movie review quotes examples

25 Delightful Roger Ebert Quotes About Movies

The documentary Life Itself , a poignant tribute that celebrates Pulitzer Prize-winning film critic Roger Ebert, was released in theaters this weekend. Generations grew up reading the Chicago Sun-Times journalist and watching him on television with sparring partner Gene Siskel, where the duo coined their “two thumbs up” phrase for positive reviews in the series At the Movies . Ebert’s barbed wit, grace, and passion touched the most discerning cineastes, but he was also known as a critic for the common man. He battled cancer for more than a decade, which necessitated the removal of his lower jaw, but it never stole his ability to write — which he did until his death last year. Two days before his passing, Ebert announced he was taking a “ leave of presence ” on RogerEbert.com . “What in the world is a leave of presence? It means I am not going away,” he wrote. And he hasn’t, leaving us with his beautiful words and wisdom about cinema and beyond. In celebration of the release of Life Itself , we’re revisiting some of Ebert’s most delightful quotes about one of his greatest loves — film.

“No good movie is too long and no bad movie is short enough.”

“Every great film should seem new every time you see it.”

“Art is the closest we can come to understanding how a stranger really feels .”

“We live in a box of space and time. Movies are windows in its walls. They allow us to enter other minds, not simply in the sense of identifying with the characters, although that is an important part of it, but by seeing the world as another person sees it.”

“There will always be those who love old movies . I meet teenagers who are astonishingly well-informed about the classics. But you are right that many moviegoers and video viewers say they do not “like” black and white films. In my opinion, they are cutting themselves off from much of the mystery and beauty of the movies. Black and white is an artistic choice, a medium that has strengths and traditions, especially in its use of light and shadow. Moviegoers of course have the right to dislike b&w, but it is not something they should be proud of. It reveals them, frankly, as cinematically illiterate. I have been described as a snob on this issue. But snobs exclude; they do not include. To exclude b&w from your choices is an admission that you have a closed mind, a limited imagination, or are lacking in taste.”

“Every once in a while I have what I think of as an out-of-the-body experience at a movie . When the ESP people use a phrase like that, they’re referring to the sensation of the mind actually leaving the body and spiriting itself off to China or Peoria or a galaxy far, far away. When I use the phrase, I simply mean that my imagination has forgotten it is actually present in a movie theater and thinks it’s up there on the screen. In a curious sense, the events in the movie seem real, and I seem to be a part of them.”

“Most good movies are about the style, tone and vision of their makers. A director will strike a chord in your imagination, and you will be compelled to seek out the other works. Directors become like friends.”

“Most of us do not consciously look at movies .”

“ Old theatres are irreplaceable. They could never be duplicated at today’s costs – but more importantly, their spirit could not be duplicated because they remind us of a day when going to the show was a more glorious and escapist experience. I think a town’s old theatres are the sanctuary of its dreams.”

“When a movie character is really working, we become that character. That’s what the movies offer: Escapism into lives other than our own.”

“We Americans like to see evil in terms of guns and crime and terrorists and drug smuggling — big, broad immoral activities. We rarely make movies about how one person can be personally cruel to another, through their deep understanding of what might hurt the other person the most.”

“There was a time when the feature was invariably preceded by a cartoon, and audiences smiled when they heard the theme music for ‘Looney Tunes’ and ‘Merrie Melodies’ from Warner Bros. Cartoons have long since been replaced by 20 minutes of paid commercials in many theaters, an emblem of the greed of exhibitors and their contempt for their audiences. In those golden days, the cartoon (and even a newsreel and a short subject) was a gift from the management.”

“A film director , like an orchestra conductor, is the lord of his domain, and no director has more power than a director of animated films. He is set free from the rules of the physical universe and the limitations of human actors, and can tell any story his mind can conceive.”

“The point is not to avoid all Stupid Movies , but to avoid being a Stupid Moviegoer. It’s a difficult task, separating the good Stupid Movies from the bad ones. . . . ”

“A slow movie that closely observes human beings and their relationships can be endlessly fascinating, while a thriller with nonstop wall-to-wall action can be boring, because it is all relentlessly pitched at the same tone.”

“The film should be seen as it was originally made. This includes many b&w films of the silent era where some of the scenes were tinted.”

“The only responsibility of the script is to produce the best possible film. Those who think it must be ‘faithful’ seem to treat adaptation like marriage. Fans of some sources, like a comic book or a TV series, will be outraged by any changes, but adaptation can also mean improvement.”

“I’ve gone out to the lobby many times to complain about bad focus, bad sound, a dim bulb or improper framing. The most common reply: “That’s how they made it.” . . . Perfection is possible, if the projectionist loves his job.”

“It seems to me that there are two basic approaches to any kind of comedy , and in a burst of oversimplification I’ll call them the Funny Hat and the Funny Logic approaches. The difference is elementary: In the first, we’re supposed to laugh because the comic is wearing the funny hat, and in the second it’s funny because of his reasons for wearing the funny hat. You may have guessed by now that I prefer the Funny Logic approach. . . . ”

“The distribution system seems to be set up to turn every multiplex in this country into an idiot’s convention.”

“I am against censorship and believe that no films or books should be burned or banned, but film school study is one thing and a general release is another. Any new Disney film immediately becomes part of the consciousness of almost every child in America, and I would not want to be a black child going to school in the weeks after Song of the South (1946) was first seen by my classmates.”

“American films are usually about one or two stars and a handful of well-known character actors, while Europeans are still capable of pitching in together for an ensemble piece. There is nothing new in the message of this film, but a great deal of artistry in its telling.”

“I’m not opposed to 3-D as an option. I’m opposed to it as a way of life for Hollywood , where it seems to be skewing major studio output away from the kinds of films we think of as Oscar-worthy. Scorsese and Herzog make films for grown-ups. Hollywood is racing headlong toward the kiddie market. Disney recently announced it will make no more traditional films at all, focusing entirely on animation, franchises, and superheroes. I have the sense that younger Hollywood is losing the instinctive feeling for story and quality that generations of executives possessed. It’s all about the marketing. Hollywood needs a projection system that is suitable for all kinds of films—every film—and is hands-down better than anything audiences have ever seen. The marketing executives are right that audiences will come to see a premium viewing experience they can’t get at home. But they’re betting on the wrong experience.”

“Cinema, for me, has always been something like music composed with photographic images . Others see it more like ‘action painting,’ and we’ve seen a lot of discussion in recent years about what J. Hoberman and others have called ‘post-photographic cinema’, in which computers have replaced cameras, and animation has replaced photography, as the primary means of creating images on the screen.”

“In the previous century the movie theater was often, in smaller towns and cities, the only grand architectural statement, save perhaps for a church or courthouse. They unashamedly provided a proscenium for our dreams.”

Cinema Lovers Club

The 100 most iconic movie quotes ever.

Nothing cements a film in the pantheon of cinema history like a timeless quote. Testaments to brilliant screenwriting and careful consideration of wordplay that defines genres, starts franchises, analyzes the human condition, makes us laugh/love/cry, or becomes iconic in pop culture, CLC has curated the ultimate essentials: the Top 100 Movie Quotes Of All-Time.

Click On Titles For Full Reviews

‘Revenge Is A Dish Best Served Cold’ – The Godfather (1972)

‘Toto, I’ve [Got] A Feeling We Aren’t In Kansas Anymore’ – The Wizard Of Oz (1939)

‘I Think This Is The Beginning Of A Beautiful Friendship’ – Casablanca (1942)

‘Look: Up In The Sky! It’s A Bird! It’s A Plane!’ – Superman (1978)

‘Snakes?! Why’d It Have To Be Snakes?’ – Indiana Jones: Raiders Of The Lost Ark (1981)

‘It Wasn’t The Airplanes; It Was Beauty That Killed The Beast’ – King Kong (1933)

‘Luke, I Am Your Father’ – Star Wars Ep. V: The Empire Strikes Back (1980)

‘The First Rule Of Fight Club Is: Don’t Talk About Fight Club’ – Fight Club (1999)

‘I Might’ve Been A Great Man, Had I Not Been Rich / Rosebud’ – Citizen Kane (1941)

‘You’re A Wizard, Harry’ – Harry Potter & The Chamber Of Secrets (2001)

‘You Either Die A Hero, Or You Live Long Enough To See Yourself Become The Villain’ – The Dark Knight (2008)

‘Heeeeere’s Johnny!’ / ‘All Work And No Play Makes Jack A Dull Boy’ – The Shining (1980)

‘The Name’s Bond. James Bond’ – Dr. No (1962)

‘Ah, I Love The Smell Of Napalm In The Morning’ – Apocalypse Now (1979)

‘They Call It A Royale With Cheese’ – Pulp Fiction (1994)

‘Diamonds Are A Girl’s Best Friend!’ – Breakfast At Tiffany’s (1961)

‘I’ll Be Back’ – Terminator (1984)

‘We’re Gonna Need A Bigger Boat’ – Jaws (1975)

‘A Man Cannot Live By Two Names’ – Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde (1931)

‘The Korova Milk Bar Sold MIlk, Plus Vellocet, Sythemesc, Or Dencom … Which Made You Ready For A Bit Of The Old Ultra-Violence’ – A Clockwork Orange (1971)

‘Death Has Come To Your Little Town, Sheriff’ – Halloween (1978)

‘Our Greatest Glory Is Not In Falling, But Rising Every Time We Fall’ – Rocky (1976)

‘Say Hello To My Little Friend!’ – Scarface (1983)

‘This Is Madness.. No, THIS IS SPARTA!’ – 300 (2006)

‘What’s Your Favorite Scary Movie?’ – Scream (1996)

‘It’s Alivvvve! It’s ALIVE!’ – Frankenstein (1931)

‘Your Scientists Were So Preocupied With Whether They Could, That They Never Stopped To Ask Whether They Should ‘ – Jurassic Park (1993)

‘I Don’t Know How To Put This.. But I’m Kind Of A Big Deal. I Have Many Leather-Bound Books And My Apartment Smells Of Rich Mahogany!’ – Anchorman (2004)

‘Listen To Them: The Children Of The Night. What [Sweet] Music They Make’ – Dracula (1931)

‘I Am Iron Man’ – Iron Man (2008) / Avengers: Endgame (2019)

‘Life Is So Beautiful That Death Has Fallen In Love With It: A Jealous, Possessive Love That Grabs What It Can’ – Life Of Pi (2012)

‘You Talkin’ To Me ?’ – Taxi Driver (1976)

‘Every Time A Bell Rings, An Angel Gets His Wings’ – It’s A Wonderful Life (1946)

‘They’re heeeeere’ – Poltergeist (1982)

‘Open The Pod Bay Doors, HAL; You Know I Can’t Do That, Dave’ – 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

‘Look At Her, She Wouldn’t Even Harm A Fly’ – Psycho (1960)

‘What If I Told You.. That Everything You Know Is A Lie’ – The Matrix (1999)

‘People Should Not Be Afraid Of Their Governments; Governments Should Be Afraid Of Their People’ – V For Vendetta (2005)

‘Yippie-Ki-Yay, Motherf*****!’ – Die Hard (1988)

‘We Are The Music Makers, And We Are The Dreamers Of Dreams’ – Willy Wonka And The Chocolate Factory (1971)

‘Roads? Where We’re Going, We Don’t Need Roads!’ – Back To The Future (1985)

‘When He Looks At Me, He Does Not Know What I Lack – Or That I Am Incomplete; He Sees For What I Am.. As I Am’ – The Shape Of Water (2017)

‘Some Day, And That Day May Never Come, I Will Call Upon You To Do A Service For Me … But Until That Day, Accept This Justice As A Gift’ – The Godfather (1972)

‘I Used To Think My Life Was A Tragedy; Now I Realize: It’s A Comedy’ – Joker (2019)

‘See There’s Two Kinds Of People In This Worlds: Those With Loaded Guns & Those Who Dig. You Dig.’ – The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly (1967)

‘May The Force Be With You’ – Star Wars (1977)

‘Women Have Minds And Souls As Well As Hearts – I’m Sick Of Hearing People Say Love Is All A Woman Is Fit For’ – Little Women (2019)

‘Why Are You Doing This? ..Because You Were Home’ – The Strangers (2008)

‘If You Can Dodge A Wrench, You Can Dodge A Ball’ – Dodgeball (2004)

‘Merry Christmas, Ya Filthy Animals!’ – Home Alone (1990)

‘There’s No Law West Of Dodge, And No God West Of The Pecos’ – Chisum (1970)

‘When You Realize You Want To Spend The Rest Of Your Life With Somebody, You Want The Rest Of Your Life To Start As Soon As Possible’ – When Harry Met Sally… (1989)

‘I’m Having An Old Friend For Dinner’ – The Silence Of The Lambs (1991)

‘The Greatest Trick The Devil Ever Pulled Was Convincing The World He Didn’t Exist’ – The Usual Suspects (1995)

‘If You Build It, They Will Come’ – Field Of Dreams (1989)

‘Everything The Light Touches Is Our Kingdom’ – The Lion King (1994)

‘Sometimes We Love People So Much That We Have To Numb Ourselves To It. Because If We Actually Felt How Much We Love Them, It Might Kill Us’ – Riding In Cars With Boys (2001)

‘I’ve Killed Everything That Walks Or Crawls At One Point Or Another, And I’ve Come To Kill You’ – The Unforgiven (1992)

‘Big Man In A Suit Of Armor; Take That Away And What Are You? Genius, Billionaire, Playboy, Philanthropist’ – The Avengers (2012)

‘This Is Not ‘Nam. This Is Bowling. There Are Rules!’ – The Big Lebowski (1998)

‘Take Your Stinking Paws Off Me, You Damned Dirty Ape’ – Planet Of The Apes (1968)

‘Surely You Can’t Be Serious.’ ‘I Am Serious, And Don’t Call Me Shirley’ – Airplane! (1980)

‘Precioussss’ – Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers (2002)

‘A Martini, Shaken Not Stirred’ – Goldfinger (1962)

‘We’re All A Bit Mad Here’ – Alice In Wonderland (1951)

‘What Are You?! I’m Batman.’ – Batman (1989)

‘Murder, My Sweet’ – Murder, My Sweet (1944)

‘My Whole Life, I Always Wanted To Be A Gangster’ – Goodfellas (1990)

‘I’m The King Of The World!’ – Titanic (1997)

‘To Infinity And Beyond!’ – Toy Story (2001)

‘ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED?!’ – Gladiator (2000)

‘After All, Tomorrow Is Another Day’ – Gone With The Wind (1939)

‘You Have To Ask Yourself One Question: Do Ya Feel Lucky Punk? Well, Do Ya?’ – Dirty Harry (1971)

‘A Laugh Can Be A Very Powerful Thing – Why, Sometimes In Life, It’s The Only Weapon We Have’ – Who Framed Roger Rabbit? (1988)

‘If Everything Is Imperfect In This World, Love Is Perfect In Its Imperfection’ – The Seventh Seal (1957)

‘I’ve Crossed Oceans Of Time To Find You’ – Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992)

‘Mr. Demille, I’m Ready For My Close-Up’ – Sunset Boulevard (1950)

‘Hasta La Vista, Baby’ – Terminator II: Judgment Day (1991)

‘You Think You’re Wicked Smaht Because You Read Your [Textbook] And Regurgitate It On Paper, Huh?’ – Good Will Hunting (1997)

‘I Don’t Know Who You Are, But If You Don’t Let My Daughter Go: I Will Find You, And I Will Kill You’ – Taken (2008)

‘Life Moves Fast. If You Don’t Stop And Look Around Every Once In A While, You Might Miss It’ – Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986)

‘May The Odds Be Ever In Your Favor’ – The Hunger Games (2012)

‘E.T. Phone Home’ – E.T. (1982)

‘Carpe Diem: Seize The Day, Boys’ – Dead Poets Society (1989)

‘Gentlemen, You Can’t Fight In Here! This Is The War Room!’ – Dr. Strangelove Or How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Bomb (1964)

‘You Complete Me’ – Jerry Maguire (1996)

‘I Don’t Know Which Species Is Worse … At Least [The Xenomorphs] Don’t F*** Eachother Over For A Percentage’ – Aliens (1986)

‘Elementary, My Dear Watson’ – The Adventures Of Sherlock Holmes (1939)

‘I See Dead People’ – The Sixth Sense (1999)

‘Goooooood Morning, Vietnam!’ – Good Morning Vietnam (1987)

‘With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility’ – Spider-Man (2002)

‘Why So Serious?’ – The Dark Knight (2008)

‘We’ll Always Have Paris!’ – Casablanca (1942)

‘Fasten Your Seatbelts, It’s Going To Be A Bumpy Ride!’ – All About Eve (1950)

‘The Truth? You Can’t Handle The Truth! – A Few Good Men (1992)

‘It’s Niiiiice’ – Borat (2006)

‘Life Is Like A Box Of Chocolates, You Never Know What You’re Gonna Get’ – Forrest Gump (1994)

‘You Want To Dance With The Devil In The Cold Moonlight?’ – Batman (1989)

‘Houston, We Have A Problem’ – Apollo 13 (1995)

‘Take The Gun, Leave The Cannoli’ – The Godfather, Pt. II (1974)

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10 Movie Review Examples That Will Help You Write Better Reviews

Studying movie review examples is a great place to start if you’re looking for inspiration for your own movie reviews. 

