True Lies: Difference between revisions

He uses his agency's resources to teach the other man a lesson--and give his wife some adventure--but when a harmless "assignment" he sends Helen on is interrupted by those dangerous terrorists, she finally finds out what he's ''really'' been doing on those business trips.

 

 

[[Foreign Remake|Based upon the 1991 French movie]] "[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0103103 La Totale]" by Claude Zidi, from which it kept most of the plot, transported it to the USA, and ran it in typical Hollywood style which, honestly, [[Adaptation Distillation|tends to work pretty well for action comedy]].

 

* [[Accidental Aiming Skills]]: Helen's [[Beginner's Luck|first experience]] [[Funny Moments|with a Mac-10.]]

* [[Actor Allusion]]: "I married [[Rambo]]!" Schwarzenegger and [[Sylvester Stallone|Stallone]] tease each other in their movies.

* [[Affectionate Parody]]: Of the Action Movie genre, up to that point in cinema history. Ironically, it's now considered a proper action movie in its own right.

* [[Asshole Victim]]: See the quote at the top. Given that Harry's under the influence of [[Truth Serum]] at the time, he must really believe it. And given that he fights terrorists and trigger-happy enemy agents, it sure seems like it could be true.

* [[Automaton Horses]]: Averted with this line: "Make it quick, because my horse is getting tired."

** The horse is also highly averse to the notion of jumping off a hi-rise rooftop.

* [[Instant Thunder]]: At least partially averted. The atomic blast is seen long before we hear it, but since the "minimum safe distance" is stated to be 12 miles, it should've taken at least a minute for the sound to be heard.

* [[Invincible Hero]]: Considering this is an Arnold movie, subverted, especially since {{spoiler|Jamie Lee Curtis beats him to near-unconsciousness in one scene, and later decks him hard.}}

* [[Just Plane Wrong]]: Harriers are not designed to hover that long, are not bulletproof, and would be un-flyable if it got its instrument panel shot up like it did. More than [[Justified Trope|justified]], however, by [[Rule of Cool]].

* [[Kill It with Fire]]: Harry turns a fuel truck into a flamethrower by shooting the end of the hose.

* [[Mood Whiplash]]: One of the best comedic moments in the film is probably the "Battery, Aziz" scene - Aziz is making an angry and frightening threat video, when the camcorder runs low on battery. The cameraman lowers the camera, looks pained and apologetic, and explains "battery, Aziz!" Aziz stares at him dumbfounded and coolly rages "...get ''another'' one, you moron!" Aziz gives him the "shh!" effect when he tries to apologize further and explain how quickly he can start filming again.

* [[Ms. Fanservice]]: Jamie Lee Curtis, [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ezqB06bFpQ Full. Fucking. Stop.]

** Also Tia Carrere and her fantastic cleavage and legs.

* [[Names to Run Away From Really Fast]]: The Crimson Jihad. Also their leader, the "Sand Spider"; When one character asks why he's called that, another responds "Probably because it sounds scary."

* [[Neck Snap]]

* [[Obfuscating Stupidity]]: Harry has to do this several times, but it borders on ridiculous when he calls a nuclear warhead an espresso machine, just to keep his (obviously blown) cover in front of his wife. To be fair, he was probably also doing it to annoy his captor.

*** [[Rule of Three|"This is a water heater?"]]

* [[Oblivious Janitor Cut]]: The Janitor doesn't notice the jet flying around outside until it crashes into the window.

* [[Papa Wolf]]: When his little girl is kidnapped, Harry borrows the aforementioned ''Harrier Jet'' to rescue her and face the [[Big Bad]].

* [[Pay Evil Unto Evil]]: The above conversation pretty much sums up the trope.

* [[Pre-Mortem One-Liner]]: It's a Schwarzenegger film, what'd you expect?

* [[Pretty in Mink]]: In the background of a few scenes.

* [[Precision F-Strike]]: "I was reckless and I was wild, and I fucking did it!"

* [[Product Placement]]: Canon camera with a gun in it.

* [[Rated "M" for Manly]]: The last hour of the film.

* [[Refuge in Audacity]]: The idea of anyone being unharmed when someone tries to shoot them with a machine gun, at a distance of about 10 paces with basically no cover, is very implausible. Make the target Tom Arnold, though, and make him rely on a ''street lamp post'' for cover, and who cares how plausible it is?

* [[Rip Tailoring]]: Helen rips off the frilly sleeves of her dress, and shortens it considerably, when preparing to meet a suspected arms dealer.

* [[Rule of Cool]]: Multiple examples, but one that particularly stands out is when Harry is being chased down a hill through trees by [[Awesome but Impractical|guys on skis firing guns (that are held with both hands)]]. While Harry manages to shoot most of them with his [[Improbable Aiming Skills]], they rarely run into anything. However, there is a snowmobile crash, which causes an [[Made of Explodium|explosion]].

* [[Sarcastic Confession]]: See [[Truth Serum]] exchange below.

* [[Searching the Stalls]]: Tasker hides from a gun-wielding terrorist inside a bathroom stall. The terrorist hoses down the stalls with his machine gun, and begins opening each stall. Before he gets to Tasker's hiding place, Tasker bursts out of his stall and escape

* [[Spy's Suspicious Spouse]]: Inverted as ''Harry'' is the one suspecting his spouse of cheating, while Helen completely believes Harry's cover stories for being gone all the time and never suspects anything odd about it, only frustration that he is gone all the time.

* [[Stealth Parody]]: It's closer to an [[Affectionate Parody]] as it gently pokes fun at the excesses of 80's and 90's action flicks while indulging in those excesses itself.

* [[Stealth Pun]]: Probably unintentional, but the song that is used for the tango scenes, "Por una Cabeza", was about a compulsive horse racing gambler and how he compares his addiction to horses with his attraction to women. Not long after that, we have the horse/motorcycle chase.

* [[Surprise Vehicle]]: That Harrier jet again.

* [[Throw-Away Guns]]: After the horseback chase, Harry ends up tossing away his sidearm. Off the top of a building.

* [[Throw It In]]: [[Word of God]] says that Curtis's slip and fall during the stripper dance wasn't scripted, and you can even see Arnold jumping out of the chair to see if she's alright. She instead jumped right back up and continued the dance, with Arnold sitting back down quickly. Luckily, all of this is perfectly in character (Harry would obviously be concerned about his wife, and then hastily attempt to maintain [[The Masquerade]] when the show goes on) and it ends up as one of the funniest scenes of the movie.

* [[Triang Relations]]

* [[Trailers Always Lie]]: The original trailer showed Jamie Lee Curtis in an interrogation chamber being grilled about her husband. {{spoiler|Her interrogator is her husband, and he's more interested in whether she's cheating on him.}}

'''Harry''': Yep! }}

** Also:

'''Samir''': And how are you going to do all that?

'''Harry''': You know my handcuffs?

'''Samir''': Hmm?

'''Harry''': I picked them.

([[Crowning Moment of Funny|Harry proceeds to do exactly what he had just said]].) }}

* [[Try and Follow]]: The villain jumps from one building to another in a motorcycle. Arnie's horse refuses to do the same.

* [[Unspoken Plan Guarantee]]: Hilariously subverted in Harry's escape from the [[Torture Technician]].

* [[Wafer-Thin Mint]]: A teetering car goes over the edge thanks to a bird landing on the hood. To be fair, pelicans are damn big birds.

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:True Lies]]

[[Category:Film]]

[[Category:Arnold Schwarzenegger]]