The A-Team (film)



The film adaptation of The A-Team series, released in 2010. Follows the Ragtag Bunch of Misfits from their roots when they come together pulling off a mission against a drug lord in Mexico. They become a legendary "crack commando team" running operations that regular military teams can't do. Col. Hannibal Smith is the leader, the Man with the Plan. Face is the charmer, point man and has been with Hannibal longer than the rest. B.A. Barracus is the machine savvy bruiser of the team. And "Howling Mad" Murdock is their (possibly insane) Ace Pilot.

Eight years, and "80 successful missions", later, a complicated series of events put them in a very delicate operation to recover U.S. minting plates and several million dollars printed by them. Upon a successful completion, their commanding officer General Morrison is killed by a car bomb and the plates stolen, along with the money being torched.

Because of how classified the mission was, Morrison was the only one who could verify their story and they effectively look like bank robbers and conspirators with a rival mercenary group. They are charged with war crimes, stripped of their rank and sent to prison. But even that isn't enough to stop them, as six months later they break out of prison with the help of a CIA operative and set out to clear their name. This involves tracking down the location of the plates, the PMC leader Pike who framed them, plenty of collateral damage and the A-Team Montage.

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Contains the following tropes:
"Hannibal "Give me a minute, I'm good. Give me an hour, I'm great. Give me six months, I'm unbeatable.""
 * 3D Movie: Murdock gets to watch one, along with the other inhabitants of the psych ward he's in.
 * Action Prologue - Also explains how the A-Team comes together, detailing Hannibal recruiting BA and Murdock to rescue Face.
 * Actor Allusion: There are a couple of nods to Sharlto Copley's South African nationality. Observable when Murdock's blabbering in a South African accent early in the film to get past journalists. He also speaks Swahili at one point.
 * There's the part where.
 * The "3D" film at a psychiatric hospital plays the show's theme tune, and one of the names of its opening credits read "Reginald Barclay" -- referencing Dwight Shultz's role as Lt. Barclay in Star Trek the Next Generation. Other names in the credits include G. F. Starbuck, a veiled reference to Dirk Benedict's Starbuck from Battlestar Galactica, and two more not clearly seen but confirmed by Word of God -- Thomas Banacek (for George Peppard) and Clubber Lang (for Mr. T).
 * Less elaborate than the above, but when the team had to travel through customs disguised in hilarious ethnic gear, Hannibal basically went through as....
 * Affably Evil:
 * There appear to be a couple of subtle occasions throughout the show that serve to differentiate between professionals (though not necessarily the good guys, i.e. Brock Pike ) and most of the bad guys (who tend to speak in stereotypical terms): Face's "administrator" and "operator" analogy v.s., "suppressor" v.s. "silencer", among others.
 * Whenever Pike evokes Eviler Than Thou and is Too Kinky to Torture.
 * All Part of the Show: The 3D film sent to Murdock in the psyche hospital.
 * Almost Kiss - Between Face and Sosa... more than once.
 * And the Adventure Continues...:
 * Could also count as a potential Sequel Hook.
 * Arch Enemy: Did anyone else get this vibe between B.A. and Pike?
 * A Real Man Is a Killer: Lynch's incompetence is very much connected to his lack of experience in the field, and.
 * Though in the case of the latter, it's less that he can't be a real man without killing, and more that it would be rather difficult for him to be a soldier. None of the others ever question his manhood, nor his valor or dedication.
 * Arrow Cam: Shown on Reaper UAV missiles. Truth in Television.
 * A-Team Firing: While there is still a lot of gunfire, many people - random Mook soldiers and main characters alike - actually do get shot. Since this A-Team actually shoots to kill it isn't as extreme an example of the original Trope Namer.
 * Actually played with within the movie itself. B.A. becomes a pacifist and refuses to shoot to kill during part of the movie (perhaps a Shout-Out to the trope), and one of the things the A-Team prides themselves on is getting things done with minimal casualties (note minimal, not none); that is in contrast to the trigger-happy Pike.
 * A-Team Montage: You knew this had to happen... and since the movie's a little over two hours, we get two of them, and two others are a blend of planning and executing the plan instead of a straight montage.
 * Attack Drone: The Reaper UAVs that our heroes have to fight in German airspace.
 * As Long as It Sounds Foreign: Averted; the Spanish at the beginning is actually pretty good.
 * Badass: The entire team. FULL STOP.
 * Sosa too.
 * Pike also, villain or not. He
 * Badass Boast: Hannibal's line when he's in prison:
 * Badass Boast: Hannibal's line when he's in prison:

