Action Film, Quiet Drama Scene



What can make a great action film truly great? You might remember some exciting fight, spectacular pyrotechnics or awesome special effects, but they are not enough. Ironically, what really makes the difference is how well the film is at its quietest drama.

In this kind of scene, there are no expensive visuals or frenetic action, just usually two characters talking about what they believe in, what they care about or their deepest pain. In these scenes, the film artists are on their own to make them work without the technicians' help and that's where the talent must show through. This is not the same as the purely exposition scene in that there is something deeper displayed here.

In those scenes, you can understand the plot, grasp its theme, or develop a rapport with the characters to make the big scenes matter to you. If the crew can pull off such a scene well to complement the visuals, then the greatness of the film can be in the bag.

When it really works, it can produce a Crowning Moment of Heartwarming to make the action sequences all the more compelling because the quiet scenes have allowed you to emotionally invest in the characters and care about their fate.

When that happens, it beats big budget visuals any day.

When it doesn't work, Narm tends to follow. It also can result in a jarring case of Mood Whiplash.

Compare Stage Whisper, which is when a comedy film tries to do this, usually without success. Super-Trope of After-Action Patchup.

Anime and Manga

 * For all the crap Gundam SEED Destiny has leveled at it, there's a rather effective scene of this sort during episode 17 where Athrun Zala talks with Shinn about how those with power needs to know how to use it properly, otherwise they'll just be causing more of the grief that they themselves have suffered already.
 * In Volume 3 of Hellsing there is a simple scene where Walter and Alucard are watching Seras train the new recruits and they discuss (among other things) their previous battles against the Nazis, why Alucard made Seras a vampire, and how Walter is getting on in years. That scene highlights some of the story's themes (such as monsters controlled by humans and natural age versus immortality) as well as showing us Alucard's high regard for Seras; we also get to see the friendship between Walter and Alucard.
 * Two scenes in Cowboy Bebop: The Movie stand out: where main baddie Vincent reveals his tragic backstory to Faye (accompanied by his lovely little Leitmotif "Is it Real?"), and when Spike explains to Electra why he's chasing after Vincent: he feels that they share the same soul.
 * The series finale has one scene when Spike shares one last meal with Jet and has a conversation with Faye about how people ultimately can't run away from their past forever. This scene shows, despite all of their differences in the past, they are a Band of Brothers -- but Spike can't stay with them anymore.
 * Although Chrono Crusade is presented as a supernatural Shounen manga, many of its themes are centered on relationships between the characters, so these types of scenes happen frequently. One that stands out is Chrono and Rosette having a conversation during a carnival--it begins as a conversation of how beautiful the lights of the city are, but quickly becomes one where Chrono reveals just how attached he is to Rosette and how much she means to him.
 * The films of Mamoru Oshii, almost as a trademark, tend to trade off between flashy and bombastic action sequences and long, quiet stretches containing some combination of dialogue (usually of a heavily philosophical bent), striking imagery, and beautiful, ambient Kenji Kawai music. In fact, even though most of his films could be classified as "action films", the drama scenes often outnumber the action scenes, making them a controversial prospect for viewers who are more interested in action. A particularly notable example of this is the scene between Batou and his dog in Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence, which is set to melancholy smooth jazz with no dialogue and massive amounts of emotion, right in the middle of an otherwise dark, cold and violent film.
 * Neon Genesis Evangelion, being at least as much drama as action series, has many of these. Many of its iconic scenes are quiet and dramatic.
 * This is less so the case in Rebuild of Evangelion, which plays up the action elements to their greatest strengths as a film, but there are still quiet, poignant moments.

Fan Works

 * The fist half of Metal Gear Solid: Philanthropy includes three of these; the first is when Elizabeth Laeken is introduced. The second is the campfire scene where Vitalij tells Snake about the Fiend of Kalcabar, among other things. The third is right before everything hits the fan, where Snake and Pierre Le Clerc stare out a window at the battlefield and contemplate war.
 * Tiberium Wars has several of these scenes scattered throughout it, with one of the most poignant scenes being a discussion between GDI Commander Karrde and retired Colonel Parker, where they talk about the facelessness of mechanized and network-centric warfare. A similar scene happens between Nod Commander Rawne and his friend Captain Alvarez of the Black Hand, where the latter is dealing with the guilt of having to execute his own wounded to allow the rest of his troops to escape.

