# 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:** 4
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2012, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-effective-movie-speeches/629279/61 "2012-08-05T02:23:43Z")
The “Greed is Good” speech by Gordon Gecko in Wall Street. Danny Devito gives a similar shareholder speech in Other People’s Money. ---
**Author:** ![Voluble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/4af34b/32.png) [@Voluble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voluble)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2012, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-effective-movie-speeches/629279/62 "2012-08-06T01:09:58Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > I prefer [the original version](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-yZNMWFqvM&t=0m30s), and I expect even Tolkien would agree. I believe it is “a sore day” not “a sword day.” The difference between Brannagh and Bernard Hill who plays Theoden is night and day. Brannagh comes off as a fop who is reciting Shakespeare in a very affected style. No army about to go into battle coult stay with that speech to its conclusion even were it delivered at its best but Brannagh is particularly uninspiring. Theoden’s speech rings true because it could actually be delivered and received. You want to ride with them into the maw… not get out your Harbrace and diagram the sentence structure or marvel at the imagery. As beautiful as Shakespeare can write even he would admit no one would ever speak as his characters do in the heat of battle… or any other time really if the truth be known. ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2012, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-effective-movie-speeches/629279/63 "2012-08-06T14:35:08Z")
> [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > St. Crispin’s Day speech, Kenneth Branagh? Brilliant- I’d follow him to battle. > > [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-yZNMWFqvM&feature=youtube\_gdata\_player](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-yZNMWFqvM&feature=youtube_gdata_player) This. ---
**Author:** ![iftheresaway](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ecae2f/32.png) [@iftheresaway](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iftheresaway)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2012, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-effective-movie-speeches/629279/64 "2012-08-06T15:08:44Z")
> [@Spoke](#): > > Well there’s the [_ **Braveheart** _ pregame speech](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3oz0zhEwZk) Not sure it fits the definition of a speech, but for my money Robert the Bruce’s impassioned proclamation to his father is far more powerful: Robert the Bruce: Lands, titles, men, power, nothing. Robert’s Father: Nothing? Robert the Bruce: I have nothing. Men fight for me because if they do not, I throw them off my land and I starve their wives and their children. Those men who bled the ground red at Falkirk, they fought for William Wallace, and he fights for something that I never had. And I took it from him, when I betrayed him. I saw it in his face on the battlefield and it’s tearing me apart. Robert’s Father: All men betray. All lose heart. Robert the Bruce: I don’t wanna lose heart. I wanna believe as he does. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2012, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-effective-movie-speeches/629279/65 "2012-08-06T15:21:19Z")
> [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > St. Crispin’s Day speech, Kenneth Branagh? Brilliant- I’d follow him to battle. > > [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-yZNMWFqvM&feature=youtube\_gdata\_player](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-yZNMWFqvM&feature=youtube_gdata_player) > [@The\_Second\_Stone](#): > > Rutger Hauer’s death scene in Blade Runner. Both of these, And I would add not a speech, but a song: https://www.youtube.com/embed/hPXXuEel0fU?feature=oembed&wmode=opaque ---
**Author:** ![Musky\_Moon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90db22/32.png) [@Musky\_Moon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musky_Moon)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2012, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-effective-movie-speeches/629279/66 "2012-08-06T15:26:31Z")
> [@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. This. Still gives me chills every time I see it. Considering all the rumors about how difficult it was to get Shaw to do anything sober during the movie, it’s amazing he pulled it off. ---
**Author:** ![Musky\_Moon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90db22/32.png) [@Musky\_Moon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musky_Moon)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2012, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-effective-movie-speeches/629279/67 "2012-08-06T15:40:25Z")
> [@Typo\_Knig](#): > > Network - in addition to the famous “I’m mad as hell” speech, there’s this gem: > > [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tcXIktL55Gw](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tcXIktL55Gw) > > It won Beatrice Straight an Academy Award, and represents 90% of her lines in the film. That’s what O call an effective speech. In a similar vein the opening sequence of the HBO show **Newsroom** hooked me from go. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/88XP4fAyV6o/hqdefault.jpg "It's not. But it can be - Opening rant from The Newsroom") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=88XP4fAyV6o) Enjoy ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2012, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-effective-movie-speeches/629279/68 "2012-08-06T17:31:02Z")
