The Immortals is a 1995 action thriller film produced by Elie Samaha, directed by Brian Grant, and starring Eric Roberts, Tia Carrere, Joe Pantoliano, Chris Rock, William Forsythe, Clarence Williams III and Tony Curtis.
Crooked nightclub owner Jack (Roberts) plots to take mob boss Dominic (Curtis) for millions. To do so, Jack assembles a mismatched group of eight strangers—all of them small time crooks—willing to participate in a complicated and dangerous series of heists. Jack teams them up in unusual pairs (black man and white racist; Ivy Leaguer and simpleton; woman and a sexist; and gay man and homophobe) and sends them out to commit a series of robberies at businesses owned by Dominic. They rendezvous at Jack's nightclub only to find that a double-cross awaits. During an extended standoff in a nightclub, the four pairs of would-be thieves find themselves locked in a bloody gunfight with an unfazed Dominic and his ruthless henchmen.
No connection to the fantasy series of the same name, or the 2011 fantasy film Immortals.
Tropes
- Blast Out: During the huge Mexican Standoff in the nightclub kitchen, everything hits the fan when an Innocent Bystander drops some plates. Most of the good guys somehow make it out alive (if wounded), even though everyone involved in the shootout were standing only a few feet away from each other.
- *Click* Hello: When Dominic and his henchmen have Jack and the others at gunpoint in the kitchen, Kerry sneaks up behind Dominic's group and cocks the hammer on his revolver: getting their attention and suddenly shifting the balance of power, leading to the massive Mexican Standoff.
- Delirious Misidentification: The mortally wounded Tim is tripping on acid and thinks the returning Billy is the Angel of Death and attempts to shoot him.
- Every Car Is a Pinto: Billy rams a police car off the road and it explodes into flame as it crashes through some garbage cans.
- Extremely Short Timespan: Takes place over a single night.
- Gangsta Style: Deke holds his revolver like this when threatening Gina. Justified because Deke, like most of the crew, knows nothing about guns and is a loudmouth fool who thinks he is 'ghetto', so he undoutedly thinks it looks cool.
- Guns Akimbo: Several of thieves wind up wielding a a gun in each hand during the running firefight through the nightclub. Most notable is Billy, who has a large revolver in each hand while staging a rear guard action for the rest of the crew.
- High-Voltage Death: In the tunnel between the nightclub and the hotel, Deke kills one of Dominic's goons by shooting a high-voltage electrical cable so it falls on him.
- It Works Better with Bullets: Pete reveals why he isn't scared when he and Jack have guns pointed at each others' heads:I counted the holes in the wall. There are six. That gun holds six bullets, and you haven't had time to reload.
- Men Are the Expendable Gender: The surviving male thieves work together to ensure that Gina, the sole woman on the crew, escapes by sending her out disguised as a hostage. That she is pregnant is a driving factor for them.
- Mexican Standoff: A huge one occurs. The leaders of two gangs direct about a dozen people each on who they should be covering, every one with Guns Akimbo. It all hits the fan when an Innocent Bystander drops some plates. Most of the good guys somehow make it out alive (if wounded), even though everyone involved in the shootout were standing only a few feet away from each other.
- Miles Gloriosus: Deke relates an account of his robbery which paints himself as badass action hero and Gina as a Damsel in Distress. The tale keeps growing as he tells it until he is taking down multiple gunmen and a kung fu master armed with nunchuks. None of the other thieves belive him, and the fuming Gina looks ready to shoot him.
- Mushroom Samba: The mortally-wounded Tim is left alone in the nightclub and takes some special tabs of acid he has been saving: presumably both to kill the pain and because this is probably his last opportunity. He starts tripping, and while doing so, thinks Billy is the Angel of Death and tries to shoot him.
- Nothing Up My Sleeve: During the Mexican Standoff, Dominic gloats to Jack that he is last man standing as he is the only one who does not have a gun pointed at him. Jack responds by flicking his arm and a sleeve rig pops a second gun into his off-hand, which he proceeds to point at Dominic's face.
- One Last Job: An interesting variation because while this is the crew's first job, it is also their last because each of them has a terminal illness. They are doing the job because they have nothing to lose and beacuse the money Jack promises them will either set their families up or let them do whatever they want in their last days.
- Only Known by Their Nickname: The hostage in the Egyptian costume is only referred to as 'Cleopatra', and is identified as such in the credits.
- Railing Kill: During the shootout in the nightclub, Billy shoots one of Dominic's men standing on the lighting platform who is about to shoot Gina, who topples over the railing and crashes to the floor.
- Reckless Gun Usage: While he and Billy are robbing the diner, George is sitting at the counter having a Seinfeldian Conversation about milkshake flavours and gesturing wildly with his revolver—causing the hostages to duck for cover every time the barrel sweeps past them—and occasionally banging it on the counter. Later in the same scene, Billy shoots himself in the leg.
- Robbing the Mob Bank: Jack tells his thieves that the cash they are stealing belongs to a shady real estate developer. It actually belongs to local mob boss Dominic.
- Second-Face Smoke: Tim blows smoke from his expensive cigar into Gina's face, apparently thinking this is an effective pick up technique.
- Self-Offense: When Billy arrive back at the nightclub late, Tim—who is tripping on acid—thinks he is the Angel of Death come for him and shoots him.
- The Smurfette Principle: Gina is the only woman among the eight thieves Jack recruits.
- The Snack Is More Interesting: During the Mexican Standoff in the kitchen where everyone in both gangs has at least one gun pointed at them, Jack is calmly eating a plate of salad.
- Sunglasses at Night: Billy wears a pair of sunglasses at all times, including while driving at night.
- Villain Protagonist: The protagonists are a mismatched crew of petty criminals assembled to pull off a one time big score by Robbing the Mob Bank.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: What happened to Deke's mother, who was last seen asleep in his car?
