"Spies" is much more entertaining than you would expect an old German silent movie to be, and at first, it's hard to say why. The character types are familiar from hundreds of other spy movies: a villain who is bent on world domination and has multiple secret identities, a beautiful blonde who works as a spy for the villain, a dashing enemy agent who falls in love with the female spy. The plot is fairly ludicrous, though it moves along briskly and provides for some great set-pieces, such as an exhilarating chase scene. But despite all the clichés found in "Spies," the movie still feels fresh and vital. You get drawn into the world of the film and accept the clichés, rather than becoming distracted by them.

I'm sure most of the credit for this has to go to the director, Fritz Lang. His films ("Metropolis," "M") often have a very dark world view, but the overall tone of "Spies" is escapist adventure-fantasy. It aims to provoke thrills, not shock or outrage. Lang creates some stunning visual compositions and proves to be a very detail-oriented director—he delights in close-ups of spy gadgetry! His innovative use of montages, dramatic lighting, camera movement, and other techniques gives the film an interesting stylization.

I'm writing this review after watching the 90-minute American version of "Spies". But I had such a good time that I may have to seek out the 146-minute version!

This is a fairly interesting and extremely well made spy film from Germany. It is interesting to see the German secret service as the good guys as well as the Japanese Secret service to a lesser extent. They battle the head of a crime syndicate a lot like Bond's nemesis, Blofeld. They both use wheelchairs and seem pretty bent on evil. And, there are some interesting a realistic-looking moments that make this a very interesting film.

These elements are pretty interesting, though the film drags a bit when it shies away from the cool gadgets and action and tries to create a rather forced love story between enemy agents. The hero is vamped by a woman blackmailed to help the bad guys and she later falls in love with him and ultimately betrays her team. This reminded me a lot of Pussy Galore and other Bond girls who were forced by the hero's magnetic personality to betray their cause and just seems like a cliché.

One of the first films of its type, so for historical reasons it's an important film. Plus, being directed by Fritz Lang, it had excellent production values and camera-work.

I saw the restored version which is an hour longer than the print commonly available. Lang did some amazing things with text and graphics. His great reputation for innovation is well deserved.

This film is also very funny at times... as a result of intentional exaggeration for the most part. The level of expressionist abstraction allows one to view the mechanisms of the plot at some distance... the better to enjoy the formal qualities of Lang's vision.