I prefer Laurence Olivier’s version of the Saint Crispin’s Day speech. (From the 1944 movie.) Branagh is better in more intimate moments, like carousing with Falstaff, or romancing the princess, but Olivier was better at the grand speeches. ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2012, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-effective-movie-speeches/629279/69 "2012-08-06T19:32:00Z")
Lots of them in **The Godfather** , but [this](http://www.hark.com/clips/jryvqxdjdb-johnny-fontane-never-gets-that-movie) one is my favorite. “She was the greatest piece of ass I’ve ever had, and I’ve had 'em all over the world!” ---
**Author:** ![Yeticus\_Rex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/a698b9/32.png) [@Yeticus\_Rex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yeticus_Rex)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2012, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-effective-movie-speeches/629279/70 "2012-08-06T20:15:48Z")
Field of Dreams -[“People Will Come”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7SB16il97yw) by Terrance Mann (James Earl Jones). ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2012, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-effective-movie-speeches/629279/71 "2012-08-07T02:54:22Z")
Short, but says it all: America, fuck yeah! ---
**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:** [August 7, 2012, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-effective-movie-speeches/629279/72 "2012-08-07T22:58:22Z")
Annie’s speech near the climax of _The Miracle Worker_: “I treat her like a seeing child because I ask her to see. I expect her to see! Don’t undo what I do!” ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2012, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-effective-movie-speeches/629279/73 "2012-08-07T23:11:53Z")
> [@Voluble](#): > > I believe it is “a sore day” not “a sword day.” Per the book, it’s “sword-day.” ---
**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:** [August 8, 2012, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-effective-movie-speeches/629279/74 "2012-08-08T04:15:13Z")
> [@Yeticus\_Rex](#): > > Field of Dreams -[“People Will Come”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7SB16il97yw) by Terrance Mann (James Earl Jones). Hold on a sec, I just got something in my eye. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2012, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-effective-movie-speeches/629279/75 "2012-08-08T17:24:10Z")
> [@](#): > > Remember, a Jedi’s strength flows from the Force. But beware: Anger, fear, aggression - the dark side, are they. Once you start down the dark path, forever will it dominate your destiny. Luke…Luke…do not… Do not underestimate the powers of the Emperor…or suffer your father’s fate you will. Luke…when gone am I, the last of the Jedi, will you be. Luke…the Force runs strong in your family. Pass on what you have learned. Luke…There…is…another…Sk…Sky…walker… -Yoda, _Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi_ ---
**Author:** ![Quercus\_alba](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quercus_alba/32/4061_2.png) [@Quercus\_alba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus_alba)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2012, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-effective-movie-speeches/629279/76 "2012-08-08T22:45:38Z")
[They’re all right here](http://youtu.be/d6wRkzCW5qI) 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Esox\_Lucius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/848f3c/32.png) [@Esox\_Lucius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Esox_Lucius)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-effective-movie-speeches/629279/77 "2012-08-09T05:43:48Z")
Another scene from Network where [Ned Beatty’s character tells Beale the facts of life](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jxiT30N6ti4&feature=related) eerily resonates just as much today. _“There are no nations, there are no peoples, there are no Russians, there are no Arabs, there are no Third Worlds, there is no West. There is only one holistic system of systems, one vast interwoven, interacting, multi-varied, multi-national Dominion of Dollars…What do you think the Russians talk about in their councils of state? Karl Marx? They get out their linear programming charts, statistical decision theories, minimax solutions, and compute the price-cost probabilities of their transactions, just like we do.”_ > [@Haunted\_Pasta](#): > > The eulogy in \*Waking Ned Devine \*is one of my favorite things ever, in movies or elsewhere. One of my all-time favourites, too, and capped off beautifully right after the funeral when O’Sullivan sidles up to Jackie and says slyly, “Sounds like quite a fellow, your friend.” “He had his faults.” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2012, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-effective-movie-speeches/629279/78 "2012-08-10T04:47:49Z")
Speaking of eulogies, the [eulogy from _Four Weddings and a Funeral_](http://youtu.be/UfvYFm_VxGg) is quite moving. (Bit of a cheat maybe, since it includes a reading from W.H. Auden.) ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2012, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-effective-movie-speeches/629279/79 "2012-08-10T06:00:26Z")
Gale Sayers speech from the end of Brian’s Song. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2012, 8:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-effective-movie-speeches/629279/80 "2012-08-10T08:26:36Z")
[First prize is a tank](http://youtu.be/0Y9aKqawdUQ) from Life is Beautiful. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-effective-movie-speeches/629279.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-effective-movie-speeches/629279.md?page=5)