Line #2 Film/ThePresidio


1	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/presidio_cover_5549.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:300:[[SeanConneryIsAboutToShootYou Sean Connery is not going to shoot you]], but Mark Harmon is thinking about it.]]
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4	A 1988 crime drama directed by Creator/PeterHyams, starring Creator/SeanConnery and Creator/MarkHarmon.
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6	A Miltary Policewoman is shot and killed responding to a break in at the Officer's Club at The Presidio of UsefulNotes/SanFrancisco, and two SFPD cops are killed when the ensuing HotPursuit goes off post and into the city proper. When Inspector Austin (Harmon), the police detective assigned to the case, turns out to have a history with Lt. Col. Caldwell (Connery), the base's Provost Marshal, the working relationship between the two men is less than cooperative. And when Austin and Caldwell's daughter Donna (Creator/MegRyan) take a liking to each other, it doesn't make things any easier...
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9	!!This film contains examples of the following tropes:
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11	* ATeamFiring: In the film's climax, which was a large gunfight with everybody moving around taking cover, and most notably justified by the two bad guys with submachine guns [[spoiler: Pretty much the only people involved in the plot who ''weren't'' in the military, and thus the ones least likely to be able to ''use'' such a weapon properly.]]
12	* ArtisticLicense: Real diamonds have a much higher refractive index than water, and lose some of their sparkle but will still remain quite visible when submerged in it.
13	* BuddyCopShow: [[OddCouple Neither of them really like each other, though.]]
14	* BottomlessMagazines: Averted in that several characters have to stop to reload, particularly a bad guy with a submachine gun (which he ends up stopping to reload after just about every time he [[ATeamFiring unloads it at one of the heroes without hitting anything.]] Played ridiculously straight by a bad guy who is able to lay down an unrelenting stream of suppressive fire with a pump action shotgun.
15	* BullyingADragon: A thug in a bar decides to give Lt. Col Caldwell a hard time while he's trying to have a cup of coffee. For his part, Caldwell tried to ignore him, until the guy put his cigar out in Caldwell's cup of coffee, leading to CherryTapping, below.
16	* ChaseScene: Several, including a HotPursuit in the beginning of the film, a foot chase later on, and even a car chase as foreplay.
17	* ChekhovsGun: The over-watered plant at the O Club, as well as a Colt M1911 handgun.
18	* CherryTapping: Caldwell tells the thug that he will teach him a lesson by beating the crap out of him using ''only'' [[FingerPokeOfDoom his thumb]]. His ''right'' thumb. His ''left'' thumb would be far too powerful for him. [[spoiler: He does in fact [[CombatPragmatist use both thumbs, and a foot at one point]], but the other guy was twice his size.]]
19	* CuttingTheKnot: Caldwell kicks down a door that Austin is trying to lockpick.
20	* DinerBrawl: Between Caldwell and the thug. The thug's buddies run to help, but Austin pulls his gun, asking the men to "keep it fair."
21	* DramaticallyMissingThePoint
22	-->'''Caldwell:''' I never liked Lawrence!
23	-->'''Austin:''' Then why did you throw me out of the MP's? ''(for striking Lawrence)''
24	-->'''Caldwell:''' [[YouHaveGOTToBeKiddingMe Because you broke the law!]] ''(shakes his head in disbelief)'' [[CowboyCop You still don't get that]], do you?
25	* FakeNationality: Averted. Colonel Caldwell was born in Scotland, and moved to America with his father when he was ten. Seeing the Statue of Liberty for the first time inspired him to join the Army to protect his new homeland.
26	* FloatingHeadSyndrome: As seen in the image above. They included more than the main actors' heads, but it is effectively Sean Connery, Marc Harmon, and the Golden Gate Bridge cut-and-pasted over a black background.
27	* TheGeneralsDaughter: Austin ends up in a relationship with Donna, Caldwell's daughter, much to the Colonel's chagrin. Something of a reversal of the trope as the relationship only happens ''after'' Caldwell had Austin courtmartialled, demoted, and sent out of the Army.
28	* GroinAttack: Austin knees another one of Donna's potential suitors in the nuts at a dinner party at the O Club.
29	* HeroicBSOD: Caldwell has one when he nearly strikes his daughter in anger during a heated argument.
30	* HiddenInPlainSight: The reason why the bottles of water are important? [[spoiler:The bad guys are smuggling jewels in them, since diamonds turn invisible when immersed in water, due to both materials having the same refraction index.]]
31	* IJustShotMarvinInTheFace: Pretty much everybody is practicing horrible trigger discipline in the final act, particularly troubling since almost everybody involved happen to be military veterans.
32	* ImmigrantPatriotism: Caldwell moved to America with his father when he was a child. He fell in love with the United States when he saw the Statue of Liberty, and decided to join the Army in order to protect his new homeland. Of course, this also nicely justifies Creator/SeanConnery NotEvenBotheringWithTheAccent.
33	* InsistentTerminology: The thug at the bar makes a point of repeatedly addressing Lt. Col. Caldwell as a Major, making it pretty obvious that he ''knows'' how to read the rank insignia on his uniform, he just wants to get a rise out of him. After beating some sense into the man, Caldwell instructs him on the difference between the two rank insignias, so that he can avoid pissing off another officer of the Army.[[note]] Majors and Lieutenant Colonels have similar rank insignia: An oak leaf. Majors have gold oak leaves, and the higher ranking Lt. Colonels have silver oak leaves.[[/note]]
34	* ItsPersonal: The Military Policewoman who was shot and killed was Austin's partner when he was in the Army. In fact, the beef he and Caldwell have with each other was because of an incident where a colonel was pulled over for drunk driving and insulted Austin's partner. Things escalated quickly and Austin [[OneHitpointWonder laid the colonel out]]. The colonel was let go without charges, and Austin was court martialled for assaulting an officer.
35	** Also between Austin and Colonel Lawrence.
36	* JurisdictionFriction: The case involves the deaths of an investigating MP and a pair of pursuing SFPD officers, and thus the investigation features the installation Provost Marshall and a SFPD detective partnering up rather than investigating the case separately. [[TeethClenchedTeamwork Their desire to solve the case is pretty much the only thing they happen to agree on, naturally.]]
37	* MineralMacGuffin: The heroes don't figure it out until the climax, but the bad guys are smuggling diamonds from Asia on Air Force transports, in [[HiddenInPlainSight bottles of water]].
38	* NoodleIncident: Whatever [[spoiler: [=McClure=]]] did that gave the bad guys blackmail material to bring him in on the plot.
39	* OffScreenTeleportation: A heroic example, justified in that it takes place in a bottling plant with steam everywhere due to the ongoing gunfight.
40	* PutDownYourGunAndStepAway: Averted. Also Austin's EstablishingCharacterMoment.
41	* PreMortemOneLiner: Austin gets one after his OffScreenTeleportation.
42	* RedemptionEqualsDeath: [[spoiler: [=McClure=] decides to make it all right.]]
43	* RetiredBadass: Sergeant Major (Retired) Ross [=McClure=], who was so badass during UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar that he managed to save Caldwell's life. Mind you, Caldwell is played by ''Creator/SeanConnery''.
44	* SoftGlass: One of the suspects runs through a restaurant window, followed by Inspector Austin.
45	* StrangeMindsThinkAlike: During the crime scene investigation at the Officer's Club, both Austin and Caldwell ask the Officer In Charge at the club when the last time a particular plant was watered, given that it had obviously been watered way too much. [[spoiler: [[ChekhovsGun This becomes very central to the plot later]] when it was revealed that a jug of water was dumped in the plant in order to find the diamonds hidden inside the jug]].

Context Film / ThePresidio