BO.com top 100 movie lines of all time: May the force be with you, number 1

[baumer]

 

27. Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship. —Casablanca (1942)

 

Yeah, yeah, another CASABLANCA line.

 

 

CASABLANCA ends with this line, which somehow manages to be warm and cynical all at once. Rick Blaine, the troubled club owner who’s just given up the love of his life so that she can continue to be the wife of a resistance leader, is left stuck in Casablanca with the chief of police, Captain Renault, a suave scoundrel (played by the immortal Claude Rains) who’ll cheerfully sell his loyalty however it’ll best serve his own interests. He and Rick have been friends and occasionally enemies, and as they walk off together, this line is how Rick sums up what will come.

 

Ironically enough, this line wasn’t even in the script, and wasn’t even thought up until production was already wrapped. The line was written by Hal Wallis, the producer, and Bogart had to be brought in a month after production had ended so that he could dub it.

 

Even then, there were initial plans to have an additional scene, showing Rick and Renault and some Free French soldiers on a ship, in order to capitalize on the Allies invading Africa in 1942. But it was too hard to work out Claude Rains’ schedule, and then immortal studio exec David O. Selznick decided “it would be a terrible mistake” if they changed the ending they already had. And so one of the most iconic endings ever managed to survive.

 

Summing up the CASABLANCA experience overall, Julius Epstein (one of the co-screenwriters) later said the script contained "more corn than in the states of Kansas and Iowa combined. But when corn works, there's nothing better."

 

 

 

Hahahah!!  Best!!

[baumer]

Nicely done Tele.

 

Now, someone else take the next line and leave 25 for me.  19 most certainly goes to Jake.

 

I'm going out for a few hours so if you want to go past 25, do so, I'll do 25 in this spot when I get home.....

[BadAtGender]

I have to confess, I've never see Casablanca all the way through. Bits of it here and there, but never the whole film.

[baumer]

I have to confess, I've never see Casablanca all the way through. Bits of it here and there, but never the whole film.

 

The first time I saw it straight through was in first year university film studies.  

[BadAtGender]

The first time I saw it straight through was in first year university film studies.  

 

Well, problem rectified. I can cross off Casablanca from my "must see" list.

 

It was good.

[baumer]

Some more than came close:

 

Wax on Wax off The Karate Kid 4 160
X Elementary my dear Watson Sherlock Holmes 4 159
X You're tearing me apart Lisa The Room 4 155
X We didn’t land on Plymouth Rock. Plymouth Rock landed on us Malcolm X 6 148
X Argo fuck yourself Argo 4 147
X Baby, you're gonna miss that plane Before Sunset 3 143
X Some days you just can't get rid of a bomb Batman 4 142
X You complete me Jerry Maguire 5 133

[baumer]

26 They may take our lives, but they'll never take away our Freedom! Braveheart 1995

 

Written by Randal Wallace, he had never heard of William Wallace before 1983.  He was visiting Scotland to learn of his heritage and there was a statue of William Wallace.  He wanted to know who this man was who shared the same last name as he.  This started a decade long quest to write the film.  Wallace's screenplay was nominated but lost the The Usual Suspects.  Director Mel Gibson had trouble raising enough money to get the film made and Warner Brother's told him they would give him the money but only if he would do another Lethal Weapon.  He refused.  Paramount only agreed to a North American distribution and then finally 20th Century Fox came in for the international rights.  Braveheart of course went on to win best picture and director at the 1996 Academy Awards.  By now, the inspirational speech given by it's leader before battle, many times on horseback, has been done to death but keep in mind, Braveheart came out right around the time New Line and Peter Jackson first thought of bringing LOTR to the screen.  So in essence, this is one of the first times it had been done, at least this effectively, since perhaps the 60's.

 

Edited February 15, 2014 by winter baumer

[baumer]

25 Roads… where we're going, we don't need roads Back to the Future 1985

 

There is so much that can be said about Back to the Future.  It's one of those movies that has a rich and sometimes unbelievable road to production.  I would urge you to check out the Wikipedia page as it is fascinating.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Back_to_the_Future

 

 