"Pike "Okay, paintballers. Time to go pro.""
 * One ad for the movie changed this to "Give my team an hour, we're unbeatable."
 * Brock Pike:

"Murdock: You can't park there, that's a handicap zone."
 * Band of Brothers
 * Beyond the Impossible: Coming up with crazy plans that shouldn't even be physically possible is the A-Team's entire shtick.
 * The "flying a tank" scene in the movie deserves special mention.
 * Black and Nerdy/Genius Bruiser: B.A. Baracus is a surprisingly eloquent Gadgeteer Genius who loves reading and philosophy (especially Gandhi)... and will also pile driver your sorry ass, fool.
 * Blue Eyes: most notably on Pike (Brian Bloom), whose icy blue eyes serve his creepy Jerkass character well.
 * Brick Joke: Murdock stitches up B.A. in the opening sequence. Towards the end B.A. makes a comment about it being his turn to stitch Murdock up.
 * Bunny Ears Lawyer: Murdock is batshit insane, but he's the best goddamn pilot you'll ever find.
 * But This Is Ridiculous - Lampshaded constantly, often annoying Baracus, Face, or Sosa, and the reason why and how breaks them out of prison.
 * California Doubling: The aerial shot of what is supposed to be Frankfurt am Main central station is instead one of Cologne central station and happens to show the Cologne Cathedral, quite possibly the single most recognizable landmark in all of Germany, especially for any German.
 * The Cameo: Director and co-writer Joe Carnahan appears as the man who meets Hannibal, Face and B.A. in Mexico outside the hospital Murdock is being held.
 * Jon Hamm as.
 * Dirk Benedict and Dwight Schultz (Face and Murdock in the original series) shot cameos that alluded to their time in the roles. They served as The Stinger in the theatrical version, however the Extended Cut placed them into the film.
 * Car Fu - In the first plot to steal the plates, later used by Hannibal to
 * Car Meets House: When the team.
 * The Chessmaster: To Hannibal, being a mere one step ahead of your enemy is an Indy Ploy. If you're at least three steps ahead, then you've got a plan. Made more awesome by the fact that he often only needs as much time to come up with a plan as others would an Indy Ploy.
 * Note that his plans still can and at times do go wrong, for example the seaport scene.
 * Chivalrous Pervert: Face. There are several hints suggesting that Face does do genuine favors when possible.
 * CIA Evil, FBI Good: There's no FBI, but there's definitely an evil CIA.
 * There is the DOD good, however, with Lt. Sosa's Army team trying to find the A-Team and stay ahead (or at least abreast) with Mr. Lynch's CIA team.
 * Clear My Name: The main reason for the A-Team to take up the job offer.
 * Cloudcuckoolander: Murdock provides some REALLY wonderful commentary in just about every situation.
 * Cluster F-Bomb/Precision F-Strike: Hannibal
 * Cool Versus Awesome: Tank versus two Reaper UAVs...in midair.
 * Crazy Enough to Work: Hannibal's plan to steal the plates from Baghdad is described by Murdoch as "batshit insane".
 * Creator Backlash: Mr. T rejected the chance to do a cameo supposedly because he thinks that the film is too violent, however he also said he would appear in the film... If he got to play B.A. again.
 * Dirk Benedict and Dwight Schultz also spoke out against the film, after their cameos were only included as The Stinger.
 * Averted with the show's actual creator Stephen J. Carnell, as he said that he wished the series had some of the character development seen in the movie.
 * Cruel Mercy: Despite Lynch's promise to clear his name and those of his team, Hannibal ultimately decides against killing as originally agreed upon since the latter will be forced to testify before the authority, hopefully achieving the same result.
 * Curb Stomp Battle: Hi, Pike.
 * Curse Cut Short: "AMF" or "Alpha Mike Foxtrot", which is short for
 * Cutting the Knot: Face develops an elaborate plan that uses cargo containers as a giant-sized shell game. This works fine until one of the bad guys decides "screw this!" and knocks over all the containers!
 * The Danza: Agents Blair, Daly, and Kyle are named after their actors (though only in the credits).
 * Darker and Edgier: No more A-Team Firing, B.A.'s is now lethal.
 * Dead Person Impersonation:
 * Delicious Distraction: One sure way to get B.A. off your case, especially if you're Murdock, is to give him curry tapenade.
 * And don't forget the toasties!
 * Did Not Do the Research: Kevlar is a composite material. It doesn't melt.
 * Do a Barrel Roll: Murdock during both airborne Chase Scenes, in aircraft that really shouldn't be doing that.
 * Also, a more literal example near the beginning, which ends with Face throwing up. More of a tire roll, really.
 * Dropped An Air Conditioner On It: Barely ten minutes into the movie,  meets its demise in this fashion. Needless to say, Baracus is PISSED.
 * Also, a more literal example near the beginning, which ends with Face throwing up. More of a tire roll, really.
 * Dropped An Air Conditioner On It: Barely ten minutes into the movie,  meets its demise in this fashion. Needless to say, Baracus is PISSED.

