It's Quiet... Too Quiet: Difference between revisions

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== Films -- Live-Action ==

* Robert Stack says the line to Lloyd Bridges as their characters await the arrival of the [[Airplane!]].

* In ''[[Asterix]] Mission Cleopatre'', the Egyptian architect, trapped in Cleopatra's Palace under Roman siege, utters this line as everything is silent and a [[Dramatic Wind|tumblewheed rolls by]]. Right after, the Romans show up with siege engines.

** "It's quiet... Too quiet... I like i better when it's a little more less quiet..."

* Done in the first scene of ''[[Galaxy Quest]]'', right before an ambush attack on Tim Allen and company.

* Used seriously at the time in ''[[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (film)|Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]] II'', but sets up a joke shortly afterwards:

{{quote|'''Donatello:''' The perimeter's quiet.

'''Leonardo:''' Yeah, a little ''too'' quiet.

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* A variation in ''[[Lake Placid]]'', where one character, shortly before another attack by the giant alligator, says: "I suddenly got the feeling that everything's perfectly safe".

* When Native Americans who aren't slaves show up for the first time in ''[[Aguirre, the Wrath of God]]'', the ambient sounds (birds and insects mostly) go dead. The "Emperor" makes this remark, and soon {{spoiler|a spooked horse kicks some fire onto a gunpowder barrel}}.

* In the movie ''[[The Marksman]]'', the main character runs back late to the extraction point, he can clearly hear the helicopter waiting although he's still in enemy territory, he turns around frequently watching for potential pursuers, but after a while he stops, and notices no one is chasing him. He correctly assesses he and his team have been set up, and the extraction chopper is destroyed shortly after by a traitor.

* While the exact words aren't used, there is a scene in ''[[Sleepy Hollow]]'' where local Young Masbath points out to city slicker Ichabod Crane how quiet the forest is, and has to explain that forests are supposed to be ''noisy,'' like crickets and birds and stuff - noises that the forest lacked at that point.

* A variation on the trope is seen in ''[[We Were Soldiers]]'' when the Mel Gibson's character arrives at a section of the American Line that's too quiet. When asked what's wrong he explains, "There's nothing wrong here...[[Genre Savvy|except that there's nothing wrong...]]"

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== Live-Action TV ==

* In ''[[Band of Brothers]]'', O'Keefe mutters that it's "awfully quiet" while a handful of soldiers are on patrol in the German woods. Moments later, they stumble across a Nazi concentration camp.

* Used in the movie ''Zombie Nightmare'', featured on ''[[Mystery Science Theater 3000]]'', where it was parodied by Mike and the Bots:

{{quote|'''Crow:''' It's a little ominous in here.

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* The [[Horatio Hornblower|Hornblower]] episode ''Duty'':

* An episode of ''[[Stargate SG-1]]'' plays with this. O'Neill comments that it's quiet, but that's just because the [[It Makes Sense in Context|annoying little man who'd been implanted in all their heads]] was gone.

* Officer Reed on an episode of [[Adam-12]]: "It's almost too quiet." On a prowler call Reed and Malloy suspect is a setup to lure them into an ambush - turns out to be just the "normal" amount of quiet after all, as it was, in fact, just a prowler call.

* ''[[Babylon 5]]''. Psi police agent Bester finds that a part of the B5 station is "just too quiet" and so this must be place where telepaths are hiding, because they suppress all their thoughts.

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== Videogames ==

* Inverted in ''[[Warhammer 40000]]: [[Warhammer 40,000: Fire Warrior]]''; occasionally an Imperial Guardsman will say this phrase. You can [[Hilarity Ensues|take the cue to make things noisy.]]

* Straight video game example: ''[[Star Fox (series)|Star ~~Fox~~]] 64''.

* Straight video game example: ''[[Star Fox (series)|Star FOX]] 64''.

** And kinda ruined by the fact that the game's lockon system will mark the first enemy (hidden behind an asteroid) way before the "trap" goes off.

** And the fact that it's an on-rails shooter and you fly in a straight line the entire time. Kinda hard to set up a trap when you're never expected to drop your guard.