 Some very brief highlights I can mention are that every studio passed on this because when Zemekis and producing partner Bob Gale pitched it, all the studios felt it was too light.  In the early 80's "raunchy" teen films like Fast Times at Ridgemont High and Porky's were the successful kinds of films.  Studios wanted more of that.  This leads me to believe that Hollywood is basically a bunch of talentless bu incredibly rich sycophants and really have no mind of their own.  When there are successes like Back to the Future, it's really blind luck.  Even after reading this brilliant script, studios passed on it because there was no nudity and no vulgarity.  Zemekis had worked with Spielberg before but didn't want him involved this time because he had failed Spielberg twice before and he was terrified this would be another flop and he didn't want to ruin his working relationship with Steven.  After Zemekis did Romancing the Stone, he finally approached Spielberg to get it done.  Universal came on board when Spielberg pitched it to them.  Sorry to keep harping on this but Back to the Future was a cash cow for Universal.  The raunchy teen comedy?  It went the way of the do-do bird after about 1985.  The idiots who passed on this should have all lost their jobs.  Back to the Future was nominated for best original screenplay but in another morally bankrupt move, it lost to the Peter Weir film Witness, a good film but not a great and iconic one like Back to the Future.  And without looking it up, can you name who won best picture in 1985?  It was Out of Africa.  A pure joke.  Back to the Future should have cleaned up at the Oscars, imo, it should have did what Titanic did.  It changed movies in some ways and it produced a film that was universally loved by critics and by audiences alike.  But, Spielberg's name, pre 1993, was Oscar poison as there was some kind of silly and childish resentment towards him because he made so many good films at such a young age.  Back to the Future is an iconoclastic film that transcends age.  It truly is one of the classics.  

 

 

Edited February 15, 2014 by winter baumer

[The Panda]

26 They may take our lives, but they'll never take away our Freedom! Braveheart 1995

 

Written by Randal Wallace, he had never heard of William Wallace before 1983.  He was visiting Scotland to learn of his heritage and there was a statue of William Wallace.  He wanted to know who this man was who shared the same last name as he.  This started a decade long quest to write the film.  Wallace's screenplay was nominated but lost the The Usual Suspects.  Director Mel Gibson had trouble raising enough money to get the film made and Warner Brother's told him they would give him the money but only if he would do another Lethal Weapon.  He refused.  Paramount only agreed to a North American distribution and then finally 20th Century Fox came in for the international rights.  Braveheart of course went on to win best picture and director at the 1996 Academy Awards.  By now, the inspirational speech given by it's leader before battle, many times on horseback, has been done to death but keep in mind, Braveheart came out right around the time New Line and Peter Jackson first thought of bringing LOTR to the screen.  So in essence, this is one of the first times it had been done, at least this effectively, since perhaps the 60's.

 

 

Weird, I always thought this line was utter cheese.

 

Then again im not a big fan of Braveheart. 

Edited February 15, 2014 by The Panda

[baumer]

Besides Citizen Kane, do you like movies, Panda?

[The Stingray]

@ Back to the Future: Such a perfect set-up line. The line, the delivery, the DeLorean lift-off and the music come together in beautiful unison and instantly builds up anticipation for the sequel. Kind of like the exchange between Gordon and Batman at the end of Batman Begins.

[baumer]

Of the 24 lines remaining here are some interesting observations:6 are from the 70s4 are from the 80sone was ad libbedAnd there are several actors uttering lines from different movies

[4815162342]

Just realized I need to get in on the presentations. I'll take a handful of the teens.

[Ozymandias]

26 They may take our lives, but they'll never take away our Freedom! Braveheart 1995

 

Written by Randal Wallace, he had never heard of William Wallace before 1983.  He was visiting Scotland to learn of his heritage and there was a statue of William Wallace.  He wanted to know who this man was who shared the same last name as he.  This started a decade long quest to write the film.  Wallace's screenplay was nominated but lost the The Usual Suspects.  Director Mel Gibson had trouble raising enough money to get the film made and Warner Brother's told him they would give him the money but only if he would do another Lethal Weapon.  He refused.  Paramount only agreed to a North American distribution and then finally 20th Century Fox came in for the international rights.  Braveheart of course went on to win best picture and director at the 1996 Academy Awards.  By now, the inspirational speech given by it's leader before battle, many times on horseback, has been done to death but keep in mind, Braveheart came out right around the time New Line and Peter Jackson first thought of bringing LOTR to the screen.  So in essence, this is one of the first times it had been done, at least this effectively, since perhaps the 60's.

 

 

I prefer the Irishman's line.  "The Almighty tells me he can get me out of this mess, but he's pretty sure you're fucked"

[The Panda]

Besides Citizen Kane, do you like movies, Panda?

 

I liked the LEGO Movie.

