Tropescilloscope: Every Car Is a Pinto

Hollywood cars catch fire and/or explode when badly damaged. (read more at tvtropes.org)

Film Frequency (%) Film Frequency (#)

More Tropes Make It Look Like an Accident Recycled IN SPACE! Darkest Hour Pragmatic Adaptation An Arm and a Leg War Is Hell British Films My Greatest Failure Nice Job Fixing It, Villain! Red Herring Stylistic Suck Ripped from the Headlines Dull Surprise Abusive Parents Shipper on Deck Death of a Child Rule of Funny Genre Throwback Improbable Aiming Skills Rich Bitch No Name Given After the End All There in the Manual Naïve Newcomer Toilet Humour aka: Toilet Humor Grey and Gray Morality Meaningful Background Event Last-Name Basis Comically Missing the Point Department of Redundancy Department Earn Your Happy Ending Gratuitous English The Atoner Sci-Fi Horror Hypocrite Death Seeker Air-Vent Passageway Adorkable Chase Scene Token Minority Belligerent Sexual Tension Villain Protagonist Meaningful Name Break the Haughty Easily Forgiven Batman Gambit Monumental Damage Captain Ersatz Interrupted Suicide Vitriolic Best Buds Aluminum Christmas Trees Bland-Name Product Take That! Deliberately Monochrome Plucky Comic Relief Playing Gertrude Rule of Three Only in It for the Money Mistaken for Gay The Mafia Artistic License – Military Married to the Job Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds Arch-Enemy Screw This, I'm Outta Here! Naked People Are Funny Casting Gag Big Fancy House Bring My Brown Pants The Film of the Book The Alleged Car Revenge Gold Digger Paper-Thin Disguise Recap / RiffTrax aka: Riff Trax Movies Dogged Nice Guy Bottomless Magazines Suspiciously Specific Denial Cool Car Body Horror Mr. Exposition "The Reason You Suck" Speech Artistic License – Law Developing Doomed Characters Maybe Ever After Girl-on-Girl Is Hot Informed Ability Black Comedy Adaptation Dye-Job Novelization Drugs Are Bad Not Using the "Z" Word Up to Eleven Well-Intentioned Extremist It's All About Me Nice Job Breaking It, Hero! Enemy Mine Slasher Smile Hidden Depths Mexican Standoff Public Domain Feature Films Spanner in the Works Historical-Domain Character Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold Mood Whiplash Badass Longcoat The Bully Protagonist Title Ass Shove Bitch in Sheep's Clothing Canon Foreigner Genre Shift Hate Sink Did Not Get the Girl From Bad to Worse Why Don't You Just Shoot Him? Manipulative Bastard Taking You with Me All Men Are Perverts And Starring Funny Foreigner Even Evil Has Loved Ones Amusing Injuries Roger Ebert: Great Movies List Sequel Hook Fourth Date Marriage Brutal Honesty The Chessmaster Half the Man He Used to Be Whole Plot Reference A Father to His Men Death by Sex Russian Films Mystery and Detective Films Riddle for the Ages Villain Opening Scene Dirty Cop Totally Radical Motor Mouth The '80s Adaptation Name Change The Quiet One Beauty Is Never Tarnished Sinister Minister Abhorrent Admirer Our Vampires Are Different Same Language Dub Beware the Nice Ones Calling the Old Man Out The Smurfette Principle Christmas Movies Index The Dog Bites Back Award-Bait Song Punny Name Mighty Whitey Offscreen Teleportation Artistic License – Physics Toplessness from the Back Karmic Death Depraved Bisexual Cool Shades Knight Templar Smoking Is Cool Card-Carrying Villain Dark and Troubled Past Bloodier and Gorier Trailers Always Spoil Annoying Younger Sibling Bond Villain Stupidity Unwitting Instigator of Doom Action Film, Quiet Drama Scene Documentary Posthumous Character Scare Chord Sacrificial Lion Soft Glass Cold-Blooded