History Film / ThePostman

* LeaveNoSurvivors: During the first battle against the Holnists, the Postman orders his followers to let the last one go, as he's unarmed and defenseless. Others shoot him dead anyway, no doubt wanting revenge after so much they've suffered from the Holnists.

* YouWouldntShootMe: Played with. When held at gunpoint by Luke, a man sent to kill him, the Postman doesn't try to plead, goad or play chicken. He ''walks right on the gun'' and tells right into the face of his assassin that he's serving a fucking lunatic - and that Luke is better than that. Not killing him, but pledging his allegiance to a madman.

** In view of that, the Postman really ought not to recognize Creator/TomPetty on sight as an erstwhile celebrity.
* AmericaSavesTheDay: In a sense, much like the book. [[spoiler:The Restored United States of America starts as a lie and ultimately becomes very much real by the ending]].
* ApocalypseAnarchy: The collapse of America didn't happen overnight, instead being the result of not only "the war" but also the chaos that followed it, culminating in the burning of the White House.

* ArcNumber: 8. The Holnists have 8 harsh laws they abide by, and every member is branded with the number on their arm. In the finale, it becomes a plot point when Shakespeare shows he was also forcibly inducted this way, with the right as a result to challenge Bethlehem for the leadership under those laws.
* AscendedExtra: Abby in the book shows up only in the first section and even in that part her role is rather small.

-->'''[[spoiler:Californian]] Carrier''': Name's Clark. [[spoiler:Postal Carrier of the restored Republic of California.]] Who are you?

-->'''[[spoiler:Californian]] Carrier''': [''Takes off his cap, shake hands''] It's an honor, sir.

* BadassArmy: The Holnists are basically an evil, repressive, violent, destructive group of bandits, but they're ''extremely'' well-organized and well-equipped, especially compared to the militias of the disorganized villages they extort. While one town in particular has "five guns and twenty rounds of ammunition for the entire town", and this is implied to be a typical situation in Oregon, the Holnists have enough AR-15s to equip their entire army and [[BottomlessMagazines a seemingly infinite amount of 5.56 ammo]], in addition to machine guns, anti-aircraft cannons, and at least one battery of howitzers. Their base seems to be well-equipped too, enough so it's possible they manufacture new ammunition.

** No one questions that the new President of the United States has the same real name as ''Ringo Starr''. It's also possibly justified since his real name isn't as well known in the US, and would be even less so years AfterTheEnd.

-->'''Benning Gatekeepers''': [''From distance''] DROP DEAD, AND GO TO HELL!
-->'''Holnist''': That's what they say.

* AFatherToHisMen: General Bethlehem thinks he's one of these. Amusingly, it's fairly clear almost every one of his men hates him to the core but none of them wants to stand up to him (assuming the other people in the army are loyal Holnists). He was just smart enough to scare everyone into strict submission during their period of "conscription". We're shown that many are forcibly conscripted (including the Postman), so it's not that surprising if most aren't there by choice and hate Bethlehem. It also probably explains their poor EvilArmy showing above.

** The Postman rides toward one of the Holnists, closing in on a straight path. There is eventually less than 10 meters between them and the Holnist can't hit him, despite eventually having to reload. [[spoiler: [[SubvertedTrope Or so it seems]] - not only did the Postman get shot, but once the adrenaline rush is over, he goes comatose]].

** The original novel ends in 2012, being the only time when the year is specified. The film opens in 2013, also the only time the year is specified.
** The novel focuses on developments inside the Willamette Valley and uses the geography of it for various plot points. The film, while having location shots all over Oregon, explicitly stays away from the Valley and all the "plains" were filmed on the eastern side of the Cascades.

** Shakespeare gives some of his food to another conscript, who repays him by telling the officers about his escape plan and trying to capture Shakespeare when he makes a break for it. Somewhat forgivable since he was obviously mentally challenged, thus likely trying to do what (apparently) was the right thing (i.e. help the authorities).

* NominalImportance: The first characters to die are left unnamed, or [[AllThereInTheManual only get named in the credits]]. And that only if they are lucky - Creator/GiovanniRibisi plays otherwise nameless "Bandit #20", despite almost opening the end titles.

* PlotHole: The main character was in his childhood "when the last of the great cities died" plus at the end he was revealed to be born ca. 1973. This would imply that the war took place in the late 70's or early 80's, and fits with a scenario where the Cold War went hot, to cause WorldWarIII. However, the film ''Film/UniversalSoldier'' is owned by the Holnists, which came out in 1992, when he would have been 18 or 19, hardly a child. Of course, it's Hope [[spoiler:the Postman's daughter]] relating this, and she probably just had been told the story by him, so [[FutureImperfect it could well have been garbled]] (he could have said he'd been "just a kid" at the time for instance, which she took literally).

* PrecisionFStrike: When [[spoiler: his would-be assassin]] starts to praise general Bethlehem, Shakespeare drops one. Notably, this is the only "fuck" in the entire film, as it was filmed with PG-13[[note]]Ended up with R due to excessive violence and sex content, rendering the whole "no cussing" moot[[/note]] in mind, and it was reserved for that moment specifically.

-->'''Postman''': ([[FacingTheBulletsOneLiner walks straight into the barrel of the gun]], more pissed than scared) The general is a ''fucking lunatic''.

* TheReveal: The Postman's mail carriers [[spoiler:aren't the only ones who took up the cause.]]

* SelfDeprecation: After "Shakespeare's" first performance of, well, a Shakespeare play (''Theatre/{{Macbeth}}'', incidentally), a local woman tells him, "The children have never seen Shakespeare before." He chuckles and says, "They still haven't." In the same scene, he acknowledges that he was a terrible actor when he first tried it.

* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome: The Postman survives being shot in the torso by a Holnist with an AR-15 ... and, without access to modern medicine, spends ''five months'' recovering from the bullet wound. In a broader sense, just like [[Literature/ThePostman the source material]], the movie tries to portray the post-apocalypse more realistically. It takes care to show the types of people that would come to power in a vacuum left behind, why laws and the ability to enforce them are generally good things, why communications are vital in maintaining civilization and in general treats the post-apocalypse like an actual place rather than just a sandbox for a protagonist to be badass in. And the Postman himself mostly [[ActionSurvivor just survives]] with copious amounts of dumb luck.
* TakeThatCritics: After his performance, "Shakespeare" is mocked by an amateur critic who, of course, turns out to be both an idiot and a failed actor, and is told that he doesn't have the right to say anything bad anyway since [[ComplainingAboutThingsYouHaventPaidFor he didn't pay to see Costner perform]].

** In the opening sequence, the old news reports playing in the background have what are clearly missiles going off. A nuclear exchange can therefore be inferred to have happened, which explains the "three-year [i.e. nuclear] winter" and why no one goes near major cities (likely destroyed and irradiated).

** The events which brought the world to this are varied and unexplained, with events like "the war", "the rains" and "the bad mumps".[[note]]The "bad mumps" is nothing more than having them as an adult, when they are almost lethal and often render males infertile, just like with Abby's husband, although she says he had them "as a boy". It's also mentioned that one catastrophe was "the Bugs". "Bug" being a slang for illnesses, it's not inconceivable that some of the [=WMDs=] exchanged were biological rather than nuclear. These "bad mumps" thus might have been a version designed to affect people more that he lived through.[[/note]]

* YouCannottKillAnIdea: Even after a cataclysmic war, social collapse, and the apparent death of the United States, the idea of America proves resilient and infectious [[spoiler:eventually reaching to California and beyond]].

* YouCantKillAnIdea: Even after a cataclysmic war, social collapse, and the apparent death of the United States, the idea of America proves resilient and infectious [[spoiler:eventually reaching to California and beyond]].

* OurFounder: Costner's bronze statute in the epilogue. Creator/GeneSiskel sarcastically dubbed the film ''[[Film/DancesWithWolves Dances with Myself]]''.

* CharacterNameAlias: President "[[Music/TheBeatles Richard Starkey]]." [[Film/BackToTheFuture Richard Starkey, the drummer? Then who's Vice President?]] [[Music/EltonJohn Reginald Dwight?]]

* SexStartsStoryStops: Abby enters the Postman's room and asks him if he's decided on the request [[ChosenConceptionPartner to father a child]] with her yet (her husband is infertile). He hesitates, so she [[DressHitsFloor instantly undresses]] to convince him. Not only they have sex right off the bat, but from this point on, the movie introduces the ever-bloating romance subplot, which ''constantly'' stops the actual plot, being one of the bigger deviations from the original book (where Abby is barely mentioned after the main character leaves Pine View).

* CoitusEnsues: Abby enters the Postman's room and asks him if he's decided on the request to father a child with her yet (her husband is infertile). He hesitates, and she [[DressHitsFloor undresses]]. Then he quickly says yes, and they have sex, in a pretty unnecessary scene (at least actually showing it).

* AsskickingEqualsAuthority: The Holnists base their leadership on this. Their seventh law does allow any member to challenge for leadership of the clan. The last man who challenged Bethlehem got both his {{tongue|Trauma}} and [[GroinAttack balls cut off]]. However, the Postman exploits it at the end.

* AllHailTheGreatGodMickey: Borderline. The Holnists are a survivalist cult founded on the teachings of an author of trashy self-help books, who they worship as a near-deity.

** The Restored Postal Service, despite being mostly manned by adolescent teens and (very) young adults, works as an effective and efficient mail delivery, completely outside Shakespeare's influence (or control, for that matter).

* MenOfSherwood: Most factions who help the Postman take heavy losses, but the people of Bridge City field a fighting force that force a standoff with the Holnist soldiers, leading to a LetsYouAndHimFight conclusion.

* PlotHole: The main character was in his childhood "when the last of the great cities died" plus at the end he was revealed to be born ca. 1973. This would imply that the war took place in the late 70's or early 80's, and fits with a scenario where the Cold War went hot, to cause WorldWarThree. However, the film ''Film/UniversalSoldier'' is owned by the Holnists, which came out in 1992, when he would have been 18 or 19, hardly a child. Of course, it's Hope [[spoiler:the Postman's daughter]] relating this, and she probably just had been told the story by him, so [[FutureImperfect it could well have been garbled]] (he could have said he'd been "just a kid" at the time for instance, which she took literally).

* FingerlessGloves: Worn by practically every character, perhaps because the fingers all wear out and they can't fix or replace them anymore.

* ButWhatAboutTheAstronauts: Mentions this explicitly by the former designer of the Galileo space station: "twelve skeletons orbiting the Earth all grinnin' at each other."

* YouHaveFailedMe: General Bethlehem does it to one member of a conscript batch, to scare the rest into total, strict obedience. It's {{lampshade|Hanging}}d to be his ''standard'' procedure, as there is always one chair fewer than men to sit on them, so one man will always be executed for not following orders to sit. [[FridgeLogic (One wonders why nobody ever even tried to share a chair or sit on the ground in the circle, however...]] Well, maybe they do sometimes, just not the poor sap we see here.)[[invoked]]

* YouMakeMeSic: "You spelled 'tyranny' wrong." [[IronicEcho The Postman told]] the young people printing the leaflets [[BrickJoke the same thing earlier]].