Filmmakers are often accused of writing movies that give quick snippets and no real substance, but from time to time a truly great scene comes out that includes brilliant speech writing. This is a list of the ten greatest movie speeches. Obviously many of you will disagree with my selection, so feel free to add your own to the comments. Include a youtube link if you can so we can all enjoy the goods!
10. Matt Damon’s Speech Good Will hunting
Pride comes before a fall and in this scene – we see a perfect example of it. This is a wonderful scene that anyone who has ever made mocked will appreciate. I especially like the way he wraps things up with the offer to “step outside” – he may be a walking library, but he is also a badass!
9. Captain Koons Speech Pulp Fiction
This has to be on the list simply because Christopher Walken is so amazing. You can easily see Tarantino’s writing in this speech, but Walken manages to take it to another dimension.
8. Monty Brogan’s Speech 25th Hour
A large number of items on this list have good messages in them – this one, unfortunately, is bound to offend virtually everyone. Nevertheless, the acting is good and Edward Norton is brilliant, so here it is.
7. A Few Good Men A Few Good Men
My apologies for including a scene with Tom “Xenu’s Bitch” Cruise, but I had to include this scene because Jack Nicholson is so great.
6. Courtroom Scene To Kill a Mockingbird
A brilliant story and an almost equally brilliant film. This is the famous court scene from the movie in which Gregory Peck defends black man Tom in a small town.
5. Drill Instructor Speech Full Metal Jacket
I would say 99% of people reading this list expected to see this item on it. It definitely deserves a place in the top 5.
4. Freedom Speech Braveheart
This is William Wallace’s speech to the army about patriotism and freedom.
3. St Crispin’s Day Speech Henry V
“We band of brothers” – this speech never fails to send chills down my spine. An outstanding performance of one of the most beautifully written pieces of English.
2. Patton Speech Patton
The famous speech by General Patton in the movie of the same name.
1. Chaplin’s Speech the Great Dictator
This amazing speech may surprise people who are used to Chaplin’s comedic films. Not only was this a powerful and amazing speech in its time, it is still relevant today.
Mathew McConaughey in A Time to kill, his summation at the end of the trial. "Now imagine she's white"
Matthew McConaughey’s speech should had definitely been on here! That scene had me in tears and covered in goosebumps.
I’m surprised at the order, but I agree with all of them being on the list. Especially Ed Nortons terrific performance.
all great, and i am named after one of the actors (Gregory Peck)
Anthony: what would your order be?
Great List! I also like the one by Michael Douglas in “The American President”.
Right on. American President. Actually I just watched the speech part again and did a search for “best movie speech” on Google and found this list. Needless to say, Im disappointed to not find the movie in the top 10 of this particular list.
Taos: your name is pecker?!
Alec Baldwin’s scene from Glengarry Glen Ross (Coffee is for closers only!) is pretty iconic as far as movie speeches go.
Woo Hoo! First 10 Comments! I know, random.
jfrater: I’d have Ed Nortons Speech at #2, Matt Damon’s at #3 and the Drill Instructor Speech at #1. The rest, I wouldn’t mind where they were.
jaimei: if it was i would be a photographer
Anthony: oh ok – I can understand why you would – I don’t agree though
Jen: I was tempted to include it – consider it number 11
Great List Jamie… very happy to see Pulp Fiction in here!
I may be a wuss… but I think Bill Pullman’s speech in Independence Day was a good one, too. It gave me goose bumps the first time I heard it.
What, no mention of Steven Seagal’s “What Makes A Man” speech/barroom beatdown from “On Deadly Ground?’”
YES I’m kidding.
What about Bill Pullman’s speech from Independence Day?!
Cheesy and inspirational in a fight to destroy aliens. Woo!
Edward Norton is my favorite actor. The sheer talent of that man is amazing.
Great list but I second Jen, Alec Baldwin’s speech from Glengarry Glenross is classic. “Coffee is for closers”
Also it’s not exacly a speech but the scene in Do the Right Thing where everbody is just spouting off racial epithets to the camera is pretty powerful.
the last jurors speech in 12 angry men (1957)
god will never forgive you for forgetting Ben Affleck’s money rant in Boiler Room.
I second that.
What !
How come no speech from Al pacino: in the movie “Scent of women” final trial scene. Come on that has to be in the top 10. Cannot believe its not in there.
Christopher Walken was so spectacular in that scene. I don’t especially like Pulp Fiction, but that’s one of my favourite scenes ever. He’s one of a kind (and can dance like a mother*****).
i’m not sure if it counts as a speech, but the courtroom scene in “Inherit the Wind” where Henry Drummond calls Matthew Harrison Brady to the stand is close to epic.
How can you miss the Al pacino’s scent of women speech. That has to be in the top 10.
Not to belabor the Christopher Walken point, but I’ve always loved his speech from Suicide Kings
Al Pacino at the end of Scent of a Woman
Alec Baldwin in the early moments of Glengarry Glen Ross
Great List;
I’m glad you skipped the over-the-top bill pullman speech…inspiring maybe, but too cheesy
Mystern; I agree, Ed Norton is amazing, I would add Steve Buscemi, William Hurt (kiss of the spider woman/gorky park/body heat)to my favorite actors list…
I was expecting to see Pulp Fiction but I thought it’d be Samuel L. Jackson doing Ezekiel 25:17 with the ‘do u speak english is what motha*****a?’ part thrown in. That said its still a terrific speech by Walken
Oh yeah! Full Metal Jacket needs to be higher up. Thanx for the list!!
Epic list – gotta say that Glengarry Glen Ross speech is off the hook too.
Patton’s speech makes me want to kill Huns. A total badass.
Oh yeah. Vin Diesel’s “500″speech from Knockaround Guys is classic. Short, but awesome nonetheless.
Affleck was the bomb in Phantoms, yo!
Nearly shat myself watching Harry rouse the troops. Good lord what an inspiration. Makes me want to kill French. a total badass
Three other speeches in Good Will Hunting that I think are better:
1.
2.
3.
up to 2:38
This is a really great list though! Glad to see some of my favorites made it
I always really liked the speech at the end of Devil’s Advocate by Pacino when he talks about God being a sadist and himself being a humanist.
No disagreements with the ones on your list, Jamie. Here are some more good ones.
Animal House- Otter’s speech at the probation meeting
Glengarry Glen Ross- Alec Badlwin’s “always be closing” speech
Network- Peter Finch’s “Mad as Hell” Oscar-winning speech
Wall Street- Michael Douglas “Greed is Good” Speech
gcat: I was always partial to Ben Affleck’s speech to Matt Damon about wanting him to just leave without saying goodbye. Tugs at my heart!
While not the best movie in the world, the speach by Kevin Costner to Susan Sarandon in “Bull Durham” was pretty inspired. The whole “I believe in…” speach was pretty good. Perhaps too short to be considered a speach per se but still, some good writing.
mitchsn: Good call!! I remember the moment I heard that speech. It sends shivers down my spine to this day…
As well Jamie, thank you for including To Kill A Mockingbird on this list. By now most of the regulars know that this is my favourite book and one of my fave movies so to see it on this list is just awesome for me!
i have never seen the great dictator but that one was definitely the best. he could be the best actor of all time. full metal jacket—too funny. chaplin gave me tingles
BWAHAHAHAHAHA!!! I just noticed that you refered to Tom Cruise as Xenu’s *****!!!! Brilliant. Oh JF, you are so my hero right now…
nice list but there is one great speach that has been omitted and should absolutly be on here (in my opinion at least). and that would be
Silent Bob’s speach in Chasing Amy
Ravyn: I second that! Great speech, great movie!
Chasing Amy Speach
I think Al Pacino gave a great speech at the end of Scent of a Woman. It gave me chills. Awesome movie.
LOL – Gaurang already mentioned Al Pacino’s speech!
My favorite all time speech is Al Pacino’s “inches” towards the end of Any Given Sunday.
I liked the God speach from The Devil’s Advocate, also speaches from Scent of A Woman, 300, and Network are on top of my list.
Morgan Freeman’s parole board speech in The Shawshank Redemption. Short, to the point, brillant.
Al Pacino’s closing statement in And Justice For All. “You’re all out of order.”
Al Pacino’s “You need people like me” speech from Scarface.
Great list…Additional movie speeches that I remember:
(a) Michael Douglas: “….My name is Adrew Shephard and I am the President…” speech in “The American President”
(b) Anthony Hopkins: “…may this be the final battle of the American Revolution…” speech in “Amistad”
(c) Russel Crowe: “…you are all my reasons…” speech in “A Beuatiful Mind”
(d) Al Pacino: “…you are amputating his soul..” speech in “Scent Of A Woman”
Where’s the ending to First Blood? I mean, Rambo went thru a lot by the end of that movie, not only during the movie but before with all of his military experience (cinematcially speaking of course). He kinda let it all out at the end there.
No Aragorn, no theoden no godfather?
Love that speech.
But u got Henry V
ALEC BALDWIN: GLENGARRY GLEN ROSS. No question about it; it should be at the top of the list. One of the greatest monologues of all time.
A-B-C. A-Always, B-Be, C-Closing. Always be closing, always be closing.
Your name is “you’re wanting”, and you can’t play the man’s game, you can’t close them, and then tell your wife your troubles. ‘Cause only one thing counts in this world: get them to sign on the line which is dotted. You hear me you *****in’ *****s?
That watch costs more than your car. I made $970,000 last year. How much you make? You see pal, that’s who I am, and you’re nothing. Nice guy? I don’t give a *****. Good father? ***** you! Go home and play with your kids. You wanna work here – close! You think this is abuse? You think this is abuse, you cocksucker? You can’t take this, how can you take the abuse you get on a sit? You don’t like it, leave.
We’re adding a little something to this month’s sales contest. As you all know, first prize is a Cadillac Eldorado. Anybody want to see second prize? Second prize is a set of steak knives. Third prize is you’re fired.
Chaplin and Norton’s are absolutely am amazing, great list!
How about Michael Douglas’ “Greed is good” speech in Wall Street?
Come to think of it, Peter Finch’s Howard Beale character in “Network” has one of the most iconic speeches in all filmdom. Brilliant writing by Paddy Chayefsky. Sheer genius.
I don’t have to tell you things are bad. Everybody knows things are bad. It’s a depression. Everybody’s out of work or scared of losing their job. The dollar buys a nickel’s work, banks are going bust, shopkeepers keep a gun under the counter. Punks are running wild in the street and there’s nobody anywhere who seems to know what to do, and there’s no end to it. We know the air is unfit to breathe and our food is unfit to eat, and we sit watching our TV’s while some local newscaster tells us that today we had fifteen homicides and sixty-three violent crimes, as if that’s the way it’s supposed to be. We know things are bad – worse than bad. They’re crazy. It’s like everything everywhere is going crazy, so we don’t go out anymore. We sit in the house, and slowly the world we are living in is getting smaller, and all we say is, ‘Please, at least leave us alone in our living rooms. Let me have my toaster and my TV and my steel-belted radials and I won’t say anything. Just leave us alone.’ Well, I’m not gonna leave you alone. I want you to get mad! I don’t want you to protest. I don’t want you to riot – I don’t want you to write to your congressman because I wouldn’t know what to tell you to write. I don’t know what to do about the depression and the inflation and the Russians and the crime in the street. All I know is that first you’ve got to get mad. You’ve got to say, ‘I’m a HUMAN BEING, Goddamnit! My life has VALUE!’ So I want you to get up now. I want all of you to get up out of your chairs. I want you to get up right now and go to the window. Open it, and stick your head out, and yell, ‘I’M AS MAD AS HELL, AND I’M NOT GOING TO TAKE THIS ANYMORE!’ I want you to get up right now, sit up, go to your windows, open them and stick your head out and yell – ‘I’m as mad as hell and I’m not going to take this anymore!’ Things have got to change. But first, you’ve gotta get mad!… You’ve got to say, ‘I’m as mad as hell, and I’m not going to take this anymore!’ Then we’ll figure out what to do about the depression and the inflation and the oil crisis. But first get up out of your chairs, open the window, stick your head out, and yell, and say it: I’M AS MAD AS HELL, AND I’M NOT GOING TO TAKE THIS ANYMORE!
Great List! I would have included Marlon Brando’s monologue from Apocalypse Now, “I’ve seen horrors…horrors that you’ve seen.” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGosYIlXdmU