Good morning, Vietnam! Suffice it to
say, movies have a huge impact on our culture. Their memorable quotes
can go on to influence the way we speak, even to the point where we
don't realize it. Everybody's got their favourite movie quotes and so
today I'm going to list the top 10 quotes from movies that I've seen.
I've chosen these quotes based on their coolness, their humour, their
power, and/or just simply how often I repeat them myself in everyday
situations. And for the record, this list isn't written in stone. I
watch new movies all the time and a lot of them have great lines. Who
knows, maybe this list will be completely different a year from now.
So let's get started, and may the Force be with you.
Honourable mentions:
“Mein Fuhrer! I can walk!”
-Dr. Strangelove (Peter Sellers), from Dr. Strangelove (1964)
“Pizza time!” -Peter Parker
(Tobey Maguire), from Spider-Man 2 (2004)
“Bond. James Bond” -James Bond
(Sean Connery), from Dr. No (1962)
“Yeah... You didn't-You didn't
know that?”-The Blob (Kevin Durand), from X-Men Origins:
Wolverine (2009)
“Terminate... with extreme
prejudice.” -Jerry (Jerry Ziesmer), from Apocalypse Now
(1979)
10. “Sometimes he performed
cunnilingus. Not often enough, in my opinion.” -Lisbeth
Salander (Rooney Mara) from The
Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
(2011)
Lisbeth Salander
has got to be one of the most fascinating movie characters I've seen
in recent years, and to me this line pretty much sums up her
attitude. It's the character's introductory scene and right away we
see all of her unusual mannerisms at work: choosing to not answer
certain questions, a blunt, to-the-point manner of speaking,
impatience with small talk, switching between avoiding eye contact
and intense staring. All of this comes to a head when Dirch Frode
demands to know Salander's personal opinion on Mikael Blomkvist's
character, and whether she left anything out of the report she wrote
on him. She eventually relents, revealing that Blomkvist has long
been having an affair with his co-editor. She caps off the revelation
with this gem of a line while staring blankly into Frode's eyes. I
simply love this quote, and I picked it because it's at this moment
the viewer realizes “this is who we're going to be following for
the rest of the movie, this is going to be a cool character, I want
to see more.” Frode's response: “You're right not to include
that.”
9. “Gentlemen!
Welcome to Fight Club. The first rule of Fight Club is: you do not
talk about Fight Club. The second rule of Fight Club is: you do
not talk about Fight Club.
The third rule of Fight Club: someone yells stop, goes limp, taps
out, the fight is over. The fourth rule: only two guys to a fight.
The fifth rule: one fight at a time, fellas. The sixth rule: no
shirts, no shoes. The seventh rule: fights will go on as long as they
have to. And the eighth and final rule: if this is your first night
at Fight Club, you have to fight.”
-Tyler Durden (Brad Pitt) from Fight
Club
(1999)
David
Fincher strikes again with another great quote from another memorable
character, this time Fight
Club's
Tyler Durden. Pretty much everyone who's a fan of Fight
Club
has these rules memorized, as if they themselves have joined Project
Mayhem's private little army. And those who aren't have at least
heard of the first two rules. And that eighth and final rule caps it
off with a challenge, a hint of excitement. I find it interesting
that a group of disgruntled men who're devoted to spreading anarchy
and chaos are still fully committed to following a set of rules. It's
even more ironic that those rules become the most memorable lines
from the movie. Oh well. It's still really awesome. P.S. – Did
anyone else notice that Bob still gets to wear his shirt when he
fights? It's probably for the better...
8.
“I did not hit her. It's not true. It's bulls---! I did not hit
her! I did not... Oh hi, Mark.”
-Johnny (Tommy Wiseau) from The
Room
(2003)
If
you have not seen The
Room,
then you have not lived. It's as simple as that. I could sing the
praises of that magnificently/ineptly made film all day long, but one
of its greatest contributions to humanity is its quotability. There
are so many great quotes in this movie. Probably the best known
quote, repeated several times throughout, is “Oh hi, Mark.” But
by far my favourite quote from The
Room
stems from the worst bit of acting in the whole movie – and that is
saying a lot. It's the one line that always has me bursting into
laughter on the verge of tears. Apparently, Tommy Wiseau – whose
acting ability is journeyman at best – had trouble remembering the
first part of this 18-word line (8 words if you don't count repeats).
It took him forever just to (a) say all the words right, (b) look in
the right directions, and (c) move in the proper positions. So the
film crew called it quits after finally getting the first usable
take. And thus cult-b-movie history was made.
7.
“It's
been hard... the writing lately. Terrible numbness. And then suddenly
it comes in beautiful fragments or terrible dreams... Like nods. So
high...”
-Jim Carroll (Leonardo DiCaprio) from The
Basketball Diaries
(1995)
The
Basketball Diaries
is a heavy, powerful movie. It's not exactly a great film but it is
one that you can't look away from while at the same time it isn't
easy to watch. Upon finishing it, you'll be thinking about it for
weeks afterwards. Part of what makes it so powerful, I think, is the
narration which is taken straight from Jim Carroll's poetry/journal
entries. It just sounds so cool, the way he articulates how his
hardcore drug addictions are eating away at his creativity and his
thought processes. The only downside is that this exact line is
almost overshadowed by the silly, overly-dramatic visual “symbolism”
that accompanies it. Still, I think that it's noteworthy that Jim was
near death in this scene and were it not for the timely intervention
of his own guardian angel this line would have been his last thought.
Feels kind of haunting, doesn't it?
6.
“Chill
out. Dickwad.”
-Terminator (A.K.A. T-800) (Arnold Schwarzenegger) from Terminator
2: Judgement Day
(1991)
And
here we have the first of many great Arnold quotes on this list. I'm
going to level with you: pretty much the only reason I've ranked this
quote here is because I use it myself nearly every day. I'd like to
think of myself as a fairly laid-back type of guy and I love getting
the chance to tell people to calm down in a detached monotone voice
that doesn't give a f---. My only wish is that the Terminator had
used this line again when a heartbroken John Conner begs him to not
to self-destruct. What could be more coldheartedly badass than that?
5.
“It's
106 miles to Chicago. We've got a full tank of gas, half a pack of
cigarettes, it's dark, and we're wearing sunglasses.”
-Elwood Blues (Dan Ackroyd) from The
Blues Brothers
(1980)
Ah,
Blues
Brothers.
How could anyone not enjoy such a rich collection of lovable
characters, excellent musical numbers, clever celebrity cameos, and
insane car chases? As if that's not enough, there's also a good bunch
of lines: “I hate Illinois Nazis”, “I have seen the light!”,
“We're on a mission from God”, “This ain't no Hank Williams
s---!”, “I'm going to become a priest”, and “Are you cops?”
“No ma'am. We're musicians.” But this one here has to be the
best. The Blues Brothers know that their final objective is just
within reach and it's time to get their show on the road. So Elwood
sets the tone with this great line (making the audience question,
just for a moment, exactly why the two are always wearing shades).
It's the ceremonial phrase spoken between friends who are about to
embark on a road trip for the ages. Let's just hope it's not as
destructive.
4.
“I
wrote it down in my diary so that I wouldn't have
to remember.”
-Henry Jones Sr. (Sean Connery) from Indiana
Jones and the Last Crusade
(1989)
In
the great debate about which Indiana Jones movie is best, my feet are
firmly planted in the Last
Crusade
camp. This third movie has all the charm and straight up fun of the
original, but with even better villains and better side characters,
not the least of whom is Indy's father played by none other than Sean
Connery himself. A thrill to follow, this character is bookish and
aloof, but he can sometimes deliver a stern line or two like this
one. Indy doesn't want to go to Berlin to get his father's Grail
diary, but Henry says they have to because it contains clues vital to
navigating the booby traps guarding the Holy Grail. Indy impatiently
asks “Can't you remember [the clues]?” and Henry retorts with
this deliciously condescending line. The reason I've ranked it here
because it is a line I have quoted more times than I could ever
count, most of the time to my boss or (ironically) to my own father.
I don't have a perfect memory. Do I look like the mental stenographer
type?
3.
“Get
your ass to Mars.”
-Douglas Quaid (Arnold Schwarzenegger) from Total
Recall
(1990)
It
doesn't get any more absurd than this. A smiling Arnold
Schwarzenegger talking to another version of himself with a towel
wrapped around his head like a turban telling him to go to Mars just
moments after yanking an impossibly huge tracking device out of his
nose. It's the kind of ridiculous goodness that Arnold fans live for
and it sounds even better with that accent of his. I also like how
such a goofy line is said so straight, without a beat. What else is
there to say? I like this line because it's silly. Is that so wrong?
2.
“Who
are these assholes to say when doomsday approaches? I
say when doomsday is approaching!”
-Richard Nixon (Robert Wisden), from Watchmen
(2009)
I
think Richard Nixon is a fascinating historical figure. I love seeing
portrayals of him in movies like Frost/Nixon
(2008). I also think he's a fun historical figure to poke fun at
(especially in fiction), and that's why I like movies like X-Men:
Days of Future Past
(2014) and Watchmen.
What's great about Watchmen's
Nixon is that he's still president in 1985 and he's now a little bit
crazy, as evidenced by this wonderful line. Here's the scoop: Dr.
Manhattan, the cornerstone of the USA's nuclear deterrent, has left
Earth for Mars (because of quote #3) and so the opportunistic Soviets
are preparing to invade Afghanistan. As a result, the Doomsday Clock
has been moved to two minutes to midnight. This upsets Dick, who's
gathered his staff and generals together in the war room à la Dr.
Strangelove
(1964) causing him to utter this little bit of power-mad raving. Oh,
Dick. Don't ever change.
1.
“Remember,
Sully, when I promised to kill you last?... I lied.”
-John Matrix (Arnold Schwarzenegger) from Commando
(1985)
Do
I even have to explain this one being here? If Arnold is the king of
cheesy quotes and one-liners, then this is his crown jewel. It is the
icing on the cake of a flippant, nonchalant kill of a slimy bad guy
henchman that the audience is sure to hate by this point in the film.
The cool thing is that this quote does indeed build off one of the
film's earlier cheesy lines: “You're a funny guy, Sully. I like
you. That's why I'm going to kill you last.” (Spoiler alert: he's
one of the first to die.) Commando
has got to be my favourite of the classic 80's Arnold action movies
and it's probably because it has more cheesy lines than the others.
And when they're this freaking stupidly over-the-top awesome, how
could you not feel a surge of testosterone-filled fun?
