...it's like TV Tropes, but LINKED DATA!

The Hard Way

163 statements
31 feature instances
9 referencing feature instances

The Hard Way	type	TVTItem
The Hard Way	label	The Hard Way
The Hard Way	page	TheHardWay
The Hard Way	comment	The Hard Way is a 1991 action comedy directed by John Badham, starring Michael J. Fox and James Woods.NYPD cop John Moss (Woods) is on the case of a serial killer known as "Party Crasher" (Stephen Lang). After a failed attempt to capture the Crasher in which he is injured, Moss is shown on the news having an obscene outburst. Meanwhile, actor Nick Lang (Fox), known as the star of a popular movie series featuring the hero "Smoking" Joe Gunn, wants to be taken more seriously as an actor, and decides to study under Moss after seeing his outburst on the news. This leads Lang to annoy Moss to no end, as well as making an impression on his girlfriend Susan (Annabella Sciorra) and her daughter Bonnie (Christina Ricci).Not to be confused with the 1943 film, or the Tabletop Game of the same name. Or with Three the Hard Way.
The Hard Way	fetched	2024-03-16T22:46:43Z
The Hard Way	parsed	2024-03-16T22:46:43Z
The Hard Way	isPartOf	DBTropes
The Hard Way / int_1777688d	type	Genre Savvy
The Hard Way / int_1777688d	comment	Genre Savvy: As a veteran actor that has made many action movies, Lang warns Moss that the killer will come after him as it's the Third Act. Moss laughs off the warning, as "real criminals stay well away from the police". The Party Crasher being not entirely sane, that's exactly what he does.
The Hard Way / int_1777688d	featureApplicability	1.0
The Hard Way / int_1777688d	featureConfidence	1.0
The Hard Way	hasFeature	The Hard Way / int_1777688d
The Hard Way / int_18d15922	type	Title Drop
The Hard Way / int_18d15922	comment	Title Drop:
The Hard Way / int_18d15922	featureApplicability	1.0
The Hard Way / int_18d15922	featureConfidence	1.0
The Hard Way	hasFeature	The Hard Way / int_18d15922
The Hard Way / int_21f3e32e	type	Chekhov's Boomerang
The Hard Way / int_21f3e32e	comment	Chekhov's Boomerang: The "Smoking Gunn II" ad with a giant replica of Nick's head is one of the obstacles that Moss needs to deal with on the opening race to get to the Party Crasher's latest rampage at the beginning, then the Crasher rams one of the ad's fixtures to get Moss off his getaway car, various scenes happening on Times Square show the ad prominently and the same ad ends up being the site of the climactic battle.
The Hard Way / int_21f3e32e	featureApplicability	1.0
The Hard Way / int_21f3e32e	featureConfidence	1.0
The Hard Way	hasFeature	The Hard Way / int_21f3e32e
The Hard Way / int_24b88e85	type	Unwanted Assistance
The Hard Way / int_24b88e85	comment	Unwanted Assistance: In his attempt to help Moss apprehend a gang, Lang gets them shot at by a rival gang. This does not sit well with Moss.
The Hard Way / int_24b88e85	featureApplicability	1.0
The Hard Way / int_24b88e85	featureConfidence	1.0
The Hard Way	hasFeature	The Hard Way / int_24b88e85
The Hard Way / int_3dd3951e	type	Cowboy Cop
The Hard Way / int_3dd3951e	comment	Cowboy Cop: Moss is a cop with a severe case of explosive rage, driven doggedly to catch the Party Crasher even after being assigned to drive Nick around and taken off the case.
The Hard Way / int_3dd3951e	featureApplicability	1.0
The Hard Way / int_3dd3951e	featureConfidence	1.0
The Hard Way	hasFeature	The Hard Way / int_3dd3951e
The Hard Way / int_479d4e5a	type	Would Hurt a Child
The Hard Way / int_479d4e5a	comment	Would Hurt a Child: One of the Party Crasher's victims was a four-year old.
The Hard Way / int_479d4e5a	featureApplicability	1.0
The Hard Way / int_479d4e5a	featureConfidence	1.0
The Hard Way	hasFeature	The Hard Way / int_479d4e5a
The Hard Way / int_4a4d6f7c	type	Comedic Sociopathy
The Hard Way / int_4a4d6f7c	comment	Comedic Sociopathy: Moss attempts to get rid of Nick Lang by making him think he shot and killed an innocent person and hurriedly getting him on the next flight headed back to LA. Nick has a crisis of conscience and rushes back to the station to confess, only to find out it was all a set-up by Moss; the gun Nick shot the guy with was loaded with blanks and the man he "killed" was a friend of Moss in on the set-up. Understandably infuriated, Lang tracks down Ross and rips him a new one before knocking him to the ground with one punch.
