Line #30 Film/RaceForTheYankeeZephyr


1	[[quoteright:189:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/race-for-the-yankee-zephyr-001_7065.png]]
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3	A 1981 New Zealand action thriller directed by David Hemmings.
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5	Barney (Ken Wahl) and his alcoholic partner Gilbert (Creator/DonaldPleasence) are helicopter pilots in New Zealand, netting deer from their decrepit Mixmaster. After Gilbert is accidentally hoisted up instead of a deer and dumped into a lake, he stumbles across the wreckage of the Yankee Zephyr, a crashed DC-3 from the Second World War.
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7	Gilbert retrieves some of its cargo of medals (along with a crate of whiskey) and is impressed when an antiques dealer pays him $75 each for them. Convinced he's onto a good thing, Gilbert talks his daughter Sally into financing the necessary repairs to their helicopter so he and Barney can salvage the rest of the medals. But things get complicated when a gang of well-dressed, well-armed and well-equipped hoods, led by the urbane Mr. Brown (Creator/GeorgePeppard) arrive on the scene, sparking a dramatic race via air, land and water for the ''real'' prize of Yankee Zephyr -- the payroll of the US South Pacific fleet, $50 million in gold bullion.
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9	----
10	!!The movie contains the following tropes:
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12	* AllThatGlitters:
13	** Inverted -- the treasure is actually far more valuable than the protagonists imagine, but they don't discover this until the end of the movie.
14	** Also inverted earlier, when Barney points out the medals are worth more than Gilbert sold them for because there's gold in them.
15	* BaitAndSwitchGunshot: One of the mooks appears to be getting ready to shoot Gilbert from a helicopter. After the shot is fired we see Gilbert hit by a [[NetGun deer-trapping net]].
16	* BathtubBonding: Although they're not in the same tub, Sally does lighten up a bit after Barney shows her the bathtub built into the floor of the survival hut, and makes a hot bath for her.
17	* BarBrawl: Gilbert demolishes a pub while fighting with Barney, including slicing the front door in half [[ChainsawGood with a chainsaw]]. One cliche is averted when the patrons cheer them on [[EscalatingBrawl instead of joining in]].
18	* BeCarefulWhatYouSay: Sally, alarmed by Barney's low altitude flying, demands to be put down. Moments later they crash.
19	* ChekhovsGun: When he originally discovers the plane, Gilbert throws a crate out of the plane to use as a step. Which is just as well because when the rest of the plane sinks, it turns out to be full of gold ingots.
20	* CoolCar: After their helicopter crashes, Gilbert gets some MrFixit friends to transform its cabin into a caterpillar-tracked all-terrain vehicle.
21	* CutHisHeartOutWithASpoon:
22	-->'''Brown''': "Allow me to give you two options. Either a) you stop this childish prevarication and lead us directly to the Yankee Zephyr, or b) I shall find your daughter, break every fragile little bone in her body, and ''then'' you shall lead us directly to the Yankee Zephyr."
23	* TheEndOrIsIt: Brown appears to drown at the end, but midway through the credits he pops up in a lifevest, shouting for his mooks to come and rescue him.
24	* FalseReassurance: Brown is fond of this, like saying he deplores violence (after watching Gilbert get beaten up by his mooks) then threatening to do something nasty to Gilbert's daughter. On first meeting Barney he claims to be a [[SublimeRhyme paragon of patience]], then after Barney proves stubborn says that his patience is running out.
25	* FauxAffablyEvil: Brown literally can't seem to be able to say two sentences in quick succession without having one be a direct threat that contradicts whatever affable line he said one second before.
26	* InternalReveal: The audience knows what's in the Zepher from the beginning. Barney & Co doesn't find out until he retrieves a gold bar from the wreck.
27	* KungFool: A mook catches Barney sneaking up, intent on braining him with a lump of wood. Instead of grabbing his rifle, the mook begins waving his arms about and [[FunnyBruceLeeNoises howling in a highly exaggerated martial arts style]]. Barney gapes in astonishment then, as the mook turns to deliver a spinning kick, boots him down the mountainside.
28	* MagicBullets:
29	** A single bullet penetrates both Mr Brown's dingy and the various flotation bags supporting the Yankee Zepher, even through neither are directly in line.
30	** The recoil of the AR-10 fired by Sally should have pushed the barrel up, not down.
31	* ManOfWealthAndTaste: Brown's first line is a complaint that the mook sent to greet him is too ugly. He spends half the movie with [[AGlassOfChianti a martini glass in his hand]], including when he's traveling down the river in a dinghy. The impracticality of Brown's luxury is spoofed when, after calmly threatening Barney at his deer farm, Brown climbs back in his expensive limo [[FailedAttemptAtDrama which then can't drive off as it's bogged down in the mud]].
32	* NamesToRunAwayFromVeryFast: Brown introduces his henchmen as "Mr Broken Teeth, Mr Ruptured Spleen, and my right-hand man -- Mr Rape Your Daughter With Assault Unless You Play Ball."
33	* {{Newsreel}}: The film opens with an RKO newsreel about the Yankee Zephyr and its cargo; an aerial shot of the aircraft ends with smoke pouring from the engine as it vanishes into the clouds.
34	* PityTheKidnapper: The villains try to force Gilbert to show them where the Yankee Zephyr is, only to have him lead them round in circles for days.
35	* SaveTheVillain: Averted -- Sally implores the others to do this as the Yankee Zephyr sinks, but Barney and Gilbert RefuseToRescueTheDisliked.
36	* SceneryPorn: The mountains and rivers of New Zealand, two decades before ''Film/TheLordOfTheRings''.
37	* SmoochOfVictory: Barney and Sally are so ecstatic when they realise the plane is full of gold that they FirstKiss.
38	* {{Squick}} (InUniverse): Gilbert describes the eating habits of the crocodile in disgusting detail to everyone he meets. Later used as a combination WeNeedADistraction / PreAssKickingOneLiner when Barney and Gilbert are confronted by armed mooks at a roadblock.
39	* SureLetsGoWithThat: Barney suggests Brown is after an atomic bomb. When Brown casually replies "Yes, if you like", Barney immediately rejects this as the atomic bomb hadn't been invented in 1944.
40	* SurroundedByIdiots: Brown is exasperated by the frequent bungling of his henchmen. The crowning moment is when one of his mooks accidentally shoots a hole through Brown's dinghy ''and'' the flotation bags holding up the Yankee Zephyr. While they're in the middle of a lake.
41	* TemptingFate
42	-->'''Gilbert''': "Well it's a bit tricky. You see, the first time I saw the Yankee Zephyr I was suspended arse-over-elbow underneath a Mixmaster."
43	-->'''Brown''': "That can be arranged." ''(cut to Gilbert tied up in a deer net beneath Brown's helicopter)''
44	* UnusualEuphemism: Gilbert describes Sally's mother (his second wife) as having a big pair of...lungs.
45	* VillainBall: Brown and his chief henchman [[GoldFever fighting over the Yankee Zephyr as it sinks]] instead of swimming for safety.
46	* WeNeedADistraction: Sally is told to fire a captured AR-10 in the air while Barney sneaks in to rescue her father, but she's [[LawOfInverseRecoil unbalanced by the recoil]] and shoots up the villains' camp instead.
47	* WorthlessTreasureTwist: Inverted in that our heroes believe there is nothing of great value in the Zephyr but fighting to survive Brown and his goons means that they have to race to find it anyway, only to discover that the Zephyr had a very valuable treasure in it.
48	* WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue

Context Film / RaceForTheYankeeZephyr