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{{trope}}
{{quote|''"The widespread adoption of mobile phones must be one of the worst things to ever happen to horror movies, since now ''every'' movie now has to include a bullshit explanation for why they can't use their phone, like losing their battery or their signal. It's become a laughable cliche."''|'''Mathew''', ''[[
With the advent of the computer age, writers still don't quite know how to work [[Cell Phone|Cell Phones]] into a story. It used to be all you had to do for a survival adventure story was plop a bunch of people away from electricity to completely strand them at the mercy of wild animals''/''[[Ax Crazy|serial killers]]''/''zombies -- but cell phones are making that [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yH2B9F-GPm0 harder and harder for writers to do believably]. Even in comedy situations, there are some plotlines (such as [[Locked in
Note that, during widespread disasters such as the London bombings or 9/11, cell networks often fail, for several reasons: Overload due to everyone trying to reach each other, cell towers being damaged, and civilian phones being locked out to let emergency personnel have all the capacity. However, in many situations where this trope takes place, the problem is far more localized; being lost in the werewolf-infested woods isn't a national emergency.
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== Anime & Manga ==
* [[Lampshade Hanging|Lampshaded]] in ''[[
{{quote| '''Yuuichi:''' Kanzaki-senpai!!! ''(draws out cell phone)'' Cell phones won't work either? Seriously?}}
* ''[[Final Fantasy VII]]: Advent Children'' uses phones as a metaphor for emotional contact. The result of this is that Cloud and Vincent's reluctance to use phones (Cloud only uses his voicemail, and Vincent doesn't own one at all) is a symbol of their inability to integrate themselves into normal life, and so when Cloud refuses to call for back-up it's all right, because it's all a metaphor. Tifa lectures Cloud about how not getting rid of his cell phone shows he still cares about people deep down, and Vincent later announcing his surprise arrival to help the heroes out after all with the line "[[Anvilicious|where can I buy a phone]]?" At the end, Vincent buys a phone and Cloud starts using his again properly.
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** Also, the funniest moment in the entire film: after a long fight, Tifa defeats Loz, and the ''[[Final Fantasy]]'' victory music is faintly heard. [[Theme Tune Cameo|It's Loz's]] ''[[Theme Tune Cameo|ringtone]]''!
* Cell phones are only used ''once'' in ''[[Shakugan no Shana]] II'', by an odd pair of villains, with the normal-looking one trying to coordinate activities over it and complaining about the terrible signal, only to find out the the problem was that his partner had turned its phone off. (Well, can't expect a ''centipede with a flaming skull on top'' to have much appreciation for modern technology, anyway.) The good guys use spell charms to communicate, but the one dangerous occasion where everyone thinks to carry one before hand, they all get disabled in their enemy's first attack.
* In ''[[
* It seems ''[[Higurashi no Naku Koro
** However, one arc of ''[[Higurashi no Naku Koro
** Likewise, its [[Spiritual Sequel]], ''[[Umineko no Naku Koro
* Subverted in ''[[Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service]]''. {{spoiler|A villain had been hibernating for 20 years to run out the statute of limitations on a crime. When the heroes found out, he locks them in his hibernation vault. The fact that he hadn't considered their cell phones is taken as evidence that he really was 20 years out of touch.}}
* No one in ''[[
* ''[[Sayonara, Zetsubou
* Cell phones often aren't mentioned in ''[[Ghost in
** However, one episode does show that Section 9 is capable of jamming at least civilian model phones on short notice.
* In ''[[Detective Conan]]'' there are numerous times where a cellphone doesn't work right as the characters found out they were locked in a creepy old house with a psycho killer.
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== [[Fan Works]] ==
* The author of the [[Glee]] [[Slash Fic]] [http://www.fanfiction.net/s/6856144/4/Clouds_Between_Their_Knees Clouds Between Their Knees], in which Kurt and Dave Karofsky are lost in the woods after a plane crash, actually asks the reader to [[Willing Suspension of Disbelief|ignore]] the fact that Kurt would probably be able to use his phone to at least find out where they are.
* In ''[[
** The first phone call from a truly portable handset (still the size of a brick, though) to the general phone network was made on [[Older Than They Think|April 3, 1973]], by Motorola's Martin Cooper, and by 1979 the world's first mobile network appeared in Japan, though initially only around Tokyo. So it's possible that by 1983 it reached Hinamizawa (the nationwide coverage was achieved in 1984), but it's still unlikely that modern phones (most of which are 2G systems like GSM) would work on this 1G system.
