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Greatest Modern Animated Speeches: 4 Memorable Monologues

By Nasreen Iqbal    |   Thursday, 07 May 2015 10:54 PM EDT

• Best Modern Animated Movies According to Rotten Tomatoes
• Classic Animated Movies: 5 Movies That Shaped the Genre

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Famous Movie Monologues, Ranked

This list of the best movie monologues includes some big, big names and some even bigger films (some contemporary, others classic). What are some famous movie monologues?

Some of the best, most famous monologues from movies involve high drama, remarkable acting and, of course, stellar writing. Many resulted in Academy Award nominations - some who uttered these lines took home Oscar gold. From rants to threats to intimate confessions, these film monologues represent the awe-inspiring, the inspirational, and the chilling.

Want to be able to quote your favorite scene from your favorite movie? Not just a one-liner—the whole thing? Study this list and learn (or check out these great short monologues for something a little snappier). This famous movie monologues list is an open list, meaning others can contribute. If you have a favorite film monologue or even a famous movie speech that isn't on the list, add it! Some are a minute, others are longer, but these are all great monologues, even including the one by Liam Neeson from Taken .

If you're an actor looking for the perfect dramatic scene to memorize for your next audition, you'll definitely find some great, easy inspiration here. These speeches are great for men and are also great monologues for women , provided you've got the acting chops to pull them off. Take a good look at these popular, great movie monologues and find out if you can compete with the stars!

A Few Good Men

You can't handle the truth! Son, we live in a world that has walls. And those walls have to be guarded by men with guns. Who's gonna do it? You? You, Lt. Weinberg? I have a greater responsibility than you can possibly fathom. You weep for Santiago and you curse the Marines. You have that luxury. You have the luxury of not knowing what I know: that Santiago's death, while tragic, probably saved lives. And my existence, while grotesque and incomprehensible to you, saves lives...You don't want the truth. Because deep down, in places you don't talk about at parties, you want me on that wall . You need me on that wall. We use words like honor, code, loyalty...we use these words as the backbone to a life spent defending something. You use 'em as a punchline. I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to a man who rises and sleeps under the blanket of the very freedom I provide, then questions the manner in which I provide it! I'd rather you just said thank you and went on your way. Otherwise, I suggest you pick up a weapon and stand a post. Either way, I don't give a damn what you think you're entitled to!

Jack Nicholson delivers an incredibly memorable monologue in 1992's A Few Good Men  as Colonel Nathan R. Jessup. When he's asked by Lt. Daniel Kaffee (Tom Cruise) about ordering the so-called "code red," Jessup goes on one of the best courtroom tirades in movie history.

• Released : 1992
• Directed by : Rob Reiner

The Shawshank Redemption

Get busy living or get busy dying. That's goddamn right. For the second time in my life, I'm guilty of committing a crime. Parole violation. Course, I doubt they're going to throw up any road blocks for that. Not for an old crook like me. I find I'm so excited I can barely sit still or hold a thought in my head. I think it's the excitement only a free man can feel. A free man at the start of a long journey whose conclusion is uncertain. I hope I can make it across the border. I hope to see my friend and shake his hand. I hope the Pacific is as blue as it has been in my dreams. I hope.

Morgan Freeman's voice-over monologue at the end of The Shawshank Redemption is just one of several amazing monologues in this 1994 classic. One of the best movie endings ever.

• Released : 1994
• Directed by : Frank Darabont

Blade Runner

• Released : 1982
• Directed by : Ridley Scott

The Silence of the Lambs

You know what you look like to me, with your good bag and your cheap shoes? You look like a rube. A well-scrubbed, hustling rube with a little taste... Good nutrition has given you some length of bone, but you're not more than one generation from poor white trash, are you - Officer Starling...? That accent you're trying so desperately to shed - pure West Virginia. What was your father, dear? Was he a coal miner? Did he stink of the lamp...? And oh, how quickly the boys found you! All those tedious, sticky fumblings, in the back seats of cars, while you could only dream of getting out. Getting anywhere. Getting all the way - to the F...B...I.

Anthony Hopkins's performance as Hannibal Lecter in 1991's Silence of the Lambs  is without question one of the best of his career. His dressing down of Jodie Foster's green FBI agent Clarice Starling is one of the greatest (and most mocking) monologues of all time.

• Released : 1991
• Directed by : Jonathan Demme

Pulp Fiction

The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. 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. And you will know my name is the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon you.

1994's Pulp Fiction  is without a doubt one of the most quotable movies ever, but it's Samuel L. Jackson's "Ezekiel 25:17" monologue as contract killer Jules Winnfield that is the most memorable. Way to send a victim out!

• Directed by : Quentin Tarantino

The Dark Knight

Wanna know how I got these scars???........My father was a drinker....and a fiend..... So one night, he goes off crazier than usual. Mommy gets the kitchen knife to defend herself....He doesn't like that. Not....one....bit.....So,... me watching, he takes the knife to her, laughing while he does it. He looks at me.... and he says "Why so serious?!"....He comes at me with the knife......"Why so serious?!!"..."Let's put a smile on that face!!"......And......(looks at other gangster) Why so serious?

From The Dark Knight , Heath Ledger's Academy Award-winning Joker has mobster Gambol savor his last moments on earth by regaling the frightened man with a story about his scars  

• Released : 2008
• Directed by : Christopher Nolan

I don't know who you are. I don't know what you want. If you are looking for ransom, I can tell you I don't have money. But what I do have are a very particular set of skills; skills I have acquired over a very long career. Skills that make me a nightmare for people like you. If you let my daughter go now, that'll be the end of it. I will not look for you, I will not pursue you. But if you don't, I will look for you, I will find you, and I will kill you.

