History Main / SurpriseVehicle

* ''Film/ThelmaAndLouise'' had a helicopter rising up over a cliff.

* In ''Film/TrueLies'', Arnold's character manages to pull off a Surprise ''Harrier Jet''.

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* ''Manga/HanaukyoMaidTeam La Verite'' episode 1. When the maids pick up Taro and Mariel in a helicopter, it appears right next to them with no noise warning of its approach.

* A BlackHelicopter surprises Wallace this way in ''ComicBook/SinCity'' comic, Hell and Back.

[[folder:Films -- Animation]]

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]

* ''Film/UndercoverBrother''. As the title character is fighting Mr. Feather, The Man's helicopter rises up from behind a wall.
* ''Film/StarTrekVTheFinalFrontier''. On the planet where "God" is imprisoned, the Klingon Bird-of-Prey rises up from behind a hill to rescue Kirk.
* ''Film/{{Aliens}}''. When Ripley and Newt are about to be attacked by the Alien Queen in the atmosphere processing plant, the dropship rises up from below the edge of the platform they're on -- partially justified due to the explosions all around them.
* ''Film/NoCountryForOldMen'': The speeding car at the end that severely wounds Anton Chigurh at the end isn't heard until it crashes into Chigurh's car.
* ''Film/ThelmaAndLouise'' had a helicopter rising up over a cliff.

* The HumongousMecha from ''Film/TerminatorSalvation'' that was able to sneak up on people despite its earthquaking footsteps and the deafening ScareChord noises that its gears made every time it moved.
* In ''Film/TrueLies'', Arnold's character manages to pull off a Surprise ''Harrier Jet''.

* In ''Film/{{Avatar}}'' a humungous tree-dozer '''SUDDENLY''' appears in the middle of the forest and starts wreaking terrible chaos and destruction all around it.

* ''Film/TheAdventuresOfBuckarooBanzaiAcrossThe8thDimension''. When Buckaroo is about to be run over by a truck, a ladder suddenly appears swinging from the sky. Buckaroo grabs hold and is lifted away by a Blue Blaze Irregular helicopter.
* In ''Film/BackToTheFuturePartII'', Marty's SuicidalGotcha is aided by Doc's flying [=DeLorean=].

* The first ''Film/FinalDestination'' has the stealth bus to end all stealth buses.

* This happens in the final scene of ''Film/TheMist''. The main character is saved by the U.S military but he never heard the rolling of the tanks, which are rather hard to miss as they make plenty of noise as they shake the Earth as they move about. A fog shouldn't affect the clarity of sound, only sight. (Although at least in the original novella, the ''unnatural'' mist does in fact erratically deaden sound.}

* In the ''Series/EvenStevens'' [[MadeForTVMovie Movie]], [[spoiler: this stunt was pulled by Louis in order to fool the television producer of the reality show they were on. Louis ended up rising up on a helicopter, that was hosted by a rival television reality show.]]
* In the Leslie Nielsen film ''Film/SpyHard'', the main character escapes by jumping off a roof, only to appear again in a Harrier jump-jet.
* ''Film/ThePresidentsAnalyst'' - happens exactly as described as Russian agent Kropotkin, waiting at a roadside, is surprised by a helicopter rising from a valley just off the corridor. Luckily it's his American agent friend who he had arranged to meet.

* ''Film/ActOfValor''. A terrorist financier is shown on his yacht in the middle of the ocean on a completely fine day, with guards keeping watch. Somehow no-one notices the US Navy surface vessels until they're right on top of them.
* ''Film/CloseEncountersOfTheThirdKind''. The "searchlight-bearing helicopter at night mistaken for a UFO" scene that would be copied by later TV shows. In fairness the helicopters first appear from over the horizon, so it's plausible the distinctive sound of their rotor blades might not be heard at that distance. Played straight with the UN Taskforce in the Gobi Desert when three range rovers and two helicopters [[DynamicEntry leap over a sand dune]].
* [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] in ''Film/TheOrphanage''; although a supporting character does meet their demise at the hands of a [[LookBothWays silent bus]] this way, [[spoiler: the sound for the ''entire scene'' is faded to silence, as a symbolic effect showing how focused on each other the main character and the supporting character are when they glance at each other.]]
* At the end of ''Film/EscapePlan'', a helicopter is approaching the ship as part of the GreatEscape. The ship captain is surveying the sea when the chopper suddenly rises into his field of view, startling him. However, there is no sound of rotors until they are visible.
* In the first [[SharedDream dream]] level of ''Film/{{Inception}}'', the team gets blindsided by a train. Of course, they ''are'' in a dream, so being snuck up on by a train isn't exactly the weirdest thing they experience. It's also understandable that they weren't expecting a train to be driving down the middle of the street with no tracks in sight.

