History Film / CoolRunnings

* TitleDrop: They name the bobsled Cool Runnings, which Derice explains means "peace be the journey."

* {{Undercrank}}: used for comedic effect.
* UnderdogsNeverLose: Averted. They transcended the need to win. (And a pretty unique way of being underdogs too)

* WellDoneSonGuy: Junior

* [[TheAllegedCar The Alleged Bobsled]]: The title character, as it were.

* TheAllegedCar: the bobsled

* HeroicBSOD: Yul had this when his life's goal is shattered when Sanka and Junior informs him that the photo of the place he has dreamed so much to live in is the photo of the Buckingham palace. [[CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming Thankfully for Junior's support]] it does not last through the night.

* CatchPhrase: Several phrases are repeated several times. Some of them are changed near the end, to indicate CharacterDevelopment. For example, "Sanka/Derice, you dead?" "Ya, mon." becomes [[spoiler: "No mon, I'm not dead. We have to finish the race... "]].

** Derice overcomes self-doubt (Trying to imitate the Swiss, wanting to know why [[spoiler:Irv cheated when he was an Olymipan]], and wondering what is "good enough")

** Derice overcomes self-doubt (Trying to imitate the Swiss, wanting to know why Irv [[spoiler:cheated]], and wondering what is "good enough")

* IWasQuiteALooker: When Derice shows Irv the old photo of him with Ben Bannock [Derice's father], Irv admires his long-gone looks for a moment, then catches his current reflection in the frame glass.

* FakeNationality: Ironically, no one in the film is Jamaican. And Irv Blitzer, an ''American'' citizen, is portrayed by Canadian Creator/JohnCandy.

[[TheHero Derice]] is a sprinter and wants to compete in the 1988 OlympicGames in athletics. However, his competitor, Junior, trips and brings him down along with Yul Brenner (no, not [[TheKingAndI that]] [[TheTenCommandments one]]) during the qualifying sprint race. The officials refuse to rerun the race, dashing the hopes of Derice and other competitors. The only chance he has to go to the Olympics is to compete in the ''Winter'' Olympics in bobsledding. Derice first convinces his friend Sanka to join him, then he finds Irving Blitzer, a former bobsledder himself, who reluctantly agrees coach him and his team. Coach does try to get out of it by showing a film of nothing but sled crashes to a crowd of people trying out, but in the end, all this does is bring Junior and Yul to the team. The rest of the film is about working to overcome their lack of experience, the opposition of the Olympic Committee, the jeering and disbelief of the other teams, the internal struggles within the team, and the cold weather of Canada.

* OneSidedArmWrestling
* OpposingSportsTeam: Pretty much everyone else in the Winter Olympics, but mainly Switzerland.

* IWasQuiteALooker: When Derice shows Irv the old photo of him with his father Ben, Irv admires his long-gone looks for a moment, then catches his current reflection in the frame glass.

* FakeNationality: Ironically, no one in the film is Jamaican.

* CompletelyDifferentTitle: According to [[BlindIdiotTranslation Google Translate]], foreign titles translate as ''Rasta Rockett'', ''The Apprentice Champions'', ''Jamaica Below Zero'', ''Reggae on Ice'', ''Running Below Zero'', ''Coconuts on Ice'' and ''Ice Trek''.

* DidYouDie

* FreakierThanFiction: If the film were created in 1987, how many people would believe it? Lampshaded throughout the film, as many of the characters don't believe it either.

* OpposingSportsTeam: ''You have no business here, Jamaica!"

* AllGermansAreNazis: A debatable example, but the East German team don't exactly welcome the newcomers with open arms.

* StrictlyFormula: Quoth TheNostalgiaChick:

* VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory

-->''"You will never see a more beautifully, perfectly, compellingly formulaic SportsMovie that even people who don't like sports movies - like me - will like. The characters aren't really characters so much as they're just... archetypes."''

* CompletelyDifferentTitle: According to [[BlindIdiotTranslation Google Translate]], foreign titles translate as ''Rasta Rockett'', ''The Apprentice Champions'', ''Jamaica Below Zero'', ''Reggae on Ice, ''Running Below Zero'', ''Coconuts on Ice'' and ''Ice Trek''.

-->'''Derice''': Well, at least you can pee now.
-->'''Sanka''':...nnn, ''too late''.

** Derice overcomes self-doubt (Trying to imitate the Swiss, wanting to know why Irv [[spoiler: cheated]], and wondering what is "good enough")

* TruthInTelevision: Jamaica's team has at times held the push record for bobsled, they beat major competitors in 1994, and Jamaican-born Lascalles Brown is an Olympic medallist for Canada.