"Sosa: Gilbert, you've either deliberately aided and abetted a federal fugitive's escape, or you're the single dumbest human being I've ever come into contact with. Would you like to know which way I'm leaning?
 * Enhance Button: Although it is not shown exactly how he enhanced it, Hannibal has a surveillance photo of Pike in much higher definition than Lynch. Also invoked later when Sosa could reconstruct Lynch's face from a jammed CCTV footage, albeit after a substantial wait. The photo was hardly pristine, either; Lynch's face is clear enough, but it's still grainy and the colors are way off.
 * Mr. Fanservice: The entire male cast.
 * Every Car Is a Pinto
 * Evil Counterpart: Pike is this to Hannibal; both leaders of a team, but while Hannibal loves the Batman Gambit and cares about his men and his honor, Pike has no loyalty to his men, is easily willing to turn to his trigger finger for solutions, and only cares about himself in the end.
 * If you pay attention to his arrogance, his penchant for ogling women, and his generally empty charm, Lynch may be this for Face. At the end, it's even revealed that Lynch is, like Face. But unlike Face, his Evil Plan cohorts and women don't really want anything to do with him.
 * Expy: The Black Forest private military corporation is an obvious analogue of the infamous Blackwater PMC.
 * Face Death with Dignity: Brock Pike, a self-serving and treacherous psychopath as he might be, actually faces death while maintaining his composure when he thinks it to be inevitable. See the Juggling Loaded Guns entry for details.
 * Fan Service: Face spends an inordinate amount of time with his shirt open--or missing entirely.
 * Fast Roping:  does this.
 * Flatline Plotline: This is
 * Flipping the Bird:
 * Free-Fall Fight
 * Gambit Pileup: The team was double-crossed by Pike and and his team. Who were actually backed by . Then   And we find out later that   All of this is on top of Hannibal and Face's antics.
 * Genre Savvy: Sosa is this compared to her incredibly Genre Blind lackeys, to the point where she tells them to assume that the A-Team knows more than they do at all times.
 * Good Looking Privates: Jessica Biel as Cpt. Lt. Sosa. Also, for the ladies, Bradley Cooper as Face and Liam Neeson as Hannibal.
 * Face actually gets into trouble in the beginning because of this... and has a Luxury Prison Suite by seducing the female guards.
 * Good Smoking, Evil Smoking: Hannibal loves a fine cigar..
 * Great Escape
 * Handsome Lech: Face.
 * High Altitude Battle: Do we have to tell you?
 * Hoist by His Own Petard:
 * Important Haircut: Played with. While in prison, B.A. let his hair grow out to distance himself from his past. When broken out of prison
 * Insignia Rip Off Ritual
 * Inspector Javert: Captain 1st Lieutenant Sosa.
 * Ironic Fear: After his first experience with Murdock's piloting skills, B.A. was so scared he could not stand flying anymore, despite being in a occupation where jumping from a plane was an occasional must. He was not happy about it.
 * It Always Rains At Funerals:  funeral is suitably wet.
 * It Has Been an Honor: Murdock says this while Hannibal is attempting to fly the tank. B.A. chimes in with a far less dignified "I'm too young to die!"
 * Juggling Loaded Guns: Shown when two CIA agents attempt to off Pike. Pike is extremely annoyed at the attempt of the first agent sitting to his left to shoot him in a moving car... or screw a suppressor on... or aim it correctly. Pike begs Lynch not to let this agent shoot him because that'd just be embarrassing and, when his plea goes unanswered, overpowers the agent and hands the gun to another one sitting to his right. To Pike's disappointment, however, that second agent then proceeds to answer a phone call while simultaneously pressing the gun to his other ear. At that point even Lynch finds the agents' lack of firearm discipline upsetting.
 * Karma Houdini:  Apparently all of them.
 * Only potentially with . The second basically apologizes for the first's inadequacy, and it's sort of hinted at that he's going away permanently.
 * Knuckle Tattoos: B.A. has the words "Pity" and "Fool" tattooed on his knuckles.
 * Large Ham: Liam Neeson gets in a few moments of this.
 * Legacy Character/No Name Given: The CIA agent is only referred to as "Mr. Lynch", an obvious pseudonym commonly used by the CIA. Other characters joke about this by asking Mr. Lynch if he's related to the other Lynches they met in the past.
 * Lethal Team Chef: Murdock likes to "nuke" his steaks by peppering Cordite on the steak and then flipping it over to expose it to the flame. He also asks B.A. and Face if they want his special sauce - antifreeze - on their steaks. Unusual cooking methods aside, he's shown to cook up some good dishes as well. B.A. is rather fond of his coconut curry tapenade.
 * Luxury Prison Suite: Face's cell in the military prison, due to his... connections.
 * MacGyvering: The Team can build various things out of scratch, like electromagnets, flotation systems, explosives, and.
 * The Man Behind the Man:
 * Marquee Alter Ego: Sort of. When the team disguises themselves to get through seaport security, Hannibal is disguised as, basically,
 * Mathematician's Answer:
 * Mathematician's Answer:

