Race for the Yankee Zephyr: Difference between revisions

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[[File:race-for-the-yankee-zephyr-001_7065.png|frame]]

 

Barney (Ken Wahl) and his alcoholic partner Gilbert (Donald Pleasence) are helicopter pilots in New Zealand, netting deer from their decrepit Mixmaster. After Gilbert is accidentally hoisted up instead of a deer and dumped into a lake, he stumbles across the wreckage of the Yankee Zephyr, a crashed DC-3 from the Second World War.

 

Gilbert retrieves some of its cargo of medals (along with a crate of whiskey) and is impressed when an antiques dealer pays him $75 each for them. Convinced he's onto a good thing, Gilbert talks his daughter Sally into financing the necessary repairs to their helicopter so he and Barney can salvage the rest of the medals. But things get complicated when a gang of well-dressed, well-armed and well-equipped hoods, led by the urbane Mr. Brown (George Peppard) arrive on the scene, sparking a dramatic race via air, land and water for the ''real'' prize of Yankee Zephyr -- the payroll of the US South Pacific fleet, $50 million in gold bullion.

 

* [[All That Glitters]]: Inverted -- the treasure is actually far more valuable than the protagonists imagine, but they don't discover this until the end of the movie.

* [[Bait and Switch Gunshot]]: One of the mooks appears to be getting ready to shoot Gilbert from a helicopter. After the shot is fired we see Gilbert hit by a deer-trapping net.

* [[Be Careful What You Say]]: Sally, alarmed by Barney's low altitude flying, demands to be put down. Moments later they crash.

* [[Cool Car]]: After their helicopter crashes, Gilbert gets some [[Mr. Fixit]] friends to transform its cabin into a caterpillar-tracked all-terrain vehicle.

* [[Damsel Scrappy]]: Sally. Though her powerboat skills come in handy towards the end.

* [[Empty Quiver]]: Barney suggests Brown is after an atomic bomb. When Brown casually replies "Yes, if you like", Barney immediately rejects this as the atomic bomb hadn't been invented in 1944.

* [[False Reassurance]]: Brown is fond of this, like saying he deplores violence (after watching Gilbert get beaten up by his mooks) then threatening to do something nasty to Gilbert's daughter. On first meeting Barney he claims to be a [[Sublime Rhyme|paragon of patience]], then after Barney proves stubborn says that his patience is running out.

* [[Gilligan Cut]]

'''Brown''': "That can be arranged." ''(cut to Gilbert tied up in a deer net beneath Brown's helicopter)'' }}

* [[Kung Fool]]: A mook catches Barney sneaking up, intent on braining him with a lump of wood. Instead of grabbing his rifle, the mook begins waving his arms about and howling in a highly exaggerated martial arts style. Barney gapes in astonishment then, as the mook turns to deliver a spinning kick, boots him down the mountainside.

* [[Scenery Porn]]: The mountains and rivers of New Zealand, two decades before ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]''.

* [[Squick]]. Gilbert describes the eating habits of the crocodile in disgusting detail to everyone he meets. Later used as a combination [[We Need a Distraction]] / [[Pre-Ass-Kicking One-Liner]] when Barney and Gilbert are confronted by armed mooks at a roadblock.

* [[Unbearable Prisoner]]: The villains try to force Gilbert to show them where the Yankee Zephyr is, only to have him lead them round in circles for days.

* [[Unusual Euphemism]]: Gilbert describes Sally's mother (his second wife) as having a big pair of...lungs.

 

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[[Category:Film]]