The Hard Way / int_4a4d6f7c	featureApplicability	1.0
The Hard Way / int_4a4d6f7c	featureConfidence	1.0
The Hard Way	hasFeature	The Hard Way / int_4a4d6f7c
The Hard Way / int_5a963d1c	type	False Reassurance
The Hard Way / int_5a963d1c	comment	False Reassurance: When an illegal arms dealer accuses Moss of being a plainclothes cop, Moss averts his suspicions with a rant that he needs a gun because he's being followed everywhere by this guy who wants to be just like him.
The Hard Way / int_5a963d1c	featureApplicability	1.0
The Hard Way / int_5a963d1c	featureConfidence	1.0
The Hard Way	hasFeature	The Hard Way / int_5a963d1c
The Hard Way / int_5bdcc85a	type	Disney Villain Death
The Hard Way / int_5bdcc85a	comment	Disney Villain Death: The Party Crasher is killed like this, falling from the "Smoking Gunn II" advertisement.
The Hard Way / int_5bdcc85a	featureApplicability	1.0
The Hard Way / int_5bdcc85a	featureConfidence	1.0
The Hard Way	hasFeature	The Hard Way / int_5bdcc85a
The Hard Way / int_6163afd9	type	Reliably Unreliable Guns
The Hard Way / int_6163afd9	comment	Reliably Unreliable Guns: Averted. Nick gets lucky in a shootout where a man firing at him seems to run out of bullets. The cop knocks the gun against a newstand, and shoots into it, demonstrating it had merely been jammed.
The Hard Way / int_6163afd9	featureApplicability	-1.0
The Hard Way / int_6163afd9	featureConfidence	1.0
The Hard Way	hasFeature	The Hard Way / int_6163afd9
The Hard Way / int_6941e30b	type	Room Full of Crazy
The Hard Way / int_6941e30b	comment	Room Full of Crazy: After Moss mocks him on national television and calls him a coward, the Party Crasher completely loses it, turning his room upside down and using his computer to edit a loop of Moss' appearance on TV with a pain program to do stuff like read "DIE!".
The Hard Way / int_6941e30b	featureApplicability	1.0
The Hard Way / int_6941e30b	featureConfidence	1.0
The Hard Way	hasFeature	The Hard Way / int_6941e30b
The Hard Way / int_7135b0a4	type	Typecasting
The Hard Way / int_7135b0a4	comment	Typecasting: In-Universe. Nick wants to land a role as a hard-bitten cop because all his movies to date have been light, frothy action films.
The Hard Way / int_7135b0a4	featureApplicability	1.0
The Hard Way / int_7135b0a4	featureConfidence	1.0
The Hard Way	hasFeature	The Hard Way / int_7135b0a4
The Hard Way / int_7febc23b	type	Establishing Character Moment
The Hard Way / int_7febc23b	comment	Nick's Establishing Character Moment on his Hollywood home has him watching an interview with Moss taken after the Party Crasher chase at the beginning, with Moss battered and bloody, and Nick says that that is "real"-the blood, grit and everything, and he wants to reflect that on his films, not be an Invincible Hero. By the near-end of the film, he has been on various shootouts, falsely believed he killed a man, is battered, gritty, bloody and being put on an ambulance because he has been shot.
The Hard Way / int_7febc23b	featureApplicability	1.0
The Hard Way / int_7febc23b	featureConfidence	1.0
The Hard Way	hasFeature	The Hard Way / int_7febc23b
The Hard Way / int_86b21114	type	Badass Boast
The Hard Way / int_86b21114	comment	Badass Boast: The Party Crasher, whose M.O. is not only to kill in public settings, but to call the police and alert them in advance, opens the film with: He then leaves the pay phone to dangle, ensuring the police can trace his location.
The Hard Way / int_86b21114	featureApplicability	1.0
The Hard Way / int_86b21114	featureConfidence	1.0
The Hard Way	hasFeature	The Hard Way / int_86b21114
The Hard Way / int_9cde2df1	type	Hand Cannon
The Hard Way / int_9cde2df1	comment	Hand Cannon: The Party Crasher's laser-sighted Wildey Magnum. Also a rare gun (so rare that looking into how the Crasher would get a replacement gives Moss a significant lead on the case).
The Hard Way / int_9cde2df1	featureApplicability	1.0
The Hard Way / int_9cde2df1	featureConfidence	1.0
The Hard Way	hasFeature	The Hard Way / int_9cde2df1
The Hard Way / int_9d3b4703	type	This Is Reality
The Hard Way / int_9d3b4703	comment	This Is Reality: Nick manages to give the Party Crasher a Tap on the Head during the climactic battle, only for the Crasher to be too tough for one tap to work, and so he turns with a laugh and yells "this isn't the movies, stupid!" and shoots Nick in the shoulder. After the Party Crasher falls to his death, John rushes to Nick's side. Nick says it's okay, because if he was shot, he'd be in a lot more pain. John grimly tells him that that's how it works, there's always a slight delay before the shock wears off. A second later, Nick gasps and realizes that Moss is right.
