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* ''Film/Life2017''. After the creature breaks out of containment, the crew of the International Space Station find they can't warn the people down on Earth because the transmitter won't work. Someone has to suit up and repair it, only to find the transmitter has burnt out because the creature is nesting in the coolant tank. Given that ItCanThink, its left to the audience to wonder if this was deliberate or not. [[spoiler:It turns out the distress call did make it back to Earth before the transmitter shut down, but that causes further problems.]]
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* ''Film/Life2017''. After the creature breaks out of containment, the crew of the International Space Station find they can't warn the people down on Earth because the transmitter won't work. Someone has to suit up and repair it, only to find the transmitter has burnt out because the creature is nesting in has drunk the contents of the transmitter's coolant tank. Given that ItCanThink, its it's left to the audience to wonder if this was deliberate or not. [[spoiler:It turns out the distress call did make it back to Earth before the transmitter shut down, but that causes further problems.]]
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* ''Film/Life2017''. After the creature breaks out of containment, the crew of the International Space Station find they can't warn the people down on Earth because the transmitter won't work. Someone has to suit up and repair it, only to find the transmitter has burnt out because the creature is nesting in the coolant tank. Given that ItCanThink, its left to the audience to wonder if this was deliberate or not. [[spoiler:It turns out the distress call did make it back to Earth before the transmitter shut down, but that causes further problems.]]
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* ''Film/PitchBlack''. As the spaceship is ComingInHot the navigator tries to send out a DistressCall to no avail. He demands to know what happened to their comms. In response the pilot ejects some kind of beacon, but they're going so fast it gets torn apart in the planet's atmosphere.
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* ''Film/PitchBlack''. As the spaceship is ComingInHot the navigator tries to send out a DistressCall to no avail. He demands to know what happened to their comms. In response the pilot ejects some kind of a beacon, but they're going so fast it gets torn apart in the planet's atmosphere.
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A form of PlotDrivenBreakdown. Compare CutPhoneLines, which serve a similar narrative purpose, but are ''always'' sabotage. See LostInTransmission, where a working connection line is suddenly cut off. Related to ImpededCommunication, because the best way to have a plot get complex for the protagonists is to take out the communication. Basically, because of this trope, the radioman, cell phones and communication devices could technically count as a form of StoryBreakerPower, under the right circumstances.
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A form of PlotDrivenBreakdown. Compare CutPhoneLines, which serve a similar narrative purpose, but are ''always'' sabotage. See LostInTransmission, where a working connection line is suddenly cut off. Related to ImpededCommunication, because the best way to have a plot get complex for the protagonists is to take out the communication. Basically, because of this trope, the radioman, cell phones and communication devices could technically count as a form of StoryBreakerPower, under the right circumstances.
circumstances. Often part of a ClosedCircle plot, as being unable to communicate with the world outside the circle is important to those story's premise that the cast is stuck where they are.
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[[folder:Western Animation]]
* ''WesternAnimation/EdEddNEddy'': Invoked in ''The Day The Eds Stood Still''; while screwing around in the junkyard, the Eds start acting out the plot of a sci-fi movie called "Robot Rebel Ranch", about three "space outlaws" stranded on an alien planet. Double-D tries radioing for rescue, but gets no answer - mainly because the "radio" in question is an actual radio from an old car they're sitting in, and his headset is just a seat spring he repurposed.
[[/folder]]
* ''WesternAnimation/EdEddNEddy'': Invoked in ''The Day The Eds Stood Still''; while screwing around in the junkyard, the Eds start acting out the plot of a sci-fi movie called "Robot Rebel Ranch", about three "space outlaws" stranded on an alien planet. Double-D tries radioing for rescue, but gets no answer - mainly because the "radio" in question is an actual radio from an old car they're sitting in, and his headset is just a seat spring he repurposed.
[[/folder]]
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* ''Night Without End'' by Creator/AlistairMaclean. An airplane crashes near a scientific outpost in Greenland. When the survivors are taken there, they clumsily knock over the radio to the fury of the scientists, because there's not enough food for them all and the nearest settlement is 300 kilometers away. Then they discover that the aircraft pilot was shot InTheBack, raising the question of whether the radio being destroyed was an accident.