== Films -- Live Action ==
* Inverted beautifully in ''[[Phone Booth (
* On a press tour, when Robert Zemeckis, the director of ''[[Cast Away]]'', was asked what was in the parcel that Tom Hanks delivers at the end, he said it was a fully charged, activated and ready-to-use satellite phone. (He might have been just a bit tired of answering that question.) Hanks reportedly did a double-take and stared at Zemeckis for a really long time.
** A FedEx [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=alSQpinagp0commercial spoofing] the (longer FedEx commercial that was the) film revealed [[We Could Have Avoided All This|the package contained a satellite phone, as well as a GPS locator, fishing rod, water purifier and some seeds]].
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* ''[[Erin Brockovich]]''. Whilst in a late-night diner Erin comes across a rather creepy man who seems to be making overtures, though it turns out he has access to crucial documents that could help the case. When Erin steps out to her car to call her boss for advice she finds her cellphone isn't working, so she makes a rush for a nearby payphone instead.
* The trope explanation above links to a montage illustrating just how [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XIZVcRccCx0 fickle, fragile, and generally unreliable] cell phones are on the silver screen, particularly in horror movies.
* Realistically treated in ''[[The Host (
* In ''[[Panic Room]]'', the heroine and her daughter are trapped in the panic room while the house is being robbed. They immediately go for the land line, only to remember that she never hooked it up, thinking it was unnecessary. In a suspenseful trip outside the room, she manages to get a cellphone, only to find there's no reception in the steel-plated walls.
* In ''Shrooms'', a bunch of teenagers go into the wilderness to eat shrooms and do wacky teen stuff. Then people start dying and they want to call the cops. And all of a sudden all their phones are missing. {{spoiler|Turns out the killer hid all of them right before starting the killing spree.}}
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'''Josh:''' Because Papa Nichols threw Eric's against the wall and broke it, and Craig's mother thinks cell phones cause ear sores!<br />
'''Drake:''' Craig ''does'' get a lot of ear sores... }}
* In an episode of ''Terminator: [[The Sarah Connor Chronicles]]'', Sarah tries to track a truck by using John's cell phone as a beacon. This works perfectly until the truck hits a bump, and the phone breaks irreparably after '''[[Death
* On ''[[The X-Files]]'', Mulder and Scully often drive significant distances to speak in person rather than using their cell phones even when phoning would be perfectly safe.
** Of course, living in a [[Crapsack World]] run by a [[Government Conspiracy|shadow government]] with alien technology and no accountability, Mulder really is ''completely'' justified in being paranoid enough to doubt that the person who answers when he calls Scully is, in fact, Scully if he can't see her face. Heck, there are episodes where he'd be advised to doubt it's Scully when he ''can'' see her face. For that matter, is it ''ever'' "perfectly safe" to use a phone to discuss a government conspiracy when elements of the FBI, NSA, and CIA are actively trying to monitor and/or block your investigation?
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** Also, the Island '' {{spoiler|travels through time}}'', which can't be good for reception.
* An episode of ''[[The Dead Zone]]'' had the main character lost in the woods somewhere; he tried calling for help on his cell phone, but its [[Viewer-Friendly Interface|display showed]] "NO SIGNAL".
* [[Get Smart
* LexCorp tracks down the Justice League by using their cell phones as GPS locators in ''[[Smallville]]''. Apparently they all carry their phones around all the time, which in Aquaman's case, doesn't make a whole lot of sense.
* [[
{{quote| '''Angel:''' These things were definitely cooked up by a bored warlock.}}
* A very silly plotline on ''[[Studio 60 On the Sunset Strip]]'' called for Danny and Jordan to get locked on the studio's roof so that they'd be forced to discuss their relationship. [[Aaron Sorkin]] does find it within himself to pay lip service to the idea that they could just call someone to unlock the door... by having them wander around holding their phones aloft, complaining that they can't get a signal. On a roof. In the middle of L.A. For no reason.
* ''[[
* ''[[Burn Notice]]'' loves this, though it's good about [[Justified Trope|justifying]] it; anyone meant to be incommunicado will have their cell phone jammed, taken away, or secretly sabotaged. The villains are usually portrayed as pretty [[Genre Savvy]] about this as well, further justifying the trope.
* In the ''[[
* Once the murders start in ''[[Harpers Island|Harper's Island]]'', both the [[Cut Phone Lines|landlines]] and cell phones all stop working. In the associated web series ''Harper's Globe'', we find that the internet isn't working properly either.
* An episode of ''[[
* In ''[[Smallville]],'' Lois' phone runs out of batteries when something nasty is going down and she needs to make a call. She even says "Really?!" when it happens, as if disbelieving that such a cliche could happen to her.
