# Most Effective Movie Speeches **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 24, 2012, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-effective-movie-speeches/629279 "2012-07-24T20:32:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![minlokwat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minlokwat/32/2844_2.png) [@minlokwat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minlokwat)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-effective-movie-speeches/629279/21 "2012-07-25T04:28:32Z")
> [@Equipoise](#): > > Robert Shaw as Quint in Jaws about the USS Indianapolis is not really a speech, more a monologue, but I saw a restored version of the movie on the big screen a couple of weeks ago and it’s still as powerful as it ever was. > [@](#): > > **MadTheSwine** : I just watched JAWS for the 1st since I saw it back in the 70s.The whole way through,I kept thinking how horrible it was,until Quint’s speech.It is very powerful,made the movie worth watching just for that. Interesting story behind that scene. Prior to shooting it, Shaw felt he needed a bit of liquid motivation so the scene with him, Richard Dreyfuss, and Roy Scheider is done with real alcohol and the men actually boozing it up. When it’s time for Quint’s speech, Robert Shaw is on the slightly smashed side. He can’t remember his lines, slurs those that he can and generally makes an incomprehensible mess of things. When they wrap for the day, Spielberg realizes he has nothing to go with and figures he will have to scuttle the Indianapolis monologue. The next day, Shaw comes to him stone cold sober and asks to try the scene now that his senses have been restored. He nails it in one take and they wind up with what you see today. Spielberg routinely cites this as one of his all-time favorite scenes from the movies he’s done. Knowing this the next time you see it, you can clearly see a liquored up Robert Shaw change into a lucid eyed, sober Shaw and then back to drunken Shaw in the span of a few minutes of screen footage. Fin. ---
**Author:** ![Llama\_Llogophile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@Llama\_Llogophile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Llama_Llogophile)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-effective-movie-speeches/629279/22 "2012-07-25T04:54:39Z")
[Captain Koons in Pulp Fiction](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OVxl__61vKI) ---
**Author:** ![MostlyClueless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@MostlyClueless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MostlyClueless)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 8:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-effective-movie-speeches/629279/23 "2012-07-25T08:06:53Z")
[Al Pacino, Devil’s Advocate](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCYbG5IRQjk) ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-effective-movie-speeches/629279/24 "2012-07-25T14:18:51Z")
We can’t leave out Spencer Tracy’s speech from [_Inherit the Wind_](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ECITwTYSIsg) and Gary Cooper’s speech from [_The Fountainhead_](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zc7oZ9yWqO4). ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-effective-movie-speeches/629279/25 "2012-07-25T14:19:10Z")
Rick’s speech to Ilsa at the end of _Casablanca._ Also, many of the speeches from _1776_, especially Dr. Hall’s speech that begins, “Yes, Mr. Adams, I do.” (This after John Adams has his big speech (in song) about the need for independence, ending with the line, “Does anybody see what I see?”) ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-effective-movie-speeches/629279/26 "2012-07-25T14:29:10Z")
Robert Preston as Centauri-_The Last Starfighter_ > [@](#): > > Alex! Alex! You’re walking away from history! History, Alex! Did Chris Columbus stay home? Nooooo. What if the Wright Brothers thought that only birds should fly? And did Galoka think that the Ulus were too ugly to save? > Alex Rogan: Who’s Galoka? > Centauri: Never mind. > Alex Rogan: Listen, Centauri. I’m not any of those guys, I’m a kid from a trailer park. > Centauri: If that’s what you think, then that’s all you’ll ever be! ---
**Author:** ![ministryman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f6c823/32.png) [@ministryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ministryman)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-effective-movie-speeches/629279/27 "2012-07-25T14:33:13Z")
Bill Murray in Stripes. …We’re soldiers. But we are AMERICAN soldiers! We’ve been kickin’ ass for over 200 years! We’re 10 and 1!.. ---
**Author:** ![Labdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/439d5e/32.png) [@Labdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labdad)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-effective-movie-speeches/629279/28 "2012-07-25T15:07:27Z")
Wilford Brimley in _Absence of Malice_: “Tell you what we’re gonna do. We’re gonna sit right here and talk about it. Now if you get tired of talking here, Mr. Marshal Elving Patrick there will hand you one of them subpoenas he’s got stuck down in his pocket and we’ll go downstairs and talk in front of the grand jury. Now we’ll talk all day if you want to. But, come sundown, there’s gonna be two things true that ain’t true now. One is that the United States Department of Justice is gonna know what in the good Christ - excuse me, Angie - is goin’ on around here. And the other’s I’m gonna have somebody’s ass in my briefcase.” ---
**Author:** ![ministryman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f6c823/32.png) [@ministryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ministryman)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-effective-movie-speeches/629279/29 "2012-07-25T15:36:18Z")
> [@Labdad](#): > > Wilford Brimley in _Absence of Malice_: > > “Tell you what we’re gonna do. We’re gonna sit right here and talk about it. Now if you get tired of talking here, Mr. Marshal Elving Patrick there will hand you one of them subpoenas he’s got stuck down in his pocket and we’ll go downstairs and talk in front of the grand jury. Now we’ll talk all day if you want to. But, come sundown, there’s gonna be two things true that ain’t true now. One is that the United States Department of Justice is gonna know what in the good Christ - excuse me, Angie - is goin’ on around here. And the other’s I’m gonna have somebody’s ass in my briefcase.” Funny thing about those subpeenies (sic)… ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-effective-movie-speeches/629279/30 "2012-07-25T17:27:31Z")