Gilbert: Forward!"

"Face: "You speak Swahili?!"
 * Meaningful Echo: "I love it when a plan comes together."
 * Missing Trailer Scene: Along with, a scene in an ad where Face says to B.A., "I'm sorry, I can't quit looking at your hair", and B.A saying, "I'm B.A., you're about to be unconscious." aren't used. In addition, B.A. whistles the classic A-Team theme tune in the trailer, while in the movie, he hums tunelessly.
 * Mythology Gag:
 * B.A.'s knuckle tats of "PITY" and "FOOL".
 * Hannibal's use of a select-fire Ruger Mini-14 with folding stock while  in Mexico.
 * The original theme tune is used in the "3D film". (It's actually the Silva Screen (British record label) recording of the original theme tune, as revealed in the end credits.)
 * Agent Lynch is probably a reference to Colonel Lynch, the army officer that chased the A-Team in the first season of the series.
 * Noodle Incident: The team makes numerous references to past missions, seeing as how they have 8 years and 80 missions worth of material.
 * Still wondering what the hell went on in Venezuela.
 * Or why Face was so beat up in that first scene in Iraq, he had multiple bandages and an IV in one arm.
 * Also prior to meeting the rest of the team, B.A. had been dishonorably discharged for "some bullshit".
 * Not Quite Dead:.
 * Obfuscating Insanity: Murdock...
 * Obstructive Bureaucrat: Oh, pretty much the entire US government.
 * Oh Crap: The drug dealer in the opening scene when he realizes that.
 * when they realize that
 * , when he is addressed
 * Omniglot:
 * Omniglot:

Murdock: "You don't?""

