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** [[spoiler: With how well this is planned, we're presumably only seeing one branch of multiple contingencies. If Mark dies, then the plan is still workable. Simply have the other air marshal take credit for stopping Mark's "attempt" to hijack, then wait for the bomb to go off. The only loose end is his non-suicidal partner, but one more poison dart takes care of that and nobody else even knows there's a bomb. The authorities will just think Mark was stopped but also smuggled a bomb on-board and it went off, leading to the result Tom wants.]]
to:
** [[spoiler: With how well this is planned, we're presumably only seeing one branch of multiple contingencies. If Mark Marks dies, then the plan is still workable. Simply have the other air marshal take credit for stopping Mark's Marks' "attempt" to hijack, then wait for the bomb to go off. The only loose end is his non-suicidal partner, but one more poison dart takes care of that and nobody else even knows there's a bomb. The authorities will just think Mark Marks was stopped but also smuggled a bomb on-board and it went off, leading to the result Tom wants.]]
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-->You're f***ing with the wrong guy.
-->I'm f***ing with the right guy.
-->I'm f***ing with the right guy.
to:
-->You're f***ing with the wrong guy.
-->I'mguy.\\
I'm f***ing with the right guy.
-->I'm
I'm f***ing with the right guy.
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* TitleOnlyOpening
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* SpiritualSuccessor: Has one in the form of ''Film/TheCommuter''. Both star Liam Neeson and are directed by Jaume Collet-Serra and are DieHardOnAnX movies.
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** [[spoiler: With how well this is planned, we're presumably only seeing one branch of multiple contingencies. If Mark dies, then the plan is still workable. Simply have the other air marshal take credit for stopping Mark's "attempt" to hijack, then wait for the bomb to go off. The only loose end is his non-suicidal partner, but one gunshot from Mark's gun takes care of that and nobody else even knows there's a bomb. The authorities will just think Mark was stopped but also smuggled a bomb on-board and it went off, leading to the result Tom wants.]]
to:
** [[spoiler: With how well this is planned, we're presumably only seeing one branch of multiple contingencies. If Mark dies, then the plan is still workable. Simply have the other air marshal take credit for stopping Mark's "attempt" to hijack, then wait for the bomb to go off. The only loose end is his non-suicidal partner, but one gunshot from Mark's gun more poison dart takes care of that and nobody else even knows there's a bomb. The authorities will just think Mark was stopped but also smuggled a bomb on-board and it went off, leading to the result Tom wants.]]
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** [[spoiler: With how well this is planned, we're presumably only seeing one branch of multiple contingencies. If Mark dies, then the plan is still workable. Simply have the other air marshal take credit for stopping Mark's "attempt" to hijack, then wait for the bomb to go off. The only loose end is his non-suicidal partner, but one gunshot from Mark's gun takes care of that and nobody else even knows there's a bomb. The authorities will just think Mark was stopped but also smuggled a bomb on-board and it went off, leading to the result Zack wants.]]
to:
** [[spoiler: With how well this is planned, we're presumably only seeing one branch of multiple contingencies. If Mark dies, then the plan is still workable. Simply have the other air marshal take credit for stopping Mark's "attempt" to hijack, then wait for the bomb to go off. The only loose end is his non-suicidal partner, but one gunshot from Mark's gun takes care of that and nobody else even knows there's a bomb. The authorities will just think Mark was stopped but also smuggled a bomb on-board and it went off, leading to the result Zack Tom wants.]]
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** [[spoiler: If Mark dies, then the plan is still salvageable. Simply have the other air marshal take credit for stopping Mark's "attempt" to hijack, then wait for the bomb to go off. The only loose end is his non-suicidal partner, but one gunshot from Mark's gun takes care of that and nobody else even knows there's a bomb. The authorities will just think Mark was stopped but also smuggled a bomb on-board and it went off, leading to the result Zack wants.]]
to:
** [[spoiler: With how well this is planned, we're presumably only seeing one branch of multiple contingencies. If Mark dies, then the plan is still salvageable.workable. Simply have the other air marshal take credit for stopping Mark's "attempt" to hijack, then wait for the bomb to go off. The only loose end is his non-suicidal partner, but one gunshot from Mark's gun takes care of that and nobody else even knows there's a bomb. The authorities will just think Mark was stopped but also smuggled a bomb on-board and it went off, leading to the result Zack wants.]]