In 2008's Taken , Liam Neeson delivered a great monologue as former spy Bryan Mills, when he speaks to the person he believes has kidnapped his daughter.

• Directed by : Pierre Morel

Rocky Balboa

I'd hold you up to say to your mother, "this kid's gonna be the best kid in the world. This kid's gonna be somebody better than anybody I ever knew." And you grew up good and wonderful. It was great just watching you, every day was like a privilege. Then the time come for you to be your own man and take on the world, and you did.

But somewhere along the line, you changed. You stopped being you. You let people stick a finger in your face and tell you you're no good. And when things got hard, you started looking for something to blame, like a big shadow. Let me tell you something you already know.

The world ain't all sunshine and rainbows. It's a very mean and nasty place and I don't care how tough you are it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain't about how hard ya hit. It's about how hard you can get it and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward. That's how winning is done! Cause if you're willing to go through all the battling you got to go through to get where you want to get, who's got the right to stop you?

I mean maybe some of you guys got something you never finished, something you really want to do, something you never said to someone, something... and you're told no, even after you paid your dues? Who's got the right to tell you that, who? Nobody! It's your right to listen to your gut, it ain't nobody's right to say no after you earned the right to be where you want to be and do what you want to do!

Now if you know what you're worth then go out and get what you're worth. But ya gotta be willing to take the hits, and not pointing fingers saying you ain't where you wanna be because of him, or her, or anybody! Cowards do that and that ain't you! You're better than that! I'm always gonna love you no matter what. No matter what happens. You're my son and you're my blood. You're the best thing in my life. But until you start believing in yourself, ya ain't gonna have a life.

Rocky Balboa delivers this rousing speech to his son before his final fight in  Rocky Balboa .

• Released : 2006
• Directed by : Sylvester Stallone

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

Hold your ground, hold your ground! Sons of Gondor, of Rohan, my brothers! I see in your eyes the same fear that would take the heart of me. A day may come when the courage of men fails, when we forsake our friends and break all bonds of fellowship, but it is not this day. An hour of wolves and shattered shields, when the age of men comes crashing down! But it is not this day! This day we fight! By all that you hold dear on this good Earth, I bid you stand, Men of the West!

• Released : 2003
• Directed by : Peter Jackson

That you are a slave, Neo. Like everyone else, you were born into bondage, born inside a prison that you cannot smell, taste, or touch. A prison for your mind. (long pause, sighs) Unfortunately, no one can be told what the Matrix is. You have to see it for yourself. This is your last chance. After this, there is no turning back. (In his left hand, Morpheus shows a blue pill.)

You take the blue pill and the story ends. You wake in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. (a red pill is shown in his other hand) You take the red pill and you stay in Wonderland and I show you how deep the rabbit-hole goes. (Long pause; Neo begins to reach for the red pill) Remember -- all I am offering is the truth, nothing more.

Morpheus delivers this monologue to Neo as he explains to him how the Matrix works, and how to escape it.

• Released : 1999
• Directed by : Lilly Wachowski, Lana Wachowski

Apocalypse Now

You smell that? Do you smell that? Napalm, son. Nothing else in the world smells like that. I love the smell of napalm in the morning. You know, one time we had a hill bombed, for 12 hours. When it was all over I walked up. We didn't find one of 'em, not one stinkin' dink body. The smell, you know that gasoline smell, the whole hill. Smelled like... victory. Someday this war's gonna end...

Robert Duvall's monologue in 1979's Apocalypse Now  is simply unforgettable. As Lt. Col. Kilgore, Duvall's "Napalm in the morning" monologue comes as his troops are on a Vietnamese War raid on a ravaged beachfront.

• Released : 1979
• Directed by : Francis Ford Coppola

• Released : 1995
• Directed by : Mel Gibson

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 1

• Released : 2014
• Directed by : Francis Lawrence

Ferris Bueller's Day Off

• Released : 1986
• Directed by : John Hughes

  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 worth, 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, God damn it! 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!

In this famous scene from Network , v eteran TV journalist  Howard Beale, whose live rants are being exploited by his tv station, snaps and encourages the viewers at home to show the world that they're mad at the injustices taking place, while the station is more interested in the ratings and is therefore overjoyed that the broadcast is becoming a phenomenon, with people heeding Howard's advice. Peter Finch posthumously won the Academy Award for his performance as the crazed and exuberant journalist Howard Beale.

• Released : 1976
• Directed by : Sidney Lumet

• Released : 1990
• Directed by : Martin Scorsese

Scent Of A Woman

• Directed by : Martin Brest

The question is, "Do I have a 'God Complex'? Which makes me wonder if this lawyer has any idea as to the kind of grades one has to receive in college to be accepted at a top medical school . Or if you have the vaguest clue as to how talented someone has to be to lead a surgical team. I have an M.D. from Harvard. I am board certified in cardiothoracic medicine and trauma surgery. I have been awarded citations from seven different medical boards in New England; and I am never, ever sick at sea.

So I ask you, when someone goes into that chapel and they fall on their knees and they pray to God that their wife doesn't miscarry, or that their daughter doesn't bleed to death, or that their mother doesn't suffer acute neural trauma from postoperative shock, who do you think they're praying to? Now, you go ahead and read your Bible, Dennis, and you go to your church and with any luck you might win the annual raffle. But if you're looking for God, he was in operating room number two on November 17th, and he doesn't like to be second guessed. You ask me if I have a God complex? Let me tell you something: I AM GOD.