This article has gathered different kinds of movie review examples that will help you write better and more insightful reviews in whatever style you choose.

There is an overwhelming library of movie reviews to sift through, but having studied many reviews by Pulitzer Prize-winning film critics along with your average movie review articles published online, I’ve been able to find a few movie reviews that provide a great template for crafting a review of your own.

10 Detailed Movie Review Examples

The Classic Movie Review

A classic movie review example has a neat structure that clearly communicates the author’s sentiment toward the film in a clean, straightforward manner.

Roger Ebert’s review of North is the perfect example of that.

1. “North” by Roger Ebert

This review starts with a catchy hook, making readers curious for Ebert to elaborate on his statements.

“I have no idea why Rob Reiner, or anyone else, wanted to make this story into a movie, and close examination of the film itself is no help.”

The opening sentence of this movie review example makes it clear to the audience that Ebert did not enjoy the film in question and if they would like to know why, they are encouraged to continue reading.

The whole first paragraph is chock full of strong adjectives setting the tone for the scathing critique this film is about to get.

Moving on to the next paragraph of this movie review example, Ebert gives a quick synopsis of what this film is about, filling the audience in on the story in case they’re unaware.

“He [Elijah Wood] plays a kid with inattentive parents, who decides to go into court, free himself of them, and go on a worldwide search for nicer parents.”

Following the paragraph summarizing the main plot of the film, the movie review dives straight into the critique explaining why this film garnered the strong adjectives it received in the opening paragraph:

“This idea is deeply flawed. Children do not lightly separate from their parents – and certainly not on the evidence provided here, where the great parental sin is not paying attention to their kid at the dinner table.”

In this movie review example, Ebert dives deep into the oddities of the narrative and what makes it so unbelievable.

He questions the director’s decisions and the plot’s direction as well in these middle paragraphs:

“What is the point of the scenes with the auditioning parents?… They are not funny. They are not touching. There is no truth in them.”

Ebert uses the middle paragraphs to dissect what does not work in the film.

In the final paragraphs of this movie review example, Ebert closes out by reiterating his sentiments towards the film, giving readers a good idea of whether the movie would be something he would recommend others watch.

“I hated this movie. Hated hated hated hated hated this movie. Hated it. Hated every simpering stupid vacant audience-insulting moment of it.”

“‘North’ is a bad film – one of the worst movies ever made.”

After reading Ebert’s movie review example there is no question of whether he liked the movie or not. I don’t know, he might’ve even mentioned hating it at one point…

And he makes it clear what plot and artistic choices played into his final assessment of the film.

Would you whip out your cash to experience the movie North after reading a review like this?

With this straightforward, informative, evidence-supported review, there is no confusion about the perceived quality of this film.

READ THE FULL REVIEW OF NORTH BY ROGER EBERT

The Real World Parallel Review

A movie review that can parallel the events occurring within the movie with events occurring outside of the movie shows a deeper level of critical thinking.

This is one of the movie review examples that truly exemplifies a deep critical thinker.

2. “The Flash” by Justin Chang

This movie review example starts right away with a brief synopsis of what the movie, The Flash, is about.

“‘The Flash’ is a time-travel story and a cautionary tale, a warning of how dangerous it can be to change the past or mess around with alternate realities.”

Same as with the classic movie review, this reviewer also hints at his overall sentiments towards the film.

“…this initially enjoyable, increasingly sloppy megabucks mess…”

This review, unlike the classic movie review, spends more time following the plot of the story through a biased lens, further walking readers through the details of the story.

“He gets stuck in the past and… winds up unwisely joining forces with a teenage version of himself (also Miller, with floppier hair), who’s had a much happier childhood but doesn’t (yet) have the Flash’s superheroic powers.”

After indirectly criticizing the CGI and praising the main actor’s performance, Chang gets into his main criticism of the review: the popular trend of reintroducing old versions of superheroes into new superhero movies.

“Really, though, is nostalgia that satisfying anymore?”

And it’s really this last sentence of the movie review example that ties this compelling thought together, not only concluding the movie but drawing a parallel to how the movie creators are perpetrators of the same mistake that the movie’s main character made.

“Lost in an endless game of IP-reshuffling musical chairs, Barry realizes, possibly too late, the futility of dwelling on the past — a fatuous lesson from a movie that can’t stop doing the same.”

READ THE FULL REVIEW OF THE FLASH BY JUSTIN CHANG

3. “Bonnie and Clyde” by Roger Ebert

Another great movie review example, using a movie as a sense of societal self-reflection, is Roger Ebert’s review of Bonnie and Clyde . The final sentences of the review say:

“‘Bonnie and Clyde’ will be seen as the definitive film of the 1960s, showing with sadness, humor, and unforgiving detail what one society had come to… it was made now and it’s about us.”

READ THE FULL REVIEW OF Bonnie and Clyde BY Roger Ebert

4. “Black Panther” by Soraya Nadia McDonald

Yet another movie review example is this Black Panther review by Soraya Nadia McDonald.

The whole review deep dives into the cultural context of the movie and its timeliness or lack thereof.

“Honestly, the worst thing about Black Panther is that it had to be released in 2018 and not during the term of America’s first black president.”

This movie review example walks through the narrative praising the film’s actors, director, and cinematographer before ending on the note of its cultural relevance.

“Perhaps it’s even capable, just as The Birth of a Nation once was, of helping to steer an entire national conversation.”

READ THE FULL REVIEW OF Black Panther BY Soraya Nadia McDonald

The Storytelling Movie Review

If you have a story of your own that you can parallel with the movie’s story, then connecting the movie’s narrative with your own is a particularly entertaining way to craft your review.

Instead of comparing the film to society as a whole, the following storytelling movie review examples compare the movie to specific stories they pull from their personal life.

5. “The Help” by Wesley Morris

One of my favorite reviews by Pulitzer prize-winning Wesley Morris is written in this style, drawing readers in with his own personal story:

“Three summers ago, I went to visit a friend in West Texas.”

“What happened in Texas?”, readers wonder as we curiously continue reading.

After 3 engaging paragraphs narrating a strange, racial encounter in Texas, Morris introduces the movie, The Help .

“This pretty much captures the cognitive dissonance of watching “The Help’’: One woman’s mammy is another man’s mother.”

The following paragraph gives a synopsis of the film and introduces the audience to the main characters:

“Meanwhile, the heart of the film itself belongs to Aibileen Clark (Viola Davis) and Minny Jackson (Octavia Spencer), the two very different maids and best friends at the center of the story.”

The center of this movie review example narrates the happenings of the movie from a biased point of view before presenting some debate points about the movie’s approach to race relations.

“‘The Help’ joins everything from “To Kill a Mockingbird’’ to “The Blind Side’’ as another Hollywood movie that sees racial progress as the province of white do-gooderism.”

Morris then praises the actors’ performances in this very character-based film but is unable to shake the social weight of the casting that this film requires:

“And yet here’s the question you ask as you watch a black actor in 2011 play a white lady’s maid, decades and decades after that was the only job a black woman in Hollywood could get. What went through the minds of Davis, Spencer, and Aunjanue Ellis, who plays Hilly’s maid, as they put on those uniforms and went to work?”

Morris finishes off the review sure to reference the personal story that he introduced in the beginning before leaving the reader with something to ponder.

“These are strong figures, as that restaurant owner might sincerely say, but couldn’t they be strong doing something else?”

Morris’s final statements in this movie review example make it clear his assessment of the film’s quality is good but its messaging is questionable, allowing the audience to make a judgment on whether they’d like to see the film for themselves.

“On one hand, it’s juicy, heartwarming, well-meant entertainment. On the other, it’s an owner’s manual.”

READ THE FULL REVIEW OF THE HELP BY WESLEY MORRIS

6. “Me Without You” by Stephen Hunter

This movie review example also tells a story although it’s not personal.

Instead of starting by talking about the movie or talking about himself, Hunter begins the review like a novel. With an untethered phrase that needs further explanation.

“Friendship isn’t rocket science. It’s much harder.”

He then lists out all of the complexities of trying to maintain a friendship, painting a picture to support his point.

“Oh, yeah, it’s easy to say just be loyal and true and that makes you a good friend. But suppose the other person does something that really irks you, like chew gum or vote Democratic?”

Hunter doesn’t leave you hanging for too long before segueing into how this thought point relates to the film.

“And that thorniness, that dark underbelly of it, is the gist of the acerbic British import ‘Me Without You…'”

As usual, a sign of good storytelling, he finishes this movie review example with his full-circle concluding statement on friendship.

“But the truth is, of course, that friendship matters to those of us who still claim membership in the human race…”

READ THE FULL REVIEW OF ME WITHOUT YOU BY STEPHEN HUNTER (Under the title: ‘Me’: Friendship as Relationship)

The Unconventional Movie Review

A less common but creative and fun way to approach a movie review is to approach it from a different angle or point of view. To write it in a way that’s unexpected.

7. “ET” by Roger Ebert

In another movie review example from Roger Ebert, instead of approaching this review traditionally, Ebert rather writes the review as a letter to his grandchildren.

Rather than addressing the readers, he addresses his grandchildren in his movie review:

“Dear Raven and Emil: Sunday we sat on the big green couch and watched “E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial” together with your mommy and daddy.”

After noting how his grandchildren reacted to climactic parts of the film, Ebert recounts the events of the movie, ET, continuing to include his grandchildren’s remarks and reactions.

“The camera watches Elliott moving around. And Raven, that’s when you asked me, “Is this E.T.’s vision?” And I said, yes, we were seeing everything now from E.T.’s point of view.”

Ebert uses this opportunity to make a simplified analysis of the director’s use of POV in the movie, praising the film’s direction without losing the context of a grandfather’s letter.

“Some other filmmaker who wasn’t so good might have had subtitles saying, “E.T.? Are you out there? It’s Mommy!” But that would have been dumb.”

Ebert ends this movie review example like anyone would end a letter, with good wishes and a signature.

“Well, that’s it for this letter. We had a great weekend, kids. I was proud of how brave you both were during your first pony rides. And proud of what good movie critics you are, too. Love, Grandpa Roger”

The average person has a 7-8th grade reading level, so a simple letter like this, is not only cute, creative, and endearing but it’s incredibly easy to read and understand the critic’s assessment of the movie.

READ THE FULL REVIEW OF ET BY Roger Ebert

8. “Spider-Man Into the Spider-Verse” by IMO Flicks

Another unconventional movie review example is one that I wrote for this blog website.

Instead of writing from my point of view, I decided to write from the point of view of an out-of-touch grandma, someone who may not have the background knowledge to really understand and appreciate the film.

I approached the film this way because I was tired of reviewing Marvel Superhero films but the thought of writing it as an out-of-touch grandma made the review so much more fun and less pressure-filled, even if it’s really not the most straightforward or informational read.

The review does not include a clear synopsis and the critiques of the film waver between genuine observations and areas that the grandma misunderstood.

It was a blast to write.

The grandmother writer uses the remarks of her grandchildren as a voice of reason for the film.

“My granddaughter told me to rate this spider film [ Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse ] out of 10 points. I initially wanted to give it 4 points out of 10… Apparently, my grandchildren think this rating is ridiculous. One of my grandsons almost threw a chair. He gave the film a 200/10, claiming it’s one of the best films he’s ever seen.”

This sort of review may not be as befitting for a serious homework assignment but if there’s space to think outside the box, I say go for it.

READ THE FULL REVIEW OF Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

The Self-Aware Review

Similar to the unconventional movie review, but not quite as unconventional, these movie review examples are self-aware of their influential power. It breaks the fourth wall of movie reviews so to speak.

9. “Manchester By the Sea” by Ty Burr

This movie review example of Manchester By the Sea wants to encourage you to watch the movie but doesn’t want your expectations so high that you don’t experience the same subtle unexpected magic that the movie works on viewers.

Burr explains this in the first paragraph:

“Nothing destroys an audience’s appreciation of a small good movie like advance praise.”

Careful to not ruin the audience’s expectations, Burr goes on to begin every following paragraph with a phrase that denies all of the critiques that follow.

“So I won’t tell you that I’ve seen “Manchester by the Sea” twice now and both times felt haunted for weeks.”

“I won’t bother you with how the movie stands as a soul-satisfying comeback for its maker…”

“I could say, but I won’t, that we’ve all seen too many movies in which a lost soul comes out of his shell and rejoins the human race after he inherits a kid from a dead relative.”

The entire center of the film covers the movie in a way that says, “You didn’t see me. I was never here.” Good and well knowing that people are going to be more curious about this film and expect it to be as fantastic as Burr says.

But don’t worry, Burr accounts for this “undesired” outcome that he had been trying to avoid from the beginning with this closing paragraph.

“If I do tell you all this, forget I ever did. Just remember you heard somewhere that “Manchester by the Sea” is an experience worth having…”

READ THE FULL REVIEW OF MANCHESTER BY THE SEA BY TY BURR (Under the title: A Shore Thing)

10. “Mark Kermode” by Mamma Mia

Kermode’s review of Mama Mia takes his self-awareness in a different direction where he personally loves the movie Mama Mia and is not afraid of letting the world know it.

