History Film / TrueLies

* TriangRelations: Helen considers cheating on the overly-absent Harry, and Harry hatches a ZanyScheme to find out about the affair and win her back.

** Averted with Carlos the Jackal, the terrorist Harry and Gib pretend to misidentify Simon for in order to scare him. He was a real terrorist, who was still at large at the time.

Despite both Cameron and Schwarzenegger wanting to make a sequel, plans were mired in DevelopmentHell by both Arnold's political tenure and the [[DistancedFromCurrentEvents September 11th attacks]]; there they eventually died. CBS has given an order for a TV series adaptation on May 2022.

* FanServicePack: When Helen "goes undercover" as a prostitute named Michelle. She arrives at the hotel wearing a rather modest dress. Through some RipTailoring she makes it sexier, pushes up her boobs and slicks her hair back with water. And her glasses go.
* FathersQuest: During the second half, Harry got his facade off for his family after the bad guys kidnapped his daughter, so he has to team up his wife (who recently discovered he's a spy) to get her back.

* FiveFiveFive: The phone number of Monument Taxi is either 555-2439 (which is on their sign and stickers) or the 800 number written elsewhere on the vehicle.

* TheForeignSubtitle: ''True Lies: The Pretender'' in France.

* FunWithSubtitles: Harry telling the one guard he has to take a major leak, which the subtitle helpfully notes is "in perfect Arabic". ([[AsLongAsItSoundsForeign Ahnuld's Arabic is, of course, terrible.]])
* AGlassInTheHand: While watching Simon, the slimy used car salesman, Harry grips the binoculars hard enough to break a lens. Bear in mind that the binocular lens had a durable plastic housing around them as well.

* {{Homage}}: The opening sequence features Arnold coming out of some water in a wetsuit, then shrugging it off to reveal a black tuxedo underneath. [[Film/{{Goldfinger}} Now, what other superspy has done that...]]
* HonestJohnsDealership: Simon, the loser who tries to seduce Helen, is a used-car salesman. This is mostly just to immediately establish him as a sleazeball through inference, since from what little we see of it it appears that his business is actually legit. Upon finding out about the "affair" his wife is having, Harry pays him a visit to scope him out, but Simon does not attempt to rip him off.
* HorsebackHeroism: Set up, but ultimately subverted when Harry's mount flat-out refuses a HorseJump from one building to another.

* PopCulturedBadass: Harry is tailed by two of Aziz’s henchmen on the night of his birthday and offhandedly nicknames them [[Characters/BeavisAndButthead Beavis and Butthead]] when discussing a strategy with Gib before leading said henchmen into a [[BathroomBrawl a fight inside a mall's bathroom.]]

* HorseJump: Subverted when the horse balks at the edge and pitches Harry over the saddle.

* VictoriasSecretCompartment: Twice. Juno Skinner keeps her business card in her bra. Likewise, Helen hides the transmitter bug between her breasts, but quickly loses it when her dancing carelessly puts head upside down off the edge of the bed.

* PoliceAreUseless: Harry knocks a policeman off his horse and steals the horse to chase after Aziz. Not only does the policeman not even try to stop him, but he never calls for back up after police properly (the horse) has been stolen. Add the fact that there is a mass shootout in a mall bathroom, and Harry riding said horse through the mall where Aziz is holding a woman hostage, and not a single police officer is seen.

** Averted with Carlos the Jackal, the terrorist Harry and Gib pretend to misidentify Simon for in order to scare him. He was a real terrorist, who was still at large at the time (see the YMMV page's AluminiumChristmasTrees entry).

** Averted with Carlos the Jackal, the terrorist Harry and Gib pretend to misidentify Simon for in order to scare him. He was a real terrorist, who was still at large at the time (see AluminiumChristmasTrees above).

* AluminiumChristmasTrees:
** He's largely forgotten today, and his work overshadowed by the far more bloody and sensational actions of figures like UsefulNotes/OsamaBinLaden, so the reference probably goes over the heads of most viewers Millennial or younger. But Carlos the Jackal (the person Harry pretends to mistake Simon for) was in fact a real person, who was probably the most wanted terrorist in the Western world at the time the movie was released.[[note]]He was finally captured by French intelligence three years later, then tried and convicted, and survives to this day in prison.[[/note]]
** The connection between antiquities trafficking and terrorism embodied in Juno Skinner was fairly obscure in 1991 but has been getting more and more attention in recent years, particularly thanks to the civil war in UsefulNotes/{{Syria}} from 2011 onwards. (Thankfully, the real thing mostly consists of raising money to finance terrorism, not smuggling [=WMDs=] to be set off in targeted cities. At least not yet!)

* WeaponOfChoice:
** The Omega Sector seems to use the [=KP90=] pistol as their regular sidearm, as Harry, Gib and Faisil carry them.
** Aziz uses a custom-shortened AKMS assault rifle.
** Juno uses a Beretta [=92SB=] pistol.

