History YMMV / ToLiveAndDieInLA

* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: Chance '''is this trope.''' Is he really despondent and vengeful over Hart's death, or is he using it as an excuse to [[ItAmusedMe feed his adrenaline addiction]]?

* RetroactiveRecognition: It's [[Series/{{CSI}} Gil Grissom]].

* BaseBreaker: The jury is still out whether or not this movie is ''better'' than ''Film/TheFrenchConnection'' or simply one of Friedkin's best. Or just an average movie from a director with his glory days behind him but a long way still to go before hitting rock bottom.

* AwesomeMusic: The score by Music/WangChung, especially [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bf4x36XKhsM the theme song]] and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=upgCCAUI6TI "City of Angels"]].

* SeinfeldIsUnfunny: To modern audiences, it can seem like a litany of every [[TheEighties '80s]] and [[TheNineties '90s]] cop movie trope/cliche eventually parodied in ''Film/LastActionHero'' and the [=McBain=] movies-within-the-show on ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' - from [[{{Retirony}} the cop days from retirement who gets killed on the job]] to the [[HollywoodCalifornia totally tubular LA setting]] to the exact line ([[BeamMeUpScotty ''not'' uttered in]] ''Film/LethalWeapon''), "I'm getting too old for this shit." Except when you look closer, it turns out this movie predates [[TropeCodifier ''Lethal Weapon'']] by two years and would have been well into production around the same time ''Series/MiamiVice'' debuted.

* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: Well, it ''was'' contemporary when it first came out...

** Also, [[Series/QuantumLeap Al]] in a supporting role.

* BaseBreaker: The jury is still out whether or not this movie is ''better'' than ''Film/TheFrenchConnection'' or simply one of Friedkin's best.
** Or just an average movie from a director with his glory days behind him but a long way still to go before hitting rock bottom.

** Also, [[QuantumLeap Al]] in a supporting role.

** [[TheBigLebowski Jesus]] is a jailed counterfeiter Chance needs the services of.
*** Taking it even further, [[TheBigLebowski Jesus]] is working for [[TheLastTemptationOfChrist Jesus Christ]].
* SeinfeldIsUnfunny: To modern audiences, it can seem like a litany of every [[TheEighties '80s]] and [[TheNineties '90s]] cop movie trope/cliche eventually parodied in ''Film/LastActionHero'' and the [=McBain=] movies-within-the-show on ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' - from [[{{Retirony}} the cop days from retirement who gets killed on the job]] to the [[HollywoodCalifornia totally tubular LA setting]] to the exact line ([[BeamMeUpScotty ''not'' uttered in]] ''Film/LethalWeapon''), "I'm getting too old for this shit." Except when you look closer, it turns out this movie predates [[TropeCodifier ''Lethal Weapon'']] by two years and would have been well into production around the same time ''MiamiVice'' debuted.

** And [[Film/SpiderMan Norman Osborn]] was messing around with another form of green.

* RetroactiveRecognition: It's [[{{CSI}} Gil Grissom]].

* LesYay: Serena and Bianca have a bit of an unspoken relationship throughout the movie, culminating in a ''ThelmaAndLouise'' moment at the very end. But before that, [[spoiler:they actually have sex. And Masters knows]].

* DesignatedHero: Chance can seem like this to the uninitiated viewer.

* MoralEventHorizon: [[spoiler:Chance himself]] crosses this when he [[spoiler:rapes Ruth and robs Thomas Ling, the FBI agent.]]
* NightmareFuel: The deaths of Jimmy Hart and [[spoiler: Chance himself at the end]]. Arguably the most accurate depictions of a shotgun blast to the head ever caught on film. [[NauseaFuel And it works.]]

* ItWasHisSled: It's difficult to find anyone who's heard of this movie without them knowing of [[spoiler:William Petersen's death roughly fifteen minutes before the end.]]

* DarknessInducedAudienceApathy

* DarknessInducedAudienceApathy: Critics of the film, particularly at the time, got this impression. The only remotely sympathetic person in the whole mess is Vukovich, [[spoiler:but even then, it is implied by the ending that he has become just as bad, if not worse, than Chance.]]

* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: Chance '''is this trope.''' Is he really despondent and vengeful over Hart's death, or is he using it as an excuse to [[ItAmusedMe feed his adrenaline addiction]]? He ranges anywhere on the scale from a JerkassWoobie all the way to a CompleteMonster.

* DarknessInducedAudienceApathy: Critics of the film, particularly at the time, got this impression. The only remotely sympathetic person in the whole mess is Vukovich, [[spoiler:but even then, it is implied by the ending that he has basically become just as bad, if not worse, than Chance.]]

* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: Chance '''is this trope.''' Is he really despondent and vengeful over Hart's death, or is he using it as an excuse to [[ItAmusedMe feed his adrenaline addiction]]? He ranges anywhere on the scale from a {{Jerkass Woobie}} all the way to a {{Complete Monster}}.
** Masters as well. Some see him as a {{Magnificent Bastard}}, a WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds with NietzscheWannabe tendencies, or just a straight bad guy.

* DarknessInducedAudienceApathy: Critics of the film, particularly at the time, got this impression. The only remotely sympathetic person in the whole mess is Vukovich, [[spoiler: but even then, it is implied by the ending that he has basically become just as bad, if not worse, than Chance.]]

* ItWasHisSled: It's difficult to find anyone who's heard of this movie without them knowing of [[spoiler: William Petersen's death roughly fifteen minutes before the end.]]
* LesYay: Serena and Bianca have a bit of an unspoken relationship throughout the movie, culminating in a ''ThelmaAndLouise'' moment at the very end. But before that, [[spoiler: they actually have sex. And Masters knows]].

* MoralEventHorizon: [[spoiler: Chance himself]] crosses this when he [[spoiler:rapes Ruth and robs Thomas Ling, the FBI agent.]]

* VindicatedByHistory: When first released, the film was treated with ''[[SoOkayItsAverage meh]]'' reviews and vanished at the box office. It has since been reevaluated, with some saying it is as good as, if not ''better'', than ''Film/TheFrenchConnection''.

* MoralEventHorizon: [[spoiler: Chance himself]] crosses this when he [[spoiler:rapes Ruth and robs the FBI agent.]]

* MoralEventHorizon: [[spoiler: Chance raping Ruth and robbing the FBI agent.]]

* NightmareFuel: The deaths of Jimmy Hart and [[spoiler: Chance.]] Arguably the most accurate depictions of a shotgun blast to the head ever caught on film. [[NauseaFuel And it works.]]

* VindicatedByHistory: When first released, the film was treated with ''[[SoOkayItsAverage meh]]'' reviews and vanished at the box office. It has since been reevaluated, with some saying it is as good as, if not ''better'', than ''Film/TheFrenchConnection''.

* VindicatedByHistory: When first released, the film was treated with "[[SoOkayItsAverage meh]]'' reviews and vanished at the box office. It has since been reevaluated, with some saying it is as good as, if not ''better'', than ''Film/TheFrenchConnection''.

* TrueArtIsIncomprehensible: Probably why Masters burns his paintings and hangs out with strangely-costumed interpretive dancers.