* ''Series/TerminatorTheSarahConnorChronicles'', Cameron steps out onto the street when SMACK. She gets hit by a car and her head goes through the windshield and she tells the people inside to remain calm.

* All those times a helicopter is mistaken for a UFO, despite having a distinctive sound. Examples appear in ''Series/DarkSkies'', ''Series/{{Airwolf}}'', and ''Series/TheXFiles'' (which managed to avoid the cliche for several seasons until the episode where Agent Dogget first appears). Although ''Airwolf'' almost justified it with that distinctive FutureCopter-ish engine noise that sounds very little like a normal helicopter.
* ''[[Creator/{{Syfy}} Fact or Faked Paranormal Files]]'' once showed how improbable this trope is in reality when a UFO video was speculated to actually be a helicopter with a light rig attached to it, but when they tested this themselves they quickly realized that at the highest altitude the chopper could go with the rig still visible they could still clearly hear it from the ground, with the noise level exceeding [=100dB=], which would have been picked up by the camera in addition to the ambient noise (people talking and such) that it ''did'' pick up, and no one on the ground would have mistaken it for anything but a helicopter as a result. Later tests showed that the rig had mostly likely been attached to a silent weather balloon.

* The fel reaver patrolling Hellfire Peninsula in ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft''. It's a 50-foot-tall demonic robot that shakes the ground with its footsteps and makes a sound not unlike a locomotive from hell, yet it still manages to surprise (and crush) unwary players who weren't paying attention to their surroundings. The game also has the dreaded Surprise Devilsaurs, which are even worse because they are actually quite sneaky (as sneaky as a T-rex can be).
** And then a classic GoodBadBug made the fel reavers into normal-size {{bears|AreBadNews}}. Which still shook the ground with their footsteps and made the locomotive from hell sounds. So, screaming stealth bears.
** Then there's the picture-perfect example of this trope in the Halls of Reflection dungeon, as you're running from the Lich King, just as you reach a cliff, your faction's ''flying base'' appears out of nowhere. These are the size of Naval battleships, and one of them is carried in the air by two separate zeppelin balloons.

* Averted in ''VideoGame/RatchetAndClankGoingCommando'' when Ratchet asks if Clank hears something before the Thugs-4-Less Leader reappears in a helicopter.
* ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosBrawl''. In a confrontation, Mario chases Bowser to a ledge, down which Bowser falls. After a tense pause of about a second, Bowser taunts Mario from the safety of his loud [[ClownCar flying clown copter]], which was apparently waiting below the whole time.

* This happens in the final scene of ''Film/TheMist''. The main character is saved by the U.S Military but he never heard the rolling of the tanks which are rather hard to miss as they make plenty of noise as they shake the Earth as they move about. A fog shouldn't effect the clarity of sound, only sight. (Although at least in the original novella, the ''unnatural'' mist does in fact erratically deaden sound.}

Often a case of GunshipRescue.

See also SeeNoEvilHearNoEvil; SilentRunningMode; StealthHiBye; BehindTheBlack; RuleOfPerception; and LookBothWays.

[[caption:width:right:350:Need a lift?]]

* ''Manga/MahouSenseiNegima'' does this with the reveal of [[spoiler:Haruna's airship]], which provides a way for Negi to get to Nodoka in time to save her from a group of bounty hunters. Repeated with the same vehicle during the Governor's Ball.

* ''Anime/{{Pokemon}} Diamond and Pearl: Galactic Battles'' episode "Unlocking the Red Chain of Events!" When Ash, Dawn, and Brock confront Galactic Admin Jupiter, she escapes via a helicopter which appeared from below the side of a building without having made any noise beforehand.

* ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros Brawl''. In a confrontation, Mario chases Bowser to a ledge, down which Bowser falls. After a tense pause of about a second, Bowser taunts Mario from the safety of his loud [[ClownCar flying clown copter]], which was apparently waiting below the whole time.

[[folder:Web Comics]]