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* Creator/AlistairMaclean used this when necessary. Given the kind of stories he wrote, it was necessary a lot.
** In ''Night WithoutEnd'' by Creator/AlistairMaclean. An End'', an airplane crashes near a scientific outpost in Greenland. When the survivors are taken there, they clumsily knock over the radio to the fury of the scientists, because there's not enough food for them all and the nearest settlement is 300 kilometers away. Then they discover that the aircraft pilot was shot InTheBack, raising the question of whether the radio being destroyed was an accident.accident.
** In ''Force Ten from Navarone'', radios are safe for as long as Mallory and company are engaged in their cover mission, but once that's over and the real mission starts, radios become a primary target. First Andrea slips into a German Army encampment and destroys their radio, and then [[spoiler:Petar breaks a cover years in the making and uses [[BriefcaseBlaster the submachine gun inside his guitar]] to destroy the radio on the Neretva Dam.]]
** In ''Night Without
** In ''Force Ten from Navarone'', radios are safe for as long as Mallory and company are engaged in their cover mission, but once that's over and the real mission starts, radios become a primary target. First Andrea slips into a German Army encampment and destroys their radio, and then [[spoiler:Petar breaks a cover years in the making and uses [[BriefcaseBlaster the submachine gun inside his guitar]] to destroy the radio on the Neretva Dam.]]
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* ''Series/TheTwilightZone1959'': In "[[Recap/TheTwilightZoneS5E155TheFear The Fear]]", the radio of Robert Franklin's police car is rendered inoperable after the aliens turn the car over.
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* ''Series/TheTwilightZone1959'': In "[[Recap/TheTwilightZoneS5E155TheFear "[[Recap/TheTwilightZone1959S5E35TheFear The Fear]]", the radio of Robert Franklin's police car is rendered inoperable after the aliens turn the car over.
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* After the resonance cascade happened in ''VideoGame/HalfLife1'', Gordon has to go up to the surface for help because it took out the phones.
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** Also, one of the reasons why Gordon has to go up to the surface for help in [[VideoGame/HalfLife1 the first game]] is that the resonance cascade took out the phones.
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* ''Film/DangerCloseTheBattleOfLongTan'': Both Eleven and Twelve Platoons have their radios knocked-out by enemy fire at various points; Private Akell has to run a spare up to Twelve Platoon. Back at base, the gunners find their switchboard temporarily disabled by a ''lightning strike''! (Historical note: the movie doesn't reference another strike that blew up the base latrines.)
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* Similarly, the failure of a strategic bomber's radio meant that the failsafe in ''Film/FailSafe'' did not, well, fail safe. The radio didn't fail, the system did. The bombers could send and receive messages but they were trained not to accept tactical orders once past their Fail Safe point.
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* Similarly, ''Film/Derailed2002'': After killing the failure of a strategic bomber's engineer, the terrorists smash the radio meant that in the failsafe in ''Film/FailSafe'' did not, well, fail safe. The radio didn't fail, the system did. The bombers could send and receive messages but they were trained not to accept tactical orders once past their Fail Safe point.train's cab.
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* The failure of a strategic bomber's radio meant that the failsafe in ''Film/FailSafe'' did not, well, fail safe. The radio didn't fail, the system did. The bombers could send and receive messages but they were trained not to accept tactical orders once past their Fail Safe point.
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* A very common trope in modern warfare for a century or so, because radio transmissions can be detected and zeroed in on, making them tempting targets on the battlefield, in addition to the practical advantages of hindering enemy communication. [[OlderThanRadio In the times before radio]], this also applied to other forms of communication, such as semaphore signal towers, or for that matter, any soldier bold enough to stand up on the battlefield waving signal flags. So goes the old adage: Anything that looks interesting, draws fire.
