On October 16, 2015, Steven Spielberg released his latest movie, the slow-burning thriller Bridge of Spies. Based on a true story, the film follows a prisoner exchange between the United States and the Soviet Union at the height of the Cold War when an American pilot is shot down, focusing particularly on the lawyer, James B. Donovan (played by Tom Hanks) tasked with negotiating the release.
Like many of Spielberg’s films, the film was a critical and commercial success. Bridge of Spies was praised for turning a relatively action-less part of the Cold War into a character study that felt like an old school Hollywood throwback. The film has a 91% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with the critical consensus saying the movie “finds new life in Hollywood’s classic Cold War espionage thriller formula, thanks to reliably outstanding work from Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks.” Mark Rylance‘s performance as KGB spy Rudolf Abel was also the focus of the praise heaped upon the film.
Despite Its Popularity, Bridge of Spies Is Hard To Stream Today
The film made $165 million at the box office against a $40 million budget, a good return considering the more character-focused take on the spy thriller genre. It was nominated for six Academy Awards, including Best Picture, and Rylance won for Supporting Actor. Yet the movie is not available on any streaming service at the time of this writing. Currently, it’s only available for purchase on Apple TV for $20, which is actually more expensive than the price of the physical Blu-Ray disc on Amazon.
Legendary movie star Hanks would go on to collaborate with Spielberg a couple of years later with The Post, a political thriller about the publishing of the Pentagon Papers. Even though it has the same star, director, critical acclaim, and box office returns, The Post is much more available than Bridge of Spies—11 years after its release, this Cold War caper is at risk of being one of Steven Spielberg’s most forgotten movies.