Film
"Pepper: Don't you...ever...ask me do do something like that, ever again.
 * The heartwarmingly peaceful scenes of The Shire in Fellowship of The Ring (especially in the Directors Cut), filled with laughter, friendship and happy children (what a warrior lays down his life to protect) is what makes us actually care whether or not Frodo and the Fellowship defeat Sauron or not.
 * The scene between Aragorn and Arwen on the bridge in the first film qualifies, as it introduces depth to Aragorn's character and reveals his backstory.
 * There are a lot of these scenes in the films - Gimli and Legolas discussing Galadriel, Sam's speech about good at the end of Two Towers, and Pippin and Faramir talking about strength are good examples - but the iconic moment representing this trope comes in the middle of the Battle of the Pelennor Fields in Return of the King. Pippin and Gandalf are waiting for the enemy to break down a door, and proceed to have a heartbreakingly beautiful conversation about life after death. Then the door breaks and they go right back to fighting.
 * The first X-Men 1 film: Wolverine talking to Rogue in the train to convince her that she can find a place at Xavier's school.
 * The third film has a similar scene, where Wolverine catches Rogue leaving to get the cure and tells her that if she's sure that's what she wants that she's doing it for the right reasons.
 * The conversation scenes in the classic film, The Seven Samurai such as when the Seven realize that the villagers are eating only scraps because of them and they decide to share their food with them.
 * Peter and Mary Jane talking at the hospital in Spider-Man.
 * Vader and Luke's verbal duel on Endor in Return of the Jedi. In that scene, Luke shows just how much he has matured in now he can fight with logic and rhetoric against his father with as much skill as with his lightsaber--the opposite of Vader taunting him to break his spirit in their last battle.
 * And in Episode III, Anakin and Palpatine at the opera.
 * Gladiator has many, especially scenes between Marcus Aurelius and Maximus, Proximo and Maximus, Lucilla and Maximus, and Juba and Maximus.
 * Auric Goldfinger's discussion to James Bond about his Evil Plan to contaminate Fort Knox in Goldfinger that turns the cliche of robbing the fort from a ridiculous cliche into a truly ingenious scheme by a master Big Bad.
 * Jaws: the family dinner scene and the sequence that includes Quint's Indianapolis speech. Though the latter is scary as hell.
 * The scene in the Jurassic Park film in which Laura Dern and Richard Attenborough eat melting ice cream and discuss the flea circus provides a counterpoint (missing in the novel) of sympathy for Attenborough's character and what he'd hoped to achieve, in contrast to the Science Is Bad message.
 * The book had something similar, but Hammond was being a jerkass and bragging about his flea circus to his surviving doctor, Wu.
 * Another was Grant and the kids bedding down in a tree, with Grant promising to stay awake and watch for dinosaurs.
 * Joker's interrogation scene in The Dark Knight.
 * The same movie, Joker again, this time in the hospital.
 * And Alfred telling about his military past in Burma.
 * In The Three Amigos there's The Pre-Fight Speech at the village trying to get the villagers to rally together to defeat the bad guy.
 * Actually listening to the speech in question reveals that it's pretty light on drama, however.
 * Kingdom of Heaven, especially the director's cut, has many, especially one-on-one scenes between Balian and, variously, Godfrey, the Hospitaller, King Baldwin, Sybilla, and Imad.
 * One of the main reasons Speed Racer avoided the acting problems of other films with chroma-keyed backgrounds is that there are a great deal of scenes where the actors are just talking to each other. These are some pretty damn good scenes, only slightly overshadowed because of the action ones.
 * The talking scenes in Speed Racer almost end up being action scenes though because of the bizarre way they overlapped scenes constantly.
 * Who really thought the Wachowski bros. would make a movie without demonstrating spectacular new ways to use cameras?
 * The 2008 Iron Man film had several of these, mostly with Tony and Pepper. One strong example is after she helps him replace his chest piece, nearly killing him in the process:

Tony: I don't have anyone but you."

