History Film / ThreeThousandMilesToGraceland

[[caption-width-right:300:[[{{Tagline}} Crime is King.]]]]

[[caption-width-right:300:No, ''cash'' is king.]]

* HeelRealization: [[spoiler: Murphy’s shooting of his own reflection before he goes out to his demise implies this, along with his line “You recognize me now? I recognize you.”]]

Michael Zane (Russell) and four other criminals -- Thomas J. Murphy (Costner), Hanson (Creator/ChristianSlater), Gus (Creator/DavidArquette), and Franklin (Creator/BokeemWoodbine) -- execute a heist in which they steal $3.2 million from the Riviera Casino in Las Vegas by dressing up as {{Elvis Impersonator}}s whilst the casino hosts International Elvis Week, thereby making it difficult to identify them since hundreds of people in the building would be dressed in the same manner. The heist is successful, [[BlackDudeDiesFirst but when Franklin is killed]], a dispute occurs over how his share should be divided among the survivors. It isn't long before it's just Michael and Murphy; with the latter pursuing the former across the western United States as he flees both with the money and with a woman named Cybil Waingrow (Cox), with whom he has fallen in love, and her son Jesse (David Kaye).

* CreativeClosingCredits: The film ends with a "music video", in the form of Kurt Russell (in character as Michael Zane) lipsynching his way through Elvis' "Such a Night" while the rest of the characters mug for the camera and various clips from the film are shown. It then ends with LeaveTheCameraRunning as Russell begins laughing at the end of one of the takes, before cutting into an outtake where Kevin Costner ad-libs the line, "You're going back, Mike. [[Film/BackToTheFuture Back... to the future, man!]]" before the cast and crew break out laughing.

* ThereisNoKillLikeOverkill: During the LastStand, a dozen or so heavily-armed policemen pump numerous rounds into [[spoiler:Murphy, who's cornered in an upstairs office in the sawmill]].

Prior to the film's opening, Creator/WarnerBros released a series of animated prequels voiced by stars Costner, Slater, Woodbine and Howie Long. ''The Road to Graceland'' prequels marked the first time a major film's cast members contributed their talents to the creation of original Internet content for a film website.

** A short while later, on the way to [[spoiler:bury Hanson]], Gus makes a joke that the corpse they're carrying ate one too many "peanut butter and fried banana sandwiches", a crack at Elvis' own diet in the years leading up to his death.

* MaleGaze: The film tends to revel in this, focusing on women dressed in tight clothing as they walk past the camera. There's a shot focusing on Cybil's rear when she gets up on a step ladder to collect Michael's wallet from the crawlspace in her ceiling. Later on, when Michael, Cybil and Jesse eat at a diner, Michael ogles a waitress who leans over him to take his order, leading Cybil to rail at him for his behavior.

* BerserkButton: Murphy does not take kindly to anyone disparaging [[Music/ElvisPresley Elvis]], especially when Gus suggests that Music/FrankSinatra would beat him in a fight.

** A short while later, on the way to [[spoiler:bury Hanson]], Gus makes a joke that the corpse they're carrying ate one too many "fried peanut butter and banana sandwiches", a crack at Elvis' own diet in the years leading up to his death.

* PreMortemOneLiner: Murphy gives one to Hanson just before killing him.
-->'''Murphy:''' [[IronicEcho Sweetheart]].

* EarnYourHappyEnding: Michael ultimately escapes with Cybil and Jesse, as a [[ContrivedCoincidence mixup involving the driver of an ambulance]] allows Cybil to drive away with the (apparently fatally-wounded) Michael while [[spoiler:Seattle authorities state that every member of the group, including Murphy, who was shot down after his LastStand (and after nearly killing Michael himself). Michael and Cybil ultimately leave on the former's boat, ''[[MeaningfulName Graceland]]'', with no one the wiser]].

* ChekhovsGun: The seemingly-irrelevant scene of the two scorpions fighting during the opening credits (one of which is crushed by Michael's car) comes back into play in the final confrontation between Michael and Murphy, when the former places the surviving scorpion inside a bag seemingly filled with money, and uses it to trick the latter.

* ContrivedCoincidence: Shortly after gunning down the crew, Murphy is distracted while driving back to the Last Chance motel and runs into a coyote, crashing his vehicle and being knocked out in the process. This gives Michael (who survived the execution thanks to his BulletproofVest) to wake up, get back to the hotel and retrieve the money (along with Cybil and her son) before escaping.

** A short while later, while [[spoiler:burying Hanson]], Gus makes a joke that the corpse they're carrying ate one too many "friend peanut butter and banana sandwiches", a crack at Elvis' own diet in the years leading up to his death.

* MonumentalDamage: Murphy takes the opportunity to shoot at and destroy the rooftop sign at the Riviera casino as the gang flees on the helicopter. Later on, he destroys an entire gas station with a running gas line and a cigarette, which shoots an actual aircraft several yards in the air and causes enough of a smoke trail to be visibile from several miles away, as Michael spots from his hotel room.