* [[Invoked Trope|Invoked]] in ''[[Psych]]''. [[Complete Monster|Mr. Yang]] leaves a cell phone for Shawn as a clue. Shawn promptly throws it into a river {{spoiler|to change the rules of Mr. Yang's game.}}
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== Literature ==
* This concept is explored [http://www.mcsweeneys.net/2006/10/6norvig.html here]; basically, [[Romeo and Juliet]] would have had a much happier ending if the two of them had had cell phones.
* In the ''[[Twilight (
* [[Ciaphas Cain]], '''HERO OF THE IMPERIUM!''', deals with this problem on a regular basis. However, it's justified: due to his origin <ref>A hive world, aka an extremely overcrowded planet</ref> he is very competent at orientation in closed spaces and thus constantly gets assigned to missions that deal with such spaces. Such as tunnels or caves. Which are, you know, underground, so it's hard to keep contact. In ''For the Emperor'', for example, it was a major plot point, since he managed to find out the true reason behind the conflict and must find his way to the surface as soon as possible to prevent a large-scale war, since he can't just tell that over the radio.
* In ''[[
** The other demons don't understand. Crowley figures that spreading low-level frustration to thousands of people on a regular basis is much more efficient in the corruption of souls than the one-on-one approach -- a thousand grouchy people spread a lot more misery around than one awful person.
* Justified example in ''[[The Dresden Files]]'': magic [[Walking Techbane|screws up advanced technology like computers and cell phones]], thus ruining cell phone reception whenever a wizard is around. The effect worsens exponentially when when a wizard (or other magic user) is actively casting magic, and that's not even taking into account "hexing", which is a direct magical attack with the intent of destroying technology. Dresden himself compares cell phones to a canary in a coal mine or "[[Red Shirt|those guys in the red shirts on Star Trek]]" because they die the instant trouble hits.
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== Video Games ==
* Cell phones in ''[[
* When the blackout hits in ''[[
** And in the sequel, JP's are in control of the only still-working phone network, eventually allowing the protagonists to communicate with each other once they join.But when trying to save people from their Death Clip fate, there is always one reason or another to prevent them from contacting each other:
*** When saving Daichi, the hero and Io haven't joined JP's yet.
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== Web Comics ==
* Justified in the ''[[
{{quote| '''Tryka:''' What's it roaming for? Shouldn't it stay here?<br />
'''Reakk:''' ''Bad phone!'' }}
** Justified again in the "bROKEN" story, when the Fate Spider's Apprentice intentionally makes Torg forget to charge his cell phone, forcing him to leave it off when communication would have been vitally important.
* In ''[[
* In ''[[Silent Hill Promise|Silent Hill: Promise]]'', Vanessa's cell phone hasn't worked correctly yet.
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* Played with in a ''[[Danny Phantom]]'' episode where Danny and his mother gets stranded in the middle of a forest. Off ALL the techno gizmo she has with her, the only thing she doesn't have: a cellphone -- because you can't fight ghosts with a cellphone, ''silly''. Danny doesn't have his cellphone with him either (for no apparent reason), so he and his mother have to survive alone against the big, spooky forest (and Vlad).
** Danny obviously forgot his phone. [[Running Gag|Like he forgot his wallet in ''Masters of All Time'', and that ring from ''Flirting With Disaster''.]]
* In ''[[
* Averted in a ''[[Daria]]'' episode, "The Teachings of Don Jake". Daria and her family nearly meet their demises in the middle of the forest on a camping trip. Jake, Helen and Quinn trust Jake's excellent woodsman skills and eat some berries from a bush, causing them all to go [[Hilarity Ensues|humorously insane]]. Daria, the only sane one, just as she is beginning to panic, relied "on mother's hypocrisy to see them through the crisis", when she hears her mother's cell phone go off in the backpack. Her parents' plan for the weekend was to be cut off completely from the outside world- Helen cheated.
* An episode of ''[[Jimmy Two-Shoes]]'' had Lucius getting swallowed by a sea creature. While in its mouth he attempts to use his cell phone, to no avail.
* The [[Freaky Friday Flip]] of ''[[Justice League Unlimited]]'' had Flash (in Lex's body) attempting to contact the rest of the League through a cell phone, only to find that there's no service.
* Parodied in ''[[Dan Vs.]]'' "Technology." Chris attempts to call for help after crashing in the woods, only for his cell phone to explode in his hand as he dials.