In fact, the movie has brought something to life in him as a movie critic.

“One minute I was a miserable critic; the next, everything had gone pink and fluffy.”

Kermode continues the movie review example, touching on the actor’s performances, the director’s execution of the film, and the soundtrack before returning to how the film affected him as a critic.

“I feel duty-bound to report that I came out of the screening an utter wreck.”

Further aware that as a serious critic, he probably shouldn’t like this film as much as he did, he lets his guard down and leans into the wonder of the film.

“I have certainly mellowed, and perhaps my critical faculties have withered and died. But I simply can’t imagine how Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again could be any better than it is.”

The self-aware review speaks to the readers as a friend rather than as a removed source of movie information.

A lot of the time, this personal voice can be merged with other review styles as well.

READ THE FULL REVIEW OF Mamma Mia by Mark Kermode

Common Questions

How to write a movie review.

To write a movie review you would need to watch the movie and take good notes, then you would craft an attention-hooking introduction, a few center paragraphs explaining your critiques of the film, before concluding on whether you’d recommend the film or not. This article breaks down the 10 steps to writing a movie review effortlessly .

What should a good movie review include?

A good movie review should include a synopsis of the film, a clear stance on whether the film was good or not, including why or why not, and a conclusion that makes it clear whether the critic would recommend others to watch the film or not.

What is the best movie review for students?

The best movie review example for students would be the classic movie review because it’s straightforward and the easiest to follow and grade.

In Conclusion…

There are so many movie review examples to choose from but the majority can fall into one of these 5 groups: the classic movie review, the real-world parallel, the storytelling review, the unconventional review, and the self-aware review.

If you would like to view 50 more outstanding movie review examples , I’ve grouped some here in a shared Word document available for free!

I hope this article was able to provide some movie review examples to help you craft your own. Happy movie reviewing!

What’s your favorite movie review example? Let me know in the comments below!

And be sure to subscribe for the latest blog updates (form in sidebar).

Peace, love, and lots of popcorn,

When I'm not over-analyzing movies, I'm eating chocolate, belting my favorite songs, and binge-watching reality dating shows. Feel free to share your opinions with me and follow me through my social links!

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25 Memorable Movie Lines of the Last 25 Years

TAGGED AS: movies , quotes , RT25

In 2023, Rotten Tomatoes turns 25, and to mark the occasion, we’re celebrating the best movies and television from the last 25 years.  

They’re the lines you’ve worn on T-shirts and Photoshopped into memes. They’re the lines you’re maybe a little sick of, but can’t stop loving. Before they were famous, though – before they were parodied on  SNL  and printed onto ironic mugs – they were words on a page and then words in a movie you were hearing for the first time, and they stuck. Maybe they were hilarious (poor Gretchen, “fetch” never happened), or maybe they were chilling (“I see dead people”). Maybe they were delivered just  right (“Why… so… serious?”).

Here, we’re looking back at the 25 most memorable lines from the movies since August 1998, the year that Rotten Tomatoes came into this world. If we missed a favorite of yours, let us know in the comments.

• Recommended: The Biggest and Best Movies of the Last 25 Years
• Recommended: The Biggest and Best TV & Streaming Series of the Last 25 Years
• Recommended: The Best Horror Movies of Each Year Since 1998

Office Space (1999)

We could run through an entire stack of Post-Its writing down our favorite lines from Mike Judge’s cult favorite, but this chipper, grating, morning greeting wins out – an encapsulation of the deep, smiley rage suppression that gives Office Space its kick.

The Matrix (1999)

Before the Wachowskis’ signature franchise erupted into several sequels’ worth of sprawling mythology, it presented viewers with a sci-fi story that was brilliant in its simplicity, built on the idea of a world in which every component of our everyday reality is really part of a ruse designed to lull us into subservience to a hidden yet all-seeing order. Decades later, it’s this line — and this idea — that reflects the Matrix movies’ legacy, for better and for worse.

Notting Hill (1999)

When you pair America’s sweetheart with Britain’s reigning rom-com king, you have to bring your A-game, and writer Richard Curtis did just that for Notting Hill . With this heartbreaking line, he manages to somehow get us rooting for one of the world’s richest and most glamorous movie stars, and screaming with frustration at the regular “fairly level-headed bloke” whose love she’s asking for.

The Sixth Sense (1999)

Neither M. Night Shyamalan nor Haley Joel Osment knew that the intensely whispered “I see dead people” would become the center of Disney’s marketing push for The Sixth Sense – and the subject of parodies for decades. When we talked with Osment, he said he was just thankful Twitter hadn’t been invented at the time the film came out, when he was 11.

Fight Club (1999)

From Chuck Pahalniuk’s pen to Brad Pitt’s mouth and into the minds of college students all over the country…

Gladiator (2000)

The debate over whether Ridley Scott’s (somewhat) historical drama deserved to clean up at the Oscars has been raging for more than 20 years, and we aren’t here to finish it. It’s far easier to confront the question posed by Russell Crowe’s Maximus as his quest for vengeance brings him face to face with the jeering crowd egged on by the man responsible for the deaths of his family. Are you not entertained? The answer, all these years later, remains a rousing yes.

The Fast and the Furious (2001)

The  Furious   franchise has evolved greatly over the years, shifting gears (sorry!) from smallish-scale  Point Break- alike to globe-trotting stunt spectacular, each entry one-upping the other in terms of scale and ludicrousness. What keeps the whole thing grounded, and provides the through-line from 2001 right through to this year’s  Fast X ? Family, of course, but also the dedication to awesome cheese perfectly encapsulated by this line/mantra/religion. Us too, Dom, us too.

Legally Blonde (2001)

For years, fans clamored for Reese Witherspoon to bend and snap her way back to Elle Woods and the Legally Blonde franchise, and it isn’t hard to see why. While she’s starred in productions with more dramatic heft, it’s impossible to resist Elle’s cheerful can-do spirit — not to mention her unerring sense of style.

Training Day (2001)

Denzel Washington won an Oscar for playing corrupt narcotics cop Alonzo in Atonine Fuqua’s Training Day , and it might have been his delivery this line – puffed-up and chest-pounding as he realizes power is slipping away – that got any hesitant Academy voters across the line.

Finding Nemo (2003)

One of the most beloved characters in the Pixar pantheon, Finding Nemo ‘s Dory resonates because she’s a lot like all of us. Sure, we may not be able to breathe under water, and okay, most people don’t experience persistent memory loss — but who among us hasn’t put on a brave face and forged ahead in spite of not having any idea what they’re doing?

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)

As repellent as he is pitiable, Andy Serkis’ Gollum is the living embodiment of greed’s ability to warp and debase, and it’s a testament to the actor’s mocap-assisted work in the role that you feel for the duplicitous little guy as often as you want to see him throttled. It’s a performance that’d be tough to surpass, let alone imitate — but that hasn’t stopped generations of viewers from giving it their best shot by hunching over, sneering, and hissing Gollum’s unforgettable two-word catchphrase.

Mean Girls (2004)

Mean Girls ’ Regina George (Rachel McAdams) is the queen bee of her group, and this was perhaps her sharpest stinger. Irony is, while “fetch” didn’t happen, this line caught on in a big way.

Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004)

It’d be very easy to fill an entire feature with the best of the many laugh-out-loud non sequiturs from this film, so we won’t blame you if you feel compelled to argue that a different line deserved to be included. We had to go with this one, though — 60 percent of the time, it’s our favorite, every time.

Brokeback Mountain (2005)

When Jake Gyllenhaal said these words to Heath Ledger while shooting Brokeback Mountain , he probably had no idea what a life they would go on to have: first as a wrenching moment between their characters, Jack Twist and Ennis Del Mar; then as a source of parody and a meme (mostly among those too immature to cope with the film); finally, and most recently, as a shorthand for the film itself, and what it meant to the LGBTIQA+ community to see a gay couple portrayed authentically and without judgment in a major release.

On paper, there’s nothing particularly special about this line – it’s kinda just a statement of fact (it is Sparta, after all – not Athens or Thermopylae, and definitely not madness, nor blasphemy). But coming out of Peak Gerard Butler’s mouth as a kind of gravelly scream for the ages, and accompanied by that iconic slow-mo kick, it’s gone down in film history. Watching this moment, we are all Sparta (even those of us without six packs).

Snakes on a Plane (2006)

You may not recall the insane hype around Snakes on a Plane in the lead up to its release – an irony-fueled internet buzz-wave that stemmed, essentially, from the absurdity of its premise-capturing title. You may not even remember much of the film itself. But there is no way you forgot this line, spoken by profanity wizard Samuel L. Jackson in one of those legendary B-movie inspiration speeches he’s so masterful at delivering. (Fun fact: The line has aired on FX as the more-safe-for-work “monkey-flying snakes on this Monday-to-Friday plane.”)

There Will Be Blood (2007)

Speaking of Oscar winners… This rather surprising analogy for oil drainage, spoken by Daniel Day-Lewis as Daniel Plainview, was inspired by real-life words to congress from then Secretary of the Interior, Albert Fall, spoken during a 1920s Congressional investigation. Or so Paul Thomas Anderson has said – the original quote has not been found.

No Country for Old Men (2007)

The absurdity of life and the futility of our best-laid plans are recurring themes throughout the Coen brothers’ pitch-black filmography, and perhaps no moment distills these themes more effectively than the chillingly impassive way Anton Chigurh rests a stranger’s fate on the flip of a coin. You’d think he’d be more inclined to aim that cattle gun at his barber, but this way works better for the movie.

The Dark Knight (2008)

Heath Ledger’s Oscar-winning turn as the Joker in Christopher Nolan’s second Batman film might well have given us the best comic-book movie villain ever. The character’s most famous line – “Why so serious?” – became iconic even before the film’s release, centering one of the most effective marketing campaigns of recent decades.

Taken (2008)

It was in 2008, while in his mid 50s, that Liam Neeson discovered a very particular set of skills – gravelly line-readings, a death-stare for the ages, and a capacity for rapid-fire action – that would launch a whole new chapter of his career: Liam Neeson, Action Star! And while the past decade has been littered with Neeson action programmers (right up to 2019’s Cold Pursuit ), none have matched  Taken   for its intensity, impact, and the power of that oft-quoted bedroom scene.

The Hunger Games (2012)

There are plenty of action-packed, effects-enhanced, and completely thrilling moments throughout the Hunger Games franchise, but few are as simultaneously inspiring and terrifying as the quiet scene in which Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) steps forward to take her young sister’s place in the Games. The line is lifted directly from the same scene in first book of Susanne Collins’ Hunger Games trilogy.

Get Out (2017)

Jordan Peele’s directorial debut is loaded with memorable moments, and it was difficult to pick just one — but there’s just something so horribly effective about this line, and the way it reflects the fundamentally frightening loss of autonomy that looms at the core of this audaciously ambitious blend of horror, comedy, and social commentary.

Black Panther (2018)

This greeting of the Wakandan people, and the accompanying gesture, infiltrated popular culture following the release of mega-hit Black Panther in February 2018. Interestingly, the most memorable use of the phrase might come in Infinity War , and not Black Panther , when T’Challa shouts the phrase as he leads his Wakandans into battle against Thanos’s forces.

Avengers: Endgame (2019)

An endless font of quips and comebacks, Robert Downey Jr.’s Tony Stark — a.k.a. Iron Man — is responsible for many of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s most quotable moments, to the extent that it’s hard to pick just one. All that being said, it’s just as difficult to quibble with this quote, especially knowing it was added to the script after Downey shared that it was something one of his own real-life children said to him.

Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022)

For a movie that sends the viewer hurling through one wildly outlandish universe after another, Everything Everywhere All at Once comes equipped with an awful lot of situations and sentiments that are powerfully relatable to most of us here on regular boring old Earth. This line is a case in point — what better way of expressing one’s undying love than to offer yourself up for heartbreak and taxes?

Photos courtesy of Buena Vista, Universal, Twentieth Century Fox, DreamWorks, Warner Bros., Walt Disney, Paramount, Marvel Studios, Focus Films, Lionsgate, Paramount Vantage, A24.

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The 100 best movie quotes of all-time as chosen by Hollywood

The hollywood reporter asked 1,600 film industry professionals for their most loved lines, article bookmarked.

Find your bookmarks in your Independent Premium section, under my profile

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Every film fan has a favourite movie quote, including all those industry bods across the pond in Hollywood.

Journalists often run their own ‘best quotes of all-time’ lists but The Hollywood Reporter has shaken things up a little by asking 1,600 experts from actors and producers to directors and agents for their most loved line.

The poll took place in January and since then, reporters have been sifting through responses to order a Top 100 list for our viewing pleasure.

Interestingly, the ten most popular quotes favour older movies, with 1939’s The Wizard of Oz making two appearances. Rhett Butler’s last words to Scarlett O’Hara in Gone with the Wind that same year take the number one spot, followed by the famous “Here’s looking at you, kid” from 1942’s Casablanca .

The most recent film to make the Top 10 came courtesy of 1999’s Fight Club , suggesting newer releases have some way to go before they can claim to be timeless.

