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1[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/cowboys_&_aliens_9.jpg]]
2 [[caption-width-right:350:First contact. Last stand.]]
3
4A 2011 film directed by Creator/JonFavreau, produced by Creator/StevenSpielberg and Creator/RonHoward, and starring Creator/HarrisonFord, Creator/OliviaWilde, Creator/DanielCraig, Creator/SamRockwell, Creator/ClancyBrown, and Creator/KeithCarradine, set in TheWildWest. It is based on [[ComicBook/CowboysAndAliens a 2006 graphic novel]], which even started as a movie pitch but DevelopmentHell made the comic be released first.
5
6An amnesiac man by the name of Jake Lonergan wakes up in the middle of the desert with a strange metal device on his forearm. He soon finds himself to be a wanted outlaw hunted by Federal Marshals and bounty hunters, but then discovers a much more pressing issue when mysterious lights begin to shine in the sky, and the device on his forearm activates to devastating effect.
7
8----
9!!This film provides examples of:
10
11* ActionGirl: Ella, who [[spoiler:is the person who really defeats the aliens by killing a number of them and then blowing up their evacuating ship.]]
12* AdaptationDistillation: The comic is an allegorical condemnation of UsefulNotes/ManifestDestiny - the aliens come to Earth to add it to their empire and treat the indigenous peoples like dirt. There's actually a scene where a white guy screams "they don't have the right to do this to us just because they have better guns!", only to be met with a DeathGlare from an Indian. In the movie, the aliens have GoldFever, abduct people via techno-lasso - and it focuses more on people trying to do what seems right no matter their past deeds.
13-->'''Meachum:''' ''I've seen bad people do good things, and good people do bad things. God don't care who you were, son. Only who you are.''
14* AlcoholicParent: Dolarhyde. He gets better, both in terms of sobriety and as a parent.
15* AlienAmongUs: [[spoiler:Ella, although she's of a different species from the main aliens.]]
16%%* AlienAutopsy: Species inverted.
17* AlienBlood: The aliens have greenish blood.
18%%* AlienInvasion
19* AliensAreBastards: The aliens are complete assholes, [[spoiler:except Ella, of course, who's a different species of alien]].
20* AliensInCardiff: The aliens come to Arizona looking for gold, and the Wild West still has plenty.
21* AliensStealCattle: Or blow them to smithereens in this case.
22* AnnoyingArrows: Arrows do little more than distract the aliens. That said, so do bullets.
23%%* AntiHero: Lonergan and Dolarhyde.
24* ArmCannon: The device attached to Lonergan's arm packs a ''hell'' of a punch.
25* AsskickingLeadsToLeadership: A source of friction between Dolarhyde and the Apaches. They don't accept him as a great warrior because they expect this trope; if he were, he would already have a big band of followers behind him.
26* BadassPreacher: Meacham. His advice to Doc is to get a gun and learn how to shoot it. So much for turning the other cheek.
27* {{BFG}}: The aliens who aren't packing arm cannons are packing these.
28* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:Ella sacrifices herself to ensure the alien scouts don't return home, and Lonergan decides not to settle down, but the aliens are dead, and the town of Absolution sees a boom on the horizon, as all the gold the aliens mined and refined has rained down over the praeries nearby.]]
29* BizarreAlienBiology: The aliens have a secondary pair of arms that come out of their chest, which they seem to use for more delicate work than their main arms, which seem more suited for combat. This is also an AchillesHeel, as [[spoiler: using these arms also exposes their hearts]].
30* BoomHeadshot: Doc learns how to sharpshoot at just the right moment.
31* BountyHunter: The people seen at the beginning of the film assume Lonergan might have a bounty, given the state they find him in. Turns out he does, but [[CurbStompBattle they fail to collect]].
32* ButNowIMustGo: [[spoiler:Lonergan rides off at the end, even though Dolerhyde and Sheriff Taggart urge him to stay.]]
33* ButtMonkey: Percy becomes this to Lonergan in the first part of the film.
34* CattlePunk: Cowboys. Aliens. ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin.
