|
 Introduction:
Film speeches are normally delivered orally and directed at an audience
of three or more people, although there can be exceptions. They are
usually persuasive-type speeches, either designed to promote or to dissuade,
and they are highly quotable.
Greatest Film Speeches and Monologues: Video store
chain Blockbuster Video (in the UK) held a series of polls in
late 2003 with its customers to determine the 20 Greatest Film Speeches
and Monologues in cinematic history. These are marked in the following
lists with this symbol --  and
by their original ranking number in the top 20. Although
there were some excellent choices in their poll, the results almost
completely ignored early films, and entirely disregarded films with
speeches made by female characters. Greatest Films has provided
this expanded listing of Best Film Speeches and Monologues here
of deserving, best film monologues and speeches.
Note: The films that are marked with
a yellow star 
are the films that "The Greatest Films" site has selected as the 100
Greatest Films.
 BEST FILM SPEECHES AND MONOLOGUES
(chronological by film title) - pt.
13
Introduction | Part
1 | Part 2 | Part
3 | Part 4 | Part
5 | Part 6 | Part
7 | Part 8 | Part
9 | Part 10 |
Part 11 | Part
12 | Part 13 | Part
14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part
17 | Part 18 | Part
19 | Part 20
|
| Film
and Brief Title |
Speech
|
Example
|
Full Metal Jacket
(1987)
 "Here
You Are All Equally Worthless!"
|
Gunnery Sgt. Hartman's
(R. Lee Ermy) degrading, intimidating introductory speech to new
inducted recruits at Parris Island: ("If you ladies leave
my island, if you survive recruit training, you will be a weapon.
You will be a minister of death praying for war. But until that
day you are pukes. You are the lowest form of life on Earth. You
are not even human, fucking beings. You are nothing but unorganized
grabastic pieces of amphibian s--t. Because I am hard you will
not like me. But the more you hate me the more you will learn.
I am hard, but I am fair! There is no racial bigotry here. I do
not look down on niggers, kikes, wops or greasers. Here you are
all equally worthless. And my orders are to weed out all non-hackers
who do not pack the gear to serve in my beloved Corps. Do you
maggots understand that?") |
|
Boot Camp Taunting of Private Pyle |
# 18
Gunnery Sgt. Hartman's (R. Lee Ermy) taunting
of Private Pyle (Vincent D'Onofrio): ("...Do you think I'm
cute Private Pyle? Do you think I'm funny?... Then wipe that disgusting
grin off your face... Well, any f--king time, sweetheart!... Private
Pyle, I'm gonna give you three seconds, exactly three-f--king
seconds to wipe that stupid-lookin' grin off your face or I will
gouge out your eyeballs and skull-f--k you!") |
|
Moonstruck (1987)
The
Reality of Love - Love Ruins Everything
|
Ronny Cammareri's
(Nicolas Cage) passionate, cynical view of love expressed to Loretta
Castorini (Cher), as he pleads for her to come upstairs and make
love to him: ("I love you. Not like they told you love is and
I didn't know this either. But love don't make things nice, it ruins
everything! It breaks your heart, it makes things a mess. We're
not here to make things perfect. Snowflakes are perfect, stars are
perfect. Not us! Not US! We are here to ruin ourselves and...and
to break our hearts and love the wrong people and...and DIE...I
mean the storybooks are bulls--t. Now I want you to come upstairs
and...and GET in my bed. Come on, come on, come on.") |
|
Planes, Trains & Automobiles (1987)
"Didn't
That Give You Some Sort of Clue?"
|
Neal Page's
(Steve Martin) furious unleashing of criticism and rage at his undesired
traveling companion Del Griffith (John Candy): ("...Didn't
you notice on the plane when you started talking, eventually I started
reading the vomit bag? Didn't that give you some sort of clue, like
maybe this guy is not enjoying it?...") |
|
Prince of Darkness (1987)
The
Nature of Reality
|
The opening,
philosophical lecture to a class by theoretical quantum physicist
Prof. Howard Birack (Victor Wong) on the nature of reality: ("We
believe nature is solid, and time a constant. Matter has substance
and time a direction. There is truth in flesh and the solid ground.