"Agent Daly: Zulu 1, Zulu 1, this is Broadsword. You are clear to engage.
 * Ooh, Me Accent's Slipping: Sharlto Copley does a fairly admirable job of holding his vaguely Southern accent, but he tends to switch around accents a lot. It does work for the character, though, seeing as he is insane and an omniglot, and a lot of the more noticeable ones ("Oh you gorgeous rustbucket, did you miss your daddy!") were on purpose.
 * Yeah that's just what Murdock does. Dwight Schultz did it all the time in the original show.
 * Liam Neeson has a few moments of this as well, mostly when he's saying anything with an "oo" sound, like "you".
 * Outside Ride
 * Product Placement: Everyone seems to be driving Mercedes-Benz cars. There's also Sosa's Dell computer, which is exactly the utilitarian model you'd get saddled with on a government budget. Fridge Brilliance concerning the cars: They're in Germany!
 * Utterly lampooned in the official spoof trailer by Orange, in which even the cast ends up complaining about how much it's wrecking the movie ("I love it when a... talk plan comes together!").
 * Promoted Fanboy: Sharlto Copley, full stop.
 * Psychopathic Manchild: a mild type C; his loose attitude makes him come off like he's a 16 year old with the CIA's car keys. He leers at his hot assistant, brags about the CIA's rules being cooler than DoD's, and gets really excited about "awesome" combat incidents, which he compares to video games (see Shout-Out below).


 * Broadsword, did you come up with that? That's awesome. 'Broadsword.' 'Broadsword.'"

"B.A.: Gandhi said, "Victory attained by violence is tantamount to a defeat, for it is momentary."
 * Reality Ensues:
 * Recoil Boost: With the tank's main gun.
 * Re Cut: The DVD version adds 19 minutes of footage, some F-bombs and reintegrates The Stinger into the plot.
 * Refuge in Audacity: "They are the best, and they specialize in the ridiculous!"
 * The entire sequence where they break out of prison, culminating in the team flying a tank.
 * Reluctant Warrior: B.A. becomes one for a short time.
 * Remake Cameo:
 * The Reveal: The Arab assisting Pike is actually . Cue the Mass "Oh Crap" moment from the cast.
 * This movie gives an entirely plausible reason for B.A.'s fear of flying and why he hates Murdock so much... Murdock's piloting.
 * Run for the Border: A clever inversion of this trope.
 * And all of that went according to his plan.
 * Sanity Slippage:
 * Scars Are Forever: B.A. sports a scar on his right arm from where . It might have healed better if.
 * Setting Update
 * Shoot the Rope: Hannibal does this in the opening to free Face from a noose. He also shoots the wire on Pike's handcuffs to steal the plates from him.
 * Shout-Out:
 * While looking at AC-130 camera footage, exclaims "It's just like Call of Duty!" Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare featured a section where the player controls the weapons on an AC-130U "Spooky" gunship. The audience sees only a glimpse of what the antagonist is seeing, but it does indeed resemble that section. Also noting that the Gunship's call sign is Broadsword.
 * Even better - it also directly references the MW2 AC-130 perk, since the AC-130's turrets are controlled from a laptop, as it is here.
 * Shown Their Work: The "tank" is, in fact, an M8 Buford mobile gun. Of which six were made before the project was canceled in 1997. It really is designed to be air-dropped.
 * The subversion is that the Buford in the movie is equipped with Level III armor package, which in reality would have made the tank too heavy to be carried by the Hercules, let alone being air-dropped from it at high altitude. Technically the air-droppable baseline Level I can already protect it from machine gun fire of the Reaper drones, however.
 * Sinister Surveillance
 * Kiss Slap Kiss: Face and a French journalist.
 * Sleight of Tongue:
 * Smoking Is Cool: Hannibal loves his cigars.
 * Smug Snake: Lynch, oh so much.
 * Pike is just a tad bit on the slithery smug side, as well.
 * Soft Glass: Averted as B.A. only dents a glass pane after landing on it and has to shoot it.
 * Soft Water: Terminal velocity fall in a tank with only one intact chute? Aim for the water.
 * Spanner in the Works: wasn't expecting
 * The Stinger
 * Stop Helping Me!: Face was actually upset Hannibal broke him out, as because he is so charismatic he was living a decent prison life including a tanning booth, a hot female guard for a "companion" and was due for a parole hearing in a week.
 * Though that dropped the second he realized Hannibal needed him and could get the charges cleared.
 * Storyboard Body: The team members' Ranger tattoos.
 * Stuff Blowing Up: The climax has a LOT of this, to the point of wondering if Michael Bay may have been consulted for the scenario.
 * Sympathetic Inspector Antagonist:
 * Talkative Loon: Murdock, of course.
 * Tank Goodness: The team is seen airdropping a tank, which they proceed to use in a dog fight while it's still parachuting down.
 * And it is awesome.
 * Technical Pacifist: B.A. becomes this for a while, but Hannibal uses a Gandhi quote (ironically) to convince B.A. to be willing to kill again:
 * And it is awesome.
 * Technical Pacifist: B.A. becomes this for a while, but Hannibal uses a Gandhi quote (ironically) to convince B.A. to be willing to kill again:

