History Film / ThePostman

* YouWouldntShootMe: Played with. When held at gunpoint by Luke, a man sent to kill him, the Postman doesn't try to plead, goad or play chicken. He ''walks right on the gun'' and tells right in the face of his assassin that he's serving a lunatic and Luke is better than that. Not killing him, since the Postman doesn't care at the moment, but simply pledging his allegiance to a madman. Luke lowers the gun.

* AdaptationalWimp: Holnists are highly organised and well-armed, but still not nearly so effective as the ultra-survivalist AlwaysChaoticEvil original from books, who even included ''{{super soldier}}s''. [[AdaptationalHeroism Even their evilness has been considerably toned down.]]

-->'''Postman''': The organization's kind of shaky right now, you know. It might not last.
-->'''Ford''': What does?
** Much later on, when [[spoiler: the Holnists are hunting down the postal carriers - [[WouldHurtAChild who are almost entirely teens]]]], the Postman has the ever-heavier burden on his conscience. Eventually, [[spoiler: he decides to disband the Restored Postal Service]], and when Ford tries to call him out on this, the Postman gives him a rebuttal that instantly shuts him down.
-->'''Postman''': Tell me something, Ford. How much mail can a dead postman deliver?

* AsLongAsThereIsOneMan: General Bethlehem fully realizes the beginning of his own doom towards the end...

* ButWhatAboutTheAstronauts: It's mentioned explicitly by the former designer of the Galileo space station: "twelve skeletons orbiting the Earth all grinnin' at each other."

* ClassicalAntihero: The Postman starts out as an opportunistic coward and a cheat, with the first ''90 minutes'' hammering it down to the audience what sort of man he is. His arc is growing into a brave hero who is virtually the opposite from how he starts off.

* CowardlyLion: Unlike Gordon in the book, who's more of a PragmaticHero, Shakespeare is simply put a weakling coward... until push comes to shove. It is most notable where he saves Abby -- he has ''nothing'' to gain from it and could just bail easily in the resulting confusion.

* DamselOutOfDistress: Abby saves herself from the Holnists' captivity - [[spoiler: while taking potshots at Bethlehem]].

* EvilIsSterile: A throw-away line implies that for all his TestosteronePoisoning posturing, Bethlehem is impotent.

** The Postman rides toward one of the Holnists, closing in on a straight path. The Postman comes within ten meters of the Holnist and the Holnist can't hit him, despite eventually having to reload. [[spoiler:[[SubvertedTrope Or so it seems]] -- not only did the Postman get shot, but once the adrenaline rush is over, he goes comatose.]]

** During one of the [[TimePassesMontage Time-Passes Montages]], one of the postal carriers is shot like that by Holnists, throwing his arms on his sides and dying in a CrucifiedHeroShot.

* JustFollowingOrders: Enforced by general Bethelehem himself, who makes time and again a show of imposing the Laws of Eight. This makes all the Holnists follow his commands [[MotivatedByFear out of fear of facing punishment]], rather than anything else, while he expects from his troops an automated response devoid of any passion or hesitation, no matter what inhuman things they are asked to do:

* TheMole: [[spoiler:Luke, the young recruit send by Bethlehem to infiltrate the Postal Service]]. Notably, his job isn't much about spying, but to locate and kill [[spoiler:the Postman himself. Not only can't he bring himself to carry out the order, but in the end, he switches sides and deserts from Holnist ranks]].
* MotivatedByFear: Bethlehem might be a KnowNothingKnowItAll, [[SmallNameBigEgo self-declared military genius]] and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking a terrible painter]], but he's extremely effective with this trope. Unlike their counterparts in the novel, nearly all Holnist troopers are forcibly conscripted and kept under harsh treatment that instill fear of punishment right from the start. And this army has only one punishment: death. On top of that, General Bethlehem always makes [[DisproportionateRetribution a full show of the power of his army]] when sniffing even the weakest whiff of resistance in the settlements he's touring, making sure everyone else is too afraid to even consider opposing his rule in the aftermath of the resulting slaughter. This goes so far that even his potential deserters have ''nowhere to run'', because everyone hates Holnists, while all of them have the brand on their forearm.

** When about to face an unknown rider (revealed to be a young girl working as a postal carrier), the Postman complains about how awkward it is to meet strangers nowadays, as you can't tell if they are there to say hi or to rob you. The lines he drops are a paraphrase of Gordon's InnerMonologue from the first page of the book -- right after he's been robbed by a group of strangers.

* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: Along with EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep. The main character is called "Shakespeare" when anyone wants to call him by a particular name, because he made a living traveling from place to place performing the works of Creator/WilliamShakespeare ([[PragmaticAdaptation after a fashion]]) until the events at the beginning of the movie. For most of the rest of the movie, he is addressed simply as [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin The Postman]]. [[spoiler:He doesn't even get a birth name on his memorial unveiled near the end.]]

* SecretStabWound: [[spoiler: After riding away from Benning's massacre, the Postman starts to slow down their horse. Abby, sitting behind him, pleads for him to continue, or else the chase party will get to them. Instead, he slumps over the horseneck, and Abby realises he got shot while saving her]].

** In a broader sense, just like [[Literature/ThePostman the source material]], the movie tries to portray the post-apocalypse in a more grounded fashion. It takes care to show the types of people that would come to power in a vacuum left behind, why laws and the ability to enforce them are generally good things, why communication is vital in maintaining civilization, and in general treats the post-apocalypse like an actual place rather than just a sandbox for a protagonist to be badass in. And the Postman himself mostly [[ActionSurvivor just survives]] with copious amounts of dumb luck.

* TeethClenchedTeamwork: [[spoiler: Abby's and the Postman's relationship is turbulent, to say it lightly. It almost entirely runs on the fact they end up [[IOweYouMyLife keep saving each other]], until they get over their personal resentments]].
* TimePassageBeard: The time in the cabin during the winter is a series of [[TimePassesMontage compressed scenes]], with enough time passing for Shakespeare to first grow a beard and then it becoming shaggy.

* TokenMinority: Woody, Ford, and Clark are the only people of color with speaking parts in the film (only a few others are even shown). All of them are black.

* UnstoppableMailman: What the protagonist [[BecomingTheMask becomes]], and what his protégés [[BadassBoast vow to be]]. Considering they deliver mail in a PostApocalyptic world, there's not much arguing with this one.

* WastelandElder: Decades after WorldWarIII and the rise of a powerful racist militia, several towns are still eking out a living. TheSheriff of Pineview (a tough and cagey man), the mayor of Benning (who is eager to seize signs of a better future), and the bedraggled mayor of Bridge City (an implied CelebritySurvivor) are all middle-aged leaders who get along decently with The Postman and work hard for the sake of their communities.
* WastelandWarlord: General Bethlehem is a particularly interesting example, since he establishes a functional, well-equipped and fiercely disciplined army... all for the goal of oppressing Oregon and surrounding areas. Any sign of disobedience, be it his own troops or the settlements within his "fief" is met with DisproportionateRetribution, and he can also be incredibly petty, too. [[spoiler: This becomes a plot point in the end: without him in command of the Holnist Clan, not only Oregon isn't under his boot anymore, but there is the industrial base of said army and hundreds of soldiers that were either [[MinionWithAnFInEvil Minions with an F in Evil]] or [[PunchClockVillain Punch-Clock Villains]] to ''defend'' the place and help establish order]].
* WeaksauceWeakness: "Law Seven: Any clansman may challenge for leadership of the clan." [[spoiler:This allows the Postman to [[DefeatMeansFriendship take over the entire Holnist army]] after a single fistfight. Well, that and the fact Bethlehem has ZeroPercentApprovalRating from his own troops and the top brass, so absolutely nobody minds the new commander. Including his own NumberTwo shooting the general in defense of the new leader.]]

* WordOfSaintPaul: Happens in-universe. Ford met the Postman and got personally sworn in by him as the new postal carrier[[note]]And at least one of the other carriers comes from Pineview, too, so he can corroborate Ford's story[[/note]]. From there on, Ford used his authority and "direct link" to maintain and expand the US Postal Service all on his own. Notably, the Postman made it all up, and then [[SnowballLie Ford keeps adding to the lie]], ''without'' even knowing the original story was bogus.

-->"Be a leader, Ford."

* YouWouldntShootMe: Played with. When held at gunpoint by Luke, a man sent to kill him, the Postman doesn't try to plead, goad or play chicken. He ''walks right on the gun'' and tells right in the face of his assassin that he's serving a fucking lunatic -- and that Luke is better than that. Not killing him, since the Postman doesn't care at the moment, but simply pledging his allegiance to a madman. Luke lowers the gun.

* InTheBack: How [[spoiler:General Bethlehem]] meets his end, being shot by [[spoiler:Colonel Getty]] out of all people.

* IWillPunishYourFriendForYourFailure: As punishment for housing the Postman, [[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill General Bethlehem lays waste to an entire town with his oversized artillery.]]
-->'''General Bethlehem:''' These people made it through the bugs and the riots and the three-year winter. But they're not going to survive you.