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* ''[[Film/LastSentinel2023 Last Sentinel]]'' (2023). The action takes place on a sea fort in the middle of a vast ocean. The soldiers stationed there are under RadioSilence, but when the ship with their relief crew shows up [[GhostShip with no-one on board]], one of them disobeys orders and transmits a message about it. He's surprised to get the same message relayed back to him, and realises the satellite is damaged and never transmitted it. This raises the question of how long the satellite has been damaged, and whether there's [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt anyone alive back home to receive it]].
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* ''[[Film/LastSentinel2023 Last Sentinel]]'' (2023). The action takes place on a sea fort in the middle of a vast ocean. The soldiers stationed there are under RadioSilence, but when the ship with their relief crew shows up [[GhostShip with no-one on board]], one of them disobeys orders and transmits a message about it. He's surprised to get the same message relayed back to him, and realises him because no-one downloaded it from the satellite is damaged and never transmitted it. satellite. This raises the question of how long the satellite has their communications have been damaged, down, and whether there's [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt [[NukeEm anyone alive back home to receive it]].their message]].
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* ''[[Film/LastSentinel2023 Last Sentinel]]'' (2023). The action takes place on a sea fort in the middle of a vast ocean. The soldiers stationed there are under RadioSilence, but when the ship with their relief crew shows up [[GhostShip with no-one on board]], one of them disobeys orders and transmits a message about it. He's surprised to get the same message relayed back to him, and realises the satellite is damaged and never transmitted it. This raises the question of how long the satellite has been damaged, and whether there's [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt anyone alive back home to receive it]].
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-->-- ''Series/BlakesSeven'', "Assassin"
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-->-- ''Series/BlakesSeven'', "Assassin"
"[[Recap/BlakesSevenS4E7Assassin Assassin]]"
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* The mercenaries' radio is totaled after the first attack in ''Film/{{Outpost}}''.
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* ''Film/Rogue2020'': After escaping from the compound, the mercenaries find that a bullet has shattered their satellite phone.
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* Early on in ''Film/TheThing1982'', it's established that the radio's been dead for weeks and Windows hasn't been able to get through. Later Blair uses an axe to make sure that it won't get used again. [[spoiler:Fans still debate whether Blair had been assimilated by that point, and so was actually committing sabotage under the guise of insanity.]]
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* Early on in ''Film/TheThing1982'', it's established that the radio's been dead for weeks and Windows hasn't been able to get through. Later Blair uses an axe to make sure that it won't get used again. [[spoiler:Fans still debate whether Blair had been assimilated by that point, and so was actually committing sabotage under the guise of insanity. [[AlternateCharacterInterpretation Alternately]], he might have decided it was better for everyone to die there rather than risk bringing the Thing back to civilization during a rescue attempt.]]
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* When [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gimli_Glider a Canadian airliner ran out of fuel over Manitoba and had to glide to a safe landing]], one of the systems they lost was the radio. The electronics on board were power by generators run by the engines. While there was a backup system (batteries and a ram air turbine), it only provided enough power to operate the controls and a bare minimum of instruments.
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* When [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gimli_Glider a Canadian airliner ran out of fuel over Manitoba and had to glide to a safe landing]], landing,]] one of the systems they lost was the radio. The electronics on board were power by generators run by the engines. While there was a backup system (batteries and a ram air turbine), it only provided enough power to operate the controls and a bare minimum of instruments.
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Many stories in the appropriate time period will have a radioman, [[EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep usually called "Sparks"]], who will be stuck trying to repair the radio or get through the interference for most of the story. His isolation often causes him to score badly on the SortingAlgorithmOfMortality.
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Many stories in the appropriate time period will have a radioman, [[CommunicationsOfficer radioman]], [[EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep usually called "Sparks"]], who will be stuck trying to repair the radio or get through the interference for most of the story. His isolation often causes him to score badly on the SortingAlgorithmOfMortality.
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* ''Film/ConAir'': When Larkin arrives at Lerner Field, he finds the air traffic controller dead at the control tower radio busted.
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* ''Film/ConAir'': When Larkin arrives at Lerner Field, he finds the air traffic controller dead at and the control tower radio busted.
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* In ''Film/WhereEaglesDare'', the radio itself survives (at least, for a while) but the radio operator is killed immediately after the parachute drop into Germany.
