Rent Three Days of the Condor on Amazon Video (paid link) // Buy the book (paid link)
Written by: James Grady (novel), Lorenzo Semple and David Rayfiel (screenplay)
Directed by: Sydney Pollack
Starring: Robert Redford, Faye Dunaway, Cliff Robertson, Max von Sydow
Rated: R
Watch the trailer
Plot
A researcher for the CIA returns from lunch to find his colleagues murdered and must outwit the assailants.
Verdict
I'm sure this was a break through action movie when it premiered;
Redford is a CIA agent on the run and fighting a corrupt official. With
the advent of the Bourne series, The Bourne Identiy (2002) is the natural evolution and a better movie.
It depends.
Review
The premise is great. Joe Turner (Robert Redford) is a CIA analyst that
works out of a disguised library, reviewing documents for hidden code.
He leaves to pick up lunch and everyone in the office is murdered. The
movie wastes no time kicking off the action.
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| Three Days of the Condor - The precursor to the Bourne movies. |
He can't trust anyone. Anybody on the street could potentially be an
agent. He kidnaps a woman (Faye Dunaway) and steals her car to get out
of town. Despite being kidnapped, she knows deep down he's a good guy
and sleeps with him. This is easily the most ridiculous part of an
otherwise entertaining thriller.
While many movies annoying backtrack, holding your hand to point out the
plot reveal, this does it better than most. It shares many similarities
with Bourne, adding a hint of James Bond. Unfortunately Bourne established a new baseline for hand to hand combat, and this movie's fight scene seems amateur in comparison.
Turner is spared when the officials that went rogue become a larger
liability. It's all business. It was never that Turner was dangerous, he
was just a threat.
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