• Released : 1993
• Directed by : Harold Becker

Taxi Driver

[looking in the mirror]   Yeah. Huh? Huh? Huh?  [draws] faster than you, you f*ckin' son of a...I saw you comin', you f*ck. Sh*t-heel. [reholsters] I'm standin' here. You make the move. You make the move. It's your move. [draws gun from concealed forearm holster] Huh? Don't try it, you f*ck. [reholsters] You talkin' to me? You talkin' to me? You talkin' to me? [turns around to look behind him]Well, then who the hell else are you talking- You talking to me? Well, I'm the only one here. Who the f*ck do you think you're talking to? Oh yeah? Huh? 'kay. 

[whips out his gun again] Huh? [Travis voiceover: Listen you f*ckers, you screwheads. Here's a man who would not take it anymore. Who would not let- Listen you f*ckers, you screwheads. Here is a man who would not take it anymore. A man who stood up against the scum, the c*nts, the dogs, the filth, the sh*t. Here is someone who stood up. Here is...] [draws his gun] You're dead.

The Princess Diaries

• Released : 2001
• Directed by : Garry Marshall

Now I want you to remember that no bastard ever won a war by dying for his country. He won it by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his country. 

Men, all this stuff you’ve heard about America not wanting to fight – wanting to stay out of the war, is a lot of horse dung. Americans traditionally love to fight. All real Americans love the sting of battle.

When you were kids, you all admired the champion marble shooter, the fastest runner, big league ball players, the toughest boxers. Americans love a winner and will not tolerate a loser. Americans play to win all the time. I wouldn’t give a hoot in hell for a man who lost and laughed. That’s why Americans have never lost and will never lose a war, because the very thought of losing is hateful to Americans. 

Now, an army is a team – it lives, eats, sleeps, fights as a team. This individuality stuff is a bunch of c***… Now, we have the finest food and equipment, the best spirit, and the best men in the world. You know, by god, I actually pity those poor bastards we’re goin’ up against. By god, I do. We’re not just gonna shoot the bastard, we’re going to cut out their living guts and use them to grease the treads of our tanks. We’re going to murder those lousy Hun bastards by the bushel.

Now, some of you boys, I know, are wondering whether or not you’ll chicken out under fire. Don’t worry about it. I can assure you that you will all do your duty. The Nazis are the enemy. Wade into them, spill their blood, shoot them in the belly. When you put your hand into a bunch of goo that a moment before was your best friend’s face, you’ll know what to do. 

Now there’s another thing I want you to remember. I don’t want to get any messages saying that we are holding our position. We’re not holding anything. Let the Hun do that. We are advancing constantly and we’re not interested in holding onto anything except the enemy. We’re going to hold onto him by the nose and we’re gonna kick him in the a**. We’re gonna kick the hell out of him all the time and we’re gonna go through him like c*** through a goose. 

Now, there’s one thing that you men will be able to say when you get back home, and you may thank god for it. Thirty years from now when you’re sitting around your fireside with your grandson on your knee, and he asks you: ‘What did you do in the Great World War II?, you won’t have to say: ‘Well, I shoveled s*** in Louisiana.’ 

All right now, you sons-of-bitches, you know how I feel and I will be proud to lead you wonderful guys into battle anytime, anywhere. That’s all.

• Released : 1970
• Directed by : Franklin J. Schaffner

• Directed by : Zack Snyder

Glengarry Glen Ross

• Directed by : James Foley

Steel Magnolias

I'm fine.. I'm fine.. I'm fine.. I'm FINE! I could jog all the way to Texas and back.. but my daughter can't!! She never could!! Oh.. God.....I'm so mad I don't know what to do!! I wanna know why! I wanna know why Shelby's life is over!! I wanna HOW that baby will EVER know how wonderful his mother was.. Will he EVER know what she went through for him? Oh God I wanna know WHY? WHY? Lord...I wish I could understand! No...NO...NO!! It's not supposed to happen this way! I'm supposed to go first!! I've always been ready to go first! I don't think I can take this.. I.. I don't think I can take this! I just wanna hit somebody.. till they feel as bad as I do!! I just wanna hit something! I wanna hit it HARD!

Sally Field remains one of the greatest actresses of all-time. Need proof? Her heartbreaking monologue in 1989's "Steel Magnolias" is stunning. As M'Lynn, she's struggling with the death of her daughter, Shelby (Julia Roberts). Her delivery of this monologue is powerful, raw and real.

• Released : 1989
• Directed by : Herbert Ross

• Released : 2011
• Directed by : Tate Taylor

• Directed by : Shawn Levy

Any Given Sunday

• Directed by : Oliver Stone

American Beauty

It was one of those days when it's a minute away from snowing. And there's this electricity in the air, you can almost hear it, right? And this bag was just... dancing with me. Like a little kid begging me to play with it. For fifteen minutes. That's the day I realized that there was this entire life behind things, and this incredibly benevolent force that wanted me to know there was no reason to be afraid ever. Video's a poor excuse, I know. But it helps me remember...I need to remember. (distant) Sometimes there's so much beauty in the world I feel like I can't take it...and my heart is going to cave in.

Wes Bentley delivers one of several great monologues in Sam Mendes' 1999 masterpiece  American Beauty (Kevin Spacey, as Lester Burnham, delivers others). In Bentley's monologue, he's Ricky Fitts, neighbor and love interest of Jane (Thora Birch), explaining a video he made of a plastic bag that seems to "dance" with him.

• Directed by : Sam Mendes

On The Waterfront

• Released : 1954
• Directed by : Elia Kazan

Gone With The Wind

As God as my witness, as God as my witness, they're not going to lick me. I'm going to live through this and when it's all over, I'll never be hungry again. No, nor any of my folk. If I have to lie, cheat, steal or kill. As God as my witness, I'll never be hungry again.

• Released : 1939
• Directed by : Victor Fleming

Guess Who's Coming To Dinner

Now it became clear that we had one single day in which to make up our minds as to how we felt about this whole situation. So what happened? My wife typically enough decided to simply ignore every practical aspect of the situation, and was carried in some kind of romantic haze which made her in my view totally inaccessible to anything in the way of reason.