* In ''[[What's New Scooby Doo]]'' episode "There's no Business Like Snow Business", a journalist was having trouble with her cell phone while ranting about audience, which made the gang regard her as a suspect while all Fred pointed out was that he thought cell phones worked well in that area. At first, it seemed he was [[Completely Missing the Point]], but it turned out to be a [[Chekhov's Gun]], as the [[Monster of the Week]] was a machine radio-controlled by the [[Villain of the Week]], whose radio signs were causing interference on the cell phones.
* In ''[[Batman: The Animated Series
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** The Pixies of ''[[The Fairly Odd Parents]]'' also use cell phones to make magic.
* ''[[Vision of Escaflowne]]'' has a pager (remember those?) that works on an ''invisible moon'' orbiting the Earth. This is debatably justified via [[Your Mind Makes It Real]] (or that could just be [[Fan Wank]]), but this still resulted in a lot of jokes.
* In the ''[[
** The phone also appears in the manga, with the same uses. Her two sisters also have cell phones they can use to summon plants and animals.
* ''[[Voices of a Distant Star]]'' is all about a mecha pilot and her boyfriend keeping in touch via SMS messages, which take longer and longer to reach the farther from Earth she travels. She eventually travels outside our solar system, and is still able to send the messages. That's some pretty amazing reception.
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== Fan Works ==
* ''[[
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== Films -- Live Action ==
* In the 2006 remake of ''[[
** In the sequel ''[[
* ''[[Jurassic Park III]]'' has a satellite phone working perfectly quite some time after being eaten by a dino.
** ''The Lost World'' novel has sat phones that are explicitly extra-durable and specifically made for the island.
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* ''[[The Dark Knight]]'' has {{spoiler|sonar emitting phones}}.
** It also has a cell phone that {{spoiler|works inside a guy. Inside a prison cell. It arms a bomb. Boom.}}
* The 2008 ''[[Iron Man (
** Then there's the video chat on the non-armor-based cell phone in the middle of Afghanistan at the start of the movie.
** In the sequel, the phone gets an upgrade to be able to instantaneously access projection screens. It also appears to be as big and transparent as a piece of plexiglass.
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* In ''Three Kings'', one character manages to make a phone call to his wife, on a cell phone, in the middle of Iraq just after the First Gulf War, from ''inside a fortified bunker''.
* In the 2009 film ''Moon'', Sam is able to make video cell-phone calls from the Moon to Earth {{spoiler|once he gets past the signal jammers, at least}}
* Empire Magazine's review of ''[[
* During the finale of the 4th season of ''[[Lost]]'' {{spoiler|Keamy is wearing a heart rate monitor set to transmit a signal to detonate C4 back on his ship should he die. When he dies far undrground at the Orchid station, somehow the transmitter is capable of transmitting through dozens of feet of earth and out to sea to trigger the detonator.}}
== Literature ==
* [[
** Artemis himself notes that it should have been impossible for him to receive the message. The story adheres more to actual physics when, asked if they can send a reply, Artemis nonchalantly quips, "Certainly. Just give me six months, some specialized equipment and [[American Customary Measurements|three miles]] of steel girder." Foaly ''himself'' mentions how hard it was to patch into the human networks.
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== Live Action TV ==
* In one episode of ''[[The X-Files]]'', Mulder makes a cell phone call, while stranded in the middle of a desert inside a boxcar buried underground.
* ''[[
** Subverted for humor in a [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMLH_QyPTYM parody video] that claimed to be the "lost pilot" of ''24'' from 1994:
{{quote| '''Jack:''' Chloe, can you send the schematic to my cell phone?<br />
'''Chloe:''' ... No. }}
* In ''[[
* ''[[The Mighty Boosh]]'' had one character receiving a phone call on an expedition somewhere in the arctic. We can safely suspend our belief to include it, considering that at the time the expedition, comprised of two zoo-keepers, was trying to defrost the frozen last words of an explorer killed by Jack Frost.
* Some [[Super Sentai]] (and, by extension, ''[[Power Rangers]]'') series have had cell phones as the [[Transformation Trinket]], and it seems handheld devices with keypads are being used instead of the more wristwatch-like devices of the past more and more. (If you wanna get technical, we've explicitly had phones in ''[[Hyakujuu Sentai Gaoranger|Gaoranger]]''/''[[Power Rangers Wild Force|Wild Force]]'' and ''[[Mahou Sentai Magiranger|Magiranger]]''/''[[Power Rangers Mystic Force|Mystic Force]]'' and phone-like devices in ''[[Tokusou Sentai Dekaranger|Dekaranger]]''/''[[Power Rangers SPD|SPD]]'', ''[[Go Go Sentai Boukenger|Boukenger]]''/''[[Power Rangers Operation Overdrive|Operation Overdrive]]'' and ''[[Engine Sentai Go-onger|Go-onger]]''/''[[Power Rangers RPM|RPM]]'')
** Note that on ''Go-onger''/''RPM'', "an Engine Cell" is [[I Am Not Shazam|not the morpher]], it's the small card-thingy that goes ''in'' the morpher and half of the ''other'' gadgets the team uses.
