# Best scenery chewings in cinematic history **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 18, 2008, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-scenery-chewings-in-cinematic-history/453418 "2008-06-18T23:51:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2008, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-scenery-chewings-in-cinematic-history/453418/41 "2008-06-19T22:47:51Z")
[QUOTE=KneadToKnow] God, that’s so funny, when I first read this I thought you said Jeremy Irons was in _Dungeons & Dragons_. You crack me up. [/QUOTE] Yeah, like they ever made a Dungeons & Dragons movie! Pfah! ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2008, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-scenery-chewings-in-cinematic-history/453418/42 "2008-06-20T00:00:53Z")
Kevin Kline in **A Fish Called Wanda**. But Cleese gets a chance to do some counter-chewing (“They kicked your hide REEEAAAALLL good, boy!”, in a faux Texas accent-they=Vietnamese). ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2008, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-scenery-chewings-in-cinematic-history/453418/43 "2008-06-20T01:40:02Z")
People, people. Tsk, tsk. Have we all forgotten Elizabeth Berkley in “Showgirls” already? She left not a g-string unchewed! ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2008, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-scenery-chewings-in-cinematic-history/453418/44 "2008-06-20T02:16:19Z")
[QUOTE=Evil Captor] She left not a g-string unchewed! [/QUOTE] :eek: I’ll bet that version was a popular rental… ---
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2008, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-scenery-chewings-in-cinematic-history/453418/45 "2008-06-20T02:28:26Z")
Is it possible nobody’s mentioned Gary Oldman? ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2008, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-scenery-chewings-in-cinematic-history/453418/46 "2008-06-20T02:33:07Z")
[QUOTE=Baldwin] Is it possible nobody’s mentioned Gary Oldman? [/QUOTE] Gary Oldman doesn’t chew the scenery, he blends into it like a chameleon. A chameleon that can act. …Oh, wait. _Fifth Element_. Totally. ---
**Author:** ![JpnDude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/838e76/32.png) [@JpnDude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JpnDude)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2008, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-scenery-chewings-in-cinematic-history/453418/47 "2008-06-20T02:35:12Z")
[QUOTE=friedo] While Pacino is a true master of scene mastication, my true favorite is Alec Baldwin’s famous monologue in _Malice_. [Do I have a God complex?](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LqeC3BPYTmE) [/QUOTE] This is the first one I thought of when I read the thread title. Great scene. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2008, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-scenery-chewings-in-cinematic-history/453418/48 "2008-06-20T05:35:44Z")
[QUOTE=Evil Captor] People, people. Tsk, tsk. Have we all forgotten Elizabeth Berkley in “Showgirls” already? She left not a g-string unchewed! [/QUOTE] She didn’t chew the scenery so much as gum it ineffectually like a senior citizen at an early bird special. Now Gena Gershon and Kyle McLaughlin, they were the Showgirlians who had teeth. ---
**Author:** ![Two\_and\_a\_Half\_Inches\_of\_Fun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ea666f/32.png) [@Two\_and\_a\_Half\_Inches\_of\_Fun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_and_a_Half_Inches_of_Fun)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2008, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-scenery-chewings-in-cinematic-history/453418/49 "2008-06-20T05:52:14Z")
I Drink Your Milkshake! I Drink It Up! ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2008, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-scenery-chewings-in-cinematic-history/453418/50 "2008-06-20T06:36:50Z")
Ricardo Montalban as Khan in **Star Trek II: the Wrath of Khan.** I could never get tired of watching him in that. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2008, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-scenery-chewings-in-cinematic-history/453418/51 "2008-06-20T06:45:28Z")
[QUOTE=It’s Not Rocket Surgery!] You guys all forgot about the MASTER! William Shatner, _Star Trek II_! **KHAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!** [/QUOTE] **I! HAVE HAD! ENOUGH! OF YOU!** Also from “The Search For Spock”: **You Klingon bastard. You killed my son!** ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2008, 7:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-scenery-chewings-in-cinematic-history/453418/52 "2008-06-20T07:58:42Z")
Can someone explain how this phenomenon came to be known as ‘chewing up the scenery’? ---
**Author:** ![Whiteknight](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whiteknight/32/4962_2.png) [@Whiteknight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whiteknight)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2008, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-scenery-chewings-in-cinematic-history/453418/53 "2008-06-20T12:41:33Z")
[QUOTE=Mangetout] Can someone explain how this phenomenon came to be known as ‘chewing up the scenery’? [/QUOTE] > **[Chew the scenery](http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-che2.htm)** > > Would you elaborate on chewing the scenery? ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2008, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-scenery-chewings-in-cinematic-history/453418/54 "2008-06-20T12:53:21Z")
Thanks, although that link still doesn’t really explain what it means - only how it’s used. ---
**Author:** ![Paintcharge](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/paintcharge/32/7946_2.png) [@Paintcharge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paintcharge)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2008, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-scenery-chewings-in-cinematic-history/453418/55 "2008-06-20T13:21:54Z")
I still don’t get why Ben Kingsley was supposed to be scary in “Sexy Beast.” Tiny little bastard yelling “NO NO NO NO NO!” Sit down and shut up. Grumble grumble grumble. ---
**Author:** ![middleman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9a140/32.png) [@middleman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/middleman)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2008, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-scenery-chewings-in-cinematic-history/453418/56 "2008-06-20T13:25:39Z")
Shatner is the ultimate scene chewer. He compounds this buy chewing other people’s scenes, too. While “KAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN!!!” was probably the gold standard, another one word line MUST be the silver standard. Star Trek 6: The Undiscovered Country. The cloaked Klingon ship has just been revealed due to a complex gas seeking torpedo designed by McCoy and Spock. (Kirk, clutching his fist into a deformed claw, like he is trying to palm a glass of sherrie) “FIRE!” Brilliant. In space, they are not supposed to hear you scream. I’ll bet space would make an exception for Shatner. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2008, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-scenery-chewings-in-cinematic-history/453418/57 "2008-06-20T13:53:45Z")
I want to nominate something for Christopher Lee, but I’m not sure what. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2008, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-scenery-chewings-in-cinematic-history/453418/58 "2008-06-20T14:11:35Z")
Oh, how about Adam West in the Batman TV series? ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2008, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-scenery-chewings-in-cinematic-history/453418/59 "2008-06-20T14:14:05Z")
[QUOTE=Mangetout] Thanks, although that link still doesn’t really explain what it means - only how it’s used. [/QUOTE] First half of the first paragraph: > [@](#): > > It’s from the acting profession, all right, and means to over-act, over-emote, or ham it up in a synthetic frenzy so great that you might even start biting chunks out of the set. There’s really not much more to it, I think. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2008, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-scenery-chewings-in-cinematic-history/453418/60 "2008-06-20T14:31:32Z")
[QUOTE=Marley23] I want to nominate something for Christopher Lee, but I’m not sure what. [/QUOTE] _“To waaaar!”_ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-scenery-chewings-in-cinematic-history/453418.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-scenery-chewings-in-cinematic-history/453418.md?page=4)