Three Days of the Condor (1975)

This peerless Sydney Pollack thriller has aged well and become positively prophetic in its depiction of US plots involving the Middle East and oil. Redford is slightly outclassed by Max von Sydow’s ruthless assassin in an unbearably tense lift sequence.

The critic praises the film as one of the best 1970s political thrillers, highlighting Pollack's use of unsettling sound design and everyday settings to build menace. Redford is singled out for embodying an everyman caught in paranoia and moral outrage over CIA activities.

The film is an intriguing neo-Hitchcock thriller set amid CIA power games, with an intelligent script that keeps the action moving. A certain gloss irritates, but strong scenes and the Redford/Dunaway relationship compensate.

The film is a well-made, tense thriller that feels all too believable in the post-Watergate era. It singles out the bloodless CIA types and their contingency plans for particular notice.

The reissue of Sydney Pollack’s sleek CIA conspiracy thriller holds up well forty years on and should appeal to viewers familiar with the Bourne films. Robert Redford’s star power adds gloss but the film’s shaping and pacing feel markedly modern.

A good-looking, entertaining suspense film that works best in its conventional pursuit and flight sequences. It creates a convincing sense of isolation around the supergovernment agencies but falls short as a serious exposé.

The film follows the standard studio formula but fails to elevate its substance despite big names and production values. It ultimately does not succeed in making the material work.

The film is solid and inspired Hollywood filmmaking that influenced later thrillers like the Bourne series, though it doesn't reach the heights of some other 1970s classics. It excels through Pollack's direction, strong performances from Redford and Dunaway, great use of locations, and a well-built conclusion featuring tense character interactions.

The critic finds the thriller elements effective but undermined by an over-egged and dated romance subplot. Good performances, directorial style and the ambivalent conclusion lift the film.

It stands as Robert Redford's signature paranoid 1970s spy thriller and a definitive entry in the genre, distinguished by its focus on the protagonist thinking and plotting on camera amid a convoluted conspiracy. The film is slickly made with strong chemistry and precision, though its paranoia is relatively anodyne compared to more existential or bleak contemporaries.

The critic views it as a key paranoid thriller of the mid-1970s, absorbing despite some dated flourishes, with strong narrative skill and standout performances from Redford and von Sydow.