One of the best films ever IMHO

It seems to average out to 8/10 in the reviews, which is probably fair, for reasons gone into below but it's one of the few films where I quite disagree with so many of the reviews from people who simply understand very little about how things work ... but are sure they have it all tabbed.

Take this for example:

Have never seen it before, being a bit allergic to conspiracy theories and the like

Sigh.  However, I do agree with this:

Even though Joseph aka Condor is not really a spy he's playing a spy game and from my spy movie experience spies have to be able to bed a girl or two; even in the midst of being on the run.

Let's come back to the issue of Dunaway later.  This was a key strength:

a stellar cast featuring Oscar winners like Robert Redford, Faye Dunaway, John Houseman and Cliff Robertson.

Plus the cinematography, the NYC of the post Watergate 70s - some reviewers call it the paranoia of the 70s, the thickos.  It was not paranoia in the least, it was mass fear, an entirely different thing. 'Paranoia' suggests 'unjustified' but as the Gulf War demonstrated not all that much later, it was very much about oil and very much about conspiracy ... not theory about it at all.

Now to the 'romance' issue.  Those giving the film a high score generally thought the romance crucial, if only for her usefulness in taking the plot forward, those giving it a low score were either in that river in Africa or else were action buffs of the male kind who like Jack Reacher and hold the romance, too soppy.

Obviously, methinks the romance is vital in the right hands but why must they bonk?  They had the makings there of a nice counterpoint based on her photographs, there was a nice tension, it was intimate without the tawdry bit, they had some nobility to that point.  Then it got tawdry, like every other spy movie, as mentioned above.  Such a pity, as it had kept itself above the commonplace until then.

Having Dunaway in the film?  Well, having Franka Portente in Bourne?  Any action movie with the male and female protagonists on the run?  Definitely.

The ending?  The film overall?

And the utterly ambiguous note that the movie ends on is just a killer way to go out. Will they print the story? The whole movie's so cynical, you just never know. Great dialog, great tense direction, and just an all-around winner of a movie.

https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/three-days-of-the-condor-1975