* RealityEnsues: Surprisingly for a Schwarzenegger movie, a great deal of the film runs on this. Some examples, but by no means a comprehensive list:
** The basic premise of the movie assumes that even the hero of a martini-flavored spy movie would still have a regular home life, and shows how the two things would interact. Unsurprisingly, his job takes a heavy toll on his family, resulting in a household whose father is always gone, leaving his wife feeling bored and unappreciated, and his teenage daughter without guidance. (The secrecy doesn't help either).
** If you have an organization of EliteAgentsAboveTheLaw like Omega Sector, you probably shouldn't be surprised when its agents become tempted to misappropriate government resources to deal with their personal problems.
** Unlike a car, motorcycle, or other motorized vehicle, a horse is a living creature with its own judgment and sense of self-preservation, so when you try to force it into an impossible jump, it's going to say [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere "nope."]]
** If you're going to fire a rocket, you should make sure that none of your men are directly behind it.
** If you haven't driven (or piloted, in this case) in ten years, chances are you'll be a little rusty. (The movie also averts the UniversalDriversLicense trope: it's specifically stated that the only reason Harry can fly the Harrier jet is that he's done it before).
** And of course, there's this gem, halfway through the speech the BigBad is giving on a camcorder that hasn't been charged recently:
--->'''Terrorist''': [[MoodWhiplash ... Battery, Aziz!]]

* ButtMonkey: Gib has to improvise and play catch-up when Harry goes off-script. Repeatedly. He gets shot at by Aziz and miraculously survives by hiding behind a lamppost, [[GroinAttack gets kicked in the balls by Helen]] and his long history of failed marriages is played for laughs. He's finally had enough at the end of the movie:

* StealthPun: 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.

* HonestJohnsDealership: Simon, the loser who tries to seduce Helen, is a used-car salesman. This is mostly just to show him as a sleazeball, since from what little we see of it, it appears that his business is actually legit.

* AcceptableEthnicTargets: Just about every Arab villain is depicted as a bumbling, cowardly, cartoonishly evil character, whose sole purpose is to die in some horrific over the top fashion. Suffice it to say, Creator/JamesCameron was ''not'' sympathetic to their cause. The film did receive some criticism for portraying the terrorists as "stereotypically" Muslim. This was 7 years before 9/11.

''[Harry replaces the ring and they have a BigDamnKiss]''

* SmallRoleBigImpact: Bill Paxton’s turn as Simon is a hilariously memorable one.

* IronicEcho: After the Crimson Jihad have buried an armed nuclear warhead in the Florida Keys and are traveling by auto to Florida, Helen - who at this point thinks Harry is dead - is riding in a limousine with Juno, who taunts her over a glass of champagne; "Want one?" Shortly after that, Harry and company attack the Jihad to keep them from reaching the mainland with their remaining bomb, and in the chaos that follows, Helen - with the aid of the champagne bottle - gives it right back to Juno:

Arnold plays Harry Tasker, who his wife thinks is a mild-mannered computer salesman; in truth, he's a top agent for the clandestine Omega Sector, the United States' "last line of defense". Helen, played by Curtis, resents the long "business trips" he takes, which make it hard for him to keep his appointments with the family. While Harry is off once more tracking a dangerous terrorist, he learns Helen has been seeing someone on the side--a used car salesman pretending to be a spy.

* BadassAdorable: Helen, a sweet and dorky housewife, who through an impeccable combination of dumb luck, enthusiasm and thirst for adventure, becomes a butt-kicking adventurer worthy of her formidable husband, while ''still'' remaining a huggable sweetheart by the end of it all.

* BeautifulAllAlong: Frumpy housewife Helen gives herself an impromptu makeover to transform herself into a FemmeFatale on a supposed spy mission.

* DisproportionateRetribution: When Helen is "arrested" by what is actually Harry's squad for cheating on Harry with Simon, she's given a choice: Work for Harry's "agency", or:

* PapaWolf: When his little girl is kidnapped, Harry borrows the aforementioned ''Harrier Jet'' to rescue her and face the BigBad.

* PopCulturedBadass: Harry is tailed by two of Haziz's henchmen on the night of his birthday and offhandedly nicknames them [[Characters/BeavisAndButthead Beavis and Butthead]] when discussing a strategy with Gib before leading said henchmen into a [[BathroomBrawl a fight inside a mall's bathroom.]]

** Also a case of TruthInTelevision, as the Mac-10 is known for occasionally going "runaway" when dropped. During the making of the movie, the production team was even trying to find a way to get the gun to do exactly that. Their eventual solution? Just load it up and throw it down some stairs.

** Several scenes feature this trope, but the best one is when Harry insists that Gibs hand him the missing page of the transcript, and shatters the car window with his bare fist. Funny story: Ahnold was actually supposed to break a different window, which had been replaced with safety glass. Adds a bit of weight to the look on Creator/TomArnold's face, when he sees that his co-star just broke a ''real car window'' with his bare fist.

* TestesTest: When Gibis shot at, he hides behind a lamp post to avoid many near misses. As soon as the gunfire stops he pats himself down and he checks out his groin last. He's in one piece.

* AccidentalAimingSkills: Helen's [[BeginnersLuck first experience]] [[ReliablyUnreliableGuns with a Mac-10]] involves taking out about half a dozen mooks when she fires and accidentally drops the gun down a set of stairs.