History Film / SpiesLikeUs

* SpiritualSuccessor: The movie is considered to be related to the ''Film/RoadTo'' movies made by Creator/BobHope and Music/BingCrosby,.

* FunWithForeignLanguages: The protagonists are dropped into Pakistan only to be captured by bandits.
-->'''Fitz-hume''' (subtitles): "If you let me go, you can use my friend's head as a polo ball."
-->''Bandits all laugh. One of them takes Dan's head in his hands, testing it for size.''
-->'''Millbarge''' "What's he doing?"
-->'''Fitz-hume''' "Err, he's saying hello."
-->'''Millbarge''' (taking hold of the bandit's head): "Hello! Hello!"

* GermansLoveDavidHasselHoff: InUniverse, the Soviet soldiers guarding the ICBM love the song "Soul Finger" by the Bar Kays. However, they're not familiar with Music/LittleRichard's "The Girl Can't Help It", which backfires on them during [[AbsurdlyHighStakesGame the "negotiations"]] in the last scene.

** Lampshaded by the female agent: "You two are unbelievable!"

* FromNobodyToNightmare: Fitz-hume and Millbarge were meant to just be decoys but they turned into formidable people when put into danger.

-->'''Milbarge:''' [[OhCrap ''You don't want it!'']]

* TheCameo: The movie is full of them: Creator/SamRaimi, Costa-Gavras, the Coen brothers, Terry Gilliam, Frank Oz, B.B. King, [[Creator/RayHarryhausen Ray frickin' Harryhausen]]…

* ColonelBadass: Colonel Rhumbus. He knocks out his own squad of elite ninja soldiers, then takes our heroes through accelerated GLG20 training. His salutes are so snappy that you can ''hear'' his gloved hand cutting through the air.

* ColonelBadass: Colonel Rhumbus. He knocks out his own squad of [[ConservationOfNinjutsu elite ninja soldiers]] and then takes our heroes through [[TrainingFromHell accelerated GLG20 training]]. His salutes are so snappy that you can ''hear'' his gloved hand [[AudibleSharpness cutting through the air]].

* MsFanservice: Unless there's a better reason for why the youngest Russian agent (played by a then-unknown Vanessa Angel) comes out of her tent into the frigid air and ''then'' zips up her jumpsuit over her underwear.

* {{Expy}}: Steve Forrest's general (who ordered the operation) is essentially a copy of the trope-naming GeneralRipper, changing the reason for nuclear warfare from "[[SillyReasonForWar the Russians are tampering with our bodily fluids]]" to "[[{{Eagleland}} America]] [[PeaceThroughSuperiorFirepower must show the Russians that they have the edge in weapons technology,]] [[WellIntentionedExtremist regardless of the body count.]]" This is not any less chilling, considering he's still willing to cause ''nuclear war''.

Two totally incompetent applicants, Emmett Fitzhume and Austin Millbarge, are chosen from a CIA recruitment program. They are parachuted into Pakistan and eventually end up in Afghanistan, chased by the Russians, where they learn they are being used as decoys to draw out the Sovet defenses. Two real spies are sent in. Their mission is to hijack a Soviet missile launcher, launch the Soviet missile and test the new U.S. orbital defense laser.

* AbsurdlyHighStakesGame: The final scene has Fitzhume and Millbarge working on "peaceful negotiations for nuclear disarmament" with the Russian government (read: making Russia bet their silos on a combination between ''Risk'' and ''Trivial Pursuit'').

* BarehandedBladeBlock: The military commander is asked what you're supposed to do when you meet ninjas. Handing over his clipboard to an assistant, he then proceeds to kick ninja butt, at one point stopping a sword in this manner. Mind you, he was wearing leather gloves.
* BecomingTheMask / TookALevelInBadass / FromNobodyToNightmare: Fitzhume and Millbarge may be decoys...

* CentrifugalFarce: The heroes are subjected to a centrifuge at one point, and then go to lunch looking and sounding weird.
* ChummyCommies: Enemies to begin with, resigning themselves to impending doom, and then facing impossible odds with the Americans make the Soviet missile squad and the GLG-20s [[EnemyMine Strange Bedfellows]].