* WouldHurtAChild: Towards the end of the film, Murphy has no qualms about [[spoiler:taking Jesse hostage, to the extent that he openly comments that they will shoot the latter once the money is in hand. This eventually proves to be a bluff, as although Murphy considers shooting Jesse while the latter is hiding (during his LastStand), he ultimately lets the latter make a break for it, covering him as he flees the sawmill]].

* HiddenHeartOfGold: While Michael might be a thug who thinks nothing of robbing a casino with a gang of other thieves, he's far more willing to avoid unnecessary bloodshed if possible, opting to impede his attackers instead of outright killing them (either by knocking them out or shooting glass above them to stop their pursuit). This is in contrast to the rest of the gang, who think nothing of fatally wounding anyone who gets in their way, particularly Murphy.

* MonumentalDamage: Murphy takes the opportunity to shoot at and destroy the rooftop sign at the Riviera casino as the gang flees on the helicopter.

** Hamilton, who is said to be worth "two guys" in terms of combat process, functionally does this by hanging upside-down on a zipline and unloading automatic weapons in a semi-circle, which takes out several cops... but also ends with him almost immediately getting riddled with bullets.

* WouldHurtAChild: Towards the end of the film, Murphy has no qualms about [[spoiler:taking Jesse hostage, to the extent that he openly comments that they will shoot the latter once the money is in hand. This eventually proves to be a bluff, as although Murphy considers shooting Jesse while the latter is hiding (during his LastStand), he ultimately lets the latter make a break for it, covering him as he flees the sawmill, and hands him the handful of cash left of Murphy's cut of the loot to boot]].

* WouldHurtAChild: Towards the end of the film, Murphy has no qualms about [[spoiler:taking Jesse hostage, to the extent that he openly comments that they will shoot the latter once the money is in hand. This eventually proves to be a bluff, as although Murphy considers shooting Jesse while the latter is hiding (during his LastStand), he ultimately lets the latter make a break for it, covering him as he flees the sawmill]].

* AllThereInTheManual: The ''Road to Graceland'' prequels offer the strongest evidence (outside Michael's statements about the ''Graceland'' yacht being given to him by "his father" at the end of the film) that he is the heir of Elvis.

* CastingGag: Michael Zane disguises himself as Elvis during his heist at the Riveria Casino. His actor Creator/KurtRussell had not only played Elvis twice prior (in a TV biopic directed by Creator/JohnCarpenter and an uncredited voice cameo in ''Film/ForrestGump'') but also kicked the King himself as a child actor in Elvis's film ''It Happened at the World's Fair''.

* DeadStarWalking: Considering their prominence at the time the film was made, the characters played by Christian Slater (Hanson) and David Arquette (Gus) both die by the 40-minute mark of the movie.

* EvenEvilHasStandards: Murphy may be a self-absorbed criminal, but he doesn't react well to his friend Jack [[spoiler:being shot at]] during the finale.

* HistoricalCharactersFictionalRelative: Both the hero and the bad guy are implied to be half-brothers fathered by none other than Music/ElvisPresley. The villain, in particular, is obsessed with the King's legacy.

* LastDisrespects: Rather than bury Franklin's body after he's fatally shot during the escape from the casino, the crew pushes his body off the helicopter mid-flight.

* MaleGaze: There's a shot focusing on Cybil's rear when she gets up on a step ladder to collect Michael's wallet from the crawlspace in her ceiling. In the music video played over the credits of the film, the first things we see of Cybil's character is her baring her underwear to a mirror (which is subsequently caught in the camera view) and pushing her bra up as she gets ready to go out.

* TheSociopath: Murphy, in spades. Aside from his HairTriggerTemper and TeamKiller attitude, he executes a shopkeeper who put up the mildest resistance to him, shot a money launderer and his secretary in cold blood, and has no problem gunning down plenty of security guards in the Riviera (as opposed to Michael, who shoots merely to stall or incapacitate the pursuing authorities).

* WouldHurtAChild: Towards the end of the film, Murphy has no qualms about taking [[spoiler:Jesse]] hostage.

* ChekhovsGun: The seemingly-irrelevant scene of the two scorpions fighting during the opening credits (one of which is crushed by Michael's car) comes back into play in the final confrontation between Michael and Murphy, when the latter places the surviving scorpion inside a bag seemingly filled with money, and uses it to trick the former.

* InformedAbility: Ice-T's character Hamilton shows up at the climax of the movie, introduced as some sort of badass mercenary/assassin. During the final shootout, he jumps in by spinning down from the ceiling upside down with [[GunsAkimbo dual]] [[MoreDakka P90's]]. This [[RuleOfCool looks cool]] and manages to kill a few of the attacking federal agents, but it ends up [[AwesomeButImpractical getting him killed for his trouble]]. Beyond his initial meeting, this is just about ''all he does in the movie''.

* SmokingIsCool: The two Federal Marshals trying to catch the casino robbers always light cigarettes after they walk out of a building. Except the sidekick Marshal is always having to fuss with his lighter before it lights. Finally, towards the end of the movie, the main cop (Quigley) lights his cigarette for him:
-->'''Federal Marshal Quigley:''' Either quit smoking or get a new lighter.