Torture Ragtag Bunch of Misfits Screw the Money, I Have Rules! Evil Counterpart Anachronism Stew Eyepatch of Power Alas, Poor Villain Heroic BSoD How We Got Here Anti-Hero Back from the Dead 20 Minutes into the Future The Un-Reveal It's Personal Hooker with a Heart of Gold More Dakka Properly Paranoid Male Frontal Nudity Daylight Horror Re-Cut Market-Based Title Spared by the Adaptation Put on a Bus Despair Event Horizon Cloudcuckoolander Evil Laugh Dramatic Gun Cock He Who Fights Monsters Composite Character Self-Deprecation Villain Ball Moment Killer Death by Irony Drill Sergeant Nasty Humiliation Conga Armor-Piercing Question World of Ham Hero of Another Story Straight Gay Ambiguous Ending Auto Erotica The Musical Adult Fear Adaptation Distillation Off-into-the-Distance Ending Due to the Dead Black and Gray Morality Lampshade Hanging Humans Are Bastards Reasonable Authority Figure Bait-and-Switch Car Fu Villain with Good Publicity Defrosting Ice Queen Hypocritical Humor Running Gag Parental Substitute Once More, with Clarity! Big-Bad Ensemble It Can Think Spiteful Spit Continuity Nod Artistic License – History Sole Survivor Laser-Guided Karma Creator Cameo Product Placement The Lost Lenore Implacable Man Betty and Veronica Punch-Clock Villain Race Lift One Steve Limit Meet Cute Insistent Terminology Curb-Stomp Battle Shell-Shocked Veteran Crazy Jealous Guy Mind Screw Based on a True Story Affectionate Parody Animated Credits Opening Major Injury Underreaction Lock and Load Montage Logo Joke Film Noir Bunny-Ears Lawyer Actor Allusion Police are Useless '80s Hair Character Development Gone Horribly Right Heroic Sacrifice Serial Killer Dies Wide Open Good Is Not Nice Adaptational Badass The Cameo Non-Indicative Name Nice Guy Epic Fail Freudian Excuse Arranged Marriage Plot Hole Reality Has No Subtitles Death Glare Chekhov's Gunman Bond One-Liner Groin Attack Jerk Jock Call-Forward Horror Films Bilingual Bonus No Good Deed Goes Unpunished The Bad Guy Wins Early-Bird Cameo Faking the Dead Improbable Infant Survival aka: Infant Immortality The Stoner Fire-Forged Friends Fiery Redhead The Chick Idiot Ball Beta Couple Dual Wielding Works Set in World War II Mundane Made Awesome Bi the Way The '50s Determinator Cowboy Cop Combat Pragmatist Parental Incest Deal with the Devil Artistic License – Geography Bolivian Army Ending Extremely Short Timespan Slap-Slap-Kiss Killed Mid-Sentence The Casanova Italian Films Cool Guns Undying Loyalty Sexy Discretion Shot Morality Pet Cat Scare Chewing the Scenery Dramedy Slasher Movie Improvised Weapon Intrepid Reporter Credits Gag Would Hurt a Child Four-Temperament Ensemble Cain and Abel Stealth Pun Rule of Symbolism Scenery Gorn Call-Back Attempted Rape Loads and Loads of Characters Translation Convention Broken Bird Silence Is Golden Mooks Precision F-Strike Dropped a Bridge on Him A Minor Kidroduction The Vamp Big Eater Kill It with Fire Crapsack World Redemption Equals Death True Companions Film Noir Index No-Sell All for Nothing Blood Knight Room Full of Crazy Demonic Possession Shown Their Work I Have Your Wife Reality Is Unrealistic Slashed Throat Decoy Protagonist Eye Scream Coming-of-Age Story No Antagonist The Great Depression Very Loosely Based on a True Story The Ditz Central Theme Not So Above It All Arc Words "Awesome McCool" Name Unspoken Plan Guarantee Creative Closing Credits What Happened to the Mouse? Gainax Ending Karma Houdini Obstructive Bureaucrat Fun with Acronyms Eureka Moment Framing Device Ax-Crazy This Is Gonna Suck Black Dude Dies First