I think I may have some repressed anger issues.
In a discussion on favourite movie quotes recently my friends were reminiscing about such lines as,
“Nobody puts Baby in a corner”. – Dirty Dancing
“You had me at hello”. – Jerry Maguire
“Life is like a box of chocolates you never know what you are gonna get”. – Forrest Gump
Me? Well the first two quotes that came to mind where,
“Not my daughter, you bitch!” – Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 (book 7) – where Mrs. Weasley takes on Bellatrix Lestrang and kills her – yes I know it’s a ripoff from Alien but I never saw the Sigourney Weaver film, so it was new to me.
“Die, mother******, die!” – Terminator – Sarah Connor showing her frustration at trying to save the world.
Can you see a theme here?
Putting aside my obviously unresolved aggression issues, what makes a great movie quote? I did some in-depth research, OK, OK, I googled it, but I found out that according to a study by Cornell University a line is memorable when it has the following six attributes.
Use distinctive words; use simple syntax; keep it short; use “generality” so anyone can relate to them; use present tense; and use “front sounds” (labials or front vowels) such as words that start with M, P, F, B, V.
When you think of the number of quotes we now use in everyday language there’s some truth to the Cornell study.
“Toto, I’ve got a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore.” Wizard of Oz
“Houston, we have a problem.” – Apollo 13
“Show me the money.” – Jerry Maguire
The Cornell study does acknowledge that same quotes become popular because of “unusually effective delivery by an actor or its place in a major plot point.”
Do you have a favourite movie quote? Please share, particularly if you are a latent psychopath like myself who is obviously drawn to bad language and murder.
My all-time favourite movie quote is from Jaws, where Roy Scheider’s character, Martin Brody is on a small runabout with fisherman Quint and they see the shark for the first time:
“You’re gonna need a bigger boat.”
I love the look of horror he gets as he says it, lol. Did you know that line was an ad-lib from Scheider? I didn’t. Only found that out while surfing the net.
The other quote I’ve always been quite partial to was from Die Hard, the first one. Bruce Willis made this line his own.
John McClane: “Yippee Kai Ay, motherf*cker!”
Two great quotes, and love that you go for a swearing one too!
I’m rather partial to anything by Charleton Heston – there’s some awesome stuff in Planet of The Apes. But “Soylent Green is people!” is pretty fun too.
I remember loving Planet of the Apes when I saw it as a kid. However, I’m gonna look like a dunce when I say I had to google Soylent Green!
Solent Green is fab!!! Head to Blockbuster ….
Hmm, I always loved “After all, tomorrow is another day” from Scarlett O’Hara in Gone with the Wind. And another iconic quote that I love: “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.” Guess which film.
AWWW that sounds familiar, back in a minute just going to google.
Aaah of course, Ferris Bueller!
“Baby Steps” from “What About Bob”.
This was a former Boss’s favorite movie, so when she would ask me for an update on a project, I would say “Baby Steps, Anne, baby steps”.
I say “baby steps” all the time, had no idea it came from a movie.
Hi Janine, great post. Where do I start? My husband is always quoting movies. One of his favourites is a Jack Nicholson quote from “As Good As It Gets” “How do you write for Women So Well” and this is the line my husband loves: I think of a man, and I take away reason and accountability. Catherine x
LOL trust a bloke to like that one!
Great quote: Dirty Harry (the person, not necessarily the movie, as I don’t know which one this came from)
“Harry Callahan: I know what you’re thinking, punk. You’re thinking ‘did he fire six shots or only five?’ Now to tell you the truth I forgot myself in all this excitement. But being this is a .44 Magnum, the most powerful handgun in the world and will blow you head clean off, you’ve gotta ask yourself a question: ‘Do I feel lucky?’ Well, do ya, punk?”
Oh yes, one of my husband’s favourite movie quotes too.
One of my favourites is from the Dirty Harry movies when Harry gets sent to work in Personnel for his sins and growls disgustedly “Personnel. That’s for assholes”. I like to repeat that quote in my head whenever I am getting the runaround from HR at my own work.
HR must be terrified of you! LOL.
Good choices 🙂
Well, basically all of ghostbusters is just one good line after line, but my favorite is “when someone asks if you’re a god…you say YES”