Now I have not as yet referred to His Reverence, who began by forcing his way into the situation, and insulted my intelligence by mouthing 300 platitudes and ending just a half hour ago by coming up to my room and challenging me to a wrestling match.

Now, Mr. Prentice, clearly a most reasonable man, says he has no wish to offend me, but wants to know if I'm some kind of a nut. And Mrs. Prentice says, that like her husband, that I'm a burnt out old shell of a man, who cannot even remember what its like to love a woman the way her son loves my daughter ... and strange as it seems, that's the first statement made to me all day with which I'm prepared to take issue. Cause I think you're wrong. You're as wrong as you can be.

I admit that I hadn't considered it, hadn't even thought about it but I know exactly how he feels about her, and there is nothing, absolutely nothing, that your son feels for my daughter that I didn't feel for Christina. Old? Yes. Burnt out? Certainly. But I can tell you the memories are still there -- clear, intact, indestructible. And they'll be there if I live to be 110. Where John made his mistake I think was attaching so much importance to what her mother and I might think. 'Cause in the final analysis it doesn't matter a damn what we think the only thing that matters is what they feel, and how much they feel for each other. And if it's half of what we felt ... that's everything.

Spencer Tracy delivers an incredible monologue as Matt Drayton in 1967's Guess Who's Coming to Dinner , as he blesses the upcoming wedding of his daughter to Black doctor John Prentice (Sidney Poitier). This was Tracy's last screen appearance (he died in June of 1967, months before the movie was released).

• Released : 1967
• Directed by : Stanley Kramer

On the page it looked nothing.The beginning simple..Almost comical.Just a pulse.Bassoons and basset horns, like a rusty squeezebox.But then high above it, an oboe Just a single note hanging there unwavering. Until a clarinet took over and sweetened it to a phrase of such a delight. This was no composition by a performing monkey. This was a music I have never heard before. Filled with such longing, such unfulfillable longing, it had me trembling.  It seemed to me that I was hearing the voice of God. "DIRECTOR'S CUT" But why? Why would God choose an obscene child to be his instrument? It was not to be believed. This pidce had to be an accident! It had to be... It better be.

In the 1984 film Amadeus , F. Murray Abraham, in his Academy Award-winning performance as composer Antonio Salieri, reminiscing and breaking down to Father Vogel about the immature Wolfgang Mozart's sublime Serenade No.10 for Winds:

• Released : 1984
• Directed by : Milos Forman

Now, dicks have drive and clarity of vision, but they are not clever. They smell p*ssy and they want a piece of the action. And you thought you smelled some good old p*ssy, and have brought your two small mincey f*ggot balls along for a good old time. But you've got your parties mangled up. There's no p*ssy here, just a dose that'll make you wish you were born a woman. Like a prick, you are having second thoughts. You are shrinking,and your two little balls are shrinking with ya. The fact that you've got "Replica" written down the side of your gun. (withdraws his gun) And the fact that I've got "Desert Eagle point five O" written on the side of mine, should precipitate your balls into shrinking, along with your presence. Now... F*ck off!

• Released : 2000
• Directed by : Guy Ritchie

Bull Durham

Well, I believe in the soul. The c***. The p****. The small of a woman's back. The hanging curveball. 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 Constitution 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...Goodnight.

Kevin Costner delivers what some think is one of the best movie monologues ever in 1988's Bull Durham , when his character, Durham Bulls catcher Crash Davis, explains to Annie (Susan Sarandon) what he believes in.

• Released : 1988
• Directed by : Ron Shelton

True Romance

Now the first time you kill somebody, that's the hardest. I don't give a s**t if you're f**kin' Wyatt Earp or Jack the Ripper. Remember that guy in Texas? The guy up in that f**kin' tower that killed all them people? I'll bet you green money that first little black dot he took a bead on, that was the bitch of the bunch. First one is tough, no f**kin' foolin'.

The second one... the second one ain't no f**kin' Mardis Gras either, but it's better than the first one 'cause you still feel the same thing, y'know... except it's more diluted, y'know it's... it's better. I threw up on the first one, you believe that? Then the third one... the third one is easy, you level right off. It's no problem. Now... s**t... now I do it just to watch their f**kin' expression change.

James Gandolfini's monologue in 1993's "True Romance" is uncomfortable to watch, but powerful. Gandolfini's hit man Virgil is looking for his coke, and he's determined to get information from Patricia Arquette (Alabama Whitman). After he beats her to a pulp, he takes a moment to reflect on his career as a killer....

• Directed by : Tony Scott

Team America: World Police

We're d***s! We're reckless, arrogant, stupid d***s. And the Film Actors Guild are p*****s. And Kim Jong Il is an a******. Pussies don't like d***s, because p*****s get f***** by d***s. But dicks also f*** a******s: a ****** s that just want to s*** on everything. P *****  may think they can deal with a ******s their way. But the only thing that can f*** an a ****** is a d***, with some b***s. The problem with d***s is: they f*** too much or f*** when it isn't appropriate - and it takes a p**** to show them that. But sometimes, p*****s can be so full of s*** that they become a ******s themselves... because p ***** s are an inch and half away from a ****** s. I don't know much about this crazy, crazy world, but I do know this: If you don't let us f*** this a ****** , we're going to have our d*** and p ***** s all covered in s *** !

• Released : 2004
• Directed by : Trey Parker, Matt Stone

Dangerous Liaisons

When I came out into society I was 15. I already knew then that the role I was condemned to, namely to keep quiet and do what I was told, gave me the perfect opportunity to listen and observe. Not to what people told me, which naturally was of no interest to me, but to whatever it was they were trying to hide. I practiced detachment. I learned how to look cheerful while under the table I stuck a fork onto the back of my hand. I became a virtuoso of deceit. I consulted the strictest moralists to learn how to appear, philosophers to find out what to think, and novelist to see what I could get away with, and in the end it all came down to one wonderfully simple principle: win or die.

Glenn Close's performance as Marquise Isabelle de Merteuil in 1988's Dangerous Liasons earned her an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress. Here, she explains to the Vicomte Sébastien de Valmont (John Malkovich), how she became a "virtuoso of deceit" (she started early).

• Directed by : Stephen Frears

• Released : 1997
• Directed by : Gregory Nava

...And Justice For All

• Directed by : Norman Jewison

• Directed by : Alex Proyas

Snow White And The Huntsman

• Released : 2012
• Directed by : Rupert Sanders

For Colored Girls

• Released : 2010
• Directed by : Tyler Perry

Five Easy Pieces

Are you cold? I don't know if you'd be particularly interested in hearing anything about me. My life, I mean. Most of it doesn't add up to much... that I could relate as a way of life that you'd approve of. I move around a lot not because I'm looking for anything, really. Because I'm getting away from things that get bad if I stay. Auspicious beginnings, you know what I mean? I'm trying to imagine your half of this conversation. My feeling is, I don't know that if you could talk, we wouldn't be talking. That's pretty much how it got to be before I left. Are you all right? I don't know what to say. Tita suggested that we try to... I don't know. I think that she - I think that she feels we've got some understanding to reach. She totally denies the fact that we were never that comfortable with one another to begin with. The best I can do, is apologize. We both know I was never really that good at it, anyway. I'm sorry it didn't work out.

Jack Nicholson's performance in the 1970 drama Five Easy Pieces  is memorable, no doubt. He delivers two really amazing monologues that couldn't be more different. In the first, Nicholson's Robert Dupea goes on a crazy tirade in a diner (chicken, it's about chicken) and in the second, a guilt and grief-ravaged Dupea tries to make peace with his dying father, who is gravely ill and can't respond. Both are incredible. Jack Nicholson: The Master of the Monologue!

• Directed by : Bob Rafelson

Vision Quest

I was in the room here one day... watchin' the Mexican channel on TV. I don't know nothin' about Pele. I'm watchin' what this guy can do with a ball and his feet. Next thing I know, he jumps in the air and flips into a somersault and kicks the ball in - upside down and backwards... the goddamn goalie never knew what the f**k hit him. Pele gets excited and he rips off his jersey and starts running around the stadium waving it around his head. Everybody's screaming in Spanish. I'm here, sitting alone in my room, and I start crying.

That's right, I start crying. Because another human being, a species that I happen to belong to, could kick a ball, and lift himself, and the rest of us sad-assed human beings, up to a better place to be, if only for a minute... let me tell ya, kid - it was pretty goddamned glorious. It ain't the six minutes... it's what happens in that six minutes.

• Released : 1985

• Directed by : Kevin Smith

From The Hip

• Released : 1987
• Directed by : Bob Clark
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Lists for anyone trying to break into showbiz or hone their craft.

Top 10 Best Disney Princess Monologues

#10: Kida Argues With the King “Atlantis: The Lost Empire” (2001)

This fantasy adventure flick follows linguist Milo Thatch as he joins an expedition to find the famed lost city. And, while they do manage to locate Atlantis, its people aren’t exactly thriving. So, in this scene, Princess Kida argues with her father, the King, after he dismisses the incoming group. Describing the rough reality that modern Atlanteans face, she makes a powerful case for collaborating with the visitors. Pressing the King to reconsider his isolation, she argues that they need a change of strategy to return their society to its former glory. She may not be an official Disney Princess, but Kida is clearly a force to be reckoned with.

#9: Jasmine Confronts Hakim “Aladdin” (2019)

The animated “Aladdin” contains its own memorable speech from Jasmine. But, although we love that moment, we were glad to see the 2019 live-action version give the character even more room to express herself. In one scene after she sings the song “Speechless,” the Agrabah royal confronts the head of the palace guards about his complicity in Jafar’s rule. She reminds him of his history and his loyalty to the Sultan and ultimately manages to turn the soldier back against the wicked Grand vizier. Disney movies haven’t always given their princesses opportunities to speak their minds in such an epic way. More, please!

#8: Anna Comforts Elsa “Frozen II” (2019)

Both “Frozen” films focus on the relationship between sisters Anna and Elsa in the kingdom of Arendelle. And, in the first movie, Anna delivers an emotional, memorable speech to her sibling about the latter’s guarded and secretive nature. But the pair’s most poignant exchange takes place in the 2019 sequel. As it turns out, Anna and Elsa’s parents died at sea while searching for answers about Elsa’s magical powers. So, when they both discover the shipwreck, Elsa blames herself, but Anna intervenes. The characters’ sisterly bond is the beating heart of the franchise, and it’s nowhere more visible than here.

#7: Cinderella Declares Her Love “Cinderella” (2015)

We love Disney’s 1950 animated take on this classic tale, of course, but the live-action remake boasts the character’s best speech. To set the scene… Ella meets a handsome prince in the forest and, with the help of a fairy godmother, attends the all important ball in style. But then, our heroine’s wicked stepmother locks her away to prevent a reunion. Thankfully, Ella’s singing voice leads the royal party right to her, however. And, meeting the prince once again, she asks to be taken as she is, without the wealth and status of other suitors. It’s a touching and romantic moment, and it leads us right into the iconic glass slipper fitting. The scene doesn’t exactly reinvent the wheel, but it’s truly swoon-worthy.

#6: Pocahontas Saves John Smith “Pocahontas” (1995)

Next, a mid-90s epic animation that loosely adapts the story of Matoaka, also known as Pocahontas, a Native American woman of the Powhatan people. In the movie, the titular character falls in love with colonist John Smith, whose party has recently arrived in Tsenacommacah. But, as her father, Chief Powhatan, rallies to defend his people’s lands, he plans to execute John. At the last moment, our protagonist steps in and begs for a truce. With Pocahontas putting her life on the line and making a desperate plea, it might be the film’s most dramatic moment.

#5: Esmeralda Stands Up to Frollo “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” (1996)

Esmeralda isn’t the main character in this musical drama, but she’s still of critical importance. In 1482 Paris, we meet Quasimodo, a young man who has been kept in a cathedral by his guardian, Judge Claude Frollo. He attends a festival, but Frollo’s employees trigger a riot that results in the bell-ringer being publicly degraded. Thankfully, Esmeralda steps in, freeing the innocent man and decrying the corrupt minister’s treatment of him and of the community. It’s a moving moment for the empathy and dignity she extends towards Quasimodo. But it’s also an incredible show of bravery that establishes her vision of a diverse and just city.

#4: Someone Worthwhile “Mulan” (1998)

“Mulan” is set in imperial China during the Han dynasty, as war brews. Fearing her elderly father’s conscription in the army, Fa Mulan passes herself off as a male soldier named Fa Ping. One of the movie’s most emotional moments finds Mulan assessing her motivations for her enlistment with her companion Mushu. The heroine speculates that her quest was actually a failed attempt to prove her self-worth. It’s hard to see her so discouraged, but the speech marks an important point in her journey. It perfectly sets up Mulan’s incredible triumph in the film’s final act.

#3: Rapunzel Confronts Gothel “Tangled” (2010)

In a pivotal moment, Rapunzel lets down her hair — and turns the tables on her mother. Of course, Gothel isn’t really her parent, but rather her abductor. And to make matters worse, she’s been leeching eternal youth from the girl’s locks. When Rapunzel first experiences freedom from her guardian, her mixed emotions are hilarious to witness. But her best and most satisfying monologue finds her squaring up to her captor. Realizing her own identity as a long-lost princess, she stands up to Gothel and refuses to be a pawn in her plot. It’s not a totally uninterrupted speech since her opponent chimes in occasionally. But with Rapunzel breaking a toxic cycle of manipulation, the film has us cheering in our seats.

#2: Moana of Motunui “Moana” (2016)

When the chief’s daughter, Moana, is chosen by the ocean itself to save her island from a blight, it raises some issues. But, against her father’s wishes, she sets sail to find the demigod Maui and have him restore the goddess Te Fiti’s heart. Moana’s public announcement of her plan is one of the film’s most rousing speeches — but there’s another that’s even more meaningful. On her deathbed, Moana’s grandmother instructs her what to say to Maui. The princess diligently practices her lines, and although she’s clearly nervous, her delivery is spot-on in the end. As some of the Motunui matriarch’s final words, the speech carries extra significance. And although wrangling Maui is easier said than done, we’re proud of Moana for standing her ground. Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions. Morning Routine, “Cinderella” (1950) The Princess Bemoans Her Life of Servitude — But No One Can Control Her Dreams Jane Meets Tarzan, “Tarzan” (1999) The Endlessly Entertaining Chatterbox Is Totally Lost Until She Encounters Tarzan Weak Ankles, “Hercules” (1997) Megara Has An Unusual Way of Flirting With Her Love Interest Belle Takes Her Father's Place, “Beauty and the Beast” (1991) Few Disney Monologues Are as Emotional as This Character’s Plea to the Beast Finding a Home, “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” (1937) The Princess Contemplates Where She Can Live — With an Audience of Forest Creatures

#1: Merida Breaks Tradition “Brave” (2012)

Merida is the free-spirited princess of a Scottish clan. But she begins this film feeling pressured into a betrothal. And then, after some ill-advised help from a forest-dwelling witch, she transforms her mother into a bear. With limited time to reverse the spell, she returns to the castle, only to find the other clans at each other’s throats. And so, Merida intervenes with an epic speech. For one, it’s so satisfying to see her assert herself over the loud-mouthed political leaders. But the scene also marks a step forward in her relationship with the queen, who uniquely convinces her to lobby for a new way of doing things. This is history in the making.

The 30 Best Movie Inspirational Speeches

Cinema's most stirring oratories and spirit-raising team talks.

In times of trouble, you need a little help getting up and going, and film can often provide just that. Cinema has a long and storied history of providing great words of motivation and encouragement, sometimes for the characters' own benefit and occasionally to the audience. Here, we've chosen 30 of the best that should fit almost any occasion - but if you're really pressed for time, here are 40 condensed into a two-minute span { =nofollow}. If you have a little longer, read on!

Also: The 25 Best Movie Bollockings

The Great Dictator

Made at a time when the shadow of World War II was looming over Europe, Charlie Chaplin’s speech here – he’s playing a poor Jewish barber in disguise as a preening dictator and forced to address a Nuremberg-style rally – is a heartfelt plea for sanity and compassion in a time of madness. It’s the perfect antidote to extremism, and uses fiery rhetoric for good. If only we’d be able to pull this switcheroo in real life.

Buy The Great Dictator

Independence Day

Sure, there are cheesemongers with less cheese on offer than you see here and OK, the American jingoism doesn’t work at all for those of us not of a Yank disposition. But Bill Pullman’s slightly sheepish style blends here with steely determination, and he delivers the American St Crispin’s Day speech with conviction. Then, like any US President, he leaps into his fighter jet and flies off to battle aliens.

Buy Independence Day

For those who prefer a little humour in their motivational speeches, try the pitch-black streak in this opener, establishing Russell Crowe’s Maximus Decimus Meridius as a leader of men and a helluva guy. Galloping around the Legions in his cool armour and fur-lined cloak, you might question whether he really needs an entire army to back him up, but you’ll never doubt for a moment that they’d choose to follow him as he unleashes hell.

Buy Gladiator

Any Given Sunday

There’s a lot to be said for a little personal touch to leaven your high-flung rhetoric, and it’s a trick that Al Pacino uses well here, in the first of three American football speeches we’re going to include (hey, we can’t help it if the heavily-padded sport produces some great pep talks). Pacino’s troubled Tony D’Amato unveils his own problems with brutal honesty before using his own failures as a spur to rev on his team to greatness, speaking of team spirit and commitment as someone who has been known to suck at both.

Buy Any Given Sunday

Friday Night Lights

The film has been somewhat overshadowed nowadays by the equally good TV show that followed it, but watch Billy Bob Thornton here and be reminded that Kyle Chandler isn’t the only fundamentally decent man who can inspire a team of small-town boys to great efforts in pursuit of perfection. It’s also worth noting that he puts his emphasis here on excelling and not winning, making it clear that victory isn’t only measured by the scoreboard. Clear eyes, full hearts, can’t lose.

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It is, and will probably always be, the greatest inspirational speech ever made. It’s endlessly flexible, and works even when not declaimed by the classically trained (see this Renaissance Man version for proof). And it’s by Shakespeare, still the best writer in Hollywood. We have, controversially perhaps, chosen Branagh’s version over Olivier’s because the latter sounds a little shrill to the modern ear, while Branagh convinces us that he could convince his men. This speech, given by the titular monarch to a vastly outnumbered force about to fight the French, obviously works especially well for English people, but by God, Harry and St George, it’s universal in its rousing effect.

Buy Henry V

This is a little-known film in the UK but it’s revered in certain communities in the US. Sean Astin’s Rudy has overcome dyslexia, poor grades and his relatively small stature to win a place on Notre Dame’s famous Fighting Irish American football team. Only problem is that he’s never been off the bench, and with his final game approaching he threatens to quit the team if he isn’t allowed to play – prompting this inspirational speech / telling off from a friend who points out that he’s being whiny and entitled and needs to grow a pair. Soon he’s back on the bench and given a starting position when his entire team threatens not to play unless he’s given a shot.

An honourable mention for Hector’s pep talk but Achilles wins the battle of the inspirational speeches just as he wins their duel (c’mon, that’s not a spoiler; it’s in the 2000 year-old Iliad). This is a short snippet, but then godlike Achilles, the man-killer, is a man of action rather than words. And what he does say – focusing on lions, glory and the manifold abilities of his small, hand-picked group of Myrmidons – would convince a rock to fight any Trojan who dared oppose it.

Animal House

Not every inspirational speech is about trying to inspire his cohorts to kill people or batter them up and down the length of a football field. Some aspire to a higher goal. Some aspire to debauchery, drinking and probably nudity. Some aspire to party like 1999 might have done had it tried harder. Some aspire to a particular kind of grubby, deranged greatness. One such is John Belushi’s Bluto, and this is the greatest night of his life.

Buy Animal House

The Goonies

Come the hour, cometh the man – and in this case the man is a small, asthmatic Sean Astin, inspiring his fellow Goonies to never say die and to keep going in their quest to find treasure and save their community. In his yellow rain slicker and with his voice on the edge of breaking he may not look like a modern Napoleon, but he has the same effect on his exhausted and discouraged troopers. He’s so good you’ll almost forget to laugh at his mentions of One-Eyed Willy. snigger

Buy The Goonies

The Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King

Death comes to us all, and Aragorn ain’t going to lie about it. But he still gees up his troops with the assurance that their civilisation will survive the onslaught of the forces of Mordor. Sure, they’re vastly outnumbered and sure, it seems likely that Frodo has failed in his quest to destroy the Ring in Mount Doom (especially if you’re watching the Extended Edition) but Viggo Mortensen’s Aragorn ensures that no one will be quitting any time soon. Not this day!

Buy The Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King

Bill Murray isn’t usually the guy you turn to for sincere, inspiring words of comfort. He’s more the type to puncture any attempt at same, and probably to fast-talk his opponents into giving up and going for a karaoke session while he’s about it. But after his heart grows two sizes during the course of Scrooged, he makes a plea for kindness and niceness from all mankind. He still does it in a recognisably Murray, manic and scattershot way, but that just makes him all the more compelling. Someone hire this man to play Santa Claus.

Buy Scrooged

Stirring sports speeches are limited to American Football. Miracle On Ice chronicles the based-on-truth tale of how the US Olympic hockey team triumphed over their Russian rivals. Kurt Russell's the speech-giver here, playing coach Herb Brooks. "Tonight, we are the greatest hockey team in the world," he tells them. You'll feel a swell of pride and inspiration too.

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Deep Blue Sea

“You think water’s fast? You should see ice.” Samuel L. Jackson’s been around the block more than once, and he’s seen the worst of mankind. It’s with the weight of that history behind him that he takes charge and orders his fellow survivors of a marine disaster to start pulling together and quit arguing. His speech also has what is, unquestionably, the greatest punchline on this list. Still, it achieves the desired effect once everyone has quit screaming.

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If in doubt, steal from classical history, something that David Wenham’s Dilios demonstrates with aplomb here. In actual history, the one survivor of the 300 was so shamed by his survival that he executed a suicidal one-man attack on the Persians at this Battle of Plataea, but Wenham seems more in control and also like he has quite a bit of back-up. “The enemy outnumber us a paltry three-to-one,” notes Dilios triumphantly. Why, it was hardly worth the Persians turning up.

