Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/List of spy films


 * The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the article below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review).  No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was keep. Liz Read! Talk! 23:43, 29 January 2023 (UTC)

List of spy films

 * – ( View AfD View log | edits since nomination)

There are 999 films in subcats of Category:Spy films by century per PetsScan so the scope of this list is too broad and WP:INDISCRIMINATE so not useful to readers. Indagate (talk) 15:30, 8 January 2023 (UTC)
 * Note: This discussion has been included in the list of Film-related deletion discussions. Indagate (talk) 15:30, 8 January 2023 (UTC)
 * Only 999? Delete per nom. Clarityfiend (talk) 20:04, 8 January 2023 (UTC)
 * Note: This discussion has been included in the list of Lists-related deletion discussions. North America1000 00:02, 9 January 2023 (UTC)
 * Redirect, to Spy film. This article passes WP:NLIST as spy films are discussed as a group in many reliable sources, however this particular page largely duplicates the main article, and there is a larger list of spy films there too. SailingInABathTub 🛁 01:47, 9 January 2023 (UTC)
 * Keep Nominated for deletion a day after it was created. List articles are more useful than categories, this one already has a table listing the director and year released.  The size of a list is not a valid list to delete it.  If someone could use a bot to search for everything in the relevant category, then grab information from the infobox, to populate the list with automatically, that'd save some time.   D r e a m Focus  03:27, 9 January 2023 (UTC)
 * Note that Category:Lists of film lists shows how many list articles there are for this sort of thing. Lists of action films and others like it always divide the long list into smaller list by decade.  Being a spy is a defining feature in spy films.   D r e a m Focus  03:30, 9 January 2023 (UTC)

*Keep It is well-cited and of value to the public. JRed176 (talk) 18:12, 11 January 2023 (UTC) - WP:SOCKSTRIKE - Beccaynr (talk) 23:59, 15 January 2023 (UTC) Please add new comments below this notice. Thanks, Liz Read! Talk! 18:21, 15 January 2023 (UTC)
 *  Relisted to generate a more thorough discussion and clearer consensus.


 * Keep There is unambiguous encyclopedic value in listing all films in a major genre, and the category is over half an order of magnitude smaller than many overbroad lists that get deleted at AfD. If the list were completed based on the category contents, the article would be approximately 352 KB (about the same size as 2021 in video games or Glossary of cue sports terms), but this can be easily handled by splitting into sub-lists by decade. –LaundryPizza03 ( d c̄ ) 13:42, 16 January 2023 (UTC)

Please add new comments below this notice. Thanks, Liz <sup style="font-family: Times New Roman; color: #006400;">Read! Talk! 22:48, 22 January 2023 (UTC)
 * Comment Note, creator of article indef blocked, probably not worth anything as wasn't when created but noting anyway. Thanks, Indagate (talk) 13:51, 16 January 2023 (UTC)
 * <p class="xfd_relist" style="margin:0 0 0 -1em;border-top: 1px solid #AAA; border-bottom: 1px solid #AAA; padding: 0px 2em;"> Relisted to generate a more thorough discussion and clearer consensus.
 * Redirect to the list of spy films as suggested. This list is much too long. Oaktree b (talk) 23:08, 22 January 2023 (UTC)


 * Keep the mere fact a list is big or could be big is not in itself a reason to delete it. WP:SALAT does say "Lists that are too general or too broad in scope have little value, unless they are split into sections", but this could be achieved by splitting the list up when it gets big, probably by decade. WP:INDISCRIMINATE is more about whether content has an encylopedic purpose or is suitable for an encyclopedia. Genre is a very natural categorisation to use for films and the concept of spy films is definitely encyclopedic. Furthermore, while this isn't binding Template:Films by genre lists a lot of other similar lists of films by genre, e.g. Lists of comedy films or Lists of crime films, and if we're going to decide that these aren't acceptable then that change should be considering the lists as a group rather than individually.  Hut 8.5  19:42, 23 January 2023 (UTC)
 * Keep per arguments by Dream Focus, LaundryPizza03 and Hut 8.5. Lists of films by genre have existed since Wikipedia's earliest days and are certainly useful to users engaged in film research. This entry is analogous to List of biographical films, List of conspiracy-thriller films and television series, List of Contemporary Westerns, List of dystopian films, List of religious films, List of romantic comedy films or List of science fiction comedy films. There are of course numerous other film lists, but the ones listed here are among those using the same sortable format and style as the nominated list. —Roman Spinner (talk • contribs) 00:58, 27 January 2023 (UTC)
 * Keep. As noted by others above, this list article would seem to be completely consistent with a long-established practice of creating such lists for films of well-recognized genres. Personally, I do agree that the utility is limited, but I can certainly imagine contexts in which readers would find the listing useful, and as WP is WP:NOTPAPER, there is no prohibition against articles of niche interest, provided they are, at least in some sense, encyclopedic in nature. Further, and also as noted by others above, WP:NOTINDISCRIMINATE does not apply here. <b style="color:#19a0fd;">S</b><b style="color:#66c0fd">n</b><b style="color:#99d5fe;">o</b><b style="color:#b2dffe;">w</b><b style="color:#B27EB2;">Rise</b><b style="color:#d4143a"> let's rap</b> 15:32, 29 January 2023 (UTC)


 * The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. <b style="color:red">Please do not modify it.</b> Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.