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**[[spoiler: If Mark dies, then the plan is still salvageable. Simply have the other air marshal take credit for stopping Mark's "attempt" to hijack, then wait for the bomb to go off. The only loose end is his non-suicidal partner, but one gunshot from Mark's gun takes care of that and nobody else even knows there's a bomb. The authorities will just think Mark was stopped but also smuggled a bomb on-board and it went off, leading to the result Zack wants.]]
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[[caption-width-right:250:''"Are you ready to do your dutt, Marshal?"'']]
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[[caption-width-right:250:''"Are you ready to do your dutt, duty, Marshal?"'']]
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[[caption-width-right:250:''"Are you ready to do your dutt, Marshal?"'']]
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If you're looking for another thriller on a plane, you might be looking for ''Film/Flightplan2005''.
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If you're looking for another thriller on a plane, you might be looking for ''Film/Flightplan2005''. Or ''Film/RedEye''.
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%% Administrivia/ZeroContextExample entries are not allowed on wiki pages. All such entries have been commented out. Add context to the entries before uncommenting them.
[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/nonstop.png]]
->''"I'm not hijacking this plane, I'm trying to save it!"''
-->-- '''Air Marshal Bill Marks'''
''Non-Stop'' is a 2014 {{thriller}} starring Creator/LiamNeeson, Creator/JulianneMoore, [[Series/DowntonAbbey Michelle Dockery]], [[Creator/LupitaNyongO Lupita Nyong'o]] and [[Film/{{Argo}} Scoot]] [[Series/HaltAndCatchFire McNairy]].
On a routine commercial transatlantic flight, U.S. air marshal Bill Marks begins receiving threatening texts from an unknown passenger, promising to kill one person every twenty minutes until $150 million is transferred to a specified account, an account that turns out to be in Marks' name. Now with suspicion mounting against him, he must find the killer, clear his name, and do it while protecting all the rest of the passengers.
If you're looking for another thriller on a plane, you might be looking for ''Film/Flightplan2005''.
----
!!The following tropes are included on this flight:
* TheAlcoholic: Marks, by his own admission.
* AssholeVictim: Out of all the deaths in the film, [[spoiler: three out of five of them were people that are hard to mourn. The co-marshal is actually a drug smuggler, who is willing to kill Marks to keep it a secret. The last two are said terrorists themselves. Only the two in the middle, the pilot and an unfortunate random passenger, have any real weight.]]
* TheBadGuysWin: Sort of. [[spoiler: Tom's real motivation was to "demonstrate" how unsafe Americans really were and wasn't expecting to come out of his plan alive... along with everyone else onboard. It worked, except that only he and a small handful didn't live to see the results. While he didn't succeed in taking out the entire plane and Bill is hailed as a hero for stopping him, he nevertheless proved how easy is to compromise an aircraft, and as a result his actions will no doubt prompt a review and probable overhaul of the system.]]
* BaitAndSwitch: When the Islamic Doctor tells the NYPD cop he needs to re-set their nose, which was broken in a fight with Bill. He holds their head, there is a cracking sound, [[spoiler:and he re-sets their nose.]]
* BatmanGambit: The terrorist sets up the first murder by [[spoiler: having Bill kill the other air marshal when he finds out he's dirty at the exact 20 minute mark. If Bill had lost their fight and been murdered then their entire plan to frame him would have disappeared.]]
* BigBadDuumvirate: [[spoiler:Tom and Zack]]
* BigBadFriend: [[spoiler: Hammond, his co-marshal,]] turns out to be dirty, and tries to kill Bill to cover it up. He's only an UnwittingPawn of the villains, though, and doesn't know about their plan.
* BleepDammit: Several on-screen text-messages from the unsub have their F-bombs obscured by "video corruption." Compare with PrecisionFStrike.
* BottleEpisode: With the exception of the the opening and end, the movie takes place entirely within the plane.
* CameraFiend: Two of them, neither with [[NoNameGiven a name]]:
** The smooth guy in shades, reluctant to share the contents of his phone [[spoiler:but not for the reason Bill suspected ("Check out the hot chick on my flight!")]].
** The young German, who has unwittingly [[spoiler:uploaded a crucial clue to [=YouTube=]]].
* ChekhovsGun: The European kid who's unwittingly responsible for leaking a misleading video footage of what was going on onboard to the media. [[spoiler:That same kid's camera later allows Marks to pinpoint one of the terrorists.]]
* ChekhovsGunman: [[spoiler: Tom Bowen]] and [[spoiler: Zack White]], both of whom met Marks before getting on the plane.
* CigaretteOfAnxiety: Bill needs a couple [[spoiler:and the second leads him to how the captain died]].
* ClearMyName: Marks has to find the killer, otherwise he'll go down for the plot.
* ClosedCircle: Takes place on a plane over the Atlantic at 40,000 ft. No one's leaving.
* ComingInHot: [[spoiler: After a bomb goes off, the plane has to land with a gaping hole in its fuselage and one of the engines on fire.]]
* DeathInTheClouds: By the time the plane lands [[spoiler: Hammond, the captain and one of the passengers are dead.]]
* DirtyCop: [[spoiler: Jack Hammond, Marks' co-marshal on the flight,]] is smuggling cocaine.
* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: The mounting tension and paranoia onboard the plane call to mind a September 11-style hijacking. [[spoiler:The two actual terrorists planned this on purpose.]]
-->'''A passenger''': The captain is dead. This guy's closed off a cabin and he's taken a hostage. Sound familiar?
* EndangeringNewsBroadcast: For the hijackers [[spoiler: as Bill realises the young German who has been filming has caught a vital clue on camera]].
* ExactWords: "I never said it was going to be a passenger." [[spoiler:Cue the main pilot collapsing and sending the plane into temporary turbulence.]]
* {{Foreshadowing}}: The texts are sent to Marks via a secure cell connection, indicating the sender had the skills to hack into the connection.
* GenghisGambit: [[spoiler: The BigBad is appalled by how vulnerable he thinks America is to terrorist attacks, including American flights, so he does all this to scare the country into putting higher standards of security in place.]]
* GoodIsNotNice: Marks is the good guy, but he has no qualms about roughing up suspects, which adds weight to the belief that he is the hijacker.
* HiredToHuntYourself: [[spoiler: Zack, the guy they bring in to help find the villain, is actually in league with him]].
* ImprobableAimingSkills: During the final confrontation, Bill fires at [[spoiler:Tom [[BoomHeadshot straight in the head]], while the plane is diving down and everyone aboard is experiencing weightlessness]].
* IronicEcho: "Am I in your way, asshole?" First Zack says it to Marks as an insult, and then [[spoiler:Marks uses it against Zack as a PreAssKickingOneLiner]].
* {{Irony}}: When [[spoiler: Bill is trying to warn Agent Marenick that there is a bomb on the plane]], Marenick, thinking he's the hijacker, tries to talk him down, telling him: "I know it feels like nobody else is listening, but I am. We'll work this out together." Marks' frustrated response is to snap back that Marenick isn't listening to him.
* ItWorksBetterWithBullets: After finally trusting the passengers, Marks gives the NYPD officer aboard a gun. However, when the guy actually tries to use it against [[spoiler:one of the terrorists]], the gun just clicks empty. At the end, [[spoiler:the cop tells Marks to give him a gun with bullets in it next time]].
* JackBauerInterrogationTechnique: Marks roughs up the people he believes are terrorists, while angrily asking them questions. However, this only fuels the passengers' paranoia that Marks is hi-jacking the plane.
* KillItWithFire: [[spoiler:White]] is killed when he is caught in the bomb's explosion.
* KillingInSelfDefense: When Marks confronts [[spoiler: fellow air marshal Hammond]] he thinks is behind the plot to hijack the flight and the two get into a fight in the plane's lavatory. [[spoiler:Hammond]] gets hold of a gun and Marks snaps his neck before he has a chance to use it.
* KnightTemplar: Marks starts skirting this trope as he becomes increasingly desperate to find the man behind all of this, [[spoiler: who turns out to be an example himself, willing to blow up a plane and kill over 150 people to make a point about how vulnerable American airlines are to terrorist attacks.]]
* LivingOnBorrowedTime: Jen has a heart condition and could drop dead at any moment. That's why she always sits on the window seat--she wants to see as much beautiful scenery as she can before she dies.
* MaamShock: Bill tries to reassue Jen with bluster, but she's not buying it so he resorts to calling her "Ma'am".
* MenAreTheExpendableGender: [[spoiler: All five deaths on the plane are male and]] Marks orders "the women and children" furthest forward into the plane, [[spoiler:leaving the men as a buffer zone between them and the bomb.]]
* MoralityPet: A case where one exists for the hero. Were it not for Becca, we would hardly see Marks acting like an actual human being.
* NeverTrustATrailer: The trailer makes it look like Hammond is the first victim of the killer, [[spoiler:when it is Bill who ends up killing him, and out of self-defense]]. It also gives the impression that the terrorist is a woman in a red dress, though the hijacker [[spoiler: (two of them) are actually two males]].
* NobleBigotWithABadge:
** One of the passengers is a cop who is off to Britain because his "fairy brother" is getting married to some British guy. But he doesn't seem like a bad guy [[spoiler:and ultimately becomes one of Marks' biggest allies]]. He also shows little trust of the Muslim man in the early goings, making a snide remark when he's the one who gets brought into the cockpit after [[spoiler:the captain dies]].
** Downplayed in Bill's case, but he eyes the Muslim man with suspicion at the airport before the murders even begin. When the murders start however, he acts on information received and what prejudices he may have had are put aside.
* NotWhatISignedOnFor: [[spoiler:Zack tries to disarm the bomb after he realizes that Tom never intended for them to survive it. He doesn't do a full HeelFaceTurn, though, and ends up dying when it goes off.]]
* OneDialogueTwoConversations: A ''very'' dark version of a trope usually played for laughs. When Marks is fighting [[spoiler: his crooked partner, Hammond confesses to needing the money and offers to split it. Marks thinks Hammond is talking about the threats, but Hammond's talking about the smuggled cocaine that he is carrying.]]
* TheOner: A particularly neat tracking shot following Marks as he "randomly" searches passengers, aided by editing as the camera moves through a window and reenters the plane at another one further down.
* OnlyInItForTheMoney: [[spoiler: The crooked Air Marshal]] as well as the [[spoiler:second]] terrorist are both driven by greed.
* ParanoiaGambit: The bad guy frames Marks as the hijacker and counts on him unwittingly acting like he is hijacking the plane [[spoiler: because he wants to expose the incompetence of the air marshals and American security in general.]] It works better than expected [[spoiler: when the passengers turn on Marks.]]
* PopUpTexting: The terrorists initially contact Marks via text, which is shown appearing next to his phone. All phone communications are displayed this way, even one when he's gotten a hold of a suspect's phone, which has a cracked screen, also visible in the pop-up.
* PrecisionFStrike: The co-pilot mutters "fuck it" before putting the plane into a steep dive.
* PrettyLittleHeadshots: [[spoiler: Tom, one of the two terrorists,]] eats a bullet to the face.
* RedHerring: Several. It's difficult for either Marks or the audience to pick out who the villain is.
* RedemptionEqualsDeath: Subverted. [[spoiler:Zack is about to disarm the bomb, not really for the good of the passengers but because he's shocked that Tom expects them to both die. Tom shoots him, but he gets up a moment later to try to kill Bill again.]]
* RuleOfThree: "Am I in your way?" This line is exchanged three different times between Bill and Zack.
* SceneryCensor: Messages on [[spoiler:Hammond]]'s cracked screen:
-->You're f***ing with the wrong guy.
-->I'm f***ing with the right guy.
* SpiritualSuccessor: Has one in the form of ''Film/TheCommuter''. Both star Liam Neeson and are directed by Jaume Collet-Serra and are DieHardOnAnX movies.
* ThanatosGambit: [[spoiler: Tom]] never intended to make it off the plane alive.
* TimeStandsStill: When Bill gets his gun back thanks to the climactic dive.
* TurnInYourBadge: Subverted. Under orders from the TSA, the captain takes Bill's badge and gun, but [[spoiler: after his death]], Bill takes them back.
* TwoDunIt: [[spoiler: Turns out there are ''two'' guys behind everything, though Zack appears to be TheDragon.]]
* TheVoice: Agent Marenick is this during the flight. [[OneSceneWonder We don't see him until the end of the movie.]]
* WellIntentionedExtremist: [[spoiler:Tom is revealed to be one, believing that only the death of an entire airplane full of passengers at the hands of a (framed) Air Marshall would scare Americans into preventing another terrorist attack.]]
* WesternTerrorists:
** [[spoiler: Tom and Zack]] turn out to be these.
** At one point a racist talking head mentions that Marks is originally from Belfast and vocally wonders if he is in the IRA.
* WhamLine: [[spoiler:[[BatmanGambit "I'm sorry you had to do that, Bill."]]]]
** [[spoiler: The account number you gave us...it's in ''your'' name]].
* WhatTheHellHero: [[spoiler: Nancy and especially Jen]] when Marks suspects they could be the culprit; [[spoiler: both are red herrings and wind up being helpful allies from the start.]]
* YouCantThwartStageOne: Played straight. No matter what Marks tries, [[spoiler: the culprits manage to kill a victim every 20 minutes, have the money transferred and requires a final showdown to stop them.]]
* YouHaveToBelieveMe: Marks has to convince the crew as well as his bosses that he is not behind this. However, he doesn't explain himself to the passengers, for fear of provoking whoever is behind this or causing a panic. [[spoiler: Which comes to bite him when the passengers also believe he is hijacking them and decide to ambush him.]] Once he explains what's actually going on though, they turn out to be pretty helpful.
* ZergRush: Near the end when the passengers have made a battle strategy made up by the police passenger, the 3-4 main passengers that have had issues with Mark attack him. While he initially fights them off, their combined numbers and determination gives them what they need to beat Marks and actually subdue him.
----
[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/nonstop.png]]
->''"I'm not hijacking this plane, I'm trying to save it!"''
-->-- '''Air Marshal Bill Marks'''
''Non-Stop'' is a 2014 {{thriller}} starring Creator/LiamNeeson, Creator/JulianneMoore, [[Series/DowntonAbbey Michelle Dockery]], [[Creator/LupitaNyongO Lupita Nyong'o]] and [[Film/{{Argo}} Scoot]] [[Series/HaltAndCatchFire McNairy]].
On a routine commercial transatlantic flight, U.S. air marshal Bill Marks begins receiving threatening texts from an unknown passenger, promising to kill one person every twenty minutes until $150 million is transferred to a specified account, an account that turns out to be in Marks' name. Now with suspicion mounting against him, he must find the killer, clear his name, and do it while protecting all the rest of the passengers.
If you're looking for another thriller on a plane, you might be looking for ''Film/Flightplan2005''.
----
!!The following tropes are included on this flight:
* TheAlcoholic: Marks, by his own admission.
* AssholeVictim: Out of all the deaths in the film, [[spoiler: three out of five of them were people that are hard to mourn. The co-marshal is actually a drug smuggler, who is willing to kill Marks to keep it a secret. The last two are said terrorists themselves. Only the two in the middle, the pilot and an unfortunate random passenger, have any real weight.]]
* TheBadGuysWin: Sort of. [[spoiler: Tom's real motivation was to "demonstrate" how unsafe Americans really were and wasn't expecting to come out of his plan alive... along with everyone else onboard. It worked, except that only he and a small handful didn't live to see the results. While he didn't succeed in taking out the entire plane and Bill is hailed as a hero for stopping him, he nevertheless proved how easy is to compromise an aircraft, and as a result his actions will no doubt prompt a review and probable overhaul of the system.]]
* BaitAndSwitch: When the Islamic Doctor tells the NYPD cop he needs to re-set their nose, which was broken in a fight with Bill. He holds their head, there is a cracking sound, [[spoiler:and he re-sets their nose.]]
* BatmanGambit: The terrorist sets up the first murder by [[spoiler: having Bill kill the other air marshal when he finds out he's dirty at the exact 20 minute mark. If Bill had lost their fight and been murdered then their entire plan to frame him would have disappeared.]]
* BigBadDuumvirate: [[spoiler:Tom and Zack]]
* BigBadFriend: [[spoiler: Hammond, his co-marshal,]] turns out to be dirty, and tries to kill Bill to cover it up. He's only an UnwittingPawn of the villains, though, and doesn't know about their plan.
* BleepDammit: Several on-screen text-messages from the unsub have their F-bombs obscured by "video corruption." Compare with PrecisionFStrike.
* BottleEpisode: With the exception of the the opening and end, the movie takes place entirely within the plane.
* CameraFiend: Two of them, neither with [[NoNameGiven a name]]:
** The smooth guy in shades, reluctant to share the contents of his phone [[spoiler:but not for the reason Bill suspected ("Check out the hot chick on my flight!")]].
** The young German, who has unwittingly [[spoiler:uploaded a crucial clue to [=YouTube=]]].
* ChekhovsGun: The European kid who's unwittingly responsible for leaking a misleading video footage of what was going on onboard to the media. [[spoiler:That same kid's camera later allows Marks to pinpoint one of the terrorists.]]
* ChekhovsGunman: [[spoiler: Tom Bowen]] and [[spoiler: Zack White]], both of whom met Marks before getting on the plane.
* CigaretteOfAnxiety: Bill needs a couple [[spoiler:and the second leads him to how the captain died]].
* ClearMyName: Marks has to find the killer, otherwise he'll go down for the plot.
* ClosedCircle: Takes place on a plane over the Atlantic at 40,000 ft. No one's leaving.
* ComingInHot: [[spoiler: After a bomb goes off, the plane has to land with a gaping hole in its fuselage and one of the engines on fire.]]
* DeathInTheClouds: By the time the plane lands [[spoiler: Hammond, the captain and one of the passengers are dead.]]
* DirtyCop: [[spoiler: Jack Hammond, Marks' co-marshal on the flight,]] is smuggling cocaine.
* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: The mounting tension and paranoia onboard the plane call to mind a September 11-style hijacking. [[spoiler:The two actual terrorists planned this on purpose.]]
-->'''A passenger''': The captain is dead. This guy's closed off a cabin and he's taken a hostage. Sound familiar?
* EndangeringNewsBroadcast: For the hijackers [[spoiler: as Bill realises the young German who has been filming has caught a vital clue on camera]].
* ExactWords: "I never said it was going to be a passenger." [[spoiler:Cue the main pilot collapsing and sending the plane into temporary turbulence.]]
* {{Foreshadowing}}: The texts are sent to Marks via a secure cell connection, indicating the sender had the skills to hack into the connection.
* GenghisGambit: [[spoiler: The BigBad is appalled by how vulnerable he thinks America is to terrorist attacks, including American flights, so he does all this to scare the country into putting higher standards of security in place.]]
* GoodIsNotNice: Marks is the good guy, but he has no qualms about roughing up suspects, which adds weight to the belief that he is the hijacker.
* HiredToHuntYourself: [[spoiler: Zack, the guy they bring in to help find the villain, is actually in league with him]].
* ImprobableAimingSkills: During the final confrontation, Bill fires at [[spoiler:Tom [[BoomHeadshot straight in the head]], while the plane is diving down and everyone aboard is experiencing weightlessness]].
* IronicEcho: "Am I in your way, asshole?" First Zack says it to Marks as an insult, and then [[spoiler:Marks uses it against Zack as a PreAssKickingOneLiner]].
* {{Irony}}: When [[spoiler: Bill is trying to warn Agent Marenick that there is a bomb on the plane]], Marenick, thinking he's the hijacker, tries to talk him down, telling him: "I know it feels like nobody else is listening, but I am. We'll work this out together." Marks' frustrated response is to snap back that Marenick isn't listening to him.
* ItWorksBetterWithBullets: After finally trusting the passengers, Marks gives the NYPD officer aboard a gun. However, when the guy actually tries to use it against [[spoiler:one of the terrorists]], the gun just clicks empty. At the end, [[spoiler:the cop tells Marks to give him a gun with bullets in it next time]].
* JackBauerInterrogationTechnique: Marks roughs up the people he believes are terrorists, while angrily asking them questions. However, this only fuels the passengers' paranoia that Marks is hi-jacking the plane.
* KillItWithFire: [[spoiler:White]] is killed when he is caught in the bomb's explosion.
* KillingInSelfDefense: When Marks confronts [[spoiler: fellow air marshal Hammond]] he thinks is behind the plot to hijack the flight and the two get into a fight in the plane's lavatory. [[spoiler:Hammond]] gets hold of a gun and Marks snaps his neck before he has a chance to use it.
* KnightTemplar: Marks starts skirting this trope as he becomes increasingly desperate to find the man behind all of this, [[spoiler: who turns out to be an example himself, willing to blow up a plane and kill over 150 people to make a point about how vulnerable American airlines are to terrorist attacks.]]
* LivingOnBorrowedTime: Jen has a heart condition and could drop dead at any moment. That's why she always sits on the window seat--she wants to see as much beautiful scenery as she can before she dies.
* MaamShock: Bill tries to reassue Jen with bluster, but she's not buying it so he resorts to calling her "Ma'am".
* MenAreTheExpendableGender: [[spoiler: All five deaths on the plane are male and]] Marks orders "the women and children" furthest forward into the plane, [[spoiler:leaving the men as a buffer zone between them and the bomb.]]
* MoralityPet: A case where one exists for the hero. Were it not for Becca, we would hardly see Marks acting like an actual human being.
* NeverTrustATrailer: The trailer makes it look like Hammond is the first victim of the killer, [[spoiler:when it is Bill who ends up killing him, and out of self-defense]]. It also gives the impression that the terrorist is a woman in a red dress, though the hijacker [[spoiler: (two of them) are actually two males]].
* NobleBigotWithABadge:
** One of the passengers is a cop who is off to Britain because his "fairy brother" is getting married to some British guy. But he doesn't seem like a bad guy [[spoiler:and ultimately becomes one of Marks' biggest allies]]. He also shows little trust of the Muslim man in the early goings, making a snide remark when he's the one who gets brought into the cockpit after [[spoiler:the captain dies]].
** Downplayed in Bill's case, but he eyes the Muslim man with suspicion at the airport before the murders even begin. When the murders start however, he acts on information received and what prejudices he may have had are put aside.
* NotWhatISignedOnFor: [[spoiler:Zack tries to disarm the bomb after he realizes that Tom never intended for them to survive it. He doesn't do a full HeelFaceTurn, though, and ends up dying when it goes off.]]
* OneDialogueTwoConversations: A ''very'' dark version of a trope usually played for laughs. When Marks is fighting [[spoiler: his crooked partner, Hammond confesses to needing the money and offers to split it. Marks thinks Hammond is talking about the threats, but Hammond's talking about the smuggled cocaine that he is carrying.]]
