Overrated and overhyped

Memorable, crazy movie

Excellent adaptation.

Watching it is like watching the spectacle of a class clown at their best: you laugh at their jokes, instigate their defiance, and "ooooh" when they get in trouble.

Sydney Pollack's Three Days of the Condor is a classic paranoia fuelled political spy thriller. The films all round writing and direction is solidly crafted. Leading to very little in the way of negative criticism. Whilst the over-all mystery and bleak narrative isn't as potent as a film like Marathon Man, it manages to stay relevant with its effective prophetic narrative. The film tells the story of a CIA researcher Joseph Turner played by Robert Redford, as he stumbles across a secret coding system which leads to his entire team being murdered. He's left with no choice to go on the run and outwit and hopefully expose the criminals that are trying to kill him.On his journey, Joseph comes across a random stranger Kathy Hale played by Faye Dunaway. After initially holding her hostage and both not trusting each other, they team up to fight back against their would be assassins. This leads me to my one small complaint, I like both Redford and Dunaway as actors, and I also liked their characters in the film. However the typically rushed romance subplot felt a little bit out of place. Further into the film it started to feel natural, but at start it clashed with the tone of the film.Both Redford and Dunaway give terrific performances as does the rest of the cast. In particular Max Von Sydow as the company man that's on their tail, he gives an ice cool, calculated performance. Three Days of the Condor is film well worth seeking out. It's a finely paced thriller with moments of good action and a talented cast that give excellent performances, it's one of the best paranoid thrillers to have come out of the 1970's

It's not often I go above 8 in my scores, but for Three Days of the Condor I'll do it. We've watched this film four times now and it gets better each time. I'm not sure what genre this film fits into - thriller, conspiracy, espionage (probably 70's paranoia) - but it's a fine effort. It's a slow-burner, sets several red-herrings early on and leaves the viewer to make his own way, working out what could be going on rather than being propelled onward by intrusive re-caps and fancy effects. The tension starts early on in the office where Turner finds his colleagues murdered and it never really lets up. As well as a fine performance by Redford, Max von Sydow puts in a chillingly quiet turn as the well-mannered killer. A superb film for discerning viewers, and it has that 'seventies vibe', one of the reasons I watch these films.

Do you ever have those moments where, once a film's credits roll, you just sit back and say to yourself - "man, that was good fun".Yes? No? Maybe it's just me. But, that's exactly how I reacted once 'The Three Days of the Condor" drew to a close and I got up to contemplate what I'd just seen.In this 70s conspiracy flick Robert Redford plays a booksmart CIA analyst. One day the office in which he works is the scene of a brutal killing - everyone apart from him is killed, he only manages to escape as he was out buying lunch at the time! How's that for luck?The rest of the story follows Redford as he evades some enemy agents who are out to get him - some being a little closer to home that he'd expected.While this is an old film, it holds up well and entertained me throughout. Reford plays a good, resourceful lead and I certainly found myself rooting for him. Also, look out for Max Von Sydow - who plays a cultured assassin.There's a subplot involving a hostage who Redford uses - Fay Dunnaway. They have a strange, almost slightly forced romance that I really didn't enjoy. I think she's a great actress, don't get me wrong, but I feel as if her role wasn't really necessary.All in all, a good enjoyable experience and a chance for those who don't remember the era to really revel in and enjoy a classic 70s slice of spy action. Look out for one of the tensest endings in the genre too...good stuff!

A carnage of six people in a CIA covert operation for some obscure reason that simply doesn't hold water as justification by the end of the movie. And the audience is somehow asked to believe that professional assassin Jourbet/Max Von Snydow, who would have shot Turner/Redford had he been present, is now Redford's savior by the end of the movie, a plot twist with the barest of motivation.But hey, it works. It worked in 1975 when it first came out and still works in 2016 with repeated viewings.I thought way back then when I first saw this, that it is an extension of the closing line from Moby Dick; "I alone survived"... Or in the case of Turner/Redford: I survived ALONE.... Turner ends up being the spy left in the cold, never to be redeemed. He has betrayed the CIA by ferreting out its duplicity and demonic ways and the CIA has betrayed him, by letting him live while his colleagues died as martyrs to the CIA.Kathy Hale/Fay Dunaway and her photographic artwork portraying isolation, provides an interesting sub-plot to emphasize the major theme.And at the end, Higgins point becomes part of the CIA's betrayal of Turner; even if it was printed, would anyone believe, or care? The movie still works after all these years, and it works because it is about that existential loneliness that is the bane of many a life. The suspense leads to a surprising existential moment for a conclusion.