True Lies / YMMV - TV Tropes

Adaptation Displacement: Most people aren't aware this movie is based on a 1991 French film.
Aluminium Christmas Trees:
- He's largely forgotten today, and his work overshadowed by the far more bloody and sensational actions of figures like Osama bin Laden, so the reference probably goes over the heads of most viewers Millennial or younger. But Carlos the Jackal (the person Harry pretends to mistake Simon for) was in fact a real person, who was probably the most wanted terrorist in the Western world at the time the movie was released.^note
- The connection between antiquities trafficking and terrorism embodied in Juno Skinner was fairly obscure in 1991 but has been getting more and more attention in recent years, particularly thanks to the civil war in Syria from 2011 onwards. (Thankfully, the real thing mostly consists of raising money to finance terrorism, not smuggling WMDs to be set off in targeted cities. At least not yet!)
Americans Hate Tingle: Japanese people were turned off by the nuclear explosion scene and have criticized the movie as a whole for being tone-deaf about the radioactive damage it would cause to both the Florida Keys and to the main characters; something that the Japanese people know all too well.
Best Known for the Fanservice: One of the film's most famous moments is when Jamie Lee Curtis performs a shadowy striptease for her husband. The Cat Fight in the backseat between her and Tia Carrere is very memorable too, as is the tango between Harry and Juno.
Broken Base: The famous sequence of Harry forcing Helen to perform a striptease for who she thinks is a complete stranger. Some have criticised the scene for being creepy and misogynistic - not helped by the fact that James Cameron was going through a divorce at the time, leading to some speculation over whether the scene was Catharsis Factor for him. Others are more accepting of it, including Jamie Lee Curtis herself; she says she views the scene as Helen taking control and being sexy in her own right, arguing that Helen could have left and walked out if she wanted to, which she did when Harry actually made advances on her.
Ending Fatigue: We have the awesome chase scene on the Florida Keys Highway with the amazing last second save of Helen, they kiss, roll cred.....Wait, the bad guys have somehow kidnapped the daughter and we have an awesome final battle, roll cred......Wait, it's a year later and we have a little epilogue, roll cred......wait Helen's now a spy and they're at an awesome party like the one at the beginning roll cred......Wait, it's Bill Paxton! Let's make fun of him again. The Tango!.........Roll credits, whew!
Ensemble Dark Horse:
- Tom Arnold is usually much-maligned for his personality and film choices, but received a lot of praise from critics and audiences for his scene-stealing performance as Gib.
- Secondary villainess Juno Skinner, for some good chemistry with Harry.
Harsher in Hindsight:
- Gib jokes to Harry that Dana is using the money she stole to pay for drugs. Eliza Dushku would later struggle with drug addiction. Additionally, the fact that Eliza Dushku was sexually abused by a crew member makes the already very sleazy dialogue where Gib talks about how kids are growing up faster these days, asks Harry if he thinks Dana is still a virgin, and suggests she could be paying for an abortion much more cringe-inducing.
- The last act of the film involves Dana being captured and put in danger multiple times. It's even more uncomfortable to watch now that you know Eliza Dushku confessed to being abused by the stunt co-ordinator; threatened to kill her by deliberately sabotaging up a stunt and even did so to injure her as a warning. The fear she has in the finale is entirely genuine.
Heartwarming Moments:
- Harry and Helen's Big Damn Kiss after the bridge rescue. After many years of their marriage becoming distant due to Harry's secretive work life keeping him away, seeing them reconcile is sweet.
- After Harry disposes of Aziz and lands the jet, he gently talks to Dana, saying, "Hello, pumpkin," with a smile and she grabs him into a tearful hug. The next shot is of Harry carrying her to a car while federal agents cover their faces to protect their identities from the news crews.
- The Time Skip shows the Tasker family sitting around the dinner table playing thumb war, a stark contrast to the strained dinners we've seen them share before.
He Really Can Act: Tom Arnold surprised a lot of people, including film critics, with his performance, especially since beforehand he was known for being married to Roseanne Barr. The dramatic scene where he tells Harry that he shouldn't be surprised that Helen might be cheating (because Harry's job keeps him away from home so much) is very well done. There's a lot of anguish on his face, which gives you a hint that his jokes about his own failed marriages are a defense mechanism he's using to mask a great deal of pain. Then there's the fact that his performance leads you to believe that he is actually badass enough to be Arnold Schwarzenegger's partner.
He's Just Hiding: Not everyone is convinced that Juno bought the farm when her limo went off the road and into the ocean, especially given that she was conscious when it happened and a door and sunroof were both open, providing a very easy means of escape. It's likely she was meant to be a returning villain in an intended sequel that ended up never happening.
Hilarious in Hindsight: Before Harry kills Salim by firing a missile at Salim's reinforcements, he tells a frightened Salim, "You're fired." Arnold Schwarzenegger would later host a season of The Apprentice using previous host Donald Trump's catchphrase.
Hollywood Homely: Played with. Helen pre-Adrenaline Makeover is presented as a slightly plain housewife to contrast with Juno's more overtly attractive look. The screenplay says of her "to call her plain would be inaccurate" and that she would be attractive if she made more effort. Sure enough, she just needs to lose the glasses, slick back her hair and show more skin - and the movie stops trying to pretend Jamie Lee Curtis is the plain one. And in the end scene with her helping Harry as a spy, she looks positively stunning.
Nightmare Fuel: Arnold's silent rage at what he thinks is his wife's lover is pretty darn intimidating.
No Problem with Licensed Games : The tie-in game released on the Super NES and Sega Genesis is a solid action game where the player controls Harry as he goes through several levels killing the terrorists and completing objectives. Even one level involves flying a harrier jet and destroying enemy trucks and vans carrying nuclear warheads. And it's one of the last games from LJN Toys, and certainly not a bad way for them to go out.
One-Scene Wonder:
- Torture Technician Samir, especially given the way he gets killed.
- Charlton Heston as Harry, Gib and Faisil's boss, Spencer Trilby. He's only in two brief scenes but he makes quite an impression, with his Eyepatch of Power and hard-ass demeanor ("What makes you think any of the slack I cut him [Harry] in any way transfers to you?", "So far this isn't blowing my skirt up, gentlemen.", "Well perhaps you better get some [hard evidence] before someone parks a vehicle in front of the White House with a nuclear weapon in the trunk!").
Retroactive Recognition: There's a reason Faith and Echo are such badass Action Girls: they're Ahnold's daughters. Anyone wanting to know what a younger Faith might be like...Dana nails it cold.
Values Dissonance: During its release and in the years after, the film has come under fire for featuring racist portrayals of Middle Eastern people and its sexist treatment of female characters. And while Cameron has usually been praised for how he handles Action Girls, Helen's portrayal is commonly seen as the most exploitative role of that kind that he's had in one of his movies.
Visual Effects of Awesome:
- The fight at the Florida Keys and the climactic battle, achieved using a life-sized mockup of the Harrier jet mounted on a gimbal rig.
- It helps that this was the film that Digital Domain first did.
- During some parts of the Florida Keys battle, actual Harrier jets (piloted by United States Marine Corps aviators) were used. The US Government supplied three Marine Harriers and their pilots for a fee of $100,736 ($2,410 per hour).
The Woobie: Helen if you think about it. She's approaching middle age and is suddenly aware of how boring her life has been. Although she loves her husband and daughter, she longs for a little more excitement, which is why she gets involved with Simon in the first place. Then she's abducted by a spy agency, which leaves her terrified, and then gets involved with the terrorists for real.

YMMV / True Lies

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