The wind may be invisible, but it's real. Smoke, fire, water, light
-- they're different! Not as to stone or steel, but they're tangible.
And we assume time is narrow because it is as a clock -- one second
is one second for everyone! Cause precedes effect -- fruit rots,
water flows downstream. We're born, we age, we die. The reverse
NEVER happens... None of this is true! Say goodbye to classical
reality!") |
|
Raising Arizona (1987)
Prophetic
Dream With a Happy Ending
|
H.I. McDonnough's
(Nicolas Cage) closing dream fantasy while in bed, envisioning future
events: ("But still I hadn't dreamt nothin' about me'n Ed.
Until the end... And this was cloudier 'cause it was years, years
away. But I saw an old couple bein' visited by their children -
and all their grandchildren too. And the old couple wasn't screwed
up, and neither were their kids or their grandkids. And I don't
know, you tell me. This whole dream, was it wishful thinking? Was
I just fleein' reality, like I know I'm liable to do? But me'n Ed,
we can be good, too... and it seemed real. It seemed like us. And
it seemed like well... our home... If not Arizona, then a land,
not too far away, where all parents are strong and wise and capable,
and all children are happy and beloved... I dunno, maybe it was
Utah...") |
|
Roxanne (1987)
Elongated
Nose Joke Insults
|
Modern day Cyrano - C.D. Bales (Steve Martin)
suggestion of at least twenty better insults about his elongated
nose: ("Obvious: Excuse me, is that your nose, or did a bus
park on your face; Meteorological: Everybody take cover, she's
going to blow!; Fashionable: You know, you could de-emphasize
your nose if you wore something larger, like Wyoming; Personal:
Well, here we are, just the three of us; Punctual: All right Dellman,
your nose was on time, but you were fifteen minutes late; Envious:
Ooh, I wish I were you, to be able to smell your own ear; Naughty:
Pardon me sir, some of the ladies have asked if you wouldn't mind
putting that thing away...Sympathetic: Ooh, what happened, did
your parents lose a bet with God?; Complimentary: You must love
the little birdies to give them this to perch on; Scientific:
Say, does that thing there influence the tides?..."), before
finishing with the hostile, taunting "Dirty: Say, your name
wouldn't be - Dick, would it?" |
|
Swimming to Cambodia (1987)
"Genocide"
|
From Spalding
Gray's 85-minute monologue - the famous, dark "genocide"
passage: ("So... five years of bombing, a diet of bark, bugs,
lizards and leaves up in the Cambodian jungles, an education in
Paris environs in a strict Maoist doctrine with a touch of Rousseau,
and other things that we will probably never know about in our lifetime
-- including, perhaps, an invisible cloud of evil that circles the
Earth and lands at random in places like Iran, Beirut, Germany,
Cambodia... America -- set the Khymer Rouge out to commit the worst
auto-homeo genocide in modern history...") |
|
| Farewell
to Thailand |
The closing
"farewell" speech, in which Gray describes his regretful
departure from Thailand (with intermittent clips shown from The
Killing Fields (1984)): "Farewell, to the fantastic breakfasts, free every morning and there they were, waiting on you
with the papaya, mango, and pineapple like I'd never tasted before.
Farewell, to the Thai maids with the king-sized cotton sheets and
the big king-sized beds. Farewell, to the fresh meat flown in from
America, daily. Roast potatoes, green beans and roast lamb, at 110
degrees under a circus tent, according to British Equity. Farewell
to the drivers with the tinted glasses and the Mercedes with the
tinted windows. Farewell to the cakes, teas and ices every day exactly
at four o'clock. Farewell to those beautiful smiling people.
Farewell to that single, fresh rose in a vase on my bureau every
day. And just as I was climbing into that first-class seat, and
wrapping myself in a blanket, just as I was adjusting my pillow
behind my head, and having a sip of that champagne, and just as
I was bringing down and adjusting my Thai purple sleep mask... I
had an inkling, I had a flash... I suddenly thought I knew what
it was that had killed Marilyn Monroe...") |
|
Wall Street (1987)
"Greed is Good"
|
# 5
Gordon Gecko's (Michael Douglas) financial advice
to the annual stockholder's meeting of Teldar Paper: ("I
am not a destroyer of companies. I am a liberator of them. The
point is, ladies and gentleman, that greed - for lack of a better
word - is good. Greed is right. Greed works. Greed clarifies,
cuts through and captures the essence of the evolutionary spirit.
Greed, in all of its forms - greed for life, for money, for love,
knowledge - has marked the upward surge of mankind. And Greed
- you mark my words - will not only save Teldar Paper but that
other malfunctioning corporation called the USA. Thank you very
much.") |
|
Withnail and I (1987)
Wine-Soaked Quoting From Shakespeare's Hamlet
|
# 9
Withnail (Richard E. Grant), while standing in
the drenching rain, and drinking from a wine-bottle: ("Forgone
all custom of exercises; and indeed it goes so heavily with my
disposition that this goodly frame, the Earth, seems to me a sterile
promontory; this most excellent canopy, the air, look you, this
brave o'er-hanging firmament, this majestical roof fretted with
golden fire, why, it appeareth nothing to me but a foul and pestilent
congregation of vapours. What a piece of work is a man! How noble
in reason! How infinite in faculties! How like an angel in apprehension,
how like a God! The beauty of the world, paragon of animals! And
yet to me, what is this quintessence of dust? Man delights not
me: no, nor woman neither. Nor woman neither") |
|
The Accidental Tourist (1988)
"Less is Invariably More"
|
The film's opening voice-over during the credits, the writings/musings of fastidious, withdrawn and deadened travel guide author Macon Leary (William Hurt) as he packed his carry-on bag and offered advice about how to metaphorically live one's life as a businessman, while in the midst of a mid-life trauma of the tragic loss of his son a year earlier: ("The business traveler should bring only what fits in a carry-on bag. Checking your luggage is asking for trouble. Add several travel-size packets of detergent so you won't fall into the hands of unfamiliar laundries. There are very few necessities in this world which do not come in travel-size packets. One suit is plenty if you take along travel-size packets of spot remover. The suit should be medium-gray. Gray not only hides the dirt but is handy for sudden funerals. Always bring a book as protection against strangers. Magazines don't last and newspapers from elsewhere remind you you don't belong. But don't take more than one book. It is a common mistake to overestimate one's potential free time and consequently over-pack. In travel, as in most of life, less is invariably more. And most importantly, never take along anything on your journey so valuable or dear that its loss would devastate you") |
|
The Accused (1988)
"Is
That Nothing?"
|
Prosecuting
Deputy D.A. Kathryn Murphy's (Kelly McGillis) court argument against
the men who encouraged the rape of her client Sarah Tobias (Jodie
Foster): ("Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Paulsen has told you that
the testimony of Sarah Tobias is nothing. Sarah Tobias was raped,
but that is nothing. She was cut and bruised and terrorized but
that is nothing. All of it happened in front of a howling crowd
and that is nothing. Well, it may be nothing to Mr. Paulsen but
it is not nothing to Sarah Tobias and I don't believe it is nothing
to you...") |
|
Bull Durham (1988)
"The
Church of Baseball"
|
Annie Savoy's
(Susan Sarandon) "Church of Baseball" speech during the
opening credits: ("I believe in the church of baseball. I've
tried all the major religions and most of the minor ones. I've worshipped
Buddha, Allah, Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva, trees, mushrooms, and Isadora
Duncan. I know things. For instance, there's 108 beads in a Catholic
rosary and there's 108 stitches in a baseball. When I learned that,
I gave Jesus a chance. But it just didn't work out between us. The
Lord laid too much guilt on me. I prefer metaphysics to theology.
Y'see, there's no guilt in baseball, and it's never boring...") |
|
| "I
Believe..." |
Crash Davis' (Kevin Costner)
"I Believe..." speech to sports groupie Annie Savoy (Susan
Sarandon) in her living room when she proposed to "hook up
with one guy a season": ("Well, I believe in the soul,
the cock, the pussy, the small of a woman's back, the hangin' curveball,
high fiber, good Scotch, that the novels of Susan Sontag are self-indulgent,
overrated crap. I believe Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone. I believe
there oughtta be a constitutional amendment outlawing AstroTurf
and the designated hitter. I believe in the sweet spot, soft-core
pornography, opening your presents Christmas morning rather than
Christmas Eve. And I believe in long, slow, deep, soft, wet kisses
that last three days. Good-night"), followed by Annie's classic,
breathless response: ("Oh, my!") |
|
| When
I Was in the Show |
Career minor-leaguer
Crash's nostalgic and pleasure-filled reminiscing about his brief
tenure in the major leagues (dubbed "The Show") to his
young teammates, including a sullen but hotshot rookie pitcher 'Nuke'
Laloosh (Tim Robbins): ("Yeah, I was in the Show. I was in
the Show for twenty-one days, once. Twenty-one greatest days of
my life. You know you never handle your luggage in the Show -- somebody
else carries your bags. It's great. You hit white balls for batting
practice. Ballparks are like cathedrals. The hotels all have room
service, the women have long legs and brains...the pitchers, they
throw ungodly breaking stuff in the Show. Exploding sliders. You
could be one of those guys. Nuke could be one of those guys -- but
you don't give a f--k, meat.")
|
|
Dangerous Liaisons (1988)
"A
Virtuoso of Deceit"
|
Marquise de
Merteuil's (Glenn Close) "virtuoso of deceit" speech about
her ability to maintain a deceptive facade about herself: ("When
I came out into society I was 15. I already knew then that the role
I was condemned to, namely to keep quiet and do what I was told,
gave me the perfect opportunity to listen and observe. Not to what
people told me, which naturally was of no interest to me, but to
whatever it was they were trying to hide. I practiced detachment.
I learned how to look cheerful while under the table I stuck a fork
onto the back of my hand. I became a virtuoso of deceit. I consulted
the strictest moralists to learn how to appear, philosophers to
find out what to think, and novelist to see what I could get away
with, and in the end it all came down to one wonderfully simple
principle: win or die") |
|
A Fish Called Wanda (1988)
The
Curse of Being English
|
Conservative
barrister Archie Leach's (John Cleese) "What it's like being
English" speech about being cursed to sexy jewel thief Wanda
Gershwitz (Jamie Lee Curtis): ("Wanda, do you have any idea
what it's like being English? Being so correct all the time, being
so stifled by this dread of, of doing the wrong thing, of saying
to someone 'Are you married?' and hearing ' My wife left me this
morning,' or saying, uh, ' Do you have children?' and being told
they all burned to death on Wednesday. You see, Wanda, we'll all
terrified of embarrassment. That's why we're so... dead. Most of
my friends are dead, you know, we have these piles of corpses to
dinner.") |
|
The Witches of Eastwick (1988)
Denouncing
God for Creating Women
|
Supernatural
Daryl Van Horne's (Jack Nicholson) shouting rant to a small-town
church congregation to angrily denounce God and the opposite sex
after being betrayed by his lovers/students: ("...Do you think
God knew what He was doing when He created...woman? Huh? No s--t!
I really want to know...What's the matter? You don't think God makes
mistakes? Course He does. We all make mistakes! Of course when we
make mistakes they call it evil! When God makes mistakes they call
it nature! So what do you think? Women. A mistake?! Or did He DO
IT TO US, ON PURPOSE? Because I really want to know! Because if
it's a mistake maybe we can do something about it! Find a cure!
Invent a vaccine! Build up our immune system! Get a little exercise!
You know, twenty push-ups a day, and you never have to be afflicted
with women, EVER AGAIN!") |
|
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