This has been driving me crazy all day. I think this is an alien who is the captin of a spaceship. He has a deep gravelly voice, and he says,
“Patience.”
He may even repeat it. That’s all I can remember and I can’t get it out of my head. Not much to go on, I know, but if anyone knows, it’s my fellow dopers.
Total shot in the dark, haven’t seen it in forever, but… Enemy Mine?
I don’t think that’s it - I think I’d know it if someone suggested it. He’s definitely in outer space, on the bridge of a big ship with a crew - IIRC a crewmember asks him what they should do - the good guys just got away? (Not sure about that). And that’s his answer.
Pfft, call that a one-word clue?
KHHAAAAAAANNNNN!!!
Now that’s a one-word clue!
Could you perhaps describe the alien?
Is he reptilian? Furry? With a large bumpy forehead?
Was it live action or animated?
Did the ship look organic or mechanical - if the latter, modern, futuristic, or faux ancient?
Galaxy Quest? When the good guys have first flown through the minefield, the chief bad guy replies “Patience, lieutenant…Patience” when one of his underlings asks if they should follow the good guys into the minefield.
The bad guy in question is “General Sarris”, a sort of insecto-reptiloid, if that rings any bells.
There is a whole sequence with Yoda about patience in “Empire Strikes Back”. Gravelly and alien but no spaceship.
There’s that scene from The Last Starfighter, but the words are wrong. It’s exactly as you describe, though.
The underling turns to the head bad guy (who btw has a ery gravelly voice) and asks him (after the something bad happens to them), “What do we do now?”
The answer, “Now. We die.”
Here is the actual exchange (from imdb) :
Kril: Damage report!
Kodan Officer: Guidance system out. Auxiliary steering out.
Kril: Divert! Divert!
Kodan Officer: She won’t answer the helm! We’re locked into the moon’s gravitational pull. What do we do?
[sound of Lord Kril’s eyepiece swinging over left eye]
Kril: We die.
“The Last Starfighter” does sound like a possibility. Maybe the scene where Dan O’Herlihy (General Black from “Fail Safe”) in a reptilian alien garb is telling the kid pilot to wait until all the enemy ships are within the proper range to activate the “Death Blossom”?
MEBuckner took my answer. I’ll second Galaxy Quest. I think that fits all the requirements: lizard-alien captain of a starship, talking to his lieutenant after the good guy temporarily get away.
How weird I was reminded of the Last Starfighter quote too. Considering it doesn’t match Patience at all it’s amusing to see how many thought of it.
It was absolutely Galaxy Quest. Thanks MEBuckner!! This board ROCKS!!!
(Sorry for the late response - I didn’t read the boards over the weekend).
Man, you’re totally reading my mind. This is exactly what I thought of when I read the OP. Maybe it always comes to mind first because I have a friend who responds that way every time he’s asked “So, what do we do now?”
