Line #47 Film/KnockinOnHeavensDoor


1	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/9qnh5khktarq01dniiochnirfkz.jpg]]
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3	''Knockin' on Heaven's Door'' is a German [[BuddyPicture Buddy Comedy]][=/=]RoadTripPlot from 1997 about two terminally ill young men, Martin Brest (Creator/TilSchweiger) who has just been diagnosed with a big brain tumor and Rudi Wurlitzer (Jan Josef Liefers) who suffers from bone cancer, who meet and decide to have some fun during the last few days they may have to live.
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5	Rudi tells Martin that he has never seen the ocean before, so Martin decides he wants to get his new buddy to the ocean. They steal a Mercedes roadster and escape from the hospital. However, it's two brutal but bumbling gangsters whom they steal the car from, there's a gun in the glove compartment, and in the trunk lies a [[BriefcaseFullOfMoney briefcase with a million Marks inside]]. Frankie Beluga, the two gangsters' boss, orders them to get the car and the money back. Meanwhile, since they've got nothing to lose anymore anyway, Rudi and Martin start their own criminal career.
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7	The title is of course borrowed from Music/BobDylan, but the theme song is a CoverVersion by Music/{{Selig}} who go by the name DIGITAL ELVIS & ZERO. No relation to ''Anime/CowboyBebopKnockinOnHeavensDoor'' beyond being named after the same song.
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10	!!This film provides examples of:
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12	* BankRobbery: Martin robs a bank to be able to pay for his and Rudi's clothes. That's before they know about the BriefcaseFullOfMoney in the trunk of the Mercedes. Shortly after he leaves, Henk and Abdul try to rob the same bank to gather a replacement car, just to find out someone has already emptied that bank.
13	* BigBad: Frankie Boy Beluga.
14	* BittersweetEnding: The two protagonists do reach the ocean. Rudi's dream has come true, as has Martin's who hasn't seen the ocean before either. [[spoiler:Martin sits down in the sand and, in the last shot but one, simply falls over dead.]]
15	* BottomlessMagazines: After the failed bank raid, Henk and Abdul shoot dozens and dozens of bullets into two police cars. The police try to shoot them as they escape, but police guns have limited ammo.
16	* BrandX: [=TVL2=] is an obvious stand-in for the German TV station Creator/{{RTL2}}.
17	* BriefcaseFullOfMoney: That thing serves as Rudi and Martin's wallet after they've found it.
18	* CoDragons: Henk and Abdul may be idiots, but they're not to be underestimated.
19	* CoolCar: The Mercedes 230 SL. Also, the pink Cadillac that Martin buys for his mother. Actually, HonestJohnsDealership is filled with half junk, half {{Cool Car}}s.
20	* CoolShades: Worn by Henk and Abdul.
21	* DareToBeBadass: Martin, twice. Once when he decides to take that last road trip with Rudi, and then when he finds the gun in the car.
22	* DeadpanSnarker: Martin. Then again, it's Til Schweiger.
23	* DrivesLikeCrazy: Abdul.
24	* EveryCarIsAPinto: One of the gangsters manages to blow up a police car by shooting a shotgun at the front grill three times. Although there shouldn't be anything remotely explosive in that part of a Ford Sierra, this seems perfectly normal, the police know in advance what's going to happen and take cover.
25	* FairCop: Rudi and Martin get the jump on two police officers. First they order them to hand over their guns. Then they tell them to strip. Cue the male police officer [[AllMenArePerverts putting on a big grin]] as he looks over at his partner, played by Creator/XeniaSeeberg of ''Series/{{Lexx}}'' fame, who's a hot blonde female (when we later see them tied to a chair, she's wearing sexy lingerie).
26	* TheFilmOfTheSong: The movie title is a reference to the Music/BobDylan song.
27	%%* ForeignLanguageTitle: see TheFilmOfTheSong
28	* FreeWheel: The separate wheel we see rolling away after Rudi and Martin crash the Capri is actually the spare wheel.
29	* GrammarNazi: Henk when he corrects Abdul.
30	* GunsAkimbo: Abdul dual-wields Walther P88 Compacts, and one of Curtiz' goons dual-wields [[MoreDakka Uzis]].
31	* HairTriggerTemper: Abdul doesn't need much of a reason to draw one of his guns on someone, including Henk. Also, he apparently shoots at cops just because they're there.
32	* HammerspacePoliceForce: And all of a sudden, Rudi and Martin are chased by some two dozen police cars.
33	* HandCannon: Henk's .45 Colt [=M1911A1=].
34	* HonestJohnsDealership: Where Henk and Abdul try to acquire a replacement for their stolen Mercedes, and where Martin buys the pink Cadillac for his mother.
35	* ImperialStormtrooperMarksmanshipAcademy: No matter how much Henk and Abdul shoot, they never actually hit anyone. Not even at a distance of five feet.
36	** The shoot-out between the police and the reinforced gangsters between the corn fields is particularly grotesque. Hundreds of shots are fired out of dozens of guns, some of which are fully automatic, and all that is riddled with bullet holes are cars.
37	* TheLastDance
38	* LikeYouWereDying: Two-way between the two protagonists, sort of.
39	* TheManBehindTheMan: Curtiz.
40	* MoodWhiplash: Rudi and Martin as wannabe gangsters who keep fooling the police, incompetent gangsters, throwing lots of money about, the film can be so hilarious. But suddenly, in comes a scene which reminds us of the tennis ball-sized lump in Martin's skull. Or police or gangsters having the two at point-blank range. Or Martin gives his mom a big pink Caddy as a gift.
41	* MoreDakka: [[GunsAkimbo Dual]] Uzis on full auto, anyone?
42	** The big police vs. gangsters shoot-out as a whole.
43	* NobodyPoops: Averted. Henk and Abdul are instructed to never leave the car unguarded. If they have to pee, one goes, and one stays with the car.
44	* NoisyGuns: When the gangsters load their various guns, they produce quite a lot of noise, yes.
45	* PutDownYourGunAndStepAway: What Martin pulls off with the police is more like Put Down Your Guns and Strip Down.
46	* RoadTripPlot
47	* ShoutOut: Martin Brest and Rudi Wurlitzer are respectively named after the director of ''Film/MidnightRun'' and the main writer of ''Film/TwoLaneBlacktop'', both also road movies.
48	* SurroundedByIdiots: Frankie's problem is that his two henchmen are morons.
49	* AThreesomeIsHot: One of the things Rudi wants to spend his money on. A couple of Dutch hookers oblige.
50	* TitledAfterTheSong: The title is borrowed from a song by Music/BobDylan.
51	* TrunkShot: The scene in which Rudi and Martin find the BriefcaseFullOfMoney in the trunk of the Mercedes.

Context Film / KnockinOnHeavensDoor