One-Word Title Evil vs. Evil Hoist by His Own Petard Wretched Hive Not What It Looks Like Chuck Cunningham Syndrome Pretty Little Headshots The Stinger Together in Death Never Found the Body Hair-Trigger Temper Shirtless Scene And the Adventure Continues Artistic License – Biology Red Right Hand Tranquil Fury Dissonant Serenity Made of Explodium Love at First Sight Friend to All Children Pragmatic Villainy Vacation Films Mama Bear Evil Cannot Comprehend Good Instant Death Bullet Nothing Is Scarier Exact Words Refuge in Audacity Japanese Films The '60s Almost Kiss Bloodless Carnage Oh, Crap! Does This Remind You of Anything? Break the Cutie Tempting Fate Really Gets Around Evil-Detecting Dog Vomit Discretion Shot Sudden Sequel Death Syndrome Rape as Drama As You Know Dwindling Party Action Survivor Index of Film Westerns Hope Spot Heel Realization Villain Song Fat Bastard Laughing Mad Took a Level in Jerkass Kick the Son of a Bitch Ugly Guy, Hot Wife All Girls Want Bad Boys Historical In-Joke Bald of Evil Video Credits No-Holds-Barred Beatdown The Starscream Retirony Evil Brit I Just Shot Marvin in the Face Worthy Opponent Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right! Country Matters Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep" Made of Iron Action Genre Berserk Button Word of God Alpha Bitch Only Sane Man Ghost Fiction Big Damn Heroes Your Head A-Splode Brick Joke Greater-Scope Villain May–December Romance Adults Are Useless Facial Horror Dark Reprise Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy Dutch Angle Fan Disservice Anguished Declaration of Love Ooh, Me Accent's Slipping Antagonist Title Drowning My Sorrows Noodle Incident The Alcoholic Took a Level in Badass Deliberate Values Dissonance Didn't Think This Through Only a Flesh Wound Light Is Not Good Match Cut Colour-Coded for Your Convenience aka: Color Coded For Your Convenience Action Girl The Dreaded Serious Business Pimped-Out Dress Suspiciously Similar Substitute Faux Affably Evil MacGuffin Chekhov's Gun The Power of Love Suddenly SHOUTING! Let's Get Dangerous! The Ace Stepford Smiler Early Installment Weirdness Henpecked Husband Narrator Cluster F-Bomb Neck Lift Obfuscating Stupidity Sports Stories As the Good Book Says... Broken Aesop The Cavalry Lighter and Softer You Killed My Father Affably Evil folderlabel Author Avatar Heroes Want Redheads Expository Hairstyle Change Television Movie Index Too Dumb to Live Only One Name Disguised in Drag Animal Title Index Never My Fault Badass Boast The Smart Guy He Knows Too Much Badass in a Nice Suit Crazy-Prepared The '70s Driven to Suicide Spiritual Successor No OSHA Compliance Dressing as the Enemy Adaptational Attractiveness Military and Warfare Films Does Not Like Shoes Imagine Spot I Need a Freaking Drink Large Ham Your Cheating Heart Sir Not-Appearing-in-This-Trailer Tagline Hollywood Darkness Sir Swears-a-Lot Ungrateful Bastard She Cleans Up Nicely Big Brother Instinct The Big Guy Disappeared Dad Fanservice Extra Shoot the Shaggy Dog Pay Evil unto Evil Stalker with a Crush The X of Y Age Lift Breaking the Fourth Wall Distracted by the Sexy Blackmail Real Life Horror Doesn't Settle for Simple Tuesday Fainting Flipping the Bird Needs Wiki Magic Love Leitmotif Thriller Screw the Rules, I Have Money! Aside Glance Face Death with Dignity Crucified Hero Shot Storming the Castle Vomit Indiscretion Shot Film Series Politically Incorrect Villain Alliterative Name Sequel Escalation Training Montage Red Shirt Obviously Evil Truth in Television