I rented Jaws recently. It's been many years since I last saw it. My favourite part of this movie has to be Captain Quint's speech about the USS Indianapolis. Really outstanding.
Got to thinking that it takes some good acting, writing and filmmaking to make a gripping scene out of one character telling a story for a few minutes. But there are many great examples. So, what are your favourites? And please, no lists. Pick one or two, and explain your choice. Makes for better discussion.
Post Edited (04-12-05 20:04)
Bill Murrey in "Stripes" speaking to the recruits the night before their graduation was really good
Emilio Estevez telling why he had detention in the Breakfast Club.
Rocky's random babble trying to sweet talk Adrienne at the beginning of the first Rocky.
I think I rmember there are more than a few in either of Peter O'Tooles "Beckett" or "Lion In Winter"...probably also "My Favorite Year"
The Breakfast Club one mentioned is a good one.
But my favorites
The final speech in American Beauty
The Final Speech in Big Fish
The Ben Affleck Love Confession speech in Chasing Amy
And there's a bunch of good ones in Stand by Me
Speaking of Chasing Amy, I also really liked the speech at the start at the comic convention with the rant about how racist Star Wars was. Funny as hell!
Um, other good speeches I can think of off the top of my head is pretty much every drug-fueled rant in Apocalypse Now.
And for all it's patriotic nonsense, the speech Bill Pullman gives to all the pilots in Independence Day.
That Bill Murray speech in STRIPES is to funny. Really love that film.
I also like the Saint Crispins Day speech in HENRY V (1989).
Post Edited (04-13-05 00:10)
Add Cinderella's Story Speech from bill Murray in Caddyshack on there
Oh and the 'like a virgin' speech in Resevoir Dogs. Just the way that whole scene was structured really engaged me.
Chevy Chase's speech in Christmas Vacation.....
"I'd like Frank Shirley, my boss, right here tonight. I want him brought from his happy holiday slumber over there on Melody Lane, with all the other rich people, and I want him brought right here with a big ribbon on his head. And, I want to look him straight in the eye and I want to tell him what a cheap, lying, no good, rotten, floor-flushing, low-life, snake-licking, dirt-eating, inbred, overstuffed, ignorant, blood-sucking, dog-kissing, brainless, dickless, hopeless, heartless, fat-ass, bug-eyed, stiff-legged, spotty-lipped, worm-headed, sack of monkey sh** he is! Hallelujah! Holly Sh**! Where's the Tylenol?"
The speech Eastwood made to that Indian chief towards the end of The Outlaw Josey Wales.
Bull Durham - Crash Davis to Annie Savoy
"Well, I believe in the soul, the cock, the p***y, the small of a woman's back, the hanging curve ball, high fiber, good scotch, that the novels of Susan Sontag are self-indulgent, overrated crap. I believe Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone. I believe there ought to be a constitutional amendment outlawing Astroturf and the designated hitter. I believe in the sweet spot, soft-core pornography, opening your presents Christmas morning rather than Christmas Eve and I believe in long, slow, deep, soft, wet kisses that last three days. "
Freaking Awsome!!!!
These are great. Another that can't be overlooked is the famous "mad as hell" speech from Network. Really rousing stuff.
And another favourite of mine is the monologue at the beginning of Sling Blade, in which Carl tells the story of how he came to be in a mental institution. Just the calm, matter-of-fact way he talks about murdering his mother and her lover in a fit of rage. Really chilling, but with a certain innocence. He's someone to be feared, but you feel sorry for him at the same time. And the atmosphere of the scene was just right - dark, tense, intimate, almost claustrophobic. It's like he's talking to you. You're right there in that room with him.
Post Edited (04-13-05 11:31)
Mr Hockstatter wrote:
> The speech Eastwood made to that Indian chief towards the end
> of The Outlaw Josey Wales.
I love that speech but that also brings to mind Clint Eastwood himself...
In Dirty Harry he makes the speech to Scorpio as he points the .44 Mag at him. The one where he tells Scorpio that he needs to ask himself a question and then goes on about the .44 Magnum and ends with: "Do you feel lucky, punk?"
I like the speech he gives to the guy in the elevator in Sudden Impact about being "careful where the dog sh*ts ya".
He also gives a speech to the guys robbing the diner in Sudden Impact. The one about him coming there for 20 years and getting a coffee with no sugar. This time he comes in and gets a coffee "and there's sugar, lots of sugar" and he just came back to complain.
I could go on but I will say that Clint usually has some good speeches thrown into his movies. It's they way he delivers them that I like so much and probably why he was my hero while I was growing up.
Post Edited (04-13-05 11:44)
Yul Brynner's "No one won but the farmers" speech at the end ot The Magnificent Seven. It is almost verbatim from the Seven Samurai.
I, like Scott like the "St. Crispians Day" speech from Henry V, only I like the one done by Lillo Brancato in Renaissance Man. When mean Sgt. Gregory Hines tries to say that DeVito hasn't taught the loser squad anything, it's pouring rain and Brancato launches into the speech in his Brooklyn accent.
"He that outlives this day, and comes safe home,
Will stand a tip-toe when this day is nam'd,
And rouse him at the name of Crispian.
He that shall live this day, and see old age,
Will yearly on the vigil feast his neighbours,
And say 'To-morrow is Saint Crispian.'
Then will he strip his sleeve and show his scars,
And say 'These wounds I had on Crispian's day.'
Old men forget; yet all shall be forgot,
But he'll remember, with advantages,
What feats he did that day. Then shall our names,
Familiar in his mouth as household words-
Harry the King, Bedford and Exeter,
Warwick and Talbot, Salisbury and Gloucester-
Be in their flowing cups freshly rememb'red.