Take a look at Hollywood’s ten favourite movie quotes:

“Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn ( Gone with the Wind , 1939)

“Here’s looking at you, kid” ( Casablanca , 1942)

“You’re gonna need a bigger boat” ( Jaws , 1975)

“May the Force be with you” ( Star Wars , 1977)

“Toto, I’ve a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore” ( The Wizard of Oz , 1939)

“I’m going to make him an offer he can’t refuse” ( The Godfather , 1972)

“Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, she walks into mine.” ( Casablanca , 1942)

“You talkin’ to me?” ( Taxi Driver , 1976)

“There’s no place like home” ( The Wizard of Oz , 1939)

“The first rule of Fight Club is you do not talk about Fight Club” ( Fight Club , 1999)

Films to watch in 2016

Head on over to The Hollywood Reporter for the back stories to these 90 other classics that also got a look in:

“I am your father” ( Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back , 1980)

“Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die.” ( The Princess Bride , 1987)

“Why so serious?” ( The Dark Knight , 2008)

“I’ll have what she’s having” ( When Harry Met Sally , 1989)

“This is the beginning of a beautiful friendship” ( Casablanca , 1942)

“We’ll always have Paris” ( Casablanca , 1942)

“Bond. James Bond” ( Dr No , 1962)

“I see dead people” ( The Sixth Sense , 1999)

“I’ll be back” ( The Terminator , 1984)

“You can’t handle the truth!” ( A Few Good Men , 1992)

“E.T phone home” ( ET , 1982)

“Yippie-ki-yay, mother f**ker!” ( Die Hard , 1988)

“To infinity and beyond!” ( Toy Story , 1995)

“Houston, we have a problem” ( Apollo 13 , 1995)

“You had me at hello” ( Jerry Maguire , 1996)

“There’s no crying in baseball!” ( A League of Their Own , 1992)

“Here’s Johnny!” ( The Shining , 1980)

”I am serious. And don't call me Shirley.” ( Airplane , 1980)

“Mrs. Robinson, you're trying to seduce me, aren't you?” ( The Graduate , 1967)

“Carpe Diem. Seize the day, boys” ( Dead Poets Society , 1989)

“Leave the gun, take the cannoli” ( The Godfather , 1972)

“Show me the money!” ( Jerry Maguire , 1996)

“Say hello to my little friend” ( Scarface , 1983)

”You've got to ask yourself one question: 'Do I feel lucky?' Well, do ya punk?” ( Dirty Harry , 1971)

“I love the smell of napalm in the morning.” ( Apocalypse Now , 1979)

”Fasten your seatbelts. It's going to be a bumpy night.” ( All About Eve , 1950)

“Roads? Where we're going we don't need roads.” ( Back to the Future , 1985)

”You don't understand! I could've had class. I could've been a contender. I could've been somebody, instead of a bum, which is what I am.” ( On the Waterfront , 1954)

“I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore!” ( Network , 1976)

”The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist.” ( The Usual Suspects , 1995)

“Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer.” ( The Godfather Part II , 1974)

”Every time a bell rings, an angel gets his wings.” ( It’s a Wonderful Life , 1946)

“I am big! It's the pictures that got small.” ( Sunset Boulevard , 1950)

”What we've got here is a failure to communicate.” ( Cool Hand Luke , 1967)

“Shaken, not stirred” ( Goldfinger , 1964)

“I’m the king of the world!” ( Titanic , 1997)

“Mama says, 'Stupid is as stupid does.’” ( Forrest Gump , 1994)

“Just keep swimming ( Finding Nemo , 2003)

“If you built it, he will come” ( Field of Dreams , 1989)

“I'm not bad. I'm just drawn that way.” ( Who Framed Roger Rabbit , 1988)

“I’m having an old friend for dinner” ( The Silence of the Lambs , 1991)

”Play it, Sam. Play 'As Time Goes By.’“ ( Casablanca , 1942)

”I'll get you, my pretty, and your little dog, too!” ( The Wizard of Oz , 1939)

“Hasta la vista, baby” ( Terminator 2: Judgement Day , 1991)

“The Dude abides” ( The Big Lebowski , 1998)

“I'm also just a girl, standing in front of a boy, asking him to love her.” ( Notting Hill , 1999)

”Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain!” ( The Wizard of Oz , 1939)

“Stella! Hey, Stella!” ( A Streetcar Named Desire , 1951)

“After all, tomorrow is another day!” ( Gone with the Wind , 1939)

”You is kind. You is smart. You is important.” ( The Help , 2011)

“You know how to whistle, don't you, Steve? You just put your lips together and blow.” ( To Have and Have Not , 1944)

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”Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi. You're my only hope.” ( Star Wars , 1977)

“I mean, funny like I'm a clown? I amuse you?” ( Goodfellas , 1990)

“Go ahead, make my day” ( Sudden Impact , 1983)

”I have always depended on the kindness of strangers.” ( A Streetcar Named Desire , 1951)

“It’s alive! It’s alive!” ( Frankenstein , 1931)

“Argo f**k yourself” ( Argo , 2012)

“My precious” ( The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers , 2002)

“Good morning, Vietnam!” ( Good Morning, Vietnam , 1987)

“I wish I knew how to quit you” ( Brokeback Mountain , 2005)

“That’ll do, pig, that’ll do” ( Babe , 1995)

“Elementary, my dear Watson” ( The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes , 1939)

“I don't want to survive. I want to live.” ( 12 Years a Slave , 2013)

”Gentlemen, you can't fight in here! This is the war room!” ( Dr Strangelove , 1964)

“You ain't heard nothin' yet!” ( The Jazz Singer , 1927)

“Wax on, wax off” ( The Karate Kid , 1984)

“Yo, Adrian!” ( Rocky , 1976)

“Nobody’s perfect” ( Some Like it Hot , 1959)

”Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in.” ( The Godfather Part III , 1990)

“Magic Mirror on the wall, who is the fairest one of all?” ( Snow White and the Seven Dwarves , 1937)

“They’re here!” ( Poltergeist , 1982)

”They call it a Royale with cheese.” ( Pulp Fiction , 1994)

“I'm just one stomach flu away from my goal weight.” ( The Devil Wears Prada , 2006)

”Badges? We ain't got no badges! We don't need no badges! I don't have to show you any stinking badges!” ( The Treasure of the Sierra Madre , 1948)

“It was Beauty killed the Beast” ( King Kong , 1933)

“I'm walking here! I'm walking here!” ( Midnight Cowboy , 1969)

“These go to eleven” ( This is Spinal Tap , 1984)

“Forget it, Jake. It’s Chinatown” ( Chinatown , 1974)

“Chewie, we’re home” ( Star Wars: The Force Awakens , 2015)

“As if!” ( Clueless , 1995)

“You make me want to be a better man” ( As Good as It Gets , 1997)

”Get your stinking paws off me, you damned dirty ape!” ( Planet of the Apes , 1968)

“I drink your milkshake!” ( There Will be Blood , 2007)

“My name is Maximus Decimus Meridius, commander of the Armies of the North, General of the Felix Legions and 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.” ( Gladiator , 2000)

“You complete me” ( Jerry Maguire , 1996)

”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.” ( Taken , 2008)

“When you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible.” ( When Harry Met Sally , 1989)

“They call me Mister Tibbs!” ( In the Heat of the Night , 1967)

”They may take our lives, but they'll never take our freedom!” ( Braveheart , 1995)

“Love means never having to say you're sorry” ( Love Story , 1970)

Click here to take the Famous Movie Quote quiz

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75 famous movie quotes every film buff should know

Think you know all the best movie lines from beloved films? Let's find out!

To test your movie trivia skills, we've gathered the very best movie quotes from all your favorite films, including classics like "Jaws," "Casablanca," "Star Wars," " Jerry Maguire ," "The Godfather" and a host of other box office hits.

In the list below you'll find funny movie quotes, serious sayings and the most memorable utterances by some of film's most iconic actors. Think Jack Nicholson , Matthew Broderick , Bette Davis, Renée Zellweger and oh-so-many more.

Let's start with an easy one. Can you name the film this quote is from?

“A census taker once tried to test me. I ate his liver with some fava beans and nice chianti.”

It's from "Silence of the Lambs," when serial killer , Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins), recounts to Clarice Starling ( Jodie Foster ), about what happened to another unsuspecting government official who tried to "test" him.

OK, how about this one? "Nobody puts Baby in a corner."

Naturally, that's Johnny Castle ( Patrick Swayze ) telling Baby's parents excuse us, Francis' (Jennifer Grey) parents, that nobody, and he means nobody , prevents his girl from taking center stage at Kellerman's.

You may have guessed those film quotes right off the bat. But we've got a host of others guaranteed to increase your trivia IQ . If you guess them all correctly, then congratulations — you're officially crowned, well , king of the world!

• "May the Force be with you." – Han Solo, "Star Wars: A New Hope" (1977)
• "You can't handle the truth!" – Col. Nathan Jessep, "A Few Good Men" (1992)
• "Of all the gin joints, in all the towns, in all the world, she walks into mine." – Rick Blaine, "Casablanca" (1942)
• "Shut up – you had me at 'hello.'" – Dorothy Boyd, "Jerry Maguire" (1996)

• "I'll have what she's having." – Restaurant patron, "When Harry Met Sally..." (1989)
• "You're gonna need a bigger boat." – Chief Martin Brody, "Jaws" (1975)
• "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn." – Rhett Butler, "Gone With the Wind" (1939)
• "E.T. home phone." – E.T., "E.T." (1982)

• "I'll be back." – Terminator, "The Terminator" (1984)
• "Lions, and tigers, and bears! Oh, my!" – Dorothy, the Tin Man and the Scarecrow, "The Wizard of Oz" (1939)
• "I see dead people." – Cole Sear, "The Sixth Sense" (1999)
• "Nobody puts Baby in a corner." – Johnny Castle, "Dirty Dancing" (1987)

• "I'm the king of the world!" – Jack Dawson, "Titanic" (1997)
• "Houston, we have a problem." – Jim Lovell, "Apollo 13" (1995)
• "Warriors, come out to plaaaay!" – Luther, "The Warriors" (1979)
• “Show me the money!” – Rod Tidwell, “Jerry Maguire” (1996)

• “Here’s looking at you, kid.” – Rick Blaine, “Casablanca” (1942)
• "Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it." – Ferris Bueller, "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" (1986)
• "I love you ... most ardently." – Mr. Darcy, "Pride and Prejudice" (2005)
• "Toto, I've a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore." – Dorothy, "The Wizard of Oz" (1939)

• "No, I am your father." – Darth Vader, "Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back"
• "Leave the gun. Take the cannoli." – Peter Clemenza, "The Godfather" (1972)
• “O Captain, my Captain.” – John Keating, “Dead Poets Society” (1989)
• "I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship." – Rick Blaine, "Casablanca" (1942)

• "You should be kissed and often, and by someone who knows how." – Rhett Butler, "Gone With the Wind" (1939)
• "Life was like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're gonna to get." – Forrest Gump, "Forrest Gump" (1994)
• "You complete me." – Jerry Maguire, "Jerry Maguire" (1996)
• "Keep the change, ya filthy animal." – Johnny, "Home Alone" (1990)

• "A census taker once tried to test me. I ate his liver with some fava beans and nice chianti." – Hannibal Lecter, "Silence of the Lambs" (1991)
• "No man is a failure who has friends." – "It's a Wonderful Life" (1946)
• “I’m gonna make him an offer he can’t refuse.” – Don Vito Corleone, “The Godfather” (1972)
• “I’ll be back.” – Terminator, “The Terminator” (1984)

• "The first rule of Fight Club is you do not talk about Fight Club." – Tyler Durden, "Fight Club" (1999)
• "Say hello to my little friend!" – Tony Montana, "Scarface" (1983)
• "You talkin' to me?" – Travis Bickle, "Taxi Driver" (1976)
• "Fasten your seat belts, it's going to be a bumpy night!" – Margo, "All About Eve"

• "I'm walkin' here! I'm walkin' here!" – Ratso, "Midnight Cowboy" (1969)
• "Great Scott!" – Doc, "Back to the Future" (1985)
• "I love the smell of Napalm in the morning." – Bill Kilgore, "Apocalypse Now" (1979)
• "Heeeeere's Johnny!" – Jack Torrance, "The Shining" (1980)

• "There's a snake in my boot!" – Woody, "Toy Story" (1995)
• “Stupid is as stupid does.” – Forrest Gump, “Forrest Gump” (1994)
• "If you build it, he will come." – Mysterious voice, "Field of Dreams" (1989)
• “There’s no place like home.” – Dorothy, “The Wizard of Oz” (1939)

• "There's no crying in baseball!" – Jimmy Dugan, "A League of Their Own" (1992)
• "Go ahead, make my day." – Harry Callahan, "Sudden Impact" (1983)
• "Mrs. Robinson, you're trying to seduce me. Aren't you?" – Ben Braddock, "The Graduate" (1997)
• “Hey, batter, batter, batter, hey batter, batter, batter, Sa-wing, batter!” Cameron, “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” (1986)

• "They're heeeere." – Carol Anne, "Poltergeist" (1982)
• "I came here tonight because when you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible." – Harry Burns, "When Harry Met Sally..." (1989)
• "Carpe diem. Seize the day, boys. Make your lives extraordinary." – John Keating, "Dead Poets Society" (1989)
• "Hasta la vista, baby." – Terminator, "Terminator 2: Judgement Day" (1991)

• "My precious." – Gollum, "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers" (2002)
• “Every time a bell rings, an angel gets his wings.” – Zuzu Bailey, “It’s a Wonderful Life” (1946)
• "I feel the need, the need for speed!" – Maverick and Goose, "Top Gun" (1986)
• "It's just a flesh wound." – The Black Knight, "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" (1975)

• "Bueller? Bueller? Bueller? Bueller?" – Economics teacher, "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" (1986)
• "It's alive! It's ALIVE!" – Henry Frankenstein, "Frankenstein" (1931)
• "I'm just a girl, standing in front of a boy, asking him to love her." – Anna Scott, "Notting Hill" (1999)
• "You sit on a throne of lies!" – Buddy the Elf, "Elf" (2003)

• "Alrighty then!" – Ace Ventura, "Ace Ventura: Pet Detective" (1994)
• "Why so serious?" – The Joker, "The Dark Knight" (2008)
• "As if!" – Cher Horowitz, "Clueless" (1996)
• "On Wednesdays we wear pink." – Karen Smith, "Mean Girls" (2004)

• "Expecto Patronum!" – Harry Potter, "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban" (2004)
• "Life, uh, finds a way." – Malcolm, "Jurassic Park" (1993)
• “After all ... tomorrow is another day.” – Scarlett O’Hara, “Gone With the Wind” (1939)
• "Florals? For spring. Groundbreaking." – Miranda Priestly, "The Devil Wears Prada" (2006)

• "Snakes. Why did it have to be snakes?" – Indiana Jones, "Raiders of the Lost Ark" (1981)
• "As you wish." – Westley, "The Princess Bride" (1987)
• "Could you describe the ruckus, sir?" – Brian Johnson, "The Breakfast Club" (1985)
• "It's showtime!" – Beetlejuice, "Beetlejuice" (1988)

• "I see you're drinking 1 percent. Is that 'cause you think you're fat? 'Cause you're not. You could be drinking whole if you wanted to." – Napoleon Dynamite, "Napoleon Dynamite" (2004)
• "I coulda been a contender. I coulda been somebody, instead of a bum, which is what I am." – Terry Malloy, "On the Waterfront" (1954)
• “We’ll always have Paris.” – Rick Blaine, “Casablanca” (1942)

Love movies? Watch these classics!

• Best thrillers and suspense movies to deliver chills
• Best sci-fi movies and films to watch right now
• Watch one of the apocalypse movies for a scare
• Family movies that everyone can watch together

Sarah is a lifestyle and entertainment reporter for TODAY who covers holidays, celebrities and everything in between.

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Hollywood’s 100 favorite movie quotes.

What topped the list? THR asked its entertainment industry readers to vote on the most memorable quote from every movie ever made. Ranked in descending order are the lines that made the cut.

By THR Staff

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Everybody has a favorite movie line, even movie moguls. Disney’s Alan Horn likes, “I’ll have what she’s having,” from When Harry Met Sally …. Fox’s Stacey Snider picks “You complete me,” from Jerry Maguire . Tellingly, several top executives — Viacom’s Philippe Dauman , Netflix’s Ted Sarandos — choose “I’m going to make him an offer he can’t refuse,” from The Godfather .

"Love means never having to say you're sorry."

One of the most parodied movie lines in cinema — even Ryan O’Neal himself poked fun at it in Peter Bogdanovich's screwball comedy What's Up, Doc?. When Barbra Streisand quotes it, he retorts, "That's the dumbest thing I have ever heard."

"They may take our lives, but they'll never take our freedom!"

The only way Paramount pictures would fund Mel Gibson's passion project about the 13th century Scottish noble was if he agreed to star in it as well as direct.

"They call me Mister Tibbs!"

Poitier did not want to shoot the film in Mississippi because he had been harassed by the Ku Klux Klan when he had visited there with Harry Belafonte at the height of the civil rights movement in 1964, so most of it was filmed in Sparta, Illinois. Filmmakers even changed the name of the fictional Mississippi town in the movie to Sparta so they wouldn’t have to pay to have the town’s water tower repainted.

"When you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible."

Writer Nora Ephron’s first draft didn’t have Sally and Harry ending up together because she considered a breakup to be a more realistic ending. So when it came time to film the revised happy ending, Billy Crystal ad-libbed much of his dialogue with Meg Ryan, including this most remembered line of the picture.

"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."

True to his word, Liam Neeson kills 35 men in 93 minutes in the first film, scores more in the second and third, and who knows how many in the planned TV prequel.

"You complete me."

"It was one of those lines that came so easily, it felt almost too easy," remembers writer-director Cameron Crowe. "When I first gave the script to Tom Cruise, and we were reading through it, I said, 'I'm going to change that line.' He said, 'Uh, I love that line. Why don't you give me a crack at it.' I left it in, and on the night of filming — it was 4 a.m., on a Friday, and everybody was dropping from exhaustion — Tom says the line. By the end of his speech, everybody was in tears. Across the room, Renee was a wreck. Tom had delivered the line so powerfully, and so directly to her, she was still getting over it. Later he told me, 'I had always wanted to say 'I love you' like that in a movie.'"

"My name is Maximus Decimus Meridius, commander of the Armies of the North, General of the Felix Legions and 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 li

Russell Crowe and director Ridley Scott didn’t quite see eye to eye on the screenplay, and on this line in particular. He routinely strayed from the script — by John Logan and William Nicholson — trying to improvise a bunch of alternatives, until Scott forced him to read the line as written. It went over like gangbusters, even though Crowe still hated it: "It was shit. But I'm the greatest actor in the world and I can make even shit sound good." The "shit" script would get nominated for best original screenplay at the 2001 Oscars and Crowe would win best actor.

"I drink your milkshake!"

A variation of the line was uttered by Sen. Albert Fall of New Mexico during congressional hearings in 1924 on the Teapot Dome scandal, which also involved oil tycoon Edward Doheny , who was the basis for Daniel Day-Lewis’ character: "Sir, if you have a milkshake and I have a milkshake, and my straw reaches across the room, I’ll end up drinking your milkshake."

"Get your stinking paws off me, you damned dirty ape!"

The secret behind Charlton Heston’s hoarse, gravelly delivery? Great acting, sure, but also Heston had the flu through much of the production.

"You make me want to be a better man."

Though Jack Nicholson worried that his character was so unlikeable people would flee theaters, he ended up winning an Oscar for it, along with co-star Helen Hunt.

"I am always compiling slang words," says Clueless writer-director Amy Heckerling about the line’s origins. “In the early to mid-'90s 'as if' was floating around in the gay community, and I heard it and thought it was a multipurpose phrase. Some of the people I knew were already beyond 'as if' and they were just going, ' zif !'"

"Chewie, we're home."

Harrison Ford considers director J.J. Abrams a "communications genius" for his decision to use the line in the movie's trailer. "' Chewie , we're home' was kind of the key in the door. Familiarity was unlocked at that moment," said Ford.

"Forget it, Jake. It's Chinatown."

Even though Nicholson and director Roman Polanski fought endlessly during the making of the movie, when the actor saw the rough cut he told producer Robert Evans, "We got a hot one. Get those checks ready — we’re on our way!"

"These go to eleven."

Amp maker Marshall liked the publicity surrounding this line so much, they made Christopher Guest a special set of speakers whose highest setting is infinity.

"I'm walking here! I'm walking here!"

Dustin Hoffman’s line was ad-libbed , and the scene was shot guerilla style because they didn’t have enough money to shut down a New York street. The cab "almost hit us," Hoffman once recalled. "I guess the brain works so quickly, I said, in a split of a second, 'Don’t go out of character …' So I said, 'I'm walking here.' Director John Schlesinger started laughing. He clapped his hands and said, 'We must have that, we must have that,' and redid it two or three times, because he loved it."

"It was Beauty killed the Beast."

When producer Merian C. Cooper pitched the role to Fay Wray, he told her, "You’ll have the tallest, darkest leading man in Hollywood." Wray was sure she’d be acting with Cary Grant.

"Badges? We ain't got no badges! We don't need no badges! I don't have to show you any stinking badges!"

The misquote of the line — "We don’t need no stinking badges!" — started with Micky Dolenz in a 1967 episode of The Monkees TV series, but Mel Brooks got it wrong, too, in 1974's Blazing Saddles .

"I'm just one stomach flu away from my goal weight."

The National Science Teachers Association encourages biology and life sciences teachers to use this line to start a conversation about body image, nutrition and digestion among teenagers.

"They call it a Royale with cheese."

If John Travolta’s character had been hiding out in Italy rather than France, the line would have been "They call it a McRoyal DeLuxe ." If he’d been in Japan, he might have skipped the beef and tried the "Filet-O-Shrimp Burger."

"They're here!"

Actress Heather O’Rourke, who was just 6 when she made Poltergeist , tragically died at age 12, in 1988, from complications of a bowel obstruction.

"Magic Mirror on the wall, who is the fairest one of all?"

Snow White was the only major character then-18-year-old Adriana Caselotti ever voiced. "Walt Disney thought it would spoil the illusion if you knew who the people were who provided the voices in the film," she revealed in a 1987 interview, about the strict contract that kept her from other parts. (She died in 1997 at age 80.)

"Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in."

Mario Puzo’s literary estate, which contained 20 different versions of the Godfather III script written between 1978 and 1989, recently sold at auction to a private collector for $625,000.

"Nobody's perfect."

The film’s closing line was never supposed to make it into the final cut. The writers — I.A.L Diamond and director Billy Wilder — put it into the script as a placeholder, until they came up with something better.

"Yo, Adrian!"

Sylvester Stallone utters this line too many times to count in the first five Rocky films (six in the original alone) but the only time anyone ever remembers is at the end of Rocky II , when he holds the championship belt he has just won from Apollo Creed.

"Wax on, wax off."

"I never imagined the 'wax on, wax off' would amount to anything," says screenwriter Robert Mark Kamen . "The crane at the end was the one. I wanted that to be the big moment. If I thought anyone remembered anything they'd remember that."

"You ain't heard nothin' yet!"

Al Jolson was so excited about his rendition of "Dirty Hands, Dirty Face" that he spontaneously uttered the line before segueing into "Toot, Toot, Tootsie." The line was going to be cut but Sam Warner insisted it stay.

"Gentlemen, you can't fight in here! This is the war room!"

When Stanley Kubrick sat down with Peter George to adapt George’s novel Red Alert , the director struggled with treating the material as a straight drama, as he initially intended. "My idea of doing it as a nightmare comedy came in the early weeks of working on the screenplay,"  Kubrick said after the film’s release. "I found that in trying to put meat on the bones and to imagine the scenes fully, one had to keep leaving out of it things which were either absurd or paradoxical, in order to keep it from being funny; and these things seemed to be close to the heart of the scenes in question."

"I don't want to survive. I want to live."

This line comes right from Solomon Northup’s 1853 book. Writer John Ridley has said he tried to remain true to the original. "To modify the man, no matter how sincere the desire, would have ultimately been dishonest. Solomon's story begs for honesty. As the voice of his own history, what he wrote deserved fidelity."

"Elementary, my dear Watson."

Sherlock Holmes never utters this line in any of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s stories. It was invented entirely for the movies.

"That'll do, pig. That'll do."

Although James Cromwell would get more screen time in George Miller's talking pig tale than in any of his previous films, he had only 171 words of dialogue . These are his best five.

"I wish I knew how to quit you."

Screenwriter Diana Ossana got this gem directly from the New Yorker short story that inspired the film, co-written by Larry McMurtry . "The film has become a part of the popular culture," says Ossana . "We have a Google Alert for the film, and in the 10 years since it came out there hasn't been a day that there wasn't something, somewhere in the news about Brokeback Mountain ."

"Good morning, Vietnam!"

The real-life Adrian Cronauer says he came up with the drawn out " goooood moooorning " sign-on because he was often shuffling papers to start the show and needed to stall for time.

"My precious."

Want your own? You don't have to battle orcs and dragons — you just have to shop online. A platinum version, complete with Elvish script, retails for $3,100.

"Argo f— yourself."

Screenwriter Chris Terrio actually found this memorable piece of dialogue in the real, declassified CIA report that agent Tony Melendez (played by Ben Affleck) wrote about the Iran Hostage Crisis rescue mission.

"It's alive! It's alive!"

Censors cut Dr. Frankenstein’s original line — "It's alive! It's alive! In the name of God! Now I know what it's like to be God!"

"I have always depended on the kindness of strangers."

This line was originally delivered onstage by Jessica Tandy , who played Blanche on Broadway, and was almost delivered in the movie by Olivia de Havilland (she was offered the role but wanted too much money). Vivian Leigh took it for $100,000, making her the highest-paid English actress of the time, but there may have been moments she regretted it; she and co-star Marlon Brando initially hated each other.

"Go ahead, make my day."

In Kenya the mispronunciation of "make my day" is " makmende ," which is slang for someone who tries to be a hero and was the name creators chose for the country’s first locally created superhero, described by CNN as "one part Shaft, one part Superman."

"I mean, funny like I'm a clown? I amuse you?"

The "funny how" bit was heavily based on an incident Joe Pesci experienced as a young waiter when he complimented a mobster on his sense of humor. Needless to say, the man didn’t take it too well. Martin Scorsese heard the story during rehearsal and liked it so much that he let Pesci and Ray Liotta incorporate it by improvising their dialogue . The other actors in the scene weren’t given advanced notice because Scorsese wanted their genuine, unrehearsed reactions, and he shot it with only medium takes and no close-ups in order to capture their surprise.

"Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi. You're my only hope."

Soon after the film came out in 1977, Sir Alec Guinness told the BBC that fans sought him out for Obi-Wan-like wisdom. "I’ve been getting some pretty strange letters: 'My wife and I have got problems, could you come over and live with us.'"

"You know how to whistle, don't you, Steve? You just put your lips together and blow."

The racy double entendre wasn’t penned by the credited screenwriters — that’d be Jules Furthman and William Faulkner — but by producer Howard Hawks, who came up with the line at Lauren Bacall’s test screening. She was so good at it, Hawks asked Faulkner to pencil it into the shooting script.

"You is kind. You is smart. You is important."

"One of the weirdest places I've seen the line pop up," says writer-director Tate Taylor, "was in a gift shop in Mississippi. It was crocheted toilet-seat cover that said, 'You is kind, you is smart, you is important.' I guess they thought it would be a beautiful place to those words every day."

"After all, tomorrow is another day!"

Though the screenplay, which went through numerous revisions, has four credited writers, this line is lifted directly from the book, where it is the closing line of the novel.  

"Stella! Hey, Stella!"

Since 1997, the annual Tennessee Williams/New Orleans Literary Festival has held a Stanley and Stella shouting contest.

"Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain!"

L. Frank Baum, the author of the novel on which the film is based, reportedly thought up the name "Oz" when looking at his filing cabinets, which were organized from A to N and O to Z.

"I'm also just a girl, standing in front of a boy, asking him to love her."

No surprise that one of the ultimate rom-com lines of all time also had the biggest disparity between male and female voters. Women had it at No. 28. Men just No. 100.

"The Dude abides."

The inspiration for Jeff Bridges' character was Jeff Dowd, legendary publicist and former head of the Seattle Film Festival. At Sundance in 2009, the real Dude famously got into a fistfight with Variety film critic John Anderson over a disagreement over a documentary titled Dirt! The Movie . 

"Hasta la vista, baby."

"Sayonara, baby" was used in the Spanish-language version of the film since hasta la vista  wouldn’t have been funny to Spanish-speaking audiences.

"I'll get you, my pretty, and your little dog, too!"

Judy Garland became so attached to the little black Cairn Terrier who played Toto that she tried to adopt the pooch after filming ended. (His owner said no.) The dog, whose real name was Terry, was compensated well for his work: He got more than twice what the Munchkins received.

"Play it, Sam. Play 'As Time Goes By.'"

Blame Woody Allen and his 1972 comedy, Play it Again, Sam , for making this the all-time most misquoted movie line in film history.

"I'm having an old friend for dinner."

With lines as good as this one, Anthony Hopkins only needed about 16 minutes of screen time to win a best actor Oscar, among the shortest performances ever to earn someone an Academy Award in the category.

"I'm not bad. I'm just drawn that way."

The line was voiced before any part of Roger Rabbit had been illustrated, so to get Bob Hoskins in the mood, director Robert Zemeckis told the late actor to simply imagine his ideal sexual fantasy.

"If you build it, he will come."

Another misquote! Nobody in Field of Dreams ever says, "If you build it, they will come."

"Just keep swimming."

This line — voiced by talk show host Ellen DeGeneres — was so popular, it’s earned her sidekick fish character, Dory, her own Nemo sequel, Finding Dory , coming this summer.

"Mama says, 'Stupid is as stupid does.'"

Forrest Gump may have popularized the phrase, but it’s actually a variant of the old adage, "Handsome is as handsome does,” which appears in, among other places, J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings and Herman Melville's Billy Budd .

"I'm the king of the world!"

Director James Cameron admitted "making a fool of" himself by repeating the line as he accepted the movie's best picture Oscar.

"Shaken, not stirred."

The line is uttered onscreen for the first time by Dr. No, the villain in the first Bond movie. Bond himself doesn’t say it until Goldfinger , the third movie.

"What we've got here is a failure to communicate."

Screenwriter Frank Pierson thought the line seemed too refined to be uttered by Strother Martin’s prison warden, so he wrote an elaborate backstory for the character that involved criminology courses that improved his vocabulary.

"I am big! It's the pictures that got small."

Numerous retired silent film stars were considered for the role of Norma Desmond — Mary Pickford , Greta Garbo , Norma Shearer, Pola Negri — but, of course, the part ultimately went to Gloria Swanson, who stayed in character throughout the entire shoot.

"Every time a bell rings, an angel gets his wings."

There are 42 rings heard during the movie, meaning, if Clarence (Henry Travers) is right, 42 new angels.

"Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer."

Although this line is variously attributed to Sun Tzu, Machiavelli and an Arabian proverb, this specific phrasing came straight from the pens of screenwriters Mario Puzo and Francis Ford Coppola .

"The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist."

The line actually comes from 19th century French poet Charles Baudelaire’s poetry collection Paris Spleen . In French it is, “La plus belle des ruses du diable est de vous persuader qu'il n'existe pas."

"I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore!"

Network screenwriter Paddy Chayefsky originally envisioned Paul Newman in the the role that won Peter Finch an Oscar — the first to be given posthumously (the second went to Heath Ledger). Two months before the Academy Awards, Finch suffered a heart attack in the lobby of the Beverly Hills Hotel while waiting for a meeting with director Sidney Lumet . 

"You don't understand! I could've had class. I could've been a contender. I could've been somebody, instead of a bum, which is what I am."

Rod Steiger's reaction to this line was filmed without Brando present. Brando’s deal with the studio allowed him to leave at 4:00 every day to attend therapy to deal with the recent death of his mother.

"Roads? Where we're going we don't need roads."

One of two lines on this list that have been quoted in State of the Union addresses (see also: No. 32). "There is just no greater tribute you can get than have the president of the United States quote your movie, no matter what your politics are," says writer Bob Gale.

"Fasten your seatbelts. It's going to be a bumpy night."

Despite holding the record for the most Academy Award nominations for a single film (14, tied with Titanic) and making nearly every list of the top 100 movies of all time, this is one of the most misquoted lines in movie history. Most say, “…It’s going to be a bumpy RIDE.

"I love the smell of napalm in the morning."

In the 37 years since the movie was released, this line has been parodied more than 50 times in other TV shows and movies, including Lizzie Maguire ("I love the smell of pop quizzes in the morning!") and Mighty Morphin ' Power Rangers: The Movie  ("I love the smell of destruction in the evening!").

"You've got to ask yourself one question: 'Do I feel lucky?' Well, do ya punk?"

Another misquote. Contrary to popular belief, Clint Eastwood never says, "Do you feel lucky, punk?"

"Say hello to my little friend!"

"Show me the money!"

"The most surreal part of hearing the line reappear in the culture," writer-director Cameron Crowe tells THR about Cuba Gooding Jr.'s signature phrase, "was when George W. Bush and then Barack Obama both quoted it in their State of the Union speeches. When Obama said it, my mom called immediately: 'OK, you did it,' she said, 'you got Bush and Obama to agree about something.'"

"Leave the gun. Take the cannoli."

Richard Castellano , who played Clemenza , ad-libbed  "take the cannoli ," riffing on an earlier scene where his character's wife asks him to pick up the dessert on his way home.

"Carpe diem. Seize the day, boys."

"I have a pair of pants from a company called Carpe Denim," screenwriter Tom Schulman tells THR .  "I didn't realize when I bought them, but when they were folded in a certain way I saw it on the inside of the waistband. The 'Denim' is pretty much the funniest thing I've seen with that line."

"Mrs. Robinson, you're trying to seduce me, aren't you?"

In Mike Nichols' movie, Mrs. Robinson is supposed to be 25 years older than recent college grad Ben Braddock. But in reality, 35-year-old Anne Bancroft was only six years older than 29-year-old Dustin Hoffman. 

"I am serious. And don't call me Shirley."

"I think people remember the line because of Leslie Nielsen’s delivery," Jeff Zucker (who co-wrote the script with his brother David and Jim Abrahamson ) tells THR . "The way he said it was exactly what we were going for. We told the actors to pretend they didn’t know they were in a comedy."

"Here's Johnny!"

All the script called for was for Jack Nicholson’s deranged writer, Jack Torrance, to break down the door to get to his cowering wife. But Nicholson added a little something to cut the tension — the production went through dozens of doors before director Stanley Kubrick was satisfied — and his improvised "Here’s Johnny!" made the cut.

"There's no crying in baseball!"

"If somebody put a gun to my head and said 'What would be sort of the defining line from A League of Their Own , I would pick a line much later in the movie," says screenwriter Babaloo Mandel . " Geena Davis is quitting and she's trying to tell him, 'It just got too hard,' and Tom Hanks says to her, 'It's supposed to be hard. If it wasn't hard everyone would do it. The "hard" is what makes it great.' I would pick that."

"You had me at hello."

"It was a straight-up tip of the hat to Billy Wilder and the last line of The Apartment ," says writer-director Cameron Crowe. "I always loved it when Shirley MacLaine said to Jack Lemmon , 'Shut up and deal.' It was the favorite last line to any movie in my family growing up. We loved it. So for Jerry Maguire , I wanted Renee to just cut him off and say it. The actual full line is, 'Shut up — you had me at hello.' It's pretty much a rule of thumb for every screenwriter: Billy Wilder will never steer you wrong."

"Houston, we have a problem."

Hollywood doing a little historical revisionism: In real life, astronaut Jim Lovell said, "Houston, we've had a problem."

"To infinity and beyond!"

Buzz Lightyear's catchphrase is actually a variation of the line "Beyond the infinite," which appears as a title card in Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey . The phrase later served as the title of Karen Paik's book recounting the history of Pixar — and as a lyric in Beyonce's 2008 hit, "Single Ladies."

"Yippie-ki-yay, motherf—er!"

"I wrote ' Yippe -ki-yay, asshole,'" says screenwriter Steven E. de Souza. "But Bruce, on his final take, ad-libbed the ' motherf — er ,' much to the amusement of the crew. The studio nervously left it in for the first test screening and the reaction made it permanent. But you don't always know.”

"E.T. phone home."

Director Steven Spielberg voiced E.T. during shooting — standing just to the side of the camera and interacting with the child actors. Then sound designer Ben Burtt recorded actress Pat Welsh, whose raspy smoker’s voice he overheard one day at a camera store, and mixed it with animal sounds to get the friendly alien’s voice just right. 

"You can't handle the truth!"

It took an entire day to shoot the climatic courtroom scene where Nicholson utters this line. When it came time to shoot coverage — filming reaction shots from others in the scene — director Rob Reiner told Nicholson he would get someone else to read his lines off-camera, but Nicholson insisted on reading them himself, doing the speech about 50 times. Why? "I just love to act," he told Reiner . 

"I'll be back."

Schwarzenegger wanted to change the line to "I will be back" because it sounded more machine-like and he had trouble pronouncing "I'll." He said director James Cameron "looked at me like I'd lost my mind."

"I see dead people."

As Haley Joel Osment says this line, the camera pans over Bruce Willis' face. That worried producer Frank Marshall, who thought it might give away the movie's twist. Test audience, though, didn't have a clue.

"Bond. James Bond."

Ian Fleming named his superspy by looking for the most boring moniker he could find on his bookshelves — it turned out to be the author of a bird-watching guide. "By God, [that] is the dullest name I've ever heard," Fleming recalled of his eureka moment.

"We'll always have Paris."

"This is the beginning of a beautiful friendship."

The original draft of the screenplay ended with Claude Rains, not Bogart, saying "This is the beginning of a beautiful friendship," and Bogart replying, "Yes, but don't forget you still owe me 10,000 francs."

"I'll have what she's having."

According to Billy Crystal, Meg Ryan was so self-conscious about faking an orgasm, director Rob Reiner faked "an orgasm that King Kong would be jealous of" to make her relax.

"Why so serious?"

Heath Ledger's brilliantly twisted delivery may account for why this line finished No. 1 among 20- to 29-year-old voters.

"Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die."

Mandy Patinkin  has said that this line — by far the most famous he's ever uttered —  gets repeated back to him by fans at least two or three times a day. 

"I am your father."

One of the most misquoted lines in movie history, right up there with "Play it again, Sam." The real line has no "Luke" in it.

"The first rule of Fight Club is: You do not talk about Fight Club."

Edward Norton and Brad Pitt took their preparation for Fight Club seriously. Both took lessons in boxing, tae kwon do, grappling and studied hours of UFC programming. Pitt even visited a dentist to have his front tooth chipped. They also almost didn’t get the roles: Matt Damon and Sean Penn were considered for The Narrator, but David Fincher wanted Norton, as he was impressed with his performance in   The People vs. Larry Flynt . One producer has his eye on Russell Crowe for Tyler Durden, but another producer overruled him.

"There's no place like home."

The film adaption took a lot of liberties with L. Frank Baum's 1900 fantasy novel. The filmmakers did, however, take this jewel straight from the book.

"You talkin' to me?"

Robert De Niro improvised the line. The script simply said, "Travis speaks to himself in the mirror." Writer Paul Schrader told the actor his character was just "a little kid playing with guns and acting tough."

"Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, she walks into mine."

Casablanca has the most quotes in the top 100. In addition to this one there are Casablanca lines at Nos. 2, 15, 16 and 52.

"I'm going to make him an offer he can't refuse."

Some variation of this line appears in all three Godfather movies. Screenwriter Mario Puzo and director Francis Ford Coppola were on opposite coasts when they were co-writing the script for the first film — Puzo in New York City, Coppola in San Francisco — and they literally mailed drafts back and forth to each other.

"Toto, I've a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore."

Since Dorothy first uttered it 77 years ago, this line has popped up in countless TV shows and movies, from Honey, I Shrunk the Kids to Avatar , from Grey’s Anatomy to  Gilmore Girls . Not to mention Jo Dee Messina’s 1996 hit “You’re Not in Kansas Anymore.”

"May the Force be with you."

Several characters say this line in the original movie, but surprisingly not Obi-Wan Kenobi , who doesn't utter it until 2002's Episode II: Attack of the Clones .

"You're gonna need a bigger boat."

"[Richard] Zanuck and [David] Brown were very stingy producers and everyone kept telling them 'You're gonna need a bigger boat,'" recalls Jaws  screenwriter Carl Gottlieb (who moved in with director Steven Spielberg for four months to work on the shooting script). "It became a catchphrase for anytime anything went wrong — whether lunch was late or if the swells were rocking the camera."

"Here's looking at you, kid."

The Japanese version of the line — " Kimi no hitomi ni kanpai '' — literally translates as, "Cheers to your eyes."  Manako Ihaya of the American Translators Association calls it "a classic example of a good movie script translation" for its ability to capture the nuance of the English for the Japanese audience.

"Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn."

Two months before the movie’s release, censors demanded that "damn" be dropped. The producers came up with 22 variations of the line, including "Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a whoop," before the censors relented and allowed the "damn" to stay. Read more here.

Click here to see the 10 lines that just missed making the list.

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The 20 Most Inspirational Movie Quotes

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Need an inspiring movie quote to post on your mirror or for your next selfie caption on Instagram ? Look no further! We have 20 of the most inspirational movie quotes to choose from, from all of your favorite movie genres. In addition to quotes from your favorite inspiring sports movies, we've also included movie quotes about life from biopics, Disney movies, movies old and new, and even a few science and technology-themed movies.

Protecting Your Dreams: The Pursuit of Happyness

 Screenshot: IMDb.com

Hey. Don't ever let somebody tell you... You can't do something. Not even me. All right? You got a dream... You gotta protect it. People can't do somethin' themselves, they wanna tell you you can't do it. If you want somethin', go get it. Period. — Christopher Gardner

This quote comes from a scene in which the main character, Christopher Gardner, imparts a bit of fatherly advice to his young son, Christopher, Jr. 

The advice is the crux of the movie, as it's the story of a man who works to provide for his son and protect his own dreams in the midst of many obstacles and struggles. 

Find the Light: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

Screenshot: IMDb.com 

But you know happiness can be found even in the darkest of times, when one only remembers to turn on the light. — Professor Albus Dumbledore

It can be difficult to try to see the lighter, more positive side of a dark situation, but it's important to try to look for it anyway. Your happiness depends on it. 

Beauty in Adversity: Mulan

The flower that blooms in adversity is the most rare and beautiful of all. — The Emperor of China

Mulan struggles with fitting into her family's and society's expectations of her. And yet, it was through flouting those expectations and putting herself right smack in the middle of adversity that she discovers herself and finds her confidence. And it's within that strong sense of self that her true beauty blooms. 

The Purpose of Bad Times: Good Will Hunting

You'll have bad times, but it'll always wake you up to the good stuff you weren't paying attention to. — Sean

It's true. Sometimes the bad times in which you struggle are the very moments that force you into something better or force you to at least see your life differently. 

There Is Always Hope: The Theory of Everything

Karwai Tang/Getty Images 

There should be no boundaries to human endeavor. We are all different. However bad life may seem, there is always something you can do, and succeed at. While there's life, there is hope. — Stephen Hawking

This is one of the best movie quotes about life. The existence of life itself is all about hope and possibility, and Stephen Hawking's life is a testament to that. No matter how difficult things got for him, he still found ways to accomplish his goals and dreams. 

Finding the Good in Life's Surprises: Finding Dory

Dory: What is so great about plans? I never had a plan! Did I plan to lose my parents? No. Did I plan to find Marlin? No. Did you and I plan to meet? Wait. Did we? Hank: Are you almost done? Dory: Well, I don't think we did. And that's because the best things happen by chance. Because that's life. And that's you being with me out in the ocean, not safe in some stupid glass box.

Life is also all about surprises. You can't plan for everything. And trying to stay safe all the time doesn't work either. 

Dory was an adorable character in Finding Nemo and she was responsible for one of that movie's best life lessons: Just keep swimming. And now, even in her own movie, she keeps teaching us: The best things happen by chance. 

Born to Handle Life's Challenges: Gladiator

Universal/Getty Images 

Nothing happens to anyone that he is not fitted by nature to bear. — Maximus

You've got this. Most of the time, the challenges you face are those you were already built to handle.

Just Because It's Hard Doesn't Mean It's Wrong: Pocahontas

Young man, sometimes the right path is not the easiest one. — Grandmother Willow

Grandmother Willow says this to John Smith in the movie Pocahontas, but it's applicable to you as well. Just because your dreams seem impossible doesn't mean they are. And just because your path is difficult doesn't mean you're on the wrong one. 

Don't Give Up: Pay It Forward

David James/2000 Warner Bros. & Bel Air Pictures, LLC/Newsmakers/Getty Images

I think some people are too scared, or something. I guess it's hard for people who are so used to things the way they are - even if they're bad - to change. 'Cause they kind of give up. And when they do, everybody kind of loses. — Trevor McKinney

Don't give up. Yes, it's probably easier to stay stuck where you are. But if you step out of your comfort zone, even when you're scared, you'll be a lot happier. And happier people are better at helping others. 

Keep Moving Forward: Rocky Balboa

You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain't about how hard you hit. It's about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward. That's how winning is done! — Rocky

Keep moving forward. If you get knocked down, don't stay down. Get back up and keep moving forward. Even little steps forward in the face of adversity are better than no steps at all. 

Only Love Saves the World: Wonder Woman

I've touched the darkness that lives in between the light. Seen the worst of this world, and the best. Seen the terrible things men do to each other in the name of hatred, and the lengths they'll go to for love. Now I know. Only love can save this world. So I stay. I fight, and I give... for the world I know can be. This is my mission, now. Forever. — Diana Prince

The movie Wonder Woman is a great origin story for the iconic superhero. Plus, it shows that no matter what darkness Wonder Woman goes through, love for her fellow man is what ultimately pulls her through. Love saves her and inspires her to keep saving the world. 

Make the Best of the Time You're Given: The Lord of the Rings

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All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us. — Gandalf

Gandalf says this after Frodo complains and wishes he'd never encountered the ring. And it's good advice: You can't control what happens to you. All you can do is play the cards you've been dealt. 

Hope Never Dies: The Shawshank Redemption

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Remember, Red, hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies. — Andy Dufresne

Hope is what keeps Andy alive throughout his stint in prison. Sheer hope. Hope and his friendship with his fellow inmate Red. 

Being able to maintain hope is a survival skill. 

The Purpose of Doubt: Life of Pi

Doubt is useful, it keeps faith a living thing. After all, you cannot know the strength of your faith until it is tested. — Pi Patel

Doubt is a part of faith. It's not the enemy of faith. In Life of Pi, Pi Patel's faith is tested over and over again. And he learns that being able to keep faith in the face of doubt only strengthens faith. 

Amazing Things Can Come From Anyone: The Imitation Game

Sometimes, it's the very people who no one imagines anything of who do the things no one can imagine. — Christopher Morcom

Don't count yourself out. Even if you don't feel amazing (or even accepted), you're still capable of amazing things. 