Shout-Out Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass Blood from the Mouth "Shaggy Dog" Story Eiffel Tower Effect Tap on the Head The '90s Famous Last Words Woman Scorned Missing Mom Kids Are Cruel Manic Pixie Dream Girl Loophole Abuse Chiaroscuro Broken Pedestal Failed a Spot Check Gilligan Cut Downer Ending Flashback Cool Old Guy Costume Porn Music Stories Fantasy Films I Want My Beloved to Be Happy Setting Update Sealed Evil in a Can Death by Adaptation Black Best Friend Smug Snake I Did What I Had to Do Immune to Bullets Rule of Cool Reality Ensues Agony of the Feet Honor Before Reason Guile Hero Jitter Cam Visual Pun BFG Author Appeal Grievous Bottley Harm The Place The Faceless Horror Comedy Line-of-Sight Name Covers Always Lie Dramatic Irony Psychological Thriller Malevolent Masked Men Hong Kong Films Ominous Latin Chanting Manchild Those Two Bad Guys Unreliable Narrator Red Eyes, Take Warning Overly Long Gag N-Word Privileges The Un-Favourite aka: The Un Favorite Establishing Character Moment Ambiguously Gay Freeze-Frame Bonus Black Comedy Rape Historical Hero Upgrade Bare Your Midriff Accidental Misnaming Random Events Plot You Have Got to Be Kidding Me! Not So Different Police Brutality Not So Stoic Pun aka: Incredibly Lame Pun French Films timeperiod Vampire Fiction Offscreen Moment of Awesome Handicapped Badass Closed Circle La Résistance Cool Old Lady Skewed Priorities Adapted Out Psycho for Hire Stock Footage Rasputinian Death Yandere Insane Troll Logic Mr. Fanservice Cat Fight Roaring Rampage of Revenge Would Hit a Girl Wounded Gazelle Gambit Names to Run Away from Really Fast Madness Mantra Book-Ends Drives Like Crazy Big Bad Stealth Hi/Bye Outrun the Fireball The Brute Pet the Dog Dirty Coward Twist Ending Jack Bauer Interrogation Technique Scary Black Man Bittersweet Ending Frame-Up Fantastic Racism Evil Is Petty Actually Pretty Funny Victoria's Secret Compartment Evil Is Hammy Destination Defenestration Have a Gay Old Time Gorn Meaningful Echo Parental Neglect Creepy Child Corpsing Neck Snap Blonde, Brunette, Redhead Pre-Asskicking One-Liner Red Oni, Blue Oni Apocalypse How Those Two Guys Soundtrack Dissonance Domestic Abuse Not Even Bothering with the Accent Exactly What It Says on the Tin Throwing Your Sword Always Works B-Movie Dumb Blonde Super Strength Evil Sounds Deep Bloody Hilarious Bad Boss Bavarian Fire Drill For Want of a Nail Mad Scientist Pretty in Mink Insult Backfire Captain Obvious One-Man Army O.O.C. Is Serious Business Daddy's Girl Unusual Euphemism Kick the Dog Male Gaze Scenery Porn Man on Fire Real Life Writes the Plot Only Known by Their Nickname Demoted to Extra Leave the Camera Running Better to Die than Be Killed Anachronic Order All Just a Dream In Medias Res Homage Improbable Weapon User Romantic False Lead Damsel in Distress Defiant to the End It Will Never Catch On The Voiceless Fate Worse than Death Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane "Where Are They Now?" Epilogue Accidental Murder The End... Or Is It? I'm a Humanitarian Badass Normal Boom, Headshot! Historical Villain Upgrade An Axe to Grind Rape Is a Special Kind of Evil Dark Action Girl Danny Peary Cult Movies List Big "NO!" Empathic Environment Asshole Victim Redshirt Army Kill 'em All You Have Failed Me Brainless Beauty An Aesop Genre Savvy No Celebrities Were Harmed What the Hell, Hero? The Hero Dies Be Careful What You Wish For Ship Tease Wicked Cultured Bowdlerise Epic Movie Guns Akimbo A Date with Rosie Palms Adaptation Expansion Anyone Can Die Ascended Extra Funny Background Event For the Evulz Poor Communication Kills Retired Badass The Mole Rousing Speech Fingore Gory Discretion Shot Time Skip Evil Plan Fatal Flaw Deconstruction Peek-a-Boo Corpse Getting Crap Past the Radar Hollywood Law Gender Flip Leaning on the Fourth Wall NO INDOOR VOICE The Dragon Knife Nut Bullying a Dragon Big Applesauce Foreshadowing Show Within a Show The Oner Cassandra Truth Bar Brawl Double-Meaning Title Cruel and Unusual Death Parental Abandonment A God Am I Off with His Head! Fanservice Race Against the Clock Babies Ever After Nice Hat Our Zombies Are Different Those Wacky Nazis Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking Villainous Breakdown Disproportionate Retribution Diabolus ex Machina Mercy Kill Even Evil Has Standards Beard of Evil Camp Gay Butt-Monkey Brother–Sister Incest Shower Scene Foregone Conclusion Title Drop What You Are in the Dark All There in the Script Dying Moment of Awesome Catapult Nightmare Adaptational Heroism Important Haircut As Himself No Ending The Load Unresolved Sexual Tension Deadpan Snarker Children Are Innocent Final Girl Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas Badass Grandpa Jerk with a Heart of Gold Corrupt Corporate Executive Australian Movies The Remake Small Name, Big Ego Fake Shemp Eldritch Abomination Disney Death Stuff Blowing Up Eagleland From Nobody to Nightmare Fatal Family Photo Rewatch Bonus Wham Shot My Beloved Smother Happily Married Expy Hero Antagonist Ambiguous Disorder Psychopathic Manchild Disney Villain Death Fish out of Water Sanity Slippage Never Trust a Trailer Romantic Comedy Mugging the Monster Adaptational Villainy Superhero Papa Wolf The Hero My God, What Have I Done? Deus ex Machina Jerkass Has a Point Becoming the Mask Badass Bookworm Science Fiction Films As Long as It Sounds Foreign She's Got Legs Aww, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other "Well Done, Son!" Guy Animal Motifs Star-Crossed Lovers Foil Older Than They Look Left the Background Music On Zombie Stories Everyone Has Standards Heterosexual Life-Partners Shut Up, Hannibal! Blatant Lies Ironic Echo Sadistic Choice Amoral Attorney Love Triangle Impaled with Extreme Prejudice Anti-Villain Jump Scare The Stoic Big Bad Duumvirate Face–Heel Turn Jerkass Unusually Uninteresting Sight Bury Your Gays Bound and Gagged Ms. Fanservice Pre-Mortem One-Liner And I Must Scream Bad "Bad Acting" Men Are the Expendable Gender Never Trust a Trailer aka: Trailers Always Lie Overprotective Dad Action Prologue Wham Line In Name Only Sassy Black Woman Conspicuous CG German Films Canadian Movies Woman in White The Sociopath Celebrity Paradox Sliding Scale of Idealism vs. Cynicism Here We Go Again! Take a Third Option Mythology Gag Heel–Face Turn A.I. Is a Crapshoot Why Did It Have to Be Snakes? Taking the Bullet Manly Tears Pyrrhic Victory Intergenerational Friendship Silent Movie Wrong Genre Savvy The Lancer Green-Eyed Monster Rated M for Manly Curse Cut Short Punctuated! For! Emphasis! Not Quite Dead Catch-Phrase Every Car Is a Pinto Authority Equals Asskicking Camera Abuse Dark Is Not Evil The Reveal Darker and Edgier Extreme Doormat Say My Name Retcon Biopic Spell My Name with an "S" Hell Is That Noise Double Entendre Advertised Extra Irony The Ghost Determinator aka: The Determinator Martial Arts Movie Get Out! Five-Man Band Dirty Old Man Femme Fatale Reckless Gun Usage Awesome, but Impractical Kubrick Stare Contrived Coincidence Artistic License – Gun Safety You Have Outlived Your Usefulness Chekhov's Skill There Is No Kill Like Overkill In the Back