History Film / BillionDollarBrain

* SelectiveObliviousness: Midwinter all the way. [[spoiler:He refuses to believe Harry's warning that Leo has been lying about his non-existing insurgents even after Leo is revealed to be a traitor, merely advancing his timetable for the insurrection. When told there's no sign of the uprising on the radio, [[PaperDestructionOfAnger he tears up the report]] and says that Communists are suppressing the news. As the Soviet air force is screaming in to annihilate his convoy, he refuses to take evasive action.]]

* DeadlyHug: [[spoiler:Harry finds the corpse of his predecessor with a small puncture mark in his back. Later after he returns alive from Latvia, Anya seduces him and tries to stab him in the back with a hairpin, but Harry is anticipating this.]]

* ButtMonkey: Poor Harry. He gets coerced by Ross into working for him, set up for death twice by his friend Leo, seduced by a FemmeFataleSpy, beaten up and shot at by Soviet troops and a mad Texas billionaire, and nearly gets himself killed trying to stop World War 3 [[spoiler:only to find the Russians knew about the whole plot all along. And he doesn't even get the virus he was sent after; the box Anya and Stok gave him contained newly hatched chickens.]]

* DenserAndWackier: Compared to the gritty, grounded [[SpyFiction Stale Beer Flavored]] stories of the previous films, ''Billion Dollar Brain'' cranks the "wacky" dial up much higher, with a plot that involves supercomputers, ArtificialIntelligence, and the series' first real {{supervillain}} - a wealthy industrialist [[spoiler:trying to overthrow Communism with his own private army.]] A lot of this can be laid at the feet of director Creator/KenRussell's considerably more eccentric sensibilities compared to his predecessors, but many of the zany plot elements were in Creator/LenDeighton's original novel.

* SelectiveObliviousness: Midwinter all the way. [[spoiler:When Leo is revealed to be a traitor, he doesn't stop to think that Leo might have been lying all along and instead just advances his timetable. When told there's no sign of the uprising on the radio, [[PaperDestructionOfAnger he tears up the report]] and says that Communists are suppressing the news. As the Soviet air force is screaming in to annihilate his convoy, he refuses to take evasive action.]]

* ChummyCommies: Stok, who saves Harry's bacon when he could legitimately have him shot or left to die. This backfires when [[spoiler:Leo has Anya photograph Harry having a drink with Stok and sends it to Midwinter, who is not inclined to think well of anyone friendly with the Communists.]]

* TheBigBoard: [[spoiler:The advance of Mindwinter's private army is shown being plotting by the Soviets on a large mapboard, shown by a single black counter marked with Mindwinter's symbol, surrounded by an array of red bomber-shaped counters being moved into position around it. After Midwinter's force is destroyed, Colonel Stok picks up the black counter and contemptuously tosses it over his shoulder.]]

* DeathSeeker: [[spoiler:Leo just gives up when he realises that Anya has played him, and placidly goes along with Harry's desperate attempt to stop Midwinter. Predictably it only gets him killed.]]
* DenserAndWackier: Compared to the gritty, grounded [[SpyFiction Stale Beer Flavored]] stories of the previous films, ''Billion Dollar Brain'' cranks the "wacky" dial up much higher, with a plot that involves supercomputers, ArtificialIntelligence, and the series' first real {{supervillain}} - a wealthy industrialist [[spoiler:trying to overthrow Communism with his own private army.]] A lot of this can be laid at the feet of director Creator/KenRussell's considerably-more eccentric sensibilities compared to his predecessors, but a many of the zany plot elements were in Creator/LenDeighton's original novel.

* MeanBoss: Ross briefs Palmer while they're driving away from Helsinki and then makes him slog back to the city in the snow because he has to catch a plane, but not before implying he won't be getting a promised pay rise. [[HumiliationConga Palmer then gets showered by snow from a snow plow]].

* SpannerInTheWorks: Midwinter brags that his billion dollar MasterComputer is never wrong. Provided of course that accurate information is being fed into it.

* BotheringByTheBook: When Palmer complains about Colonel Ross TrespassingToTalk, Ross explains he's already filled out the required paperwork and even gotten a search warrant from the police.

* ChummyCommies: Stok. This backfires when [[spoiler:Leo has Anya photograph Harry having a drink with Stok and sends it to Midwinter, who is not inclined to think well of anyone friendly with the Communists.]]

* PrivateEye: At the beginning of the film, Harry Palmer has left the intelligence business to become one, though his old boss quickly drags him back in.

-->'''Brain:''' Is-that-Palmer-Private-Detective-of-London-speaking-conform?

* JustPlaneWrong: The bombers [[spoiler:that Colonel Stok sends to sink the convoy are actually English Electric Canberras.]]
* MacGuffin: The eggs containing a deadly virus.

* SelectiveObliviousness: Midwinter all the way. [[spoiler:When Leo is revealed to be a traitor, he doesn't stop to think that Leo might have been lying all along and instead just advances his timetable. When told there's no sign of the uprising on the radio, [[PaperDestructionOfAnger he tears up the report]] and says that Communists are suppressing the news.]]

* WarIsHell: The Crusaders die in a horrific fashion, fighting each other to cling to the slippery ice floes before sinking beneath the waves, while Mindwinter drowns still trapped in his own vehicle.

* AluminiumChristmasTrees: Suspicious about the package he's to deliver, Palmer races to a shoe store and puts the thermos inside a pedoscope to get an X-Ray of what's inside. They used to use these for fitting shoes, before concern about cumulative radiation poisoning caused them to be abandoned.
* TheBigBoard: The advance of Mindwinters army is being plotting by Colonel Stok on a large mapboard, shown by a single black counter marked with Mindwinter's symbol, surrounded by an array of red counters.

* MacGuffin: The viral eggs.

* TheChessmaster: General Midwinter. {{Subverted|Trope}}, [[spoiler:since he's actually being undermined by his supposed allies.]]
* ChummyCommies: Stok. This backfires when [[spoiler:Leo has Anya photograph Harry having a drink with Stok and sends it to Midwinter, who is not inclined to think well of anyone friendly with the Communists.]]

* FemmeFataleSpy: Anya. She's Leo's mistress but seduces Harry the moment he turns up. [[spoiler:[[DoubleAgent She betrays Leo to the Soviets and Harry to Midwinter.]] Harry doesn't take it personally, but the consequences are fatal to Leo, who had been willing to risk everything to protect her.]]

* TrailersAlwaysLie: The trailer gives the impression the film is a science-fiction movie about an evil computer that attempts to take over the world; in fact it's about an British [=ex-MI5=] agent who stumbles across a Texan oil billionaire's [[spoiler:attempt to foment counter-revolution in Latvia]], with the eponymous computer only appearing in one scene.]]