolm Campbell’s editing does not solve the shortage of material, and the gaps between worthwhile jokes make those 102 minutes feel longer than they should. Elmer Bernstein’s music is more helpful, giving the spy business a seriousness that makes the foolishness easier to enjoy. That helps without repairing the uneven pace. A brisk adventure comedy needs to carry us through its lesser jokes; here there is too much time to notice which ones have failed. Bob Hope’s brief appearance is a pleasant distraction, but it cannot supply the comic invention missing elsewhere. The celebrity cameos offer recognition when the film needs surprise, and the pleasure wears off quickly. This exposes a weakness in the direction: too much faith that putting familiar performers into a spy story will be entertaining in itself. The training-school material works because it gives the performers something to play against, and the broader adventure offers fewer such opportunities. We can see the appeal of spending time with these leads, and the training-school comedy gives that affection something to rest on. It is a small return for a film that asks us to follow a whole adventure. Choose it only if the pairing matters more than a steady supply of laughs. *Fi1m score 47, published 4 October 2026.* ## Straight answers **Is Spies Like Us worth watching?** *Spies Like Us* offers a few laughs for Chevy Chase and Dan Aykroyd admirers, but we score it 47 out of 100 for thin writing and uneven pace. The hurried spy training gives the pair useful comic tasks; once the adventure expands, their company has to compensate for increasingly long waits between worthwhile jokes. **How long is Spies Like Us, and what is it rated?** *Spies Like Us* runs 1h 42m. It is a comedy and adventure film. **Where can I watch Spies Like Us in Ecuador?** *Spies Like Us* is not on any streaming or rental service in Ecuador at the moment. It is available in 18 other countries; change your country at the top of the page to see where. Availability is checked daily. **How does Spies Like Us compare to OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies?** *Spies Like Us* is a broader, less pointed spy comedy than [*OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies*](https://film.one/film/oss-117-cairo-nest-of-spies), which we recommend as the sharper film. Chase and Aykroyd supply some amiable muddle, while Jean Dujardin’s fool benefits from a carefully recreated Fifties thriller setting. Neither sustains its laughs throughout, but *OSS 117* makes more of its spy’s misplaced confidence. **What should I watch after Spies Like Us?** After *Spies Like Us*, try [*OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies*](https://film.one/film/oss-117-cairo-nest-of-spies) (2006, Fi1m 76): Official confidence meets staggering ignorance in a sharper, more pointed spy spoof. Then [*Burn After Reading*](https://film.one/film/burn-after-reading) (2008, Fi1m 72): For a harsher comedy about people disastrously overestimating their usefulness to intelligence. ### Reviews we read (4) - **Time Out**, SGr (64/100, inferred): The critic’s verdict is unavailable because the review text is not provided. The available description highlights the misfits’ hurried training but gives no praise or complaint. [Read](https://www.timeout.com/movies/spies-like-us) - **Radio Times**, David Parkinson (2/5): Parkinson finds the spoof a failure, with little fun after the training-school gags wear thin. He singles out Bob Hope’s brief appearance as cold comfort and notes the film’s celebrity cameos as a possible distraction. [Read](https://www.radiotimes.com/movie-guide/b-iveir6/spies-like-us/) - **Variety**, Variety Staff (25/100, inferred): The review finds the comedy mostly unamusing and aimed at a very young audience. It faults the thin script for offering nothing new about espionage and nuclear madness. [Read](https://variety.com/1984/film/reviews/spies-like-us-1200426467/) - **Collider**, Jeff Giles (35/100, inferred): The critic finds Spies Like Us more amusing than funny and overly long. He singles out its memorable comic bits but complains that the film has too much flab. [Read](https://collider.com/funny-farm-and-spies-like-us-blu-ray-reviews/) ## Details - **Director:** John Landis - **Director:** John Landis - **Screenplay:** Dan Aykroyd, Babaloo Mandel, Lowell Ganz - **Cinematography:** Robert Paynter - **Editor:** Malcolm Campbell - **Music:** Elmer Bernstein - **Production design:** Peter Murton, Terry Ackland-Snow - **Costume design:** Deborah Nadoolman Landis - **Producer:** George Folsey Jr., Brian Grazer - **Cast:** Chevy Chase as Emmett Fitz-Hume; Dan Aykroyd as Austin Millbarge; Steve Forrest as General Sline; Donna Dixon as Karen Boyer; Bruce Davison as Ruby; Terry Gilliam as Dr. Imhaus; Frank Oz as Test Monitor; Vanessa Angel as Russian Rocket Crewperson - **Runtime:** 1h 42m - **First release (Sweden):** 6 December 1985 - **Genres:** Comedy, Adventure - **Budget:** $22 million - **Box office:** $60 million ## Where to watch in Ecuador Not streaming, renting or buying in Ecuador at the last check. Also available in: BG, CA, CZ, DE, DK, ES, FI, GB, HR, IN, IT, LT, NO, PL, PT, RO, RS, US. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country. ## If you liked this - *The In-Laws* (1979): Another mismatched pair makes espionage far funnier, with panic replacing professional competence. - *The Tall Blond Man with One Black Shoe* (1972): French espionage farce built around mistaken identity and casually disastrous official decisions. - *The Man Who Knew Too Little* (1997): A cheerful innocent blunders through espionage with more consistent comic returns. - *OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies* (2006), Fi1m 76: Official confidence meets staggering ignorance in a sharper, more pointed spy spoof. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/oss-117-cairo-nest-of-spies.md) - *Burn After Reading* (2008), Fi1m 72: For a harsher comedy about people disastrously overestimating their usefulness to intelligence. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/burn-after-reading.md) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/film/spies-like-us