The Hard Way / int_9d3b4703	featureApplicability	1.0
The Hard Way / int_9d3b4703	featureConfidence	1.0
The Hard Way	hasFeature	The Hard Way / int_9d3b4703
The Hard Way / int_a4c37cbe	type	Mood Whiplash
The Hard Way / int_a4c37cbe	comment	Mood Whiplash: See the entry for This Is Reality below
The Hard Way / int_a4c37cbe	featureApplicability	1.0
The Hard Way / int_a4c37cbe	featureConfidence	1.0
The Hard Way	hasFeature	The Hard Way / int_a4c37cbe
The Hard Way / int_a8cbf649	type	I Should Write a Book About This
The Hard Way / int_a8cbf649	comment	I Should Write a Book About This: The final scene of the movie shows that the movie's plot was adapted into an In-Universe film titled "The Good, the Badge and the Ugly", starring Nick. Moss' This Is Reality speech is on it.
The Hard Way / int_a8cbf649	featureApplicability	1.0
The Hard Way / int_a8cbf649	featureConfidence	1.0
The Hard Way	hasFeature	The Hard Way / int_a8cbf649
The Hard Way / int_afc6df04	type	What You Are in the Dark
The Hard Way / int_afc6df04	comment	What You Are in the Dark: Moss' attempt to scare Lang off by making him believe that he accidentally killed a man and Moss will cover things up for him if he leaves for L.A. right the hell now backfires big time because Lang can't bring himself to do it and goes to the police station to confess.
The Hard Way / int_afc6df04	featureApplicability	1.0
The Hard Way / int_afc6df04	featureConfidence	1.0
The Hard Way	hasFeature	The Hard Way / int_afc6df04
The Hard Way / int_b06bbf4b	type	Be Careful What You Wish For
The Hard Way / int_b06bbf4b	comment	Be Careful What You Wish For: Lang wants to know what it feels like to kill a man. He ends up killing an innocent bystander. Except his gun was loaded with blanks, and the bystander was actually a friend of Moss, who was trying to get Lang to go away. Lang finds out because he has a crisis of conscience at the very last second even with Moss' continuous pressuring to forget it and run away and thus goes back to the police station to confess. Nick's Establishing Character Moment on his Hollywood home has him watching an interview with Moss taken after the Party Crasher chase at the beginning, with Moss battered and bloody, and Nick says that that is "real"-the blood, grit and everything, and he wants to reflect that on his films, not be an Invincible Hero. By the near-end of the film, he has been on various shootouts, falsely believed he killed a man, is battered, gritty, bloody and being put on an ambulance because he has been shot.
The Hard Way / int_b06bbf4b	featureApplicability	1.0
The Hard Way / int_b06bbf4b	featureConfidence	1.0
The Hard Way	hasFeature	The Hard Way / int_b06bbf4b
The Hard Way / int_b1a7cd14	type	Tap on the Head
The Hard Way / int_b1a7cd14	comment	Nick manages to give the Party Crasher a Tap on the Head during the climactic battle, only for the Crasher to be too tough for one tap to work, and so he turns with a laugh and yells "this isn't the movies, stupid!" and shoots Nick in the shoulder.
The Hard Way / int_b1a7cd14	featureApplicability	1.0
The Hard Way / int_b1a7cd14	featureConfidence	1.0
The Hard Way	hasFeature	The Hard Way / int_b1a7cd14
The Hard Way / int_bb18a227	type	It's All About Me
The Hard Way / int_bb18a227	comment	It's All About Me: Lang is able to advise Moss that this is the Party Crasher's mentality — all of this death and hell-raising is just to make himself look important in front of the whole world and draw attention. He then tells Moss to mock him on national television and that will make him go into a Villainous Breakdown. It went horribly right.
The Hard Way / int_bb18a227	featureApplicability	1.0
The Hard Way / int_bb18a227	featureConfidence	1.0
The Hard Way	hasFeature	The Hard Way / int_bb18a227
The Hard Way / int_bc74ef27	type	Berserk Button
The Hard Way / int_bc74ef27	comment	Berserk Button: Nick Lang is understandably very pissed off at Moss for making him suffer through the mental trauma of thinking he accidentally killed an innocent person and shoving him on the next flight out of town just because he didn't want to deal with a Hollywood actor pestering him.