35%%* TheCavalry: [[spoiler:Lonergan's old gang]].
36%%* ChekhovsGun:
37%%** Emmett's knife.
38%%** The scorching effect of the aliens' gold-mining device.
39%%** The dynamite.
40%%** The fact that the town is a mining town.
41%%* ChekhovsSkill: Doc learning how to shoot.
42* CigarFuseLighting: After one of the bandits drops all the matches off a cliff, he asks how he's going to light the dynamite. The answer is the lit cigarro he's been smoking the whole scene.
43* ClarkesThirdLaw: The aliens are never called as such. They're most often called demons and the cast never thinks of them as being technologically advanced. [[spoiler: Ella, another alien, says that she came from beyond the stars, giving the impression of an angel]].
44* ColonelBadass: Although he's not in the army anymore, Dolarhyde has the requisite military rank. And boy does he kick ass.
45* ContrivedCoincidence: ...that everything they need to run into is pretty much all lined up on the route they take while following the trail of the alien. The riverboat, the house Jake was living in, the bandits he worked with, the Indians to help him regain his memories, and the spaceship itself, all out there in a line and in easy riding distance from each other.
46* ConvenientCranny: Emmett hides from an alien in one.
47* ConvenientlyTimedAttackFromBehind: When Dolarhyde has run out of bullets while facing one of the aliens in combat, the alien lets out a RoarBeforeBeating but is then shot in the head by Doc from behind.
48* CoolVersusAwesome: '''Cowboys''' and '''Aliens'''.
49* {{Cowboy}}: Of course.
50%%* CriminalAmnesiac
51* DeadpanSnarker: Jake does this even when [[SilentSnarker not talking.]]
52* DiedInYourArmsTonight: [[spoiler:Happens twice: first with the preacher and second with Nat.]] There's also a subversion with [[spoiler: Ella]].
53* DisposableWoman: [[spoiler:Poor Alice.]]
54* ADogNamedDog: The dog that follows Lonergan around -- nobody bothers to give it a name except Emmett, who calls it "Dog".
55* DontCallMeSir: Dolarhyde, a colonel in the UsefulNotes/TheAmericanCivilWar, hates being referred to by that title. (Although Lonergan calls him Colonel at the end, out of respect.)
56* EmotionlessGirl: Ella sort of comes off as this as she's particularly and uncannily calm in most of the situations she gets into. This makes more sense when [[spoiler:it's revealed she's not a human and turns out to be an alien]].
57* EnemyMine: Dolarhyde, Lonergan, and the townspeople working together to beat the aliens. This later expands to include a tribe of Apaches and Lonergan's old gang.
58* EvilIsHammy: Harrison Ford really piles on the gruff, threatening voice when he appears to just be a sadistic villain, but lightens up on it as the character's HiddenDepths are revealed.
59* ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin: If you walked into a movie called ''Cowboys and Aliens'' and expected anything else, you totally deserved to be disappointed.
60* ExposedExtraterrestrials: The aliens don't wear any clothing except maybe for their Arm Cannon bracelets. [[spoiler:Ella doesn't seem to be fazed by the fact that she's completely naked when she revives in the fire either.]]
61* {{Fanservice}}:
62** Olivia Wilde has a scene of her naked around a campfire in front of EVERYONE. Although [[ToplessnessFromTheBack nothing but her back]] (from the waist up) is shown.
63** Daniel Craig runs around in tight breeches and leather chaps. Not to mention the ShirtlessScene.
64%%* FireForgedFriends: Dolarhyde and Lonergan.
65* AFormYouAreComfortableWith: [[spoiler:Ella's human form is a disguise. Her true form is never seen.]]
66%%* GoodShepherd: Meacham.
67* HealItWithBooze: Meacham the preacher pours whiskey over Lonergan's wound before stitching it up.
68* HeelFaceTurn: Dolarhyde, Lonergan and a dozen bandits rediscover their inner goodness during the course of the movie. Most unnamed characters [[RedemptionEqualsDeath die in the process]].
69* HellishHorse: When the alien ships first appear in the sky, they appear to be a fiery stampede.