[baumer]

24 Gentlemen, you can't fight here, it’s the war room Dr Strangelove 1964

 

Stanley Kubrick, Peter George and Terry Southern wrote the screenplay which would be nominated for best adapted screenplay in 1965.  AFI voted this line as the 64th best line of all time.  The road to getting this produced was a little bumpy as Universal only agreed to finance it if Peter Sellers would agree to play 4 different roles in the movie.  Universal felt that much of Lolita's success was because Sellers played multiple roles in that film as well.  Sellers would end up playing three of the four roles written for him.  The film had to be delayed because of the JFK assassination as the first test screening was supposed to take place on November 22nd, the day Kennedy was killed and because of this, the film was delayed for release until the end of January.  Stanley Kubrick is known for being meticulous and very serious on set.  Some of his antics on The Shining are legendary for his obsessive and compulsive nature.  But on this set, he was reportedly laughing all the time and even noted from several cast members as being a bit of a prankster.  And when the famous line was uttered, it had to be filmed several times, not because that was the way Kubrick did things, but because he couldn't get through a take without laughing and ruining the shot.

 

[baumer]

23 Why So serious?  The Dark Knight 2008

 

The film that changed the way comic book movies were made.  Nolan may be lionized to the point of annoying many of the members here but it all started with this film.  He took a great character like Batman and elevated him to levels that Tim Burton and the other directors before him couldn't.  From the way it was filmed, to the way it was acted, the way it was written, everything about The Dark Knight was taken seriously.  Why so serious could be taken in many different ways.  The line is said by the joker as he is telling us how he got the scars on his face.  We later find out that his story changes when he tells it from person to person.  But whether his drunk father and a knife story is true or not, this joker, as opposed to the one that Jack Nicholson played, is much more macabre, much more cerebral, much more calculating.  And even though he tells Harvey Dent that he really is just a dog chasing a car, we know different.  There is nothing spontaneous about him.  He plans and he executes.  He wants to inject a little anarchy into the establishment and a little chaos, because, well, it's fair.  Chris and Johnathan Nolan wrote a brilliant script but Heath Ledger delivered the lines written for him flawlessly and his performance became more than a great Oscar performance, it became a legendary Oscar performance.  Why so serious?  Because that's who Heath was.  

 

[baumer]

22 Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're gonna get Forrest Gump 1994

 

The second and last of the Forrest Gump lines, this is the defining one for Forrest Gump.  This was voted as the 40th best line of all time by AFI.  Tom Hanks has played many great characters and won Oscars for two of them but this is the role he is known for now.  And this line, along with stupid is as stupid does is the one that is most quoted to him by strangers.  John Travolta, Bill Murray and Chevy Chase all turned down the role.  Not surprisingly, all three actors are basically working at 7-11 now.  Barry Sonnefeld was attached to direct but he left to do Adams Family Values.  I think he was seen making the donuts for the Dunkin Donuts guy.  If you go back to line number 25 and reread what was said there, you'll see that Robert Zemekis was a long time friend of Spielberg and he felt that he let him down at times.  When Spielberg helped him get Back to the Future made, he stepped out of the shadow of Steven somewhat but his most successful film still had Spielberg's prints all over it.  When Spielberg read the name for best director at the Oscars in 1995, his quote was, "Oh my God, Cody, your father just won best director." It was a poignant and moving moment because now, Zemekis was no longer known as the Spielberg guy.  This was his film and he did it without his help.  Forrest Gump went through a TON production before it was made, but Zemekis got it done, and now has a best director statue for it, and of course Eric Roth does as well for his screenplay.

 

[baumer]

Top 21 lines coming up.  This will be done by tomorrow.

[The Panda]

Here are some of the quotes I wish had made it (but it's just my opinion, so it doesn't speak for everybody here)

 

"We accept the reality of the world with which we are presented" - Truman Show

 

"Nice guy? I don't give a shit. Good father? Fuck you! Go home and play with your kids. You wanna work here - close! " - Glenngarry Glen Ross

 

"Fish are friends, not food" - Finding Nemo

 

"Toto, I have a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore." - The Wizard of Oz 

 

"Rosebud." - Citizen Kane (although I have a feeling this will be on the list)

 

"Oh my God, Karen, you can't just ask people why they're white." - Mean Girls

 

"I'll be back." - The Terminator

 

"Yippee Ki-Ya Motherfucker" - Die Hard

 

"I love the smell of napalm in the morning" - Apocalypse Now

 

"You're gonna need a bigger boat." - Jaws

Edited February 16, 2014 by The Panda