The website you linked to just seems like a lot of youtube videos and a couple of obscure bands that referenced it.
I pulled up the Casablanca page on IMDb and did a find search for “tomorrow” and a lot more stuff comes up. Not to mention the other lines that are referenced. I’m sure a lot of people like Predator but for cultural relevance, I think Casablanca’s the clear winner.
*“Get To The Choppa!” is a catchphrase often used in playful manner to indicate there is an imminent danger and everyone must evacuate immediately to the helicopter site. Originally spoken by Arnold Schwarzenegger in the 1987 sci-fi action film Predator, this phrase caught on due to his thick European accent and and the humor it caused in such a serious scene.
Also that month, an achievement was added to the game World of Warcraft called Get to the Choppa!, unlocked once a user obtains a Mechano-hog or Mekgineer’s Chopper, both motorcycles.
The Library of Congress used the phrase in April 2009 as the title of their Wise Guide to Helicopters.
The phrase also appears as an unlockable title in November 2009’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 once the player completes the “Chopper Gunner Veteran I” challenge by calling in 3 Chopper Gunners.*
Almost all of which has zero to do with the line in question.
Who cares? This isn’t a contest between the two movies or even between the two quotes. I brought up the line from Casablanca in a question to Left Hand of Dorkness so he can explain why that should count but the line from Predator shouldn’t.
You said you’ve never heard anyone quote it or parody the chopper quote and I proved to you it’s a large part of the culture. You then asked me:
*How often in pop culture do you hear someone mention the chopper quote versus how often is Casablanca (and that particular quote) referenced? *
and I showed you how popular the quote alone is by showing you the number of Google hits it gets. Are you still not convinced it’s an iconic line after the cites I gave even though before this thread you’ve never heard of it?
Ladies and gentlemen, I submit for your approval Mr. Mel Blanc:
“Eh–What’s up, Doc?”
“Th-Th-That’as all, folks!”
“Mah biscuits are burnin’!”
“Wotta maroon!”
“Thanks for the sour persimmons, cousin!”
“Is this any way to run a railroad?”
“Ain’t I a stinker?”
“Look, let’s meet each other halfway. You go your way, and I’ll go mine. Live and let live, whaddya say?”
“Ah have them numbered foah this very occasion!”
And many more.
Mike Myers is probably a contender at this point, between Wayne, Austin Powers, Dr. Evil and Shrek.
I suspect Casablanca is responsible for that phrasing.
And, of course, that was the weakest of the quotes I included from Casablanca. If it’s that important to you, knock that one from my list; the rest stand as far more iconic than "get to the chopper, according to the standards that have already been proposed and discussed in this thread.
Wrong. You didn’t put the line in quotes so you’re going to get millions and millions of hits where those words are used on any one web page and not in any particular order. Put it in quotes and see how low the number drops. Then skip to page 10 and see how few times even then that phrase references the movie. The part of the quote I used and kept it in quotes is the more reliable way to search. Young grasshopper. Pfff.
Again, who cares if that or any lines from a particular movie are more iconic? This thread is about what actor has the most iconic lines and the majority of posts by you in this thread is you judging what counts and what doesn’t.
All by you, right? Are you talking about this?:
Nowhere is the word “iconic” used, but okay, I take it that that’s what you’re going with. So how does the line I quoted from Predator not count as being iconic?
Just how often does a person have to tell people there’s an imminent danger that require immediate evacuation to a helicopter site?
Seriously, I have never, ever heard someone use this line in jest, and my friends will quote movies lines for fun more often than they’ll speak original thoughts.
Perhaps it’s a popular Internet line - it appears to be - but in real life conversation I doubnt it’s in the top thousand of movie quotes used as conversational references.
It’s used jokingly, not when there’s really imminent danger or a situation involving a helicopter. That’s why it says “in a playful manner.” Whoever wrote that should have phrased it differently as to not confuse anyone.
I have. How many times have you heard one of your friends say:
*"If that plane leaves the ground and you’re not with him, you’ll regret it. Maybe not today. Maybe not tomorrow, but soon and for the rest of your life. *
If your friends do use it, I’m betting there’s not a actual plane involved.
How often do they use these lines:
From the list of AFI’s 100 Years…100 Movie Quotes:
“Listen to me, mister. You’re my knight in shining armor. Don’t you forget it. You’re going to get back on that horse, and I’m going to be right behind you, holding on tight, and away we’re gonna go, go, go!”
From the first response in this thread:
I don’t want to kill everyone, Tom. Just my enemies.
From the second:
“In this world, there’s two kinds of people. Those with loaded guns and those who dig. You dig.”
From the fifth:
“Your name is Kal-El. You are the only survivor of the planet Krypton.”
From the eigth:
“I’d love to kiss you, but I just washed my hair.”
The point of the thread is to help find what actor delivered the largest number of iconic lines. Honestly, do you think I’ve failed to prove that “get to the chopper!” is an iconic line?
BTW, if people use lines on the internet, they generally use them in real life. I can’t count how many times there’s been a scene on television (including the news) where troops are running towards a helicopter and one of my friends have blurted out using a bad Arnold impersonation “get to the choppa!”
(BTW, Googling “but soon, and for the rest of your life” in quotes yields 1.4 million results. Not bad for a 65-year-old movie. And that’s what makes it iconic. You think in 65 years “Get to the chopper” will still be around?)
Hell, the original list didn’t even include all of the iconic lines Bogard uses from Casablanca. Here’s a more complete list, starting with those LHoD came up with:
There may be something to this. The lines from Casablanca are famous because they’re totally, without irony, wonderful lines, well-delivered and encapsulating something fundamental. “Get to da choppa!” appears to have derived its faddish fame from ironic hipstergeeks laughing at Schwarzenegger’s terrible acting and its comic relief in a moment of tension. Instead of being famous for representing the best movies have to offer, it’s famous for being something especially mockable about a B movie.
I don’t think you can go from “bad acting makes an Internet meme” to “iconic.” But maybe that’s just me.
Yeah, there’s a big difference between a meme and an iconic line. “You’re the man now, dog!” inspired the website ytmnd.com and is popular in a campy way but I don’t think it rises to the level of iconic. Or “Shoot her!” and “Clever girl!” from Jurassic Park. They’re fun to quote but again, not iconic.
It is difficult to distinguish between an iconic line and a meme, especially since they often overlap.
“Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die.”
“You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.”
I think the first is iconic. Vengeance summed up in one line.
The second I wouldn’t call iconic. Also extremely memorable and usable, which makes it a great line, but it doesn’t symbolize anything about the character, and could have been delivered by someone else.
“I’ll be back.”
“Get to the choppa!”
Again, I’d say only the first is iconic. The terminator is an iconic character in the first place, and aside from being extremely memorable and usable, the line seems to represent what he is all about. The second is arguably iconic, due to Arnold being such an iconic actor, but I don’t think it is because it isn’t nearly as memorable without knowing the meme (I’ve seen the movie several times and didn’t remember the line) and doesn’t represent much.
I’m surprised AFI had no Die Hard lines on their list. At the very least: