Top 100 Movie Quotes
Frankly, dear readers, I don't give a damn. Actually, that's not quite true. Many of these quotes were truly quote-worthy, while others seemed to be included out of a sense of duty.
A real travesty was number 21, a quote which always grates on me: "A census taker once tried to test me. I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice Chianti."
You see, I think the original line in the book was far superior: "A census taker tried to quantify me once. I ate his liver with some fava beans and a big Amarone."
Substituting Chianti for Amarone is like substituting Budweiser for Guinness. It's the kind of dumbing-down for which a real Dr. Lector would have eaten the screenwriter.
The top 25 quotes are below the fold:
1. "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn." Gone with the Wind, 1939
2. "I'm going to make him an offer he can't refuse." The Godfather, 1972
3. "You don't understand! I coulda had class. I coulda been a contender. I could've been somebody, instead of a bum, which is what I am." On the Waterfront, 1954
4. "Toto, I've got a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore." The Wizard of Oz, 1939
5. "Here's looking at you, kid." Casablanca, 1942
6. "Go ahead, make my day." Sudden Impact, 1983
7. "All right, Mr. DeMille, I'm ready for my close-up." Sunset Boulevard., 1950
8. "May the Force be with you." Star Wars, 1977
9. "Fasten your seatbelts. It's going to be a bumpy night." All About Eve, 1950
10. "You talking to me?" Taxi Driver, 1976
11. "What we've got here is failure to communicate." Cool Hand Luke, 1967
12. "I love the smell of napalm in the morning." Apocalypse Now, 1979
13. "Love means never having to say you're sorry." Love Story, 1970
14. "The stuff that dreams are made of." The Maltese Falcon, 1941
15. "E.T. phone home." E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial, 1982
16. "They call me Mister Tibbs!" In the Heat of the Night, 1967
17. "Rosebud." Citizen Kane, 1941
18. "Made it, Ma! Top of the world!" White Heat, 1949
19. "I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore!" Network, 1976
20. "Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship." Casablanca, 1942
21. "A census taker once tried to test me. I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice Chianti." The Silence of the Lambs, 1991
22. "Bond. James Bond." Dr. No, 1962
23. "There's no place like home." The Wizard of Oz, 1939
24. "I am big! It's the pictures that got small." Sunset Boulevard, 1950
25. "Show me the money!" Jerry Maguire, 1996
#8 shooda been "I've a bad feeling about this", it wooda described fans reactions to George's later creations.
Posted by: Kelly at June 22, 2005 11:39 AMI am in total agreement with you on this one. They dumbed the line down for the movie. The idiots. He would never have said a chianti, as nice as some of them can be.
Posted by: RP at June 23, 2005 07:46 AMAnd another thing, now that I read the list, how did "Candygram for Mongo!" not make the top 25? Or anything from Blazing Saddles, for that matter?
Posted by: RP at June 23, 2005 07:48 AMRe 13. "Love means never having to say you're sorry." Love Story, 1970
In 1972 movie "Whats up, doc?", Streisend character repeats this line to which the ONeal character replies in another quote worthy fashion: "Thats the dumbest thing I ever heard!"
Some fine quotes, some are pretty silly, but the outrages thing is there are no Monty Python quotes! Even a "London Underground is not a political movement!" from "A Fish Called Wanda" would have made my day.
Posted by: lemuel kolkava at June 24, 2005 05:14 PMGreat comments about the omission of anything from Blazing Saddles or Monty Python. I also think they got the worng Star Wars quote: it should have been "No, I am your father."
In our house, the most-quoted Star Wars lines are Yoda's "Try not. Do or do not. There is no try" and Vader's "I find your lack of faith... disturbing."