Good Will Hunting

Here’s an inspirational speech well-suited to highly-paid sports teams and the enormously talented. Ben Affleck’s argument is, basically, that if you’re lucky enough to get extraordinary chances in your life, it’s your duty to the rest of us schmoes to actually take those chances and run with them as far as you can. If you can get past the shellsuit and the hair, he’s basically Yoda-like in his wisdom.

Buy Good Will Hunting

Most people only remember the last word – “Freedom!” – but the rest of the speech is pretty killer too. Mel Gibson’s William Wallace starts off by puncturing his own legend, and acknowledges the urge to cut and run in the face of a far superior English force. But then he reminds his men what they’d be missing if they do, and soon they’re all back on side and facing down the hated English. By the end of this speech, you’ll all hate the English with them – even if you are one.

Buy Braveheart

Coach Carter

You’d expect the inspiration in this basketball film to come from the titular no-nonsense coach, played by a fiery Samuel L. Jackson. But in fact it’s one of his players who nabs the best lines, as he and the team sit studying to keep their grades as high as their scores. There is a little cheating here: Rick Gonzalez’ Timo actually steals his inspirational speech from Marianne Williamson (it’s sometimes wrongly attributed to Nelson Mandela) but he delivers it well so we’re going to allow it.

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While it’s his skills in the ring that he is most lauded for, Rocky Balboa is something of a poet to boot. An incoherent one, certainly; a poet who says “I guess” a lot more often than Wordsworth might like, but a poet nevertheless. His moving words here, as he single-handedly ends the Cold War and ushers in a new era of East-West relations, are just one example. Another is…

Buy Rocky IV

Rocky Balboa

If his last speech was incoherent – in fairness, his rhythm may have been thrown off by the translator – this one verges on incomprehensible when he really gets going. Still, there’s real passion in Rocky’s plea for one last shot and an argument that’s applicable to all sorts of situations of institutional injustice or unfeeling bureaucracy.

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Stand And Deliver

Those who've watched him on the modern Battlestar Galactica know that Edward James Olmos is a past master at giving speeches. This is him from a little earlier in his career, playing Jaime Escalante, a real-life teacher who inspired his students to stop dropping out and start taking calculus seriously. Here, he's handing out as pop quiz, so anyone having to home school their kids can take note.

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Good Night, And Good Luck

This one is couched particularly at media moguls, but there’s a call for excellence and the highest moral standards here that we would all do well to live by. David Strathairn’s Edward R. Murrow, in a speech lifted directly from Murrow’s actual address to the Radio and Television News Directors Association in 1958, pleads for TV to inform as well as entertain. We feel that if more people saw this speech, Made In Chelsea would be cancelled immediately and reality TV would be banned, so spread the word!

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Anyone who has ever flirted with a romantic interest knows the risk of being knocked back, and Jon Favreau's Mike is experiencing a crisis of confidence. Luckily for him, he has Vince Vaughn's Trent to talk him back into the game, and Alex Désert's Charles to remind him that he's so money. He's a bear! And she's a bunny! Everything is going to be fine.

Buy Swingers

Charles Dutton’s second appearance on this list, after Rudy, sees him once again reminding lesser men (and women) to get with the programme, pull the finger out and generally stand up and be counted. But this time they’re facing unstoppable acid-blooded xenomorphs rather than American football players, so he has to be extra-emphatic.

Buy Alien 3

Pirates Of The Caribbean: At World’s End

Remarkably few women get to deliver inspirational speeches in movies – apparently they’re relegated to clapping admiringly from the sidelines. Thank goodness for Elizabeth Swan (Keira Knightley) who is elected King of the Pirates and rouses her troops into action for a last-ditch fight against the Lord Beckett’s overwhelming forces, led by the Flying Dutchman. She may not have quite the lungs of others on the list, but there’s no doubting her conviction as she calls for them to “Hoist the colours!” – the Jolly Roger – and sail out one last time.

Buy Pirates Of The Caribbean: At World’s End

The Replacements

One doesn’t expect lengthy speeches from Keanu “Woah” Reeves (although he’s done his share of Shakespeare actually) but he’s rarely more succinct and to the point than in this chat with his fellow Replacements. And in fact there are few speeches more likely to be effective in motivating an exhausted team for one last effort. “Chicks dig scars” could be used by virtually every example here to drive on the listeners.

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Bill Murray at it again, and once more an unconventional speech. This time out, he's John Winger, a loser who decides that he and best pal Russell Ziskey (Harold Ramis) will join the Army. Stuck with a group of oddballs, and, after a night of partying, decides to rally his fellow troops. It works... Sort of. But Murray's typically laconic style works well for the speech itself.

Rent or buy Stripes

The Lord Of The Rings: Return Of The King

All seems lost for Samwise Gamgee (Sean Astin again) and Frodo Baggins (Elijah Wood) as they lie, exhausted, on the slopes of Mount Doom. Frodo’s beyond endurance and raving as the influence of the Ring grows ever stronger on him, and his desperate straits drive Sam to one last push. It’s barely a speech, really – he uses his words better here – but there are few moments more inspirational.

Buy The Lord Of The Rings: Return of The King

The Shawshank Redemption

A quiet moment between Tim Robbins' Andy Dufresne and Morgan Freeman's Red became one of the more memorable moments in Shawshank , a movie with no shortage of them. And for those who are spending more time inside than perhaps they might be used to, Andy's musing on what he would do if he got out of prison are inspirational in themselves, even before he gets to that iconic line.

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Avengers: Endgame

Steve Rogers, AKA Captain America, is not shy of breaking out speech mode when the moment calls for it. And inspiring the Avengers as they're about to embark on a trip through space and time to retrieve the Infinity Stones certainly seems like that moment. "Whatever it takes," indeed.

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