> [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > Mal’s “I aim to misbehave” speech is small, but eloquent in it’s own way: I found this one stirring, but very short: > [@](#): > > Just focus! The Alliance said they were gonna waltz through Serenity Valley. And we choked 'em with those words. We’ve done the impossible, and that makes us mighty. Just a little while longer. Our angels are gonna be soaring overhead, raining fire on those arrogant Khags. So you hold. > [shouts] > You hold! Go! ---
**Author:** ![A\_Dodgy\_Dude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a87d85/32.png) [@A\_Dodgy\_Dude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/A_Dodgy_Dude)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-effective-movie-speeches/629279/31 "2012-07-25T17:54:51Z")
[Al Pacino shows how to give an effective movie speech in Scent of a Woman](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FGLtzRrKqng) ---
**Author:** ![Haunted\_Pasta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/94ad74/32.png) [@Haunted\_Pasta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Haunted_Pasta)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-effective-movie-speeches/629279/32 "2012-07-25T18:04:07Z")
The eulogy in \*Waking Ned Devine \*is one of my favorite things ever, in movies or elsewhere. > [@](#): > > Michael O’Sullivan was my great friend. But I don’t ever remember telling him that. The words that are spoken at a funeral are spoken too late for the man who is dead. What a wonderful thing it would be to visit your own funeral. To sit at the front and hear what was said, maybe say a few things yourself. Michael and I grew old together. But at times, when we laughed, we grew young. If he was here now, if he could hear what I say, I’d congratulate him on being a great man, and thank him for being a friend. Of course, Michael O’Sullivan is, in fact, sitting in the front row, and Jackie, the eulogist, is looking straight at him as he says this. ---
**Author:** ![partlycloudy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/partlycloudy/32/3114_2.png) [@partlycloudy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/partlycloudy)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-effective-movie-speeches/629279/33 "2012-07-25T18:08:54Z")
Philip Seymour Hoffman’s “sermon” about gossip in the movie, Doubt. At the time I saw it, I was working in an office where the gossiping was destructive and completely out of control. I felt like making all the ladies I worked with watch this clip! (I’m hoping this link works - doing this on Tapatalk) [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/sp6rVrGmvMs/hqdefault.jpg "Doubt: Gossip") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sp6rVrGmvMs) ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-effective-movie-speeches/629279/34 "2012-07-25T18:13:00Z")
Rutger Hauer’s death scene in Blade Runner. ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-effective-movie-speeches/629279/35 "2012-07-25T19:13:17Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > I show Michael Douglas’ [speech](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3NI5sE3KeY) at the end of _The American President_ to my Government classes every year. That one is one of my favorites, but that clip cut off the best [part](http://www.whysanity.net/monos/american.html) (the first two paragraphs in this transcript). ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-effective-movie-speeches/629279/36 "2012-07-25T19:14:52Z")
‘You can’t handle the truth!’ ---
**Author:** ![GargoyleWB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gargoylewb/32/199_2.png) [@GargoyleWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GargoyleWB)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-effective-movie-speeches/629279/37 "2012-07-25T19:25:22Z")
Anna Chlumsky’s speech after Macauley Culkin died in _My Girl_. One of the few times I’ve ever openly teared up from a movie. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-effective-movie-speeches/629279/38 "2012-07-25T19:35:12Z")
> [@Tanbarkie](#): > > [“A sword day! A red day… ere the sun rises!”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdnqZcmWk8U&feature=player_detailpage#t=59s) :: shakes fist angrily :: I came in to mention that. Theoden’s speech to the Rohirrim – which can be summarized as “This battle is hopeless. I’m going anyway. 'Cause I’m like that. Come with me or be known a pussy” is all kinds of awesome. ---
**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:** [July 25, 2012, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-effective-movie-speeches/629279/39 "2012-07-25T19:47:26Z")
> [@Labdad](#): > > Wilford Brimley in _Absence of Malice_: > > “Tell you what we’re gonna do. We’re gonna sit right here and talk about it. Now if you get tired of talking here, Mr. Marshal Elving Patrick there will hand you one of them subpoenas he’s got stuck down in his pocket and we’ll go downstairs and talk in front of the grand jury. Now we’ll talk all day if you want to. But, come sundown, there’s gonna be two things true that ain’t true now. One is that the United States Department of Justice is gonna know what in the good Christ - excuse me, Angie - is goin’ on around here. And the other’s I’m gonna have somebody’s ass in my briefcase.” Just saw this movie for the first time a few weeks ago, and I concur. Brimley kicked ass in that scene. ---
**Author:** ![Teacake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Teacake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Teacake)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-effective-movie-speeches/629279/40 "2012-07-25T21:52:13Z")
I remind myself of this when I want to knock my students’ heads together: > [@Henry Higgins](#): > > I know your head aches; I know you’re tired; I know your nerves are as raw as meat in a butcher’s window. But think what you’re trying to accomplish. Think what you’re dealing with. The majesty and grandeur of the English language! It’s the greatest possession we have. The noblest thoughts that ever flowed through the hearts of men are contained in its extraordinary, imaginative, and musical mixtures of sounds. And that’s what you’ve set yourself out to conquer Eliza. And conquer it you will. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-effective-movie-speeches/629279.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-effective-movie-speeches/629279.md?page=3)