The Importance of Being United: Black Panther

We will work to be an example of how we, as brothers and sisters on this earth, should treat each other. Now, more than ever, the illusions of division threaten our very existence. We all know the truth: more connects us than separates us. But in times of crisis the wise build bridges, while the foolish build barriers. We must find a way to look after one another, as if we were one single tribe. — T'Challa

Being united is much more powerful than being divided. This is especially the case in times of crisis. This quote from T'Challa is an important reminder of the value of overcoming our differences to work together towards a common goal. 

It's Supposed to Be Hard: A League of Their Own

It's supposed to be hard. If it wasn't hard, everyone would do it. The hard... is what makes it great. — Jimmy Dugan

Jimmy Dugan is the least inspiring character on this list, but it doesn't make what he said any less true. The best goals and dreams to pursue are the hard ones, the difficult ones. And they're the most satisfying once you do reach them.

Try For Honor: The Blind Side

But honor, that's the real reason you either do something or you don't. It's who you are and maybe who you want to be. If you die trying for something important, then you have both honor and courage, and that's pretty good. I think that's what the writer was saying, that you should hope for courage and try for honor. And maybe even pray that the people telling you what to do have some, too. — Michael Oher

Courage is a tool but honor is what you should strive for. Honor is a value. Courage can help you pursue honor. 

The Definition of Bravery: Angus

Grandpa: Superman isn't brave. Angus: Did you take your pills this morning? Grandpa:  You don't understand. He's smart, handsome, even decent. But he's not brave. No, listen to me. Superman is indestructible, and you can't be brave if you're indestructible. It's people like you and your mother. People who are different, and can be crushed and know it. Yet they keep on going out there every time.

If you're a fan of Superman, this quote probably isn't for you. But if you're looking for everyday heroes, this is perfect. The brave aren't the ones with superpowers. Brave people are the ones like Angus, who, despite knowing he'll be bullied at school about his weight, still gets up and goes to school anyway. 

Let Go of the Past: Forrest Gump

Sunset Boulevard/Getty Images 

My Mama always said you've got to put the past behind you before you can move on. — Forrest Gump

The movie Forrest Gump is full of little nuggets of advice like this one. The whole movie is about Forrest's past and how he's survived all of his obstacles. And he's survived, partly, because he's able to move on from his past better than most people to fully embrace his present. 

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50 Greatest Movie Quotes Ever

Cinema has been the most influential form of art. Movies not only sold stories, but also dreams that made the masses imagine themselves in the situations they saw their favorite heroes/heroines in. With their massive impact on popular culture, films went on to influence fashion, our outlook towards life, and mostly importantly, language. Film dialogues have often found their ways into our daily conversations. So without further ado, here we present to you our list of the 50 greatest quotes in film history:

50. Dirty Harry (1971)

After the Dollars trilogy , the ‘ Dirty Harry ‘ franchise pushed forward Clint Eastwood ‘s status as Hollywood’s Mr. Macho. In this series, he portrays police detective Harry Callahan, a man who doesn’t mind bending the law to meet his goals. In a bank robbery scene in the first film, Harry points his revolver at a robber at the final stages of a shootout and rather nonchalantly says, “ I know what you’re thinking. ‘Did he fire six shots or only five’? Well to tell you the truth, in all this excitement, I kind of lost track myself. But being that this is a .44 Magnum, the most powerful handgun in the world, and would blow your head clean off, you’ve got to ask yourself one question: ‘Do I feel lucky?’ Well do ya, punk?”

49. Some Like It Hot (1959)

In this hilarious roller-coaster of a film by the legendary Billy Wilder , the lead actors spend most of the time disguised as two women. It so happens that an old man called Osgood falls for one of these disguised men who now goes by the name Daphne. When Daphne, whose actual name is Jerry, tries convincing Osgood that he’s not a woman, the old man simply says, “Well, nobody’s perfect.” The film ends with this very line and sums up all the characters in it perfectly.

48. Apollo 13 (1995)

Based on the true story of the Apollo 13 mission, this critically acclaimed film sees Tom Hanks play the role of Apollo 13 Commander Jim Lovell. It is when the ship starts malfunctioning, Lowell makes his command center in Houston aware of the situation by uttering the line which is now considered one of the most iconic in cinema history:  “Houston, we have a problem.”

47. Chinatown (1974)

We cannot give you details of the exact situation when this quote was said since it happens at the climax of the film. But just know that the central character Jake Gittes ( Jack Nicholson ) gives in all his might to pin down the criminal throughout the film. However, the last scene gives him such a blow that he’s completely devastated by it. Then one of his acquaintances puts things in perspective for Jack by saying,  “Forget it, Jake, it’s Chinatown.”

46. The Shining (1980)

Stanley Kubrick ‘s 1980 psychological horror film has always polarized critics and audiences. Be that as it may, no one can deny the brilliance of Jack Nicholson after watching his performance in the film. Nicholson’s character Jack, after he loses his sanity, attacks his wife and son with an ax. When he manages to ax down a door behind which his wife Wendy (Shelley Duvall) has taken shelter, Jack sticks his head in, and with an evil smile on his face, utters,  “Here’s Johnny!” Interestingly, this line was completely improvised by Nicholson.

45. Planet of the Apes (1968)

In this iconic 1968 film, Charlton Heston plays the character of George Taylor, an astronaut. When he lands on a foreign planet along with his colleagues Landon (Robert Gunner) and Dodge (Jeff Burton), Taylor witnesses the planet being run by a population of apes. It is during his capture that Taylor utters the now-famous line  “Get your stinking paws off me, you damned dirty ape.”

44. Dr. Strangelove (1964)

Stanley Kubrick’s masterful creation ‘Dr. Strangelove’ imagines a world where the Cold War has reached such a point that America is about to attack Russia using nuclear weapons. When the President wants to stop this attack from happening, he invites all the major players in the country’s defense sector to the Pentagon. When a high-ranking army general and the Russian ambassador get into a scuffle during the meeting, the President utters the ironic line,  “Gentlemen, you can’t fight in here! This is the War Room!”

43. Goldfinger (1964)

Though this line was first used in the very first James Bond novel ‘Casino Royale’ itself, it would not find a translation to television until 1964’s ‘Goldfinger’ when Bond instructs a bartender for a drink using the phrase  “A martini. Shaken, not stirred.”

42. The Sixth Sense (1999)

The film that put M. Night Shyamalan on the map, ‘ The Sixth Sense ‘ became a major hit soon after its release. The central character of the film is Cole Sear. When Cole’s mother seeks the help of child psychologist Malcolm Crowe for her son’s bizarre behavior, Crowe ( Bruce Willis ) at first has a hard time figuring out the reason for the same, until one day Cole confides in him by saying,  “I see dead people.”

41. Casablanca (1942)

This is a film which will pop up frequently on this list. ‘ Casablanca ‘ has some of the most iconic phrases in film history. Among them, the line  “Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, she walks into mine” , is uttered by Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart), after his former lover Ilsa Lund walks into his bar in Casablanca with her husband.

40. Dog Day Afternoon (1975)

One of the best films in Al Pacino ‘s illustrious career, ‘Dog Day Afternoon’ is about the real-life attempted bank robbery carried out by Sonny Wortzik, along with his friends Salvatore “Sal” Naturale, and Stevie. However, things do not go according to plan and soon, the police surround the bank and passers-by gather around to witness the entire fiasco. During one of his negotiations with the police, Sonny comes out and shouts  “Attica! Attica!” , only for the crowd to cheer him on. Sonny here was referring to the 1971 Attica Prison uprising.

39. Forrest Gump (1995)

One of the most popular films of the 1990s , ‘ Forrest Gump ‘ stars Tom Hanks  in the leading role. Forrest’s mother is an exceptionally strong woman and always asked her son to keep his chin up even after realizing he is much slower than kids his age. Even when Forrest grows up, he remembers how his mother encouraged him:  “Mama always said life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get.” The line becomes the theme of the film as Forrest somehow becomes a part of some of the most important moments in 20th century American history.

38. The Terminator (1984)

James Cameron has always been a trendsetter. He has really pushed the boundaries of cinema and changed the way blockbuster movies were made, like Steven Spielberg . In his iconic 1984 sci-fi action film , ‘ The Terminator ‘ starring Arnold Schwarzenegger , the eponymous cyborg utters the line, “I’ll be back” to a desk officer when he is refused entry into a police station where his targets Sarah Connor and her son are being held.

37. Jaws (1975)

The first-ever summer blockbuster, ‘ Jaws ‘ is the film that turned Spielberg overnight into a Blockbuster messiah. The most famous line from the film,  “You’re gonna need a bigger boat” , is spoken by Roy Scheider’s Sheriff Brody when he first sees the size of the shark he’s trying to catch along with Richard Dreyfuss, and Robert Shaw.

36. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)

This John Huston directorial is one of the best films in Humphrey Bogart’s glorious career. When Bogart’s character Fred C. Dobbs asks one Mexican bandit leader called Gold Hat to show him his badge if his claim to be a police officer is true, Gold Hat refuses to do so, and instead delivers the iconic line:  “Badges? We ain’t got no badges. We don’t need no badges. I don’t have to show you any stinkin’ badges!”

35. Scarface (1983)

Brian DePalma’s 1983 gangster film ‘Scarface’ sees Al Pacino play the role of a Cuban refugee called Tony Montana who becomes one of the biggest cocaine smugglers in America. In the final act of the film, when Pacino’s character is about to be overpowered by a bunch of killers sent to assassinate him, he comes out with a huge assault rifle and says the line  “Say ‘hello’ to my little friend!” before blowing off two of the hitmen.

34. When Harry Met Sally (1989)

One of the most famous romantic comedies of all time, ‘When Harry Met Sally’ stars Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan in the leading roles. In one of the scenes when Harry and Sally are in a restaurant, Sally fakes an orgasm to show how it is done. She’s so loud about it that many other patrons take notice. Among them is an old lady, who is so intrigued by the orgasm that she tells the waiter  “I’ll have what she’s having” , pointing towards Sally.

33. A Few Good Men (1992)

Tom Cruise  in this film had to display his acting skills in front of one of the most iconic actors in film history, Jack Nicholson. In one of the scenes where Cruise’s character Daniel Kaffee asks Nicholson’s character Base Commander Colonel Nathan Jessup the truth regarding the murder of Private First Class William Santiago, Jessup taunts him by saying, “You can’t handle the truth!”

32. Casablanca (1942)

‘Casablanca’ makes another entry in this list. This time, when Rick shoots Major Strasser, as the latter would’ve prevented Ilsa’s escape, only Renault, the commander of the local police, witnesses the incident. However, he does not arrest Rick, and instead orders his people to  “Round up the usual suspects” . The line has since then entered film folklore, and also inspired the title of the next film on this list.

31. The Usual Suspects (1995)

The film which turned  Kevin Spacey into a superstar, ‘ The Usual Suspects ‘ directed by Brian Singer is one of the coolest neo-noir thrillers you’ll ever come across. Spacey here plays the role of Verbal Kint. It is his interrogation with the police which forms a major part of the narrative. Without going into details, we’ll just say that at the end of the film, after Verbal emerges from the interrogation unscathed, we get a flash of a scene where Verbal tells detective Dave Kujan, “The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn’t exist. ”

30. Midnight Cowboy (1969)

Dustin Hoffman and Jon Voight star in this 1969 film as Joe Buck and Ratso respectively. When Joe arrives at new York from a rural area, he finds a friend in Ratso, a hustler. During one of the scenes where the two are walking together on the pavement, Ratso stops an incoming cab by yelling at the driver, “I’m walking here! I’m walking here!” Hoffman completely improvised the scene and it was so much in character that the director decided to keep the scene in the movie.

29. Pulp Fiction (1994)

Quentin Tarantino ‘s sophomore venture ‘ Pulp Fiction ‘ went on to become one of the most influential films in history. In the film, just before shooting Bret and his friends, Marsellus Wallace’s hitman Jules utters a distorted quote from the Bible, the Ezekiel 25:17: “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 would attempt to poison and destroy my brothers. And you will know my name is the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon thee.”

28. Casablanca (1942)

Well, I did warn you this film is going to pop up frequently on this list. This time, we focus on the scene where Ilsa and her husband have arrived at Rick’s bar for the first time. Ilsa remembers Sam, who is now working as the bar’s in-house pianist. She requests him to play a song by saying,  “Play it, Sam. Play As Time Goes By.”  The line is often mistakenly attributed to Bogart, but it is actually Ingrid Bergman who utters this famous line in the film.

27. Gone With the Wind (1939)

Margaret Mitchells’ Civil War-era novel ‘Gone With The Wind’ was adapted for the silver screen in the year 1939. The film became as famous as the book, and the line “Tomorrow is another day” , which is first used in the book, became an iconic film quote after Scarlett O’Hara (Vivien Leigh) uttered it in the film. The line is said at the end of the film when Rhett Butler leaves O’Hara.

26. The Graduate (1967)

‘ The Graduate ‘ is the film which turned Dustin Hoffman into a major Hollywood star. At one point in the film, Hoffman’s character Benjamin is asked by Mrs. Robinson, the wife of his father’s law partner, to take her home. At the house, her seductive behavior prompts Benjamin to ask her, “Mrs. Robinson, you’re trying to seduce me. Aren’t you?”

25. The Godfather Part II (1974)

Al Pacino’s  Michael Corleone is the central character of the ‘ Godfather ‘ trilogy. According to many, his performance in the second film, ‘ The Godfather Part II’ is better than the one in its predecessor. After a failed assassination attempt on Michael, he advises one of his hitmen to play it cool, so that the enemy does not know his identity has been revealed. Michael explains his strategy by saying that his father has taught him a lot of things, but the most important one among them was, “Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer.”

24. Sunset Boulevard (1950)

Directed by Billy Wilder, ‘Sunset Boulevard’ is a film about an aging star of the silent era, whose stardom has faded after the talkie era of Hollywood began. Norma Desmond, the character in question, utters the now-iconic line  “I am big! It’s the pictures that got small” when struggling writer Joe Gillis recognizes her and remarks that she used to be big during the silent era.

23. Dr. No (1962)

The coolest detective in the history of fiction, James Bond, appeared for the first time on the silver screen in this film with Sean Connery playing the character. We first meet Bond in a casino, wearing a crisp tuxedo and playing poker when a woman asks him his name. Bond lights a cigarette with his trademark suave and simply utters, “Bond. James Bond.”

22. Jerry Maguire (1996)

Tom Cruise plays the eponymous central character in this film. Maguire is a sports agent who looks after the financial interests of footballer Rod Tidwell (Cuba Gooding, Jr.). Dissatisfied with Maguire’s performance at one point, Rod clearly asks him,  “Show me the money” , if Maguire wants to keep working for him.

21. The Silence Of The Lambs (1991)

One of the finest films of the 1990s , ‘The Silence Of The Lambs’ is the story of a serial killer  called Dr. Hannibal Lecter ( Anthony Hopkins ) and a young FBI rookie, Clarice Starling. When Clarice pays Dr. Lecter a visit in prison to take his help regarding a serial killing case, Dr. Lecter very casually explains to her how he deals with humans he doesn’t like:  “A census taker once tried to test me. I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice Chianti.”

20. White Heat (1949)

James Cagney stars in this 1949 classic, which is one of the greatest film noirs of all time. Cagney’s character Cody Jarrett is a gangster whom we see running for his life at the very end of the film. When Cody realizes he has nowhere else to hide, he blows up the gas tank on which he has been sitting, and shouts out  “Made it, Ma! Top of the world!” as he is literally blasted high into the sky.

19. Network (1976)

Sidney Lumet ‘s 1976 film ‘Network’ is one of the finest commentaries on television media culture and how news has become nothing but a commodity one has to sell to the population. In one of his appearances on the television,  Howard Beale, who earlier claims he will be committing suicide on air, shouts out, “I’m as mad as hell, and I’m not going to take this anymore!” . He clearly means that he is frustrated with the commodification of news and will not subscribe to this buffoonery in the name of newscasting any longer.

18. Casablanca (1942)

‘Casablanca’ makes its appearance once again! And let me assure you, this is not the last time. After saving Louis by not ratting on him, Rick and Renault walk towards the city in a dense fog. And while walking, Rick, touched by Renault’s kindness, says, “Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.”

17.  Citizen Kane (1941)

Orson Welles established himself as a force to be reckoned with after the release of his seminal debut feature ‘Citizen Kane’ . The most famous quote from the film is a single word, “Rosebud” , which Kane utters on his deathbed. It is this word which forms a leitmotif throughout the film and keeps coming back at very important moments. A reporter tries to find the meaning of the word, but the meaning remains in the shadows forever. There are now many interpretations of the word, but Welles never spoke about its meaning.

16. Cool Hand Luke (1967)

Paul Newman’s prison drama from 1967, ‘Cool Hand Luke’, is considered one of the greatest in its genre. Newman’s character, Luke, is not a very obedient prisoner and always talks back to the police whenever he finds an opportunity to do so. The captain, who is in charge of maintaining order and discipline in the prison, does not appreciate this behavior of Luke’s and tortures him heavily to make him understand that talking back won’t get him anywhere. Pretending that Luke has failed to understand his message, the captain says,  “What we’ve got here…is failure to communicate.”

15.  E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial (1982)

This famous Steven Spielberg directorial is among the few heartwarming films which do not see aliens as some massive threat. The alien in the film, who’s known simply as E.T., wants to go back home. But he needs to communicate with his home planet for doing so. He tries and explains his desire to his friend Elliot that he wants to send a message home by saying  “E.T. phone home.”

14. Love Story (1970)

‘Love Story’ by Arthur Hiller is one of the most melodramatic Hollywood films you will ever see. The film centers around the romantic relationship between the characters Oliver and Jenny. Just before Jenny dies of cancer, the couple have a huge argument. When Oliver goes to Jenny to apologize for his behavior, she utters the corniest line in this entire list,  “Love means never having to say you’re sorry.”

13. The Maltese Falcon (1941)

One of the most tense films you will ever watch, ‘The Maltese Falcon’ stars Humphrey Bogart as the detective Sam Spade who comes in contact with a lady who hires him for a case. After an intense cat-and-mouse chase, we understand that one statuette is the center of all the events of the film. When the police take away the villain for the last time, Spade tells them to take away the statuette as well. When one of the officers asks him what it is, he simply replies, “The stuff that dreams are made of.”

12. King Kong (1933)

In the 1933 ‘King Kong’ film, the now-famous ape made its first onscreen appearance. As the story goes, it was the ape’s affection for the central female character of the film which makes the giant creature take her and climb up to the top of the Empire State Building. After the army planes shoot down the beast, the director Carl Denham, whose crew first spotted the creature, comments:  “Oh, no, it wasn’t the airplanes. It was Beauty killed the Beast.”

11. Sunset Boulevard (1950)

The iconic film noir again makes an appearance on this list. Norma Desmond is a character who lives with her past glory. She is so disillusioned that she continues to imagine herself as a huge star who still has her best years ahead. At the very end of the film, when the police come to arrest her for murder (let’s keep the victim’s name under the wraps, shall we?), Norma Desmond walks up to a news camera in dramatic fashion, saying, “All right, Mr. DeMille, I’m ready for my close-up.” She is so deranged that she believes she’s in the middle of a film shoot.

10. Apocalypse Now (1979)

One of the greatest war films ever made, ‘ Apocalypse Now ‘ serves as a testament to the depravity that went on during the Vietnam War where American soldiers had to spends months, sometimes years, away from their families. The central character of the film, Captain Willard, meets a character called Lieutenant Colonel Bill Kilgore. His enthusiasm about surfing remains unhindered even as people die by the hundreds right in front of his eyes everyday. One day, as he gets down from a helicopter while his men fight the Vietnamese, Kilgore admires the situation and claims,  “I love the smell of napalm in the morning.”

Read More: Best Movie Endings of All Time

9. All About Eve (1950)

A has-been actress, Margo Channing (Bette Davis), is the central character of this 1950 film. Margo is someone who loves the spotlight on herself and will do almost anything to be the center of attention. During one party which she has thrown for someone else, Margo downs a drink and proclaims to the guests around,  “Fasten your seatbelts. It’s going to be a bumpy night.”

Read More: Most Confusing Movies of All Time

8. Taxi Driver (1976)

Martin Scorsese ‘s masterpiece, ‘ Taxi Driver ‘ is one of the greatest American films of all time. Robert de Niro plays the central character, Travis Bickle, in the film. After watching the depravity in people in and around New York, Bickle slowly starts losing his mind and prepares for something dangerous. During one of his practice sessions with the gun in front of his mirror, Bickle mutters to the mirror,  “You talkin’ to me?” and repeats it over and over again as if someone is right there in front of him. De Niro completely improvised the entire thing without having any clue that it would go on to become one of the most quoted lines in film history.

Read More: Best Teen Movies of All Time

7. Star Wars (1977)

‘ Star Wars ‘ is, without a shadow of a doubt, one of the most popular film franchises in history. The franchise started by George Lucas has influenced generations of science fiction lovers. Two of the most famous characters in the series are undoubtedly Hans Solo and Luke Skywalker. In the first film itself, when Luke climbs into his space ship X-Wing to blast off the Death Star, Hans says this very iconic line which has now become a part of pop culture: “May the Force be with you.”

Read More: Best Sport Movies of All Time

6. The Wizard of Oz (1939)

Regarded as one of the greatest films of all time , the influence ‘The Wizard of Oz’ has had on pop culture can be felt even today. When the central character Dorothy and her Dog Toto are blown away by a storm to the magical Land of Oz, Dorothy exclaims,  “Toto, I’ve got a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore.”

Read More: Best World War II Movies of All Time

5. Casablanca (1942)

This is the last time ‘Casablanca’ will find itself on this list. During the course of the film, we see several instances of the romance between Rick and Ilsa when they were in Paris. In one of those scenes, we can see Rick raising a toast to Ilsa by saying, “Here’s looking at you, kid.”

Read More: Best Visually Stunning Movies of All Time

4. On the Waterfront (1954)

One of the movies which played a major part in cementing Marlon Brando ‘s status as a Hollywood icon, ‘On The Waterfront’ saw the legend playing Terry Malloy, a dockworker whose brother Charley works for a gangster responsible for various murders in and around the dock area. Terry also gets caught up in the gang, and later, when he laments to his brother, he says,  “You don’t understand! I coulda had class. I coulda been a contender. I could’ve been somebody, instead of a bum, which is what I am.”

Read More: Biggest Box Office Flops of All Time

3. Sudden Impact (1983)

The fourth film of the ‘Dirty Harry’ film franchise finds its way to this list. The scene I’m referring to here happens very early in the film. When Harry Callahan enters a coffee shop, the waitress warns him that there are robbers inside the place. However, Callahan doesn’t get the sign. After he does get it, Callahan enters the shop and kills all the robbers except one who has taken a lady hostage. Callahan calmly tells him,  “Go ahead, make my day.” If he’d have killed the lady, the robber would’ve given Callahan the license to shoot him.

Read More: Biggest Box-Office Hits of All Time

2. The Godfather (1972)

Marlon Brando really outdid himself playing the character Vito Corleone in ‘ The Godfather ‘. Quite naturally, it is one of his lines which finds itself as the second-most iconic quote in film history. When Vito’s godson Johnny Fontane tells him that he needs a part in a Hollywood movie to boost his career but a studio head Jack Woltz refuses to cast him, Vito simply says Johnny’s going to get the part. When asked how this will be possible, Vito simply says,  “I’m gonna make him an offer he can’t refuse.”

Read More: Best Movie Couples of Last 30 Years

1. Gone With the Wind (1939)

If you adjust inflation, ‘Gone With The Wind’ is still the highest-grossing film of all time . No wonder it has such deep roots in pop culture history. When the character of Rhett Butler, played by Clarke Gable, speaks for the last time to Scarlett O’Hara, the latter asks him where she should go or what she should do, to which he simply answers, “Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn.”

Read More: Best Movie Quotes of All Time

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The Top 50 Famous Movie Quotes (How Many Do You Know?)

Updated: March 11, 2022

Published: September 21, 2018

Movies can be an escape from reality or an inspiration. We often relate to the characters, situations they’re presented with, or words they speak. And many famous quotes have originated from movies.

Whether you’re a film buff or enjoy watching the occasional movie on Netflix, memorable movie phrases have likely made their way into your everyday vocabulary, presentations, or water cooler talk. Check out the movie quotes below and test your memory to see how many you remember.

Famous Movie Quotes

1. “May the Force be with you.” - Star Wars, 1977

2. “There's no place like home.” - The Wizard of Oz, 1939

3. “I'm the king of the world!” - Titanic, 1997

4. “Carpe diem. Seize the day, boys. Make your lives extraordinary.” - Dead Poets Society, 1989

5. “Elementary, my dear Watson.” - The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, 1939

6. “It's alive! It's alive!” - Frankenstein, 1931

7. “My mama always said life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get.” - Forrest Gump, 1994

8. “I'll be back.” - The Terminator, 1984

9. “You're gonna need a bigger boat.” - Jaws, 1975

10. “Here's looking at you, kid.” - Casablanca, 1942

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11. “My precious.” - The Lord of the Rings: Two Towers, 2002

12. “Houston, we have a problem.” - Apollo 13, 1995

13. “There's no crying in baseball!” - A League of Their Own, 1992

14. “E.T. phone home.” - E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, 1982

15. “You can't handle the truth!” - A Few Good Men, 1992

16. “A martini. Shaken, not stirred.” - Goldfinger, 1964

17. “Life is a banquet, and most poor suckers are starving to death!” - Auntie Mame, 1958

18. “If you build it, he will come.” - Field of Dreams, 1989

19. “The stuff that dreams are made of.” - The Maltese Falcon, 1941

20. “Magic Mirror on the wall, who is the fairest one of all?" - Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, 1937

21. “Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer.” - The Godfather Part II, 1974

22. “I am your father.” - Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back, 1980

23. “Just keep swimming.” -Finding Nemo, 2003

24. “Today, I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth.” - The Pride of the Yankees, 1942

25. “You is kind. You is smart. You is important.” - The Help, 2011

26. “What we've got here is failure to communicate.” - Cool Hand Luke, 1967

27. “Hasta la vista, baby.” - Terminator 2: Judgment Day, 1991

28. “You don't understand! I coulda had class. I coulda been a contender. I could've been somebody, instead of a bum, which is what I am.” - On the Waterfront, 1954

29. "Bond. James Bond." - Dr. No, 1962

30. “You talking to me?” - Taxi Driver, 1976

31. “Roads? Where we're going we don't need roads.” - Back to the Future, 1985

32. “That'll do, pig. That'll do.” - Babe, 1995

33. “I'm walking here! I'm walking here!” - Midnight Cowboy, 1969

34. "It was beauty killed the beast." - King Kong, 1933

35. “Stella! Hey, Stella!” - A Streetcar Named Desire, 1951

36. "As if!" - Clueless, 1995

37. “Here's Johnny!” - The Shining, 1980

38. “Rosebud.” - Citizen Kane, 1941

39. “I'll have what she's having.” - When Harry Met Sally, 1989

40. “Inconceivable!” - The Princess Bride, 1987

41. “All right, Mr. DeMille, I'm ready for my close-up.” - Sunset Boulevard, 1950

42. “Fasten your seatbelts. It's going to be a bumpy night.” - All About Eve, 1950

43. “Nobody puts Baby in a corner.” - Dirty Dancing, 1987

44. “Well, nobody's perfect.” - Some Like it Hot, 1959

45. “Snap out of it!” - Moonstruck, 1987

46. “You had me at ‘hello.’" - Jerry Maguire, 1996

47. "They may take our lives, but they'll never take our freedom!" - Braveheart, 1995

48. “To infinity and beyond!” - Toy Story, 1995

49. “You’re killin’ me, Smalls.” - The Sandlot, 1993

50. “Toto, I've a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore.” - The Wizard of Oz, 1939

Looking for some more quotes? Check out these motivational quotes to start your day, awesome quotes for every situation , brainy quotes that will make you sound smart , and uplifting entrepreneur quotes .

Don't forget to share this post!

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How to Write a Movie Review

Last Updated: May 13, 2024 Fact Checked

This article was co-authored by Marissa Levis . Marissa Levis is an English Teacher in the Morris County Vocational School District. She previously worked as an English director at a tutoring center that caters to students in elementary and middle school. She is an expert in creating a curriculum that helps students advance their skills in secondary-level English, focusing on MLA formatting, reading comprehension, writing skills, editing and proofreading, literary analysis, standardized test preparation, and journalism topics. Marissa received her Master of Arts in Teaching from Fairleigh Dickinson University. There are 14 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 5,605,306 times.

Whether a movie is a rotten tomato or a brilliant work of art, if people are watching it, it's worth critiquing. A decent movie review should entertain, persuade and inform, providing an original opinion without giving away too much of the plot. A great movie review can be a work of art in its own right. Read on to learn how to analyze a movie like a professional film critic, come up with an interesting thesis, and write a review as entertaining as your source material.

Sample Movie Reviews

Writing an Intro for a Movie Review

• Comparison to Relevant Event or Movie: "Every day, our leaders, politicians, and pundits call for "revenge"– against terrorist groups, against international rivals, against other political parties. But few of them understand the cold, destructive, and ultimately hollow thrill of revenge as well as the characters of Blue Ruin. "
• Review in a nutshell: "Despite a compelling lead performance by Tom Hanks and a great soundtrack, Forrest Gump never gets out of the shadow of its weak plot and questionable premise."
• Context or Background Information: " Boyhood might be the first movie made where knowing how it was produced–slowly, over 12 years, with the same actors–is just as crucial as the movie itself."

• Using stars, a score out of 10 or 100, or the simple thumbs-up and thumbs-down is a quick way to give your thoughts. You then write about why you chose that rating.
• Great Movie: ABC is the rare movie that succeeds on almost every level, where each character, scene, costume, and joke firing on all cylinders to make a film worth repeated viewings."
• Bad Movie: "It doesn't matter how much you enjoy kung-fu and karate films: with 47 Ronin, you're better off saving your money, your popcorn, and time."
• Okay Movie: "I loved the wildly uneven Interstellar far more than I should have, but that doesn't mean it is perfect. Ultimately, the utter awe and spectacle of space swept me through the admