History Film / PrinceOfPersia

* AlmostKiss: When it finally happens [[spoiler: it's at the [[{{Understatement}} worst possible time]].]]
* AlwaysSaveTheGirl: Well, once Dastan and Tamina stop [[ChronicBackstabbingDisorder trying to kill each other]]. Subverted when [[spoiler: Tamina lets go of Dastan and willingly sacrifices her life than allow Dastan to save her (which would prevent him from stopping Nizam).]]

* ArrangedMarriage: Dastan is set to take Tamina as his wife after the Persian army takes over Alamut [[spoiler: even in the rebooted timeline. Both of them are much more receptive to the idea in said timeline, albeit for differing reasons.]]

* {{Badass}}: Mostly Dastan and the Hassansins. Seso. He's the Most Badass Knife Nut you'll ever see. [[spoiler: His heroic sacrifice is the most badass death in the whole movie.]]

* BaldOfEvil: [[spoiler: And [[BeardOfEvil a beard]] as well.]]

* CharacterDevelopment: Highlighted in the ending: [[spoiler: with said development under his belt (not to mention the knowledge of what will happen if he doesn't), Dastan takes the opportunity to SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong.]]

* EvilUncle: [[spoiler: Nizam.]]

* FamilyUnfriendlyDeath: [[spoiler: The Hassansins' leader]] -- [[EyeScream bitten in the eye]] by [[spoiler: his own snake]], impaled by Dastan's scimitar, ''[[RuleOfThree and]]'' finally thrown into a BottomlessPit, [[NoKillLikeOverkill just to be sure]]. For a {{Disney}} film (and not of a subsidiary, but Disney itself), there's quite a bit of this trope in play.

* GoodScarsEvilScars: Two of the Hassansins have severely scarred faces. The scars on [[spoiler: Nizam's]] hands provide a clue to Dastan about the real cause of why he's on the run in the first place. Dastan himself is covered in scars, seen in his ShirtlessScene early on, as well as one on his face.

* HeelFaceDoorSlam: [[spoiler: Garsiv. He gets better.]]
* HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler: Seso and Tamina. Thank goodness for the time reset.]]

* KillEmAll: Almost all [[spoiler: main and secondary characters]] are dead by the end of the movie. But then, much as in the game, [[spoiler: [[ResetButton time travel makes everything okay]].]]

* [[NonActionGuy Non Action Girl]]: Tamina clearly can't handle a sword and doesn't have any of Dastan's athletic abilities. That said, she ''still'' puts herself out there to help and even saves Dastan's life [[spoiler: by grabbing a snake and shoving it in the chief Hassansin's eye]], which makes her incredibly {{Badass}}.

** Garsiv is a {{glory seeker}} who [[BloodKnight attacks the city head-on regardless of casualties]], wears [[ColorCodedForYourConvenience black armor]] and is the [[MaliciousSlander very first person to accuse]] Dastan of assassinating the king. [[spoiler: Subverted, since it turns out Garsiv was completely unaware of Nizam's scheming and saves Dastan's life once the truth is revealed to him.]]

** Nizam: [[spoiler: BaldOfEvil]], [[spoiler: BeardOfEvil]], slightly pointy ears...He might as well be carrying a bloody pitchfork! At least they didn't gave him [[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment a hat/turban, a cape and a cobra head scepter]] and made him look like [[http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2667/4093971029_34a2eaf935_o.jpg this]], or say [[http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_2p_eJyUXYKQ/SpOzckojz5I/AAAAAAAAB5M/Lk4-uu8A4tA/s1600-h/jafar.gif Jafar]] from ''Disney/{{Aladdin}}''.

* ScaryBlackMan: Seso. [[spoiler: But he turns friendly later and even pulls a HeroicSacrifice to recover the Dagger of Time.]]

* SequelHook: Not an evident one, but [[spoiler: with all the events undone, Nizam is the only character dead by the end of the movie.]] Plenty of space to feature Amar, Seso and the Hassansins again in sequels.
* SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong: [[spoiler: Nizam]] wants to set right what, in his opinion, once went wrong, and [[spoiler: Dastan does this in the end.]]

* TheSmurfettePrinciple: Averted with Tamina, who proves she's not just there to look pretty. [[spoiler: The fate of the world lies in her hands.]]

* SpikesOfVillainy: The Hassansin that fought [[spoiler: Seso in the Dagger of Time's chamber.]]

* TrailersAlwaysSpoil: The movie played it up as a surprise as to whom the real villain was, but the trailers and many press releases made it pretty clear that it was [[spoiler: Nizam.]]
* TreacherousAdvisor: [[spoiler: Nizam.]]

** Nizam, saving [[spoiler: his brother's]] life and all. Well, until he became [[TheResenter resentful]].

* VillainousBreakdown: At the end of the movie, with his plans ruined by Dastan (because he had already lived through all the events and knew what would happen), [[spoiler: Nizam]] furiously attacks him, thus making evident he was the conspirator.

* WhatDoYouMeanItsNotPolitical: A superpower is maneuvered into launching an invasion of a sovereign Middle Eastern nation to search for [[spoiler: non-existent]] weapons that they fear will be sold to their enemies. [[spoiler: Turns out the evidence was fabricated by a villain who was spoiling for war.]] There's also a sympathetic band of proto-libertarians who hide out in the wilderness to escape taxation and government control.

* [[AvoidTheDreadedGRating Avoid The Dreaded PG Rating]]: This film marks the fourth PG-13 rated movie under the Walt Disney Pictures label in the United States. The first three being the ''PiratesOfTheCaribbean'' trilogy. Considering the games, the PG-13 makes sense.

* EstrogenBrigadeBait: Dastan, full stop.

* SequelHook: Not an evident one, but [[spoiler: with all the events undone, Nizam is the only character dead by the end of the movie]]. Plenty of space to feature Amar, Seso and the Hassansins again in sequels.

* WhatDoYouMeanItsNotPolitical: A superpower is maneuvered into launching an invasion of a sovereign Middle Eastern nation to search for [[spoiler: non-existent]] weapons that they fear will be sold to their enemies. [[spoiler: Turns out the evidence was fabricated by a villain who was spoiling for war]]. There's also a sympathetic band of proto-libertarians who hide out in the wilderness to escape taxation and government control.

* MythologyGag:
** One of the Hassansins wields the Dark Prince's [[WhipItGood Daggertail]] and the [[KungPow iron claw]] of the 2008 ''Prince of Persia''.
** While the movie was based on the Sands of Time trilogy, the prince wears some headscarves that are quite similar to the 2008 ''Prince of Persia'''s headwear.
** Those who use the time rewind temporarily gain {{Power Tattoo}}s on their dagger half of the body that look similar to Dark Prince from ''The Two Thrones''.
** The Prince's armor is heavily based on the outfit he wore in ''Warrior Within''.
** There's a short scene where the prince wears a turban on his head, which is something the prince from one of the first ''Prince of Persia'' games does.
** When the Hassansins are first introduced, during their weapon training, upon being hit with a weapon, what looks like sand flies out of one of them. This is a direct reference to the Sand Creatures in the ''Sands of Time'' game, until it is revealed that they are indeed human.
** Many of Dastan's outfits bear resemblence to the Prince's outfits throughout the games. During the fight between Dastan and a soldier, his appearance mirrors that of the Prince's appearance at both the end of ''Sands of Time'' (before turning back time) and his whole appearance throughout ''The Two Thrones''. During the takeover of Alamut, his appearance mirrors that of the Prince's appearance in ''Warrior Within''.
** The AdiposeRex that Dastan is carrying during the king's funeral is a reference to the fat king from the game who is the king's friend.
** Tamina's knowledge of the Sands of Time and what they can do somewhat mirrors Kaileena from ''Warrior Within''. Likewise, her actions, aside from using weapons, mirror that of Farah from ''Sands of Time''.
** There's a scene in which Garsiv holds his put away sword. It's [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]] too. This is a reference to the 2008 ''Prince of Persia'' game in which the prince holds his put away sword all the time.
** The film carries on the tradition of [[spoiler: having the Prince's love interest die moments before the climax only to be resurrected in the end,]] in a manner suspiciously similar to [[spoiler: Farah's HeroicSacrifice]] in the original ''Sands of Time'' game.
** While the Prince is scaling the walls of the city by grabbing onto arrows fired from the ground, one of the arrows hits his (thankfully armored) hand and he looks back with chagrin. This is a nod to the ''Sands of Time'' game, in which Farah had an annoying tendency to sometimes hit the Prince with arrows instead of the enemy she was aiming at.
** As mentioned in the entry below, the fact that [[TheQueensLatin all the major characters have British accents]] is a nod to the ''Sands of Time'' game.
** The Prince finds himself on the run from the royal army after [[spoiler: being framed for his father's murder]]. The second game in the original series, ''The Shadow & The Flame'', has a similar setup. Even better, the reason he's running in that game is because the Princess has been tricked into thinking that he's a beggar from the streets.
** Early in the movie, we see Dastan attempting a vertical wall run with somersault, a move frequently used in the games, and failing. Later, however, he pulls out a perfect one while on the run.

* HorsemenOfTheApocalypse: The [[strike:Ringwraiths]] Hassansins sure look like these.

** There are scenes in the movie resembling scenes from Disney's ''[[Disney/{{Aladdin}} Aladdin]]''.

* ALightInTheDistance: Bis tells the Persian army that the eastern gate is open by waving a torch in the distance.

** While the movie was based on the Sands of Time trilogy, the prince wears some headscarves that are quite similar to the 2008 Prince of Persia's headwear.

** There's a short scene where the prince wears a turban on his head, which is something the prince from one of the first Prince of Persia games does.

** Nizam: [[spoiler: BaldOfEvil]], [[spoiler: BeardOfEvil]], slightly pointy ears...He might as well be carrying a bloody pitchfork! At least they didn't gave him [[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment a hat/turban, a cape and a cobra head scepter]] and made him look like [[http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2667/4093971029_34a2eaf935_o.jpg this]], or say [[http://gavinf.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/jafar.gif Jafar]] from Disney/{{Aladdin}}.

** There are scenes in the movie resembling scenes from [[Disney/{{Aladdin}} Disney's Aladdin]].
** Prince Dastan locking a prison like gate and taunting his pursuers with the key ring is a shoutout to the PiratesOfTheCaribbean with which this film shares a production company and producer.

* [[WorldsMostBeautifulWoman World's Most Beautiful Woman]]: Apparently, Tamina.

-->'''Amar:''' ''[to a Hassansin warrior with a huge sword]'' You know what they say about [[IfYouKnowWhatIMean me with big swords]]... ''[bends finger]''.

* [=~Hey, It's That Guy!~=]: Among the many recognisable faces in this film are [[BrokebackMountain Jack Twist]], [[LostInAusten Lizzie Bennett]][=/=][[TessOfTheDUrbervilles Tess]][=/=][[ClashOfTheTitans Io]], [[http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001426/ Mahatma Gandhi]], [[Film/SpiderMan Doctor Octopus]] and [[{{Coupling}} Jeff]].

-->'''Amar:''' ''[to a Hassansin warrior with a huge sword]'' You know what they say about [[IfYouKnowWhatIMean guys with big swords]]... ''[bends finger]''.

* MeetCute: Tamina.

* SecondHourSuperpower: The Dagger of Time.

* Prince Dastan locking a prison like gate and taunting his pursuers with the key ring is a shoutout to the PiratesOfTheCaribbean with which this film shares a production company and producer.

* MeaningfulEcho: "[[CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming Have I told you about the Ngbaka?]]" - "Yes, you have."

** Early in the movie, we see Dastan attempting a vertical wall run with somersault, a move frequently used in the games, and failing. Later, however, [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome he pulls out a perfect one while on the run]].

* {{BFM}}: The price tag is up there with ''{{Titanic}}''. It shows.

* GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff: The movie had a mediocre box-office in some countries... except Russia, where box-office figures are second only to the U.S. The fact that there is scarcely a 20-something male Russian who hasn't enjoyed the original game explains a lot. Overall box-office shows that it has done ''much'' better internationally than domestically. It has made its massive $200 million+ budget back thanks to this.

* FakeNationality: A lot of the "Persians" are well-tanned Caucasians, not Aryans[[hottip:* :yes, you read that right; Hitler DidNotDoTheResearch]] or otherwise from the region.

* CompleteMonster: Not only does [[spoiler: Nizam]] have no regrets in murdering close family and hiring an entire group of [[spoiler: [[PsychoForHire Psychos For Hire]]]], but he wants to rewind time so that an act he did as a kid [[spoiler: (saving his brother from a lion)]] never happened [[spoiler: and he would be the king from the beginning.]]

* ArcWords: Literal ones, that open and close the movie: "Some say there are lives linked by time."

The film features Prince Dastan, an orphan adopted by the king. After playing a decisive role in capturing a holy city for the Persian Empire, Dastan is framed for the murder of his adoptive father. In the company of Tamina, princess of the city, and in possession of a dagger with the power to control time itself, he flees. Not only must he now clear his name and uncover the true nature of a treacherous plot, but also prevent the dagger from falling into the wrong hands, which would have dire consequences indeed. The Prince must also avoid falling victim to the dreaded killers known as the Hassansins.

* [[AvoidTheDreadedGRating Avoid The Dreaded PG Rating]]: This film marks the fourth PG-13 rated movie under the Walt Disney Pictures label in the United States. The first three being the ''PiratesOfTheCaribbean'' trilogy.

* FakeNationality: A lot of the "Persians" are well-tanned Caucasians, not Aryans[[hottip:* :yes, you read that right; Hitler DidNotDoTheResearch]] or otherwise from the region.

* GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff: The movie had a mediocre box-office in some countries... except Russia, where box-office figures are second only to the U.S. The fact that there is scarcely a 20-something male Russian who hasn't enjoyed the original game explains a lot. Overall box-office shows that it has done ''much'' better internationally than domestically. It has made its massive $200 million+ budget back thanks to this.

** Garsiv is a {{glory seeker}} who [[BloodKnight attacks the city head-on regardless of casualties]], wears [[ColorCodedForYourConvenience black armor]], and is the [[MaliciousSlander very first person to accuse]] Dastan of assassinating the king. [[spoiler: Subverted, since it turns out Garsiv was completely unaware of Nizam's scheming and saves Dastan's life once the truth is revealed to him.]]

* PlayingPossum: Tamina in one of many attempts to get the dagger back from Dastan.

The film features Prince Dastan, an orphan adopted by the king. After playing a decisive role in capturing a holy city for the Persian Empire, Dastan is framed for the murder of his adoptive father. In the company of Tamina, princess of the city, and in possession of a dagger with the power to control time itself, he flees. Not only must he now clear his name and uncover the true nature of a treacherous plot, but also prevent the Dagger from falling into the wrong hands, which would have dire consequences indeed. The Prince must also avoid falling victim to the dreaded killers known as the Hassansins.

* ArtifactOfDoom: The Dagger of Time.
* [[AvoidTheDreadedGRating Avoid The Dreaded PG Rating]]: This film marks the fourth PG-13 rated movie under the Walt Disney Pictures label in the United States. The first three being the ''PiratesOfTheCaribbean'' trilogy.

* CompleteMonster: Not only does [[spoiler: Nizam]] have no regrets in murdering close family and hiring an entire group of [[spoiler: [[PsychoForHire Psychos For Hire]]]], but he wants to rewind time so that an act he did as a kid [[spoiler: (saving his brother from a lion)]] never happened [[spoiler: and he would be the king from the beginning.]]

* EscortMission: Dastan, Tamina, Amar and Seso must travel to the mountains of India to the Sanctuary and return the Dagger to the stone it came from.

* MentalTimeTravel

* PlayingPossum: Tamina in one of many attempts to get the Dagger back from Dastan.

* SecondHourSuperpower: The Dagger of Time.

* StandardHeroReward

* WhipSword: The Daggertail.

The film features Prince Dastan, an orphan adopted by the king. After playing a decisive role in capturing a holy city for the Persian Empire, Dastan is framed for the murder of his adoptive father. In the company of Tamina, princess of the city, and in possession of a dagger with the power to control time itself, he flees. Not only must he now clear his name and uncover the true nature of a treacherous plot, but also prevent the dagger from falling into the wrong hands, which would have dire consequences indeed. The Prince must also avoid falling victim to the dreaded killers known as the Hassansins.

* ArtifactOfDoom: The Dagger of Time if it's opened while it's inside the Sandglass.

* FakeNationality: A lot of the "Persians" are well-tanned Caucasians, not Aryans[[hottip:* :yes, you read that right; Hitler DidNotDoTheResearch]] or otherwise from the region.

* GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff: The movie had a mediocre box-office in some countries... except Russia, where box-office figures are second only to the U.S. The fact that there is scarcely a 20-something male Russian who hasn't enjoyed the original game explains a lot. Overall box-office shows that it has done ''much'' better internationally than domestically. It has made its massive $200 million+ budget back thanks to this.

* PlayingPossum: Tamina in one of many attempts to get the dagger back from Dastan.

* CompleteMonster: Not only does [[spoiler: Nizam]] have no regrets in murdering close family, and hiring an entire group of [[spoiler: [[PsychoForHire Psychos For Hire]]]], he wants to rewind time so that an act he did as a kid [[spoiler: (saving his brother from a lion)]] never happened [[spoiler: and he would be the king from the beginning.]]

* [=~Hey, It's That Guy!~=]: Among the many recognisable faces in this film are [[BrokebackMountain Jack Twist]], [[LostInAusten Lizzie Bennett]][=/=][[TessOfTheDUrbervilles Tess]][=/=][[ClashOfTheTitans Io]], [[http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001426/ Mahatma Gandhi]], [[Film/SpiderMan Doctor Octopus]], and [[{{Coupling}} Jeff]].

** While the Prince is scaling the walls of the city by grabbing onto arrows fired from the ground, one of the arrows hits his (thankfully armored) hand, and he looks back with chagrin. This is a nod to the ''Sands of Time'' game, in which Farah had an annoying tendency to sometimes hit the Prince with arrows instead of the enemy she was aiming at.

* RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething: Aside from the obviousness of Dastan and his brothers all being great warriors and Dastan saving the world, Tamina is very much this trope--not only does she prove herself quite capable of manipulating, deceiving, and outsmarting her 'ally', as well as handy in a fight, as the Guardian of the Dagger she is literally the only thing standing between humanity and TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt, and quite willing to perform a HeroicSacrifice in order to fulfill her role.

* SequelHook: Not an evident one, but [[spoiler: with all the events undone, Nizam is the only character dead by the end of the movie]]. Plenty of space to feature Amar, Seso, and the Hassansins again in sequels.

** Dastan - the boy that risked his life to save someone wrongly persecuted ends up leading the attack on an innocent nation, though doing so from misinformation, and out of a concern to avoid, as much as possible, the horrendous death tolls that the original attack plan's full frontal assault would most likely incur going by RealLife historical record[[hottip:*:there's a reason attacking walled cities tended towards long sieges to starve out the defenders, after all]].

* FakeNationality: A lot of the "Persians" are well-tanned Caucasians, not Aryans[[hottip:* :yes, you read that right; Hitler DidNotDoTheResearch]] or otherwise from the region.

* GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff: The movie had a mediocre box-office in some countries... except Russia, where box-office figures are second only to the U.S. The fact that there is scarcely a 20-something male Russian who hasn't enjoyed the original game explains a lot. Overall box-office shows that it has done ''much'' better internationally than domestically. It has made its massive $200 million+ budget back thanks to this.