* ''[[Kamen Rider Faiz]]'' also has cell phones as [[Transformation Trinket|Transformation Trinkets]], but with the additional function of [[Energy Weapons|energy guns]].
* Naturally, the communicators in ''[[Star Trek:
* The writers of ''[[
** The school basement ''is'' clearly established as a place where the laws of reality [[A Wizard Did It|don't quite work right]].
** Cordelia had a cell phone in the very first episode (which we never saw again), and Buffy had a pager in one other first season episode.
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* The students, crew, and passengers about the ''S.S. Tipton'' in ''[[The Suite Life of Zack and Cody|The Suite Life on Deck]]'' all seem to have phones that get reception anywhere in the world (including remote locations in developing countries and at sea), are standard models that aren't at all bulky or complex (as one would expect from a satellite phone with such capabilities), and never incur any sort of roaming charges.
* ''[[Doctor Who]]'' occasionally used the Sonic Screwdriver or other alien tech to give a phone Universal Roaming, allowing them to make a call from anywhere, anywhen to anywhere, anywhen. Without any special dialling code or anything. Possibly justified if they were modified to relay from the TARDIS, which is a sentient, telepathic time machine... in a phone box. Only interference either from [[Satan]] or the nearby black hole in "The Impossible Planet" was able to put it out of range.
* Any cell phone can be used to summon [[The Devil]] in [[
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*** ''Before Crisis,'' the other ''[[Final Fantasy VII]]'' prequel which seems to be mired somewhere between [[No Export for You]] and [[Development Hell]] as far as an international release is concerned, lets you use your own cellphone to make materia in the game via snapping pictures. The dominant color determines the element and grade of the materia - for example, a majority yellow picture produces Thunder materia.
* ''[[City of Heroes]]'' cuts both ways. On the one hand, you can get a signal in the sewers, or [[Another Dimension|alternate dimensions]], or ancient Rome (this one's [[Handwaved]] as being [[A Wizard Did It|something the Midnight Squad set up]]). Inside a mission - even one in an outside area of Paragon City - your phone is useless. And there are plenty of times where you have to go talk to someone whose phone number you have, but nooooo, you have to go see them in person - which is sometimes justified as needing to deliver something to them or the person being paranoid and wanting to meet face to face, sometimes not. Conversely, sometimes a [[McGuffin]] is given to you over your cellphone.
* In ''[[
* ''[[
* In [[Pokémon Gold and Silver
** God forbid you enter a battle, conversatio or even a building while your phone is ringing though. Your signal will be instantly cut. It's also seems to cut if you look in your bag, at your Pokemon or Pokedex or save your game.
== Web Comics ==
* ''[[
** Made <s>worse</s> [[Rule of Cool|better]] (as commented by the author in alt text) that the other end of the call was in a submarine.
* ''[[The Last Days of Foxhound]]'': [http://gigaville.com/comic.php?id=443 "I oversee military technology development for the United States. I can get cellphone reception on a submarine."]
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** In "Candace Disconnected", Candace's new cell phone is broken and her mother wouldn't buy her a new one because she's already lost so many of them. The last one bought couldn't be used for anything other than making and receiving calls. Phineas and Ferb then built one that could even be used as a teleporting device.
* Double subverted in ''[[Transformers Prime]].'' When the kids are stranded in another dimension, they try using a cell phone to call for help, and while the call reaches the Autobots, there's too much interference for it to be legible. They try to get around this problem by sending a text message, which works.
* The candlestick phone [[Dastardly and Muttley
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== Film ==
* The movie ''[[Cellular]]'' is all about the advantages and limitations of a cell phone as it is used to track down a hostage victim.
* In ''[[
* In ''The Hills Run Red''(2009), not only does the cell phone work, but one of the characters mentions that it gets better reception than in the city (makes sense since there are no metal buildings). This unfortunately ends up backfiring when the villain gets a hold of a cell phone and uses it to call one of the other characters.
* In ''[[Buried]]'', Ryan Reynolds character manages to make calls to the USA with a mobile phone, while [[Buried Alive|buried in a wooden coffin]]. In Iraq! He only loses one or two calls to a bad signal, and the battery manages to last the entirety of the film. Of course, since the action never leaves the coffin, he has to be able to call people, otherwise we'd be treated to an hour and half of him gibbering to himself in a pine box.
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