** Later repeated on the second mission of ''Assault'', which seems to work better than the above example.

* A chapter in the first ''[[Halo]]'' game is ominously titled "It's quiet..." What level is this? The one where you first encounter [[Eldritch Abomination|The Flood]].

** "Into The Belly of the Beast".

*** "No Covenant defenses detected... Contact! Lots of contact!"

*** "No Covenant? You HAD to open your mouth!"

* ''[[Halo: Reach]]'', in [[Call Back]] to the first game, has a chapter titled "...Too Quiet."

* ''[[Command ~~and~~ Conquer]]: Renegade's'' first mission opened up as follows:

* ''[[Command & Conquer]]: Renegade's'' first mission opened up as follows:

{{quote|'''First Soldier:''' What are we looking for again?

'''Second Soldier:''' An imaginary base.

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* Said in [[House of the Dead]] 2, almost word for word. A later scene also has James say something similar when looking around the baddie's base: "It's like they're inviting me in..."

* In ''[[Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door]]'', the stunning lack of background music in the underground room with the entrance to the Pit Of 100 Trials provides a big clue as to how deathly serious that pipe in the middle of the room is.

* "It's quiet. Too quiet." [Enemies appear.] "''Be careful, it's a trap!''" - Peppy, [[Star Fox (series)|Star ~~Fox~~]] 64

* "It's quiet. Too quiet." [Enemies appear.] "''Be careful, it's a trap!''" - Peppy, [[Star Fox (series)|Star FOX]] 64

* In [[Dragon Age Origins]], at one point in the Dalish Elf origin, Merril mentions that all the woodland animals are silent. She speculates it's because the [[The Virus|Darkspawn]] are in the area. {{spoiler|She's right.}}

* In ''[[Dragon Age II]]'' ''Mark of the Assassin'', as your party searches for signs of a wyvern, it suddenly becomes ''very'' quiet.

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* Xandor says it in ''[[The Herculoids]]'' episodes "Mission of the Amatons" and The Island of the Gravites".

* In the ''[[Mighty Mightor]]'' episode "The Tiger Men", Tor says "I don't like it. It's too quiet tonight...I sense danger tonight." before the Tiger Men attack.

* Happens twice in the 2003 ''[[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2003|Ninja Turtles]]'' cartoon. The first time it's Leo who says it, and Mikey (who spends most of the episode trying to come up with cool lines) lampshades it by wondering how Leo makes it work. Mikey says it himself a few episodes later, and immediately adds that [[I Always Wanted to Say That|he'd always wanted to say it]].

* In ''[[Weekenders]]'' when they stay in Lor's house (the house with 13 run-around brothers) after they can't stay in other houses. But they decide to leave instead when it's just too quiet.

* Parodied in ''[[The Simpsons]]'' episode "Lisa's Rival", in a scene at an apiary after all the bees leave to steal Homer's sugar.

{{quote|'''Beekeeper 1''': Well, sure is quiet in here today.

'''[[Large Ham|Beekeeper 2]]''': Yes, a little ''too'' quiet...if you know what I mean. <br />

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* This first developed from the fact that natural background noise in the wilderness will disappear when the animals making the noise are alerted to intruders. If you are in the woods, and everything suddenly goes quiet, it is a safe bet that [[Paranoia Fuel|you are not alone]].

** Inverted if you're hiking in bear country, in which case ''you'' being "too quiet" is more likely to get you killed, because you might unintentionally startle one into attacking.

*** Applies to gorillas too; this troper once saw a documentary on gorillas where the documenteers constantly cleared their throats when they thought they might be near by, because apparently it's "good manners" for gorillas to grunt constantly when approaching another troop so as not to startle them by suddenly appearing.

*** That probably applies with most animals, even domesticated and fairly placid ones. One of the first rules of handling horses is to make sure they don't suddenly get spooked because you've accidentally sneaked up on them, and try to avoid walking in their blind spot for the same reason.

* This is actually a usable rule of thumb in counter-insurgency operations. If a street is filled with people, you're probably safe. If it isn't and it should be, [[Paranoia Fuel|you're probably about to be ambushed]].