33 Best Movie Monologues To Remind You Just How Good Some Movies Are

"Pretty much any of the Joker ones in A Dark Knight." — jmsturm
 
"Nobody panics when the expected people gets killed. Nobody panics when things go according to plan, even if the plan is horrifying. If I tell the press that tomorrow a gangbanger will get shot or a truckload of soldiers will be blown up, nobody panics. – because it’s all part of the plan. But when I say that one little old mayor will die, everybody lose their minds. Introduce a little anarchy, you upset the established order and everything becomes chaos. I am agent of chaos. And you know the thing about chaos Harvey?
 
“It is fair.”"

"Tears in rain from Blade Runner. The high point of Rutger Hauer's career." — alesserweevil
 
"I've... seen things you people wouldn't believe... Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched C-Beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhäuser Gates. All those... Moments... Will be lost in time, Like tears... in... rain. Time... to die..."

"I also like the final speech from The King's Speech." — SsurebreC
 
"In this grave hour, perhaps the most fateful in our history, I send to every household of my peoples, both at home and overseas, this message, spoken with the same depth of feeling for each one of you as if I were able to cross your threshold and speak to you myself.

For the second time in the lives of most of us we are at -- at war.

Over and over again we have tried to find a peaceful way out of the differences between ourselves and those who are now our enemies.

But it has been in vain."

"Eomer. Take your Èored down the left flank. Gamling, follow the King's banner down the center. Grimbold, take your company right, after you pass the wall. Forth, and fear no darkness! Arise! Arise, Riders of Theoden! Spears shall be shaken, shields shall be splintered! A sword day... a red day... ere the sun rises! Ride now!... Ride now!... Ride! Ride to ruin and the world's ending! Death! Death! DEATH!"

"Russell Crowe in Gladiator!" — showtimeb
 
"My name is Maximus Decimus Meridius, commander of the Armies of the North, General of the Felix Legions, loyal servant to the true emperor, Marcus Aurelius. Father to a murdered son, husband to a murdered wife. And I will have my vengeance, in this life or the next."

"...Sam's speech at the end of the two towers. It is such a beautiful ending to wrap up the climax of the film." — Blargh9
 
"I know.
It’s all wrong. By rights we shouldn’t even be here. But we are. It’s like in the great stories Mr. Frodo. The ones that really mattered..."

"The opening to Godfather." — Nova_Jake
 
"I understand. You found paradise in America, you had a good trade, made a good living. The police protected you and there were courts of law. And you didn’t need a friend like me. But now you come to me and you say, “Don Corleone give me justice.” But you don’t ask with respect. You don’t offer friendship. You don’t even think to call me “Godfather.” Instead, you come into my house on the day my daughter is to be married, and you ask me to do murder, for money."

"Anton Ego (Ratatouille)."
 
"In many ways, the work of a critic is easy. We risk very little yet enjoy a position over those who offer up their work and their selves to our judgment. We thrive on negative criticism, which is fun to write and to read. But the bitter truth we critics must face, is that in the grand scheme of things, the average piece of junk is probably more meaningful than our criticism designating it so. But there are times when a critic truly risks something, and that is in the discovery and defense of the new. The world is often unkind to new talent, new creations, the new needs friends. Last night, I experienced something new, an extraordinary meal from a singularly unexpected source. To say that both the meal and its maker have challenged my preconceptions about fine cooking is a gross understatement. They have rocked me to my core. In the past, I have made no secret of my disdain for Chef Gusteau’s famous motto: Anyone can cook. But I realize, only now do I truly understand what he meant. Not everyone can become a great artist, but a great artist can come from anywhere. It is difficult to imagine more humble origins than those of the genius now cooking at Gusteau’s, who is, in this critic’s opinion, nothing less than the finest chef in France. I will be returning to Gusteau’s soon, hungry for more."

"Size matters not. Look at me. Judge me by my size, do you? Hm? Mmmm. And well you should not.For my ally in the Force. And a powerful ally it is. Life creates it, makes it grow. Its energy surrounds us and binds us. Luminous beings are we not this crude matter. You must feel the Force around you. Here, between you... me... the tree... the rock... everywhere! Yes, even between this land and that ship!"

"If I was a girl in a book this would all be so easy. Just give up the world happily. I've always been quite content with my family, I don't understand it. Perhaps I was too quick in turning him down, Laurie. If he asked me again I think I would say yes. Do you think he'll ask me again? I care more to be loved, I want to be loved. I just feel like women, they have minds and they have souls as well as just hearts. And they've got ambition and talent as well as just beauty, and I'm so sick of people saying love is all a woman is fit for. I'm so sick of it, but I'm so lonely."

"The end of Girl, Interrupted." — hennalang
 
"Was I ever crazy? Maybe. Or maybe life is… Crazy isn’t being broken or swallowing a dark secret. It’s you or me amplified. If you ever told a lie and enjoyed it. If you ever wished you could be a child forever. They were not perfect, but they were my friends... and by '70s most of them were out living lives. Some I've seen... some never again. But there isn't a day my heart doesn't find them.”

"As your leader, I encourage you from time to time, and always in a respectful manner, to question my logic. If you're unconvinced that a particular plan of action I've decided is the wisest, tell me so, but allow me to convince you and I promise you right here and now, no subject will ever be taboo. Except, of course, the subject that was just under discussion. The price you pay for bringing up either my Chinese or American heritage as a negative is... I collect your f***ing head!"

"What about Ray Liottas opening speech from Goodfellas?: — calculoss1
 
"As far back as I can remember, I always wanted to be a gangster. To me, being a gangster was better than being President of the United States. Even before I first wandered into the cabstand for an afterschool job I knew I wanted to be a part of them. It was there that I knew that I belonged. To me, it meant being somebody in the neighborhood that was full of nobodies..."

"This 'stuff'? Oh, ok. I see, you think this has nothing to do with you. You go to your closet and you select out, oh I don’t know, that lumpy blue sweater, for instance, because you’re trying to tell the world that you take yourself too seriously to care about what you put on your back. But what you don’t know is that that sweater is not just blue, it’s not turquoise, it’s not lapis, it’s actually cerulean."

"Quint's monologue about the sinking of the Indianapolis in Jaws." — VictorBlimpmuscle
 
"Sometimes that shark, he looks right into you. Right into your eyes. You know the thing about a shark, he's got... lifeless eyes, black eyes, like a doll's eye. When he comes at ya, doesn't seem to be livin'. Until he bites ya and those black eyes roll over white. And then...then you hear that terrible high pitch screamin' and the ocean turns red and spite of all the poundin' and the hollerin' they all come in and rip you to pieces."

"Charlie Chaplin in The Great Dictator." — SsurebreC
 
"To those who can hear me, I say - do not despair. The misery that is now upon us is but the passing of greed - the bitterness of men who fear the way of human progress. The hate of men will pass, and dictators die, and the power they took from the people will return to the people. And so long as men die, liberty will never perish…
Soldiers! don’t give yourselves to brutes - men who despise you - enslave you - who regiment your lives - tell you what to do - what to think and what to feel! Who drill you - diet you - treat you like cattle, use you as cannon fodder. Don’t give yourselves to these unnatural men - machine men with machine minds and machine hearts! You are not machines! You are not cattle! You are men! You have the love of humanity in your hearts! You don’t hate! Only the unloved hate - the unloved and the unnatural! Soldiers! Don’t fight for slavery! Fight for liberty!"

"Christopher Walken, Pulp Fiction." — Derrial
 
"Hello, little man. Boy, I sure heard a bunch about you. See, I was a good friend of your dad's. We were in that Hanoi pit of Hell together..."

"On our very first day at Harvard, a very wise Professor quoted Aristotle: 'The law is reason free from passion.' Well, no offence to Aristotle, but in my three years at Harvard I have come to find that passion is a key ingredient to the study and practice of law - and of life. It is with passion, courage of conviction, and strong sense of self that we take our next steps into the world, remembering that first impressions are not always correct. You must always have faith in people. And most importantly, you must always have faith in yourself."

"All time favorite movie." — spritecity
 
"Choose Life. Choose a job. Choose a career. Choose a family. Choose a f*cking big television, choose washing machines, cars, compact disc players and electrical tin openers. Choose good health, low cholesterol, and dental insurance. Choose fixed interest mortgage repayments. Choose a starter home. Choose your friends..."

"I really like Tommy Lee Jone's monologue deliveries in No Country for Old Men, especially the opening, and the dream at the end. The writing and delivery of those lines is just perfect." — XInsects
 
"I was Sheriff of this county when I was 25 years old. Hard to believe. My grandfather was a lawman, father too. Me and him was sheriffs at the same time, him up in Plano and me out here."

"...We use words like "honor," "code," "loyalty." We use these words as the backbone of a life spent defending something. You use them as a punch line."

"I am Gunnery Sergeant Hartman, your senior drill instructor. From now on you will speak only when spoken to, and the first and last words out of your filthy sewers will be "Sir". Do you maggots understand that?"

"The ending monologue of American Beauty" — jeffthedunker
 
"I had always heard your entire life flashes in front of your eyes the second before you die. First of all, that one second isn't a second at all. It stretches on forever, like an ocean of time. For me, it was lying on my back at Boy Scout camp, watching falling stars. (gunshot) And yellow leaves from the maple trees that lined our street. (gunshot) Or my grandmother's hands and the way her skin seemed like paper. (distant gunshot) And the first time I saw my cousin Tony's brand-new Firebird. And Janie. And Janie. And Carolyn. I guess I could be pretty pissed off about what happened to me, but it's hard to stay mad when there's so much beauty in the world. Sometimes I feel like I'm seeing it all at once and it's too much. My heart fills up like a balloon that's about to burst. And then I remember to relax and stop trying to hold on to it. And then it flows through me like rain, and I can't feel anything but gratitude for every single moment of my stupid little life. You have no idea what I'm talking about, I'm sure. But don't worry: you will someday."

"Cool girl. Men always use that, don’t they? As their defining compliment. She’s a cool girl. Cool girl is hot. Cool girl is game. Cool girl is fun. Cool girl never gets angry at her man."

"Jules at the end of pulp fiction." — nakothenacho
 
"Blessed is he who in the name of charity and good will shepherds the weak through the valley of darkness, for he is truly his brother's keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to poison and destroy my brothers."

"Network (1976) is great source of excellent monologues (and dialogues, too.) Hard to choose which is the best. Beatrice Straight's (as Louise Schumacher) award winning scene? William Holden's (as Max Schumaker) break-up with Faye Dunaway (as Diana Christensen)? Peter Finch's (as Howard Beale) many "on-screen" speeches? So many, so good." — jbhur41
 
"We all know things are bad -- worse than bad -- they're crazy. It's like everything everywhere is going crazy, so we don't go out any more. We sit in the house, and slowly the world we're living in is getting smaller, and all we say is, "Please, at least leave us alone in our living rooms.""

"Daniel Day Lewis's at the end of There Will be Blood." — mrsuperguyinasuit
 
"Drainage! Drainage, Eli, you boy. Drained dry. I’m so sorry. Here, if you have a milkshake, and I have a milkshake, and I have a straw. There it is, that’s a straw, you see? You watching?. And my straw reaches acroooooooss the room, and starts to drink your milkshake… I… drink… your… milkshake! I drink it up! Did you think your song and dance and your superstition would help you, Eli? I am the Third Revelation! I am who the Lord has chosen!"

"V's opening monologue." — ymcameron
 
"Voilà! In view, a humble vaudevillian veteran, cast vicariously as both victim and villain by the vicissitudes of Fate. This visage, no mere veneer of vanity, is a vestige of the vox populi, now vacant, vanished."

"Raoul Duke in Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas" — wrath_of_grunge
 
"And that, I think, was the handle - that sense of inevitable victory over the forces of old and evil. Not in any mean or military sense; we didn't need that. Our energy would simply prevail. We had all the momentum; we were riding the crest of a high and beautiful wave. So now, less than five years later, you can go up on a steep hill in Las Vegas and look west, and with the right kind of eyes you can almost see the high-water mark - that place where the wave finally broke and rolled back."

"Colonel Kurtz's in Apocalypse Now." — mrsuperguyinasuit
 
"I’ve seen horrors… horrors that you’ve seen. But you have no right to call me a murderer. You have a right to kill me. You have a right to do that… but you have no right to judge me. It’s impossible for words to describe what is necessary to those who do not know what horror means. Horror. Horror has a face… and you must make a friend of horror. Horror and moral terror are your friends. If they are not then they are enemies to be feared. They are truly enemies."

"Bill Murray's it just doesn't matter speech from Meatballs." — alesserweevil
 
"Even if every man, woman and child held hands together and prayed for us to win, it just wouldn't matter, because all the really good looking girls would still go out with the guys from Mohawk cause they've got all the money! It just doesn't matter if we win or we lose. IT JUST DOESN'T MATTER!"

"Jack Nicholson's opening monologue from The Departed is pretty sweet." — kappa23
 
"I don't wanna be a product of my environment, I want my environment to be a product of me."

"Always loved the opening speech from Patton My dad was in the Navy when the film came out in 1970. He and his friends went to see it in a theater in San Diego. Tradition at the time at base theaters was to show the flag and play the national anthem before a film and service personnel were to stand up and salute. So when the flag came on screen he and his friends stood up and saluted, not realizing that it was part of the film itself." — drogyn1701