* TheOner: A particularly neat tracking shot following Marks as he "randomly" searches passengers, aided by editing as the camera moves through a window and reenters the plane at another one further down.
* OnlyInItForTheMoney: [[spoiler: The crooked Air Marshal]] as well as the [[spoiler:second]] terrorist are both driven by greed.
* ParanoiaGambit: The bad guy frames Marks as the hijacker and counts on him unwittingly acting like he is hijacking the plane [[spoiler: because he wants to expose the incompetence of the air marshals and American security in general.]] It works better than expected [[spoiler: when the passengers turn on Marks.]]
* PopUpTexting: The terrorists initially contact Marks via text, which is shown appearing next to his phone. All phone communications are displayed this way, even one when he's gotten a hold of a suspect's phone, which has a cracked screen, also visible in the pop-up.
* PrecisionFStrike: The co-pilot mutters "fuck it" before putting the plane into a steep dive.
* PrettyLittleHeadshots: [[spoiler: Tom, one of the two terrorists,]] eats a bullet to the face.
* RedHerring: Several. It's difficult for either Marks or the audience to pick out who the villain is.
* RedemptionEqualsDeath: Subverted. [[spoiler:Zack is about to disarm the bomb, not really for the good of the passengers but because he's shocked that Tom expects them to both die. Tom shoots him, but he gets up a moment later to try to kill Bill again.]]
* RuleOfThree: "Am I in your way?" This line is exchanged three different times between Bill and Zack.
* SceneryCensor: Messages on [[spoiler:Hammond]]'s cracked screen:
-->You're f***ing with the wrong guy.
-->I'm f***ing with the right guy.
* SpiritualSuccessor: Has one in the form of ''Film/TheCommuter''. Both star Liam Neeson and are directed by Jaume Collet-Serra and are DieHardOnAnX movies.
* ThanatosGambit: [[spoiler: Tom]] never intended to make it off the plane alive.
* TimeStandsStill: When Bill gets his gun back thanks to the climactic dive.
* TurnInYourBadge: Subverted. Under orders from the TSA, the captain takes Bill's badge and gun, but [[spoiler: after his death]], Bill takes them back.
* TwoDunIt: [[spoiler: Turns out there are ''two'' guys behind everything, though Zack appears to be TheDragon.]]
* TheVoice: Agent Marenick is this during the flight. [[OneSceneWonder We don't see him until the end of the movie.]]
* WellIntentionedExtremist: [[spoiler:Tom is revealed to be one, believing that only the death of an entire airplane full of passengers at the hands of a (framed) Air Marshall would scare Americans into preventing another terrorist attack.]]
* WesternTerrorists:
** [[spoiler: Tom and Zack]] turn out to be these.
** At one point a racist talking head mentions that Marks is originally from Belfast and vocally wonders if he is in the IRA.
* WhamLine: [[spoiler:[[BatmanGambit "I'm sorry you had to do that, Bill."]]]]
** [[spoiler: The account number you gave us...it's in ''your'' name]].
* WhatTheHellHero: [[spoiler: Nancy and especially Jen]] when Marks suspects they could be the culprit; [[spoiler: both are red herrings and wind up being helpful allies from the start.]]
* YouCantThwartStageOne: Played straight. No matter what Marks tries, [[spoiler: the culprits manage to kill a victim every 20 minutes, have the money transferred and requires a final showdown to stop them.]]
* YouHaveToBelieveMe: Marks has to convince the crew as well as his bosses that he is not behind this. However, he doesn't explain himself to the passengers, for fear of provoking whoever is behind this or causing a panic. [[spoiler: Which comes to bite him when the passengers also believe he is hijacking them and decide to ambush him.]] Once he explains what's actually going on though, they turn out to be pretty helpful.
* ZergRush: Near the end when the passengers have made a battle strategy made up by the police passenger, the 3-4 main passengers that have had issues with Mark attack him. While he initially fights them off, their combined numbers and determination gives them what they need to beat Marks and actually subdue him.
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