70* HeroicSacrifice:
71** [[spoiler:Ella takes Lonergan's ArmCannon into the core of the alien ship and overloads it, destroying the ship, the aliens, and herself.]]
72** [[spoiler: Meacham is critically wounded while rescuing Emmett from an attacking Alien.]]
73** [[spoiler: Nat does one for Dolarhyde, lassoing an alien to prevent it from killing Dolarhyde, and getting mortally wounded in the neck for his efforts.]]
74* HeroOfAnotherStory: Nat briefly gives an accounting of Colonel Dolarhyde's previous exploits to the Apache chief. We hear the beginning of that story earlier from Dolarhyde himself, telling of his youth to Emmett.
75%% "Hey, It's That Guy!" goes on the trivia tab.
76* HiddenDepths: Almost all characters started out as standard Western characters and archetypes, only to display more subtle personalities that are revealed by the unusual situation.
77* HoistByHisOwnPetard:
78** How do the alien spaceships abduct people? With weapons that basically amount to ''lassos''.
79** Comes full-circle during the climax, where a lasso gets used on an alien.
80** And lets not forget Lonergan fighting the aliens with their own weaponry. Even more ironic as we discover that Lonergan acquired it when an Alien took it off to dissect him, but didn't think that putting an ArmCannon next to an ''unrestrained'' human would mean he'd grab it.
81** The same alien [[spoiler: is killed with their gold mining technology.]]
82* HollywoodAtheist: A downplayed example with Doc, who in his words: "I don't mean no disrespect preacher, but either He ain't up there, or He don't like me very much", due to to slew of bad luck. After a few theological conversations, and out of respect for the preacher, he gives his best shot at a religious eulogy [[spoiler:at the man's grave.]]
83* HollywoodTactics: Dolarhyde insists that you can't just run around in a big jumble shooting in every direction, but that's exactly how the climax goes. The aliens, for their part, rush right out of their base and straight into the melee, some completely unarmed. Later, they rush headlong down a hallway into Jake's fire, heedless of their brethren in front of them getting blasted to bits.
84* HospitalityForHeroes: Doc's wife lets Jake have a drink for free after he stood up to Percy.
85* HumansAreWarriors: Cowboys and Indians manage to overcome their cultural differences and find a common language - that of a good battle.
86* HumiliationConga: Spoiled brat Percy's first run in with Lonergan starts with a [[GroinAttack kick to the groin]], then getting arrested after accidentally shooting the deputy in a rage, then getting slammed into the bars of his cell by Lonergan and knocked unconscious (falling head first into his own piss bucket, no less), getting ''his thumb broken'' by Lonergan so that the man could slip the cuffs off the two of them, and finally getting abducted by aliens.
87* ILetGwenStacyDie: [[spoiler:Alice and Ella.]]
88* ImmuneToBullets: The aliens' exoskeletons shrug off regular period hanguns like they're nothing, though they still are reasonably affected by the impact. Shotguns actually seem to wound them slightly, but their main problem is still the kinetic energy of ''those'' bullets--Jake uses this to great effect in the climax.
89* InsufficientlyAdvancedAlien[=/=]LowCultureHighTech: The alien technology, though far better than that of the humans of the Wild West, bobs back and forth between sci-fi and modern technology. They have anti-gravity technology and energy weapons, but their ships fly on jet engines. The aliens themselves have a hard exoskeleton that deflect bullets, but it has a lot of weak spots and they don't bother wearing armor. The latter is justified: they are far superior combatants to humans and don't consider them a threat, so they aren't ready for a real battle when it comes to them.
90* InterspeciesRomance: A bit between Lonergan and [[spoiler: Ella. Of course, it results in nothing but a kiss as she pulls a HeroicSacrifice in the end.]]
91* ItsPersonal:
92** In addition to the protagonists whose loved ones are taken by the aliens, there's Ella's grudge against them for [[spoiler:wiping out her home planet and her people.]]
93** And on the alien side of things, there's the alien that Lonergan stabbed in the eye while escaping their ship. During the climax, they run into each other again, and the alien seems to be taking great pleasure in trying to return the favor [[spoiler:until Dolerhyde stops him.]]