* ConservationOfNinjitsu: Subverted then played straight.
-->'''Fitzhume:''' ''(to an army of ninjas)'' This is my sister. You can all have her!
** Colonel Rhumbus' rating of Fitzhume and Millbarge after the encounter: "Pussies". He then ''takes them all out singlehandedly.''
* CovertGroupWithMundaneFront The Ace Tomato Company. Also, Mission Control for the military's SDI weapon was hidden under a deserted DriveInTheater.

* TheEighties

* FunWithForeignLanguages: Creator/ChevyChase and Creator/DanAykroyd are dropped into Pakistan only to be captured by bandits.
-->'''Creator/ChevyChase''' (subtitles): "If you let me go, you can use my friend's head as a polo ball."

-->'''Creator/DanAykroyd:''' "What's he doing?"
-->'''Chase:''' "Err, he's saying hello."
-->'''Aykroyd''' (taking hold of the bandit's head): "Hello! Hello!"
* {{Expy}}: Steve Forrest's general (who ordered the operation) is essentially a copy of the trope-naming GeneralRipper, changing the reason for nuclear warfare from "[[SillyReasonForWar the Russians are tampering with our bodily fluids]]" to "[[{{Eagleland}} America]] [[PeaceThroughSuperiorFirepower must show the Russians that they have the edge in weapons technology,]] [[WellIntentionedExtremist regardless of the body count.]]" (Which is not any less chilling, considering he's still willing to cause ''nuclear war'').
* EyebrowWaggle: Fitzhume does this after telling his colleague that he has an [[DoubleEntendre "intimate" lunch meeting with the (female) supervisor]].
* GrenadeHotPotato: Fitzhume actually catches the grenade - and has no idea what it is, leading to:
-->'''Fitzhume:''' Hey, what's this?

** After which Fitzhume stands up - in the middle of a gunfight between the KGB and Milbarge - and calmly tosses the grenade back, landing it through the window...and in the [[StuffBlowingUp box of grenades]] that two {{Mooks}} had opened up.
* GunsAkimbo: Milbarge pulls one on horseback to get Fitzhume back from the Russian highway patrol.

* HandcuffedBriefcase: In the opening sequence, the courier delivering the satellite images has the briefcase chained to his wrist, and the photos are secured to the inside of the briefcase. Since he's not particularly cleared for the discussion about the photos, he's shoved into a closet. With the chain sticking out the door.
* HarmlessElectrocution: [[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0090056/ Emmett (Chevy Chase)]] uses his own body to close an electrical circuit. Partially justified in that [[spoiler: he was doing it to save the world]].

*** The whole reason the main characters were sent out in the first place was so that they'd end up being Highly Visible Spies and distract attention from other spies who were expected to be the ones to do the job.

* NiceJobFixingItVillain: [[spoiler: They sure did underestimate those decoys.]]
* NotCheatingUnlessYouGetCaught: One of the two "heroes" (to use the term loosely) managed to pressure the other into helping him cheat on their government promotion tests, through good, old-fashioned Chevy Chase-style chuztpah. [[RefugeInAudacity When discovered, in order to cover themselves, they worked together by reflex to cover each other.]] The CIA test givers were so impressed that they gave them an immediate promotion to field agents. (Of course, this was a plot to throw expendable agents into the field as a diversion for more nefarious activities ... but the trope connection is solid.)

** They do the same thing into the highway patrol shack where Fitzhume is being held.
** Both times, Fitzhume and (when he's present) Milbarge look just as confused as the rest of us.

* PopculturalOsmosis: For the record, before the ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' spoof, this page didn't exist. (Shameful...)
* PopStarComposer: Sir Music/PaulMcCartney
* PreppyName: Emmett Fitz-Hume

* ReassignmentBackfire: Emmett Fitz-Hume (who got his job only through nepotism), and Austin Millbarge (who works in the bowels of a civil service building) have this happen to them. Emmett didn't study for the upcoming civil service exam, and while Austin initially refuses to help him cheat, both end up causing a scene in the exam room. So their superiors send them to Pakistan as decoys, claiming they would be on a mission of great importance (when in reality, they were just there to keep the fire off the real agents). Except they eventually find their way to Russia, where alongside one of the ''real'' CIA agents, they end up saving the day.

* SleepingWithTheBoss: Played for laughs when Fitzhume tells his coworker that he's arranged an intimate lunch with the boss. Cut to Fitzhume and his attractive boss in bed. And apparently, as said above, he just arranged the "intimate lunch" to try to talk his boss into finding a way for him to not take the Foreign Service Board test.
* SpiritualSuccessor: The movie is considered to be related to the ''Film/RoadTo'' movies made by Creator/BobHope and Music/BingCrosby, much like a forgotten nephew.
** Not entirely forgotten, as [[Creator/BobHope Uncle Bob]] does [[TheCameo drop in]].

* ThanksForTheMammary: Done amusingly - Shortly after the "Doctor Doctor" scene, Emmett Fitz-Hume gets some alone time with Karen Boyer, and does some ObfuscatingStupidity while bringing his hand close to her chest, eventually grabbing one of her assets, and as he goes on rambling grabs hold of the other one with his other hand. Karen's initial reaction is mere annoyance, but after she takes hold of Emmett's hands to get them off her chest, she somehow warms up to him and they kiss.
* TitleDrop: "They're spies...like us!"

-->'''Aykroyd:''' It's a dikfer!\\
'''Chase:''' What's a dikfer?\\
'''Aykroyd:''' To pee with.

* PopStarComposer: Sir PaulMcCartney

* CreatorBacklash: Music/PaulMcCartney seems to have disowned "Spies Like Us", his Top Ten recording from the film. The song has not appeared on any of the numerous best-ofs Paul has released. To date, the song's only appearance on a [=McCartney=] album of any sort is the CD reissue of ''Press to Play'', one of his rarest and least sought-after albums.

* ProductionPosse: Many ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'' alumni (both Aykroyd and Chase are members) tend to team up for various movies. {{SCTV}} alum Joe Flaherty has a bit role as well.

* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: This movie could only have been made in [[TheEighties the 80s]], when the Strategic Defense Initiative was a pressing matter.

* SpiritualSuccessor: The movie is considered to be related to the ''Film/RoadTo'' movies made by BobHope and BingCrosby, much like a forgotten nephew.

* YouJustToldMe: Agent Millbarge suspects that a pair of agents supposedly sent to help him and his partner are actually KGB agents. He confirms his suspicions by saying something funny in Russian, making one of them laugh.

-->'''Fitz-Hume:''' What's he mean by that?

-->'''Fitz-Hume:''' Ah, Colonel we were just talking and uh we've had loads of fun here... and, uh, you know. [[HighlyVisibleNinja we met new friends]]... and had a great lunch. Wasn't that a great lunch?
-->'''Milbarge:''' Yah, the tuna and cream casserole was beautiful.
-->'''Fitz-Hume:''' ...Was great! And, uh, anyway we were just talking and we'd like to go home now. So, uh, thanks for the bruises and you can keep the stool samples...
-->'''Col. Rhumbus:''' Boys... it'd be a ''shame'' to have to kill you now.

** Also Bob Hope, as a ShoutOut to the "[[Film/RoadTo Road]]" pictures he made.

This movie is [[ShoutOut referenced heavily]] in the song "Out With a Bang" by Self; even the title is a quote from the film. A ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' episode titled "Spies Reminiscent of Us" was a sequel to this film. There are also multiple references in the Creator/{{NBC}} show ''Series/{{Chuck}}''.

The movie was [[ShoutOut referenced heavily]] in the song "Out With a Bang" by Self; even the title was a quote from the film. A ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' episode titled "Spies Reminiscent of Us" was a sequel to this film. There are also multiple references in the Creator/{{NBC}} show ''Series/{{Chuck}}''.

The movie was [[ShoutOut referenced heavily]] in the song "Out With a Bang" by Self; even the title was a quote from the film.

A ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' episode titled "Spies Reminiscent of Us" was a sequel to this film. There are also multiple references in the Creator/{{NBC}} show ''Series/{{Chuck}}''.

A 1985 comedy directed by Creator/JohnLandis, ''Spies Like Us'' basically resembles an old Hope/Crosby ''Film/RoadTo'' picture updated for TheEighties. The film follows the misadventures of two novice intelligence agents sent to the Soviet Union as disposable decoys for the real agents. The movie stars Creator/DanAykroyd, Creator/ChevyChase, Steve Forrest, and Donna Dixon.

A 1985 comedy film directed by Creator/JohnLandis, ''Spies Like Us'' basically resembles an old Hope/Crosby ''Film/RoadTo'' picture updated for TheEighties. The film follows the misadventures of two novice intelligence agents sent to the Soviet Union as disposable decoys for the real agents. The movie stars Creator/DanAykroyd, Creator/ChevyChase, Steve Forrest, and Donna Dixon.