The Hard Way / int_bc74ef27	featureApplicability	1.0
The Hard Way / int_bc74ef27	featureConfidence	1.0
The Hard Way	hasFeature	The Hard Way / int_bc74ef27
The Hard Way / int_c54d550d	type	Novelization
The Hard Way / int_c54d550d	comment	Novelization: By J.R. Robitaille.
The Hard Way / int_c54d550d	featureApplicability	1.0
The Hard Way / int_c54d550d	featureConfidence	1.0
The Hard Way	hasFeature	The Hard Way / int_c54d550d
The Hard Way / int_cb9aeb6a	type	Vigilante Man
The Hard Way / int_cb9aeb6a	comment	Vigilante Man: The Party Crasher tries to paint himself as one (some of his targets have been criminals), and thus "better" than the police, but the fact that he dismisses his killing of a little girl as little more than collateral damage ("casualty of war"), to not mention his general boasting, shows that he is a complete loon.
The Hard Way / int_cb9aeb6a	featureApplicability	1.0
The Hard Way / int_cb9aeb6a	featureConfidence	1.0
The Hard Way	hasFeature	The Hard Way / int_cb9aeb6a
The Hard Way / int_e5421161	type	Expy
The Hard Way / int_e5421161	comment	Expy: Joe Gunn is a clear expy of Indiana Jones.
The Hard Way / int_e5421161	featureApplicability	1.0
The Hard Way / int_e5421161	featureConfidence	1.0
The Hard Way	hasFeature	The Hard Way / int_e5421161
The Hard Way / int_f1c19ec1	type	Tom Hanks Syndrome
The Hard Way / int_f1c19ec1	comment	Tom Hanks Syndrome: Invoked In-Universe. Nick is Hollywood's biggest star, but he complains that all his films are big budget, franchise "easy-to-flush crap", without any serious drama or relevance, and no one takes him seriously as an actor.
The Hard Way / int_f1c19ec1	featureApplicability	1.0
The Hard Way / int_f1c19ec1	featureConfidence	1.0
The Hard Way	hasFeature	The Hard Way / int_f1c19ec1
The Hard Way / int_f7e60b0d	type	Tag-Along Actor
The Hard Way / int_f7e60b0d	comment	Tag-Along Actor: Nick Lang, wanting to go method for his next project because he feels the "Smoking Gunn" films have painted him as a bad actor.
The Hard Way / int_f7e60b0d	featureApplicability	1.0
The Hard Way / int_f7e60b0d	featureConfidence	1.0
The Hard Way	hasFeature	The Hard Way / int_f7e60b0d
The Hard Way / int_f818b637	type	Dude, Where's My Respect?
The Hard Way / int_f818b637	comment	Dude, Where's My Respect?: When Susan breaks up with John, she says that her problem isn't his personality, it's his job; being a policeman attracts too much danger. With a bitter smile, John says he understands: nobody wants the police around, unless and until something bad happens, "then we're the Second Coming."
The Hard Way / int_f818b637	featureApplicability	1.0
The Hard Way / int_f818b637	featureConfidence	1.0
The Hard Way	hasFeature	The Hard Way / int_f818b637
The Hard Way / int_fbd285b7	type	Comically Missing the Point
The Hard Way / int_fbd285b7	comment	Comically Missing the Point: Nick complains to his agent Angie that his latest film is just like all his previous ones:
The Hard Way / int_fbd285b7	featureApplicability	1.0
The Hard Way / int_fbd285b7	featureConfidence	1.0
The Hard Way	hasFeature	The Hard Way / int_fbd285b7
The Hard Way / int_name	type	ItemName
The Hard Way / int_name	comment
The Hard Way / int_name	featureApplicability	1.0
The Hard Way / int_name	featureConfidence	1.0
The Hard Way	hasFeature	The Hard Way / int_name
The Hard Way / int_name	itemName	The Hard Way

The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.

The Hard Way	hasFeature	Dramatic Ammo Depletion / int_3ff7574d
The Hard Way	hasFeature	Dude, Where's My Respect? / int_3ff7574d
The Hard Way	hasFeature	Dueling-Stars Movie / int_3ff7574d
The Hard Way	hasFeature	Films of 1990â€“1994 / int_3ff7574d
The Hard Way	hasFeature	I Should Write a Book About This / int_3ff7574d
The Hard Way	hasFeature	Reliably Unreliable Guns / int_3ff7574d
The Hard Way	hasFeature	Starring a Star as a Star / int_3ff7574d
The Hard Way	hasFeature	Tag-Along Actor / int_3ff7574d
The Hard Way	hasFeature	This Is Reality / int_3ff7574d

Copyright of DBTropes.org wrapper 2009-2013 DFKI Knowledge Management. Imprint. - Thanks to Bakken&Baeck for hosting. Contact.
Copyright of data TVTropes.org contributors under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.