94* {{Jerkass}}: Both Dolarhydes, Percy more than his dad.
95* KarmicDeath: [[spoiler: The alien's death by a shower of molten gold.]]
96* LaserGuidedAmnesia: Lonergan can't remember his name or anything about his past, at first. [[spoiler: Turns out this is a side-effect of the aliens' control device; all the abductees suffer from this to one extent or another.]]
97* LastOfTheirKind: [[spoiler:Ella, on account of her people being destroyed by the aliens.]]
98* LikeASonToMe: Dolarhyde says this of Nat [[spoiler:as Nat dies in his arms]].
99* LovableTraitor: Dog the dog starts the film by spotting for the people who find Lonergan, then Lonergan, then the posse, then Lonergan again, if the final fight had gone on any longer presumably the aliens as well.
100* LoveMakesYouDumb: In a humorous scene, Lonergan needs to remove the gauntlet and give it to Ella. She tells him to remove it by emptying his mind of thoughts, and he can't do it. [[spoiler: She plants TheBigDamnKiss on him and it falls off immediately.]]
101* LoveRedeems: Lonergan [[spoiler:quit his gang because he fell in love with a prostitute named Alice and stayed with her]]. That said, [[spoiler:he did steal the entire bounty of gold from their last heist when he left.]]
102* MagicalNativeAmerican:
103** Trailers suggested that Ella would get naked in some {{Fanservice}}-y pseudo-Native American ceremony. It turns out [[spoiler:that she's actually an alien. She's even initially mistaken for a Native American by Jake.]]
104** But Jake still goes through an ersatz-sweatlodge ritual that reawakens his memory. Of course, [[MaybeMagicMaybeMundane it may easily be explained from a purely biological standpoint]].
105* MeaningfulName:
106** Lonergan = Loner [[spoiler: again?]]; he's a [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin loner]]. Dolarhyde = Dollar Hide; he's raising cattle and is responsible for keeping the town going.
107** Lonergan... might also be Lone R(ay) Gun? Since he's the only human to wield one in the show.
108** Lonergan also sounds a bit like a play on "alone again".
109** The town is called Absolution. And [[HeelFaceTurn redemption]] is a major theme of the movie.
110** Claiborne (clay-borne) might also apply.
111* TheMedic: Meachum the preacher stitches up Lonergan's wound, even though there's a trained doctor just across the street running the saloon. Doc eventually joins the group as TheMedic, though he rarely gets a patient who isn't already dead.
112* MeekTownsman: Doc...at first.
113* MentorOccupationalHazard: [[spoiler:The preacher.]]
114* MirrorCharacter: In a neutral sense, Dolarhyde and Jake. Although they hate each other's guts (at first), they are both less-than-entirely-moral men with a DarkAndTroubledPast who rediscover the brighter side of their souls.
115* MirroringFactions:
116** In a good sense, cowboys and Indians. Both share a [[HumansAreWarriors passion for a good fight]], had loved ones abducted by aliens, and want to defend the land they consider theirs.
117** In a bad sense, cowboys and aliens. Both [[spoiler:lust for gold]], and are more than willing to destroy the natives that stand in their way. When Lonergan learns that the aliens [[spoiler:are PlanetLooters]], he very visibly [[HeelRealization hangs his head down in shame]].
118* MisplacedNamesPoster: [[https://is3-ssl.mzstatic.com/image/thumb/Video/32/83/a1/mzl.wztmbnpp.jpg/1200x630bb.jpg That's]] not Daniel Craig, Harrison Ford, and Olivia Wilde! It's Olivia Wilde, Daniel Craig, and Harrison Ford!
119* MuggingTheMonster: Three men try to take Jake in at the beginning of the film, thinking that he is a suspicious person and there might be a reward. [[CurbStompBattle Things do not go well for them]].
120* MysteriousWaif: Ella.
121* NakedOnRevival: [[spoiler:Ella.]]
122* ANaziByAnyOtherName: Inside the alien spacecraft, Jake comes across a pile of [[FinalSolution pocket watches and human teeth...]]
