Other cameos include directors Terry Gilliam, Sam Raimi, Costa-Gavras, Martin Brest, Frank Oz, and Joel Coen, musician B. B.

Millbarge was not prepared to take the test, having had only one night to study after his supervisor deliberately withheld a two-weeks notice for the exam, leaving him vulnerable to fail and having to remain in the bowels of the Pentagon.

Needing two expendable covert agents to act as decoys to draw attention away from a more capable team, Ruby and Keyes of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) decide to enlist Fitz-Hume and Millbarge, promote them to GLG-20 Foreign Service Operatives, rush them through minimal military survival training, and then send them on an undefined mission inside Pakistan and Soviet Central Asia.

In the Pamir Mountains of the Tajik Soviet Socialist Republic, the trio disguises themselves in hastily constructed extraterrestrial outfits and tranquilizes the mobile missile guard unit.

Despite this, Sline and Miegs choose not to inform the President and the US Government that the missile launch was not a nuclear attack initiated by the Soviet Union, revealing to the horrified Ruby and Keyes, a twisted contingency plan of letting the impending thermonuclear war commence to "preserve the American way of life".

bunker is located and stormed by U.S. Army Rangers, Ruby, Keyes and the rogue military officials involved in the unauthorized covert operation are all arrested.

Also making cameo appearances are special effects designer Derek Meddings as Dr. Stinson, directors Joel Coen, Sam Raimi, and Martin Brest as the drive-in security, comedian Bob Hope as himself, musician B. B.

In an early scene, Fitz-Hume watches Ronald Reagan, Virginia Mayo and Gene Nelson sing "I'll Still be Loving You" in the 1952 film musical She's Working Her Way Through College.

[3] The Washington Post critic Paul Attanasio called Spies Like Us "a comedy with exactly one laugh, and those among you given to Easter egg hunts may feel free to try and find it".

[14] The New York Times critic Janet Maslin wrote: "The stars are always affable, and they're worth watching even when they do very little, but it's painful to sit by as the screenplay runs out of steam.

"[17] David Parkinson, writing for the Radio Times, felt that "Dan Aykroyd and Chevy Chase simply fail to gel, and there's little fun to be had once the boisterous training school gags are exhausted.

[21] Collider staff writer Jeff Giles, reviewing the film's Blu-ray release, stated: "on the whole, it’s more amusing than funny; it’s only 102 minutes, but it feels too long by half.