"Alexa Woods: There's no room for sick men on this expedition.
 * In Bruges was mostly made of these, made all the more effective by a combination of Brendan Gleeson's mad acting skills and Colin Farrell's eyebrows. There was only one scene that could genuinely be called an "action scene."
 * Lots of it in Quantum of Solace. James Bond and Mathis, the two at the bar, Camille talking about her past, and Bond getting his eponymous quantum of solace at the end of the movie are all arguably more significant than the action that goes in between them.
 * Every Star Trek movie has one of these -- usually some pondering on the nature of humanity. One example is the conversation between Picard and Shinzon in Nemesis before he shows his true colours as an Evil Counterpart -- but which also shows Shinzon's yearning for a different life, represented by the man he was cloned from.
 * In the newest film, most of Spock's childhood (besides the schoolyard scuffle) is an extended quiet drama scene. So too Spock and Uhura's meeting in the elevator after, and Spock and Sarek's scenes together. Also, "James T. Kirk...I have been and always shall be, your friend."
 * Kung Fu Panda has the nighttime stairs argument between Po and Shifu. In that moving Tear Jerker scene, we learn that whatever disdain his heroes have for Po, it is positively kind compared to how much the panda feels he is a fat failure. Thus, Shifu realizes that he must somehow have his new student not only learn martial arts, but also gain some self esteem.
 * Kung Fu Panda 2 has two major such scenes: the nighttime boat scene that shows how close as friends Po and Tigress have become and Po and the Soothsayer
 * In The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Allan Quatermain and Tom Sawyer attempt to have one of these on the deck of the ship, where Quatermain tells Sawyer about his son's death.
 * There's one in a deleted scene, where Dr. Jekyll tells Captain Nemo about the horrible things that Mr. Hyde has done, and how he is cursed to remember all of it. Captain Nemo replies that his curse is that he must remember all of the terrible things he has done himself.
 * Right before the swordfight scene in The Princess Bride, Inigo Montoya has this sort of moment with the Man in Black, talking about his father's murder. The result is that both characters are shown to be merely surface villains and are actually quite likable fellows; in fact, neither of them is a villain at all. It helps the dramatic impact of their talk that it's followed by one of the best cinematic swordfights ever, during which they maintain the chatty, lighthearted tone they had been using before the big dramatic moment - compare their conversation before "I swear on the soul of my father... you will reach the top alive", and during the first few moments of the duel, and the tone is exactly the same.
 * The Hunt for Red October has quite a few of these. While it's tense summer action thriller, it has countless scenes of characters just TALKING, and much of the tension and the drama comes from these conversations.
 * Terminator 2 has several. notably the brief layover at the Mexican farm where Sarah ponders the nature of The Terminator, and how much of a father figure he has become to John. Also the "why do you cry?" scene happens here.
 * Terminator 3 deliberately tries to invoke this trope (as stated by Director Johnathan Mostow in the DVD commentary) during the reminiscing scene between John Connor and Kate Brewster in the back of the vet truck.
 * The first Terminator film has Sarah and Kyle Reese making love to a piano version of the theme.
 * In homage to that, Terminator Salvation has Marcus and Blair by the fire. The scene where Blair washes herself topless as Marcus looks on was cut from the theatrical released, but reinstated into the special edition Blu Ray disc.
 * John McClane's "That Guy" speech in Die Hard 4
 * Powell's "I shot a kid" speech from the first Die Hard.
 * McClane's "if I don't make it out alive" speech whilst he is picking glass out of his feet.
 * Battle Royale, believe it or not. Amid the scenes of carnage and middle school kids gunning or hacking each other down, there are plentiful flashbacks (in all three adaptations) to their childhood and school life; in Shuya, Noriko, Shinji, Sugimura, and Kawada's cases, these tend to be moments of quiet introspection and surprisingly deep development. Then The Movie provides scenes such as the heart-to-heart at the clinic, with wonderful performances from the real school-age actors.
 * One of Deep Impact's most powerful scenes (amid many) has aging pilot "Fish" Tanner consoling the recently-blinded Oren after their mission's failure, and then reading Moby Dick to him. But then, Robert Duvall has a knack for quiet drama scenes even in the most outrageous action movies.
 * Robert De Niro's bank robber and Al Pacino's cop meet over coffee in Heat.
 * There are many scenes like this which is one of the reasons it's loved so much.
 * Through The Bourne Series Bourne has several of these, with Marie, Irena Neski and Nicky Parsons respectively. Also, the scene with Professor in the field.
 * There are two highlights in Independence Day: One, Monumental Damage; Two, Will Smith cursing an unconscious alien as he drags it across the desert. A review said that the second would remain enjoyable even after the explosive effects were old hat.
 * Subverted in The Hurt Locker, where one of these scenes is a gunfight. The "quiet" and "drama" parts happen because it's a sniper duel played with more realism than is usually done.
 * Inglourious Basterds has an awful lot of these.
 * In fact, Inglourious Basterds could be said to instead have Quiet Film Action Scenes.
 * And at that, it's very surprising that it's lasted this long for ANY Quentin Tarantino film to have been mentioned here. Surely, everything that he's ever written and/or directed is substantial dialogue mixed with a few bits of hard action, which makes the movies qualify for action films. The most action was seen in Kill Bill (part one) and From Dusk till Dawn, the rest of his films were 25% action at most.
 * Ripley putting Newt to bed in Aliens.
 * In the first Alien vs. Predator this quite effective exchange:

Charles Bishop Weyland: My doctors tell me the worst is behind me.

Lex: You're not a very good liar, Mr. Weyland. Stay on the ship. We'll update you at the top of every hour.

Weyland: You know, when you get sick, you think about your life and how you're going to be remembered. You know what I realized would happen when I go? A ten percent fall in share prices. Maybe twelve. And that's it.

Lex: I've heard this speech before. My dad broke his leg seven hundred feet from the summit of Mount Ranier. He was like you. He wouldn't go back or let us stop. We reached the top and he opened a bottle of champagne. I had my first drink with my dad at 14,400 feet. On the way down, he developed a blood clot in his leg that traveled to his lung. He suffered for four hours before dying twenty minutes from the base.

Weyland: You think that's the last thing your dad remembers? The pain? Or drinking champagne with his daughter fourteen thousand feet in the air? I need this."


 * Gangs of New York has a scene featuring Bill the Butcher sitting in a rocking chair and... talking about his life, his background and his history with Priest Vallon. It's several minutes worth of screen time with camera focusing exclusively on Daniel Day-Lewis. And it's awesome.
 * The Incredibles. Nearly every moment where something isn't blowing up is an example. In particular, the confession right before the final fight is very powerful.
 * The Outlaw Josey Wales has several, most notably Josey's final confrontation with his nemesis. A runner up would be Chief Dan George's "hard candy" speech.
 * The Good, the Bad and the Ugly . In particular for Tuco and Bondie, the formers discussion with his brother who is a monk and Blondie's comforting of a dying soldier.
 * The Expendables : Especially notable for a movie which is almost self-aware in it's homage to brainless gunplay, big explosions, and macho muscled supermen, Tool (Mickey Rourke) has a scene  Many Manly Tears were shed.
 * In RoboCop After Robo's fight with ED-209 and the Detroit police, Lewis takes him to an abandoned steel plant to hide. Robo takes off his helmet to see his human face again. That of deceased officer Alex Murphy. Lewis tells him what happened to Murphy's wife and son after he "died".
 * A few scenes in Conan the Barbarian count for this - see any time Conan and Subotai have a discussion. In fact, John Milius is so fond of monologues, any scene that isn't action will be a Quiet Drama Scene.
 * The scene between Conan and Valeria in bed, trying to talk him out of his Roaring Rampage of Revenge, veers close to Narm, but still manages to be a serious Tear Jerker.
 * In the director's cut, there is a scene set before the final battle where the heroes know that their odds of surviving are not good. Conan offers Subotai the chance to leave, and Subotai decides to stand by his friend. Crowning Moment of Heartwarming right there.
 * The end of First Blood where Rambo breaks down at the end and remembers his friends in Vietnam who are now all gone. In Rambo: First Blood Part II, the scene with Rambo and Co on the boat where he tells her he's "expendable". There are several in Rambo IV between Rambo and Sarah, most notably her pointing out "Maybe you're right, maybe we won't change anything. But trying to save a life isn't wasting your life." Unfortunately, many of these were cut.
 * Battle: Los Angeles has several really well-done scenes, such as the scene in the police station after  and Nantz's speech while the Marines are at the FOB where he lays out how he feels about the deaths of his men on his last deployment.
 * The Avengers has a couple of these, most notably Nick Fury talking to the team in the Helicarrier, using to give them a "push"and make them pull together.

