Movie Substrate · Film

Spies Like Us (1985)

★ 6.2 · 700 ratings on TMDB

With spies like these, who needs enemies?

Spies Like Us poster★ 6.2

Two bumbling government employees think they are U.S. spies, only to discover that they are actually decoys for nuclear war.

DirectorJohn Landis
CastBernie Casey, Bruce Davison, Charles McKeown, Chevy Chase, Dan Aykroyd, Donna Dixon
GenresAdventure, Comedy
The emergence reading

Spies Like Us keeps every mind human — it fights its subject at zero distance. The story fights on E8/E10/E14 of the E0–E14 reality ladder.

zero-distanceUS
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Same rung, same subject

Films fighting at the same level of reality, about the same things.

I, Robot (2004)E8/E10/E14 · rare rungM3GAN 2.0 (2025)E8/E10/E14 · rare rung

Same subject, different rung

The same preoccupations examined at another scale — one mind versus a nation.

Kingsman: The Golden Circle (2017)E11/E12 · Adventure, ComedyA Bug's Life (1998)E6/E9 · Adventure, ComedyMen in Black (1997)E11/E13 · Adventure, ComedyThe Man from U.N.C.L.E. (2015)E11/E12 · Adventure, ComedyTeam America: World Police (2004)E11/E12 · Adventure, ComedyAsterix & Obelix: The Middle Kingdom (2023)E12/E13 · Adventure, Comedy

Same people

Shared director or cast.

Trading Places (1983)dir. John LandisBlues Brothers 2000 (1998)dir. John LandisThe Blues Brothers (1980)dir. John LandisNothing But Trouble (1991)Chevy ChaseThe Empire Strikes Back (1980)Frank OzStar Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005)Frank Oz