This story shall the good man teach his son;
And Crispin Crispian shall ne'er go by,
From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remembered-
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition;
Make him a member of the gentry, even if he is a commoner.
And gentlemen in England now-a-bed
Shall think themselves accurs'd they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day.."
George wrote:
> Bull Durham - Crash Davis to Annie Savoy
>
> Freaking Awsome!!!!
One of my all time favorites..you beat me to it!
How about Pulp Fiction: Jules' Diner Robbery speech.
The Godfather trilogy features tons of them. Godfather II especially with Hyman Roth in Cuba. "This is the life we've chosen!!!"
Great Stuff.
Ah very nice TrekGeezer. Glad you have also caught HENRY V. Good film.
Post Edited (04-13-05 13:05)
Max Von Sydow as King Osric in Conan, talking about when gold loses its luster. It's like suddenly you're watching a completely different movie.
Stallone at the end of "First Blood." The frustration of an entire generation of Vietnam Vets distilled into one short speech.
The Protagonist in Cronenberg´s "Naked Lunch".
He tells a story about a man whose ass gains control over his body.
First, the ass starts to fart by own will, then it speaks and so on...
At the end the ass is in full control of the man´s body - the ass even thinks.
This crazy arse-story is about 3 min long!
"Ah very nice TrekGeezer. Glad you have also caught HENRY V. Good film."
I especially liked the script!
"Chevy Chase's speech in Christmas Vacation....."
For that matter, how about his "Quest For Fun" speech in the first Vacation? "We're gonna have so much f***ing fun, we'll need plastic surgery to remove our God damned smiles!!!"
One of my favorites, is Edward Norton's bravura speech in "The 25th Hour." What I call his "FU" speech. The only reason he got away with that speech is because he was non-discriminatory. Cursing out corrupt cops, rich dowagers, gays, ghetto blacks, Indian cab drivers, Korean grocers, Russian gangsters, Hasidic Jews, and seemingly every other group in New York City. That, and because he cursed himself out the most, for being such a stupid s.o.b.
Why he was never nominated for an Oscar for Best Actor for that speech, I'll never know. Not only did he have to do it solo, with no one else on camera. But he had to do it, while facing a mirror.
paterk demasey in can't by me love at the end at lunch
> whit the bat
>
Clint's a fantastic speech giver. The Unforgiven, "And now I'm gonna kill you!" I'm even a fan of his speeches in "In The Line Of Fire", "I know a lot about pigeons, Lilly." He's got that kind of voice that grabs your attention. Unfortunately Clint's gone beyond leathery and he's moving on to suede in the skin department. Him and Tommy Lee Jones are starting to look a little 'Cryptkeeper'-ish.odinn7 wrote:
George C. Scott's impersonation of Vince Lombardi at the opening of Patton.
Also, Alec Baldwin's little pep talk to the sad sacks in Glengarry Glen Ross.
Favorite line: "PUT DOWN THAT COFFEE--THE COFFEE IS FOR CLOSERS!!"
Beat me to it, I was just about to say: George C. Scott. Patton.
Favorite line from MY FAVORITE YEAR: " I am not an actor, I am a movie star!"
I liked Thulsa Dooms speach about flesh being stronger than steel. It had an impression on me as a little kid, but since he was the bad guy I thought that made me evil.
would hte battle of the Wits dialouge exchange in Princess Bride count?
I just remembered the 'dicks and a***oles' speech from Team America. That had me chuckling for quite a bit after the film ended.
Dramatic scene, dramatic music, and the 'dramatic' speech is perhaps the stupidest thing ever. Fantastic!
Any Given Sunday speech with Al Pacino! Best speech hands down. " I dont know what to say really......3 minutes to the biggest battle of our professional lives, all comes down to today. Now either we heal as a team or were going to crumble, inch by inch, play by play, until were finished. Were in hell right now gentlemen, believe me , and we can stay here and get the s**t kicked out of us, or we can fight our way back into the light, we can climb out of hell. One inch at a time. Now I cant do it for you, i'm too old, i look around and i see these young faces and I think, I mean, I made every wrong choice a middle-aged man can make. I ah, I p**sed away all my money, believe it or not, I chased off anyone whose ever loved me, and lately I cant even stand the face i see in the mirror. You know, when you get old in life, things get taken from you, i mean thats, thats, thats part of life. But you only learn that when you start losing stuff. You find out that lifes this game of inches, so is football, because in either game, life or football, the margin for error is so small, I mean one half a step too late or too early and you dont quite make it, one half second too slow or too fast and you dont quite catch it. The inches we need are everywhere around us, they're in every break of the game, every minute, every second. On this team we fight for that inch, on this team we tear ourselves and everyone else around us to peices for that inch, we claw with our fingernails for that inch, because we know when we add up all those inches, thats going to make the f**king difference between winning and losing, between living and dying. I'll tell you this, in any fight, its the guy whose willing to die whose going to win that inch, and I know if i'm going to have any life anymore its because i'm still willing to fight and die for that inch. Because thats what living is, the 6 inches in front of your face, now I cant make you do it, you have to look at the guy next to you, look into his eyes, now I think your going to see a guy who will go that inch with you, your going to see a guy who will sacrafice himself for this team, beacause he knows when it comes down to it, your going to do the same for him, thats a team gentlemen, and either we heal now as a team or we will die as individuals, thats football guys, thats all it is. Now what are you going to do?