Live Action TV

 * Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Several moments spring to mind, especially those directed personally by Joss Whedon himself. The most obvious example would be at the end of the episode "Hush", in which Buffy and Riley tell each other "We have to talk.", and it is immediately followed by a long uncomfortable silence. When you remember that earlier in the same episode, the two of them had no problems in expressing their feelings to each other or fighting side by side, both with their voices muted by magic, the final scene packs quite a punch since they've gotten their voices back, but neither of them can think of anything to say.
 * The rightly-praised "The Body" is pretty much all quiet drama scene, such that the single action scene near the end seems really tacked on.
 * Whedon admits that the action scene in "The Body" was out of place, but he wanted to provide the audience with some action because he knew that particular arc of stories would be fairly lacking in that department.
 * On the other hand, one could say the fight scene served the same purpose as a Quiet Drama Scene -- bringing Buffy (and the audience) back to "reality," which in Bt VS, means fighting Sunnydale's endless supply of random vampires who don't care whether or not your mother just died.
 * Deadwood practically lived on this trope. Granted, it was a western drama series and not an action show, but still. It was the quiet scenes that were the best in the the series' entire run. Noteworthy examples include the last scene of the season one finale, which ends with the Crowning Moment of Heartwarming where Doc is dancing with Jewel; Alma's walk to the bank after getting shot at definitely counts as this, and there were several episodes that started off with extremely quiet but memorable scenes, the best of which was arguably in the penultimate episode of season three, "The Catbird Seat", in which there is a ten-minute-long, almost completely quiet sequence that takes place in the dark hours of morning, which captures the eerie silence of that hour with remarkable precision.
 * Battlestar Galactica. Helo and Starbuck in her apartment on Caprica as her father's music plays, in the otherwise action-packed episode "Valley of Darkness". Also Starbuck and Apollo talking on the flight deck before in "Maelstrom".
 * Doctor Who had quite a few of these back in the day. One that comes to mind is in "Tomb of the Cybermen", when the Doctor is discussing grief and how life goes on with Victoria.
 * The new series has its share as well, though the format change from multi-part serials to fifty-minute one (occasionally two)-episode stories leaves less room for them. Still, a few episodes that use these very well and spring to mind quickly include "Father's Day", "Waters of Mars", "Human Nature"/"Family of Blood", and "Vincent and the Doctor".
 * Firefly, being the character driven show that it is, has quite a few, usually involving River and Simon. A good, unexpected one was in Jaynestown. The episode itself was mostly comedic/actiony, but it ended with the normally comedic character Jayne trying to process the fanboy that sacrificed himself for Jayne.

Literature

 * In John C. Wright's Chronicles of Chaos, a bunch of people sitting around a table talking both reveals the players and sets the stakes for the series' action.
 * Gaunts Ghosts has quite a lot of these.
 * Pretty much the Modus Operandi of All Quiet on the Western Front.
 * Cemetary Dance has a number of these kind of moments.
 * The Hunger Games has some very powerful examples.

Theater

 * The Shadow Play scene in Cirque Du Soleil's KA, in which the Court Jester comforts the Twin Brother by teaching him shadow puppetry -- which, due to how the scene is lit, can be seen by the whole audience. Read a rave review of this Scenery Porn-heavy, intelligible-dialogue-free show, and it's likely the critic will mention this scene as a standout.

Video Games

 * The Metal Gear Solid series is full of these, often between Snake and the member of the Quirky Miniboss Squad he just beat. He also has them with Otacon and Meryl at various points in the series.
 * In Snake Eater, Big Boss and EVA behind the waterfall, "It's alright Snake. From now on, I'll be your eyes."
 * Pretty much a staple of RPGs that don't have Heroic Mime characters and are therefore more expressive. Inevitably, there will be a scene that solidifies heroic resolve and conveys to the player the sense that things must be seen through to the end.
 * For example, Final Fantasy X has at least three:
 * At least twice in Final Fantasy XII: first, in Jahara, the Garif settlement, where the Chieftain explains to Ashe the exact nature of Nethicite and the power it wields, prompting her to rethink her entire motivation. Later, in the endgame, the party has successfully infiltrated Sky Fortress Bahamut and takes a minute to reflect upon the journey they've all t(aken together, and what they hope will result from the Final Battle that is about to ensue.
 * Happens a few times during Final Fantasy XIII. Mainly between Lightning/Hope and Sazh/Vanille.
 * Mass Effect 2 has a big one during the personal mission for Mordin Solus - he's a brilliant scientist who did something of debatable necessity and even more debatable morality, and his personal mission revisits the ghosts of his work. In particular, finding a dead woman who volunteered to be experimented on in hopes of reversing what Solus did triggers a very quiet, very powerful scene as Solus grapples with the consequences of what he did versus how necessary (or, more importantly, perhaps unnecessary) it was. However, if Shepard is Renegade, you can simply agree with Mordin as he makes his initial statement about the situation and then the game moves on. Only Paragon Shepard gets the cool scene.
 * The loyalty missions cover the gamut from Solus's guilt, to Miranda's love for her sister, Jacob's fury at discovering what his father did, Jack's realization of what really happened to her when she escaped, the pure heart-wrenching sorrow of Tali standing over her father (and depending on how the player does it, the moral outrage he/she lets loose on the Quarian leaders defending Tali, Kasumi's personal loss...really Mass Effect 2 is full of these, all done very well.
 * The original Mass Effect had a few, usually post-operation meetings with your crew and the Council. The most memorable Quiet Drama Scene, though, has to be Vigil's - it's sandwiched between the Ilos surface fight and The Very Definitely Final Dungeon, and is (baring an optional chat with the Citadel VI) the last dialogue before fighting Saren, as well as finally explaining the whole truth of the backstory. Plus it has quiet but undeniably epic music throughout the whole scene.
 * Modern Warfare:
 * When . It's almost silent, there's no shooting, he can barely even move, you crawl out of a chopper, limp 5 feet
 * Modern Warfare 2 has the cutscene between "Enemy of My Enemy" and "Just Like Old Times", where Captain Price goes into a quiet, dark, and very personal World of Cardboard Speech about hopelessness, madness, and the singularity of purpose of the upcoming mission to.
 * Modern Warfare 3 has the final cutscene right before "Dust To Dust" where  have their final conversation before the shooting begins.
 * Every time your party rests at camp in Dragon Age: Origins. Some of the more personal and character developing conversations with your party members only occur in camp, and resting in camp is a nice break from the struggles of your quest.
 * Also, both Origins and Dragon Age II give you long quiet break just before the final battle to talk with your Companions and give them the last chance to say what they always wanted to say. Needless to mention, pretty much everything said during those scenes is either a Tear Jerker, a Crowning Moment of Heartwarming, or both.
 * Valkyrie Profile: Silmeria has plenty as well. About half-way through most of the storyline-centric dungeons, and occasionally on leaving a town, you'll get a scene of the party stopping to rest and talk, which highlights their Character Development.
 * Ace Combat 5 The Unsung War has an optional quiet scene (likewise optionally interrupted by a Bonus Boss) in the final mission. If you defeat the Final Boss squadron before the timer runs out, you will be treated to a brief, almost poetic dialogue between your three wingmen, then to their respective thoughts at that moment (in order: ). Then the real final battle begins.
 * Tales of Symphonia makes use of this before any of the major boss battles, giving you a bit of free roam to talk to each character in your party to get a few words of their feelings, their resolve, and exchange pep talks, all of which gets you very emotionally tied with the characters. A notable one is right before the almost-final dungeon Lloyd and co. stops at an inn to rest up before the big battle. At this time whichever character you had the best relationship with knocks on your door, and you can have a scene with them that gets pretty heart-felt.

Western Animation

 * Justice League Unlimited has the most potent distillation of this trope you'll ever see. In the middle of fighting Wonder Woman, Hawkgirl nearly hits a prone Vixen with her mace; there's a complete stop in the music and fighting while the two just look at each other. Aside from that instance, the series has many good scenes along those lines; "Epilogue" is practically nothing but.
 * Don't forget the what Wonder Woman was going to do to Toymaker after he, and how Flash calmed her down.
 * Hawkgirl gets another when she walks in on Batman, who she knows had earlier been on a time-travel trip to the future, and asks him to tell her about her (as yet not even close to being conceived) son. The episode ends at that point but the question is asked with such heartfelt pleading that you know he couldn't refuse her request.
 * Come to think of it, she probably gets most of them. Her calming the monstrous Grundy before she's forced to kill him, followed immediately by her acceptance of the crowd's accusation that she was a traitor to her team. Her interactions with a still distrusting Wonder Woman when the two have to go free Hades. Her scene with Alfred after the Thanagarian invasion...
 * Johnny Test lampshades this tropes in one episode when he and Dukey enter an action movie and Johnny wonders what going on when the film jumps from an chase scene to motel room.
 * Takanuva has one in Bionicle: The Mask of Light as he comes to terms with Jaller's death before going on to face the Big Bad.
 * The treehouse scene in Kim Possible: So The Drama.
 * Quite a few moments in Avatar: The Last Airbender. The show's action sequences are stunningly fantastic, but it's the quiet, emotional scenes (usually before said fantastic action scenes) that really make the show great. One notable example is the scene between Iroh and Zuko in "The Siege of the North," where Iroh gives Zuko some last-minute advice and tells him that he thinks of him as his own son, right before Zuko ninjas into the Northern Water Tribe to capture Aang.

Webcomics

 * After all the butt-kicking in the "Dangerous Days" arc of Sluggy Freelance, it ends with one of the more understated dramatic moments in the series.
 * One Xkcd strip proposes a true action film wouldn't have any of these. "Thirty seconds of exposition followed a perfect 90-minute action scene".