123* NinjaPirateZombieRobot: Cowboys and Aliens, plus Apaches and bandits too!
124* NonIndicativeName: Despite the title, all the cowboys except Dolarhyde and Nat quit, so the final fight is mostly bandits/Indians and aliens.
125* NoodleIncident: A tragic example; Dolarhyde doesn't like to be called "Colonel." The only hint we have is apparently a lot of men under his Civil War command died in a useless engagement.
126* NotUsingTheZWord: Not once is the word "alien" used. Makes sense; at the time, the word "alien" referred solely to "people from another country." Instead, thanks to the preacher, they've been labeled as "demons".
127* TheNounAndTheNoun
128* OnlyMostlyDead: [[spoiler:Ella. Being an alien, she revives herself from death, but she admits she wasn't sure if she would be able to do that in her human form.]]
129* OntologicalMystery: The film starts with Jake not being able to remember anything, up to and including his own name. As they travel across the plains, though, more memories come to him and he pieces together his past.
130* OurDemonsAreDifferent: They're actually aliens. The concept of space travel and aliens hasn't really taken root in the 19th century. [[spoiler: Ella later has some difficulty trying to explain to everyone that she's from another world.]]
131* OutrunTheFireball: Dolerhyde and Jake running through the caves staying ahead of a blastwave.
132* OutsideGenreFoe: Alien invaders isn't exactly something the average 19th century cowboy would even ''consider''.
133* PapaWolf: Dolarhyde turns out to be this. Also, the sheriff is a Grandpa Wolf; later inverted when Emmet has to save him.
134* PetTheDog:
135** Dolarhyde with Emmett (giving him a piece of apple and a knife) and later Nat (telling him that he's the son he's always wanted).
136** Taken literally numerous times when Jake pets the black-and-white dog that accompanies the cowboys. It deserves it, too, seeing as how it acts as an able lookout on many occasions.
137* PistolWhipping: Used against Jake.
138* PlanetLooters: This time, aliens come [[spoiler:for gold]].
139* PleasePutSomeClothesOn: [[spoiler: Jake covers a NakedOnRevival Ella with a blanket, though he does seem to stare a bit before finishing the job.]]
140* PreacherMan: The preacher, who's also something of a BadassPreacher.
141* PreviewsPulse: The pulses of this film's trailers are fairly muted, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IV-mii_IrKc but they culminate at 2:07]].
142* ProtagonistWithoutAPast: Lonergan.
143* PunBasedTitle: It's not just CoolVersusAwesome, but a pun on "Cowboys and Indians".
144* RagtagBunchOfMisfits: The posse that sets off after [[spoiler: the wounded alien]]. A former military man, an amnesiac outlaw, an Indian tracker, a meek bartender, and a preacher. Lampshaded by Meacham when Ella asks to join the hunt.
145-->''"Yes, ma'am. We got a kid, a dog. Why not a woman?"''
146** And for some insane reason, a CHILD.
147* RaiseHimRightThisTime: Dollarhyde [[spoiler: gets the chance to do this with his son Percy at the end, since Percy has suffered massive amnesia.]]
148* RatedMForManly: Grizzled, muscular cowpokes teaming up with Apache warriors to kick alien butt. Few things are manlier than this.
149* ARealManIsAKiller: Emmett's sideplot. Dolerhyde almost says the trope name verbatim.
150* RedemptionEqualsDeath: Despite having the option to flee to Mexico, Lonergan's old gang opt to stand and fight despite overwhelming odds, and are almost all killed while distracting the aliens in the climatic battle. The few that survive however are treated as heroes in the town. However this makes them...
151* RedshirtArmy: Lonergan's gang, who are wiped out to nearly a man and just there for provide fodder for the aliens.
152* RetiredBadass: Dollarhyde was a Colonel in UsefulNotes/TheAmericanCivilWar, and does not like being called by that title. Lonergan was trying to quit his life as an outlaw and settle down with the woman he loved. Both are called back into action by the sudden attacks of the aliens.
153* RockBeatsLaser: Spacefaring aliens repulsed by revolvers, dynamite, arrows, and spears. However, it does take quite a lot to bring an alien down, and the aliens suffer very few casualties against inferior weapons. It's only when the humans get a good bead on their vital spots (the head and the eyes, as well as the interior of the torso with the two "chest-arms") that they manage to kill them.
154* SaharanShipwreck: A riverboat is found in the scrub, 500 miles from the nearest river that would hold it, upside down. Though it was obviously dumped there by the aliens, there's no explanation as to why or how.
155* ScrewTheRulesIHaveConnections: Percy believes that since his father practically runs the town, he can do whatever he wants. And he's almost right, were it not for the timely intervention of certain things not of this world showing up right around the time his dad comes to try and pick him up.
156* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: Several of Dolarhyde's men abandon them after their first encounter with an alien. Longergan appears to be doing this near the end of the film, [[spoiler: but it turns out he was just [[BringHelpBack bringing some more men to the fight.]]]]
157* ShellShockedVeteran: Dolarhyde, as a result of the UsefulNotes/TheAmericanCivilWar and the atrocities he witnessed in the Indian Wars.
158* TheSheriff: Sheriff Taggart, who seems to be a ReasonableAuthorityFigure (and is therefore sidelined for most of the film).
159* ShoutOut: The [[spoiler:alien ship explosion at the end]] looks a lot like the Death Star explosion pattern in ''Franchise/StarWars''. The Indians hooting/hollering sound a lot like the Ewoks in the same movie.
160** Throw in the arrows being slung from high ground near the start of the battle and, oh yeah, Han Solo leading the battle.
161** The initial appearance of the spaceships attacking the town, the large boat mysteriously placed in the middle of the desert, and the [[spoiler: abductees leaving the spaceship at the end]] are all likely references to Spielberg's ''Film/CloseEncountersOfTheThirdKind.''
162** The sequence inside the misplaced riverboat is highly reminiscent of ''{{Film/Alien}}'', especially in terms of lighting and atmosphere.
163* SpoiledBrat: Percy.
164* StalkingIsLove: [[{{Narm}} Narmishly]] [[AvertedTrope averted]] when Jake confronts Ella about it.
165* StormingTheCastle: The attack on the alien mothership during the climax.
166* SuperWristGadget: Lonergan's wrist blaster.
167* TagalongKid: Emmett.
168* TeamPet: The dog that follows Lonergan around from the beginning of the film.
169* TeethClenchedTeamwork: Between several different teams, no less.
170* ThatManIsDead: At the end, [[spoiler:Lonergan decides to leave, since he's still a wanted man]], only for Dolarhyde and the sheriff to declare that Jake Lonergan the criminal died in the final battle.
171* TookALevelInBadass: Doc and Emmett.
172* ToplessnessFromTheBack: Ella gets a nude shot.
173* TrailersAlwaysSpoil: When [[spoiler:Ella dies the first time]], the audience knows that she'll get better because this happens before the [[BestKnownForTheFanservice "naked in front of a bonfire"]] scene. Additionally, given everyone's reaction to seeing Olivia Wilde naked, savvy viewers may infer that [[spoiler:Ella is an alien]].
174* TheUnreveal: [[spoiler: Ella's human appearance is stated by herself to be AFormYouAreComfortableWith. We never get to see what she actually looks like]].
175* WeAreStrugglingTogether: Dolarhyde tries this with the Apaches with little luck, until Nat paints another side of him. It still doesn't work (the Apache chief wonders where his warriors are at if he's such a mighty one), until Lonergan shows back up with TheCavalry.
176* WeirdWest
177* TheWestern: With aliens.
178* WhatADrag: Colonel Woodrow Dolarhyde (wrongly) punishes a hand for killing his cattle by letting him be dragged behind a horse...
179* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: ...and we never see that hand again, nor do we learn his fate.
180* TheWildWest
181* WorthlessYellowRocks: [[spoiler:Averted. The aliens are invading for Earth's gold, which is as valuable to them as it is to humans. Possibly even more valuable since their more advanced technology seems to be electrically powered]].
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