Hannibal: "It is better to be violent, if there is violence in our hearts, than to put on the cloak of nonviolence to cover impotence."

B.A.: Who said that?

Hannibal: Same guy."

"*kiss kiss kiss* "Wait, I just threw up." *kiss kiss kiss*"
 * Ten-Minute Retirement:
 * The Mountains of Illinois: There are no mountains near Frankfurt, Germany.
 * Theme Tune Cameo: Several times, both the original music and new versions.
 * There Is No Kill Like Overkill: "Overkill is underrated", indeed.
 * Those Two Guys: Sosa's aides.
 * Trailers Always Spoil: The marketing spoiled the Hercules scene, portions of the bank scene, and portions of the various escapes. Compared to a lot of movies, this is pretty restrained.
 * True Companions: Pretty obvious, but the A-Team themselves. A beta example may be Sosa's team and Lynch's detachment.
 * Twenty Minutes Into the Future: Implicit from things like the "crime they didn't commit" occurring during the final US withdrawal from Iraq.
 * Unspoken Plan Guarantee: Subverted in the movie using the "Sherlock Holmes method", where plot-wise the plan is going on at the exact same time as its being detailed, while in-universe it isn't the case. Later played straight when
 * Viewers Are Goldfish: The movie repeatedly shows the audience flashbacks of things that happened just earlier.
 * Violence Is the Only Option: Subverted in the passport scene, where both Murdock and B. A. are able to talk themselves out of a sticky situation.
 * Vomit Discretion Shot: "This isn't gonna taste good!"
 * Leading to Squick when Face is making out with the Mexican drug lord's wife they rescued after they pull him into the van.
 * Leading to Squick when Face is making out with the Mexican drug lord's wife they rescued after they pull him into the van.


 * Watch the Paint Job: Very early on,
 * And earlier,
 * Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Due to a traumatic experience with Murdock's flying style, B.A. is deathly afraid of flying. Guess what the team has to do a lot of during missions?
 * Made more tragic when you think that he used to be part of an air-dropped battalion.
 * Why Don't You Just Shoot Him?:
 * Window Pain: a LOT during the snatch-and-grab on the Arab in Germany.
 * Wrongful Accusation Insurance: Discussed.
 * Xanatos Roulette: Pretty much all of Hannibal's plans.
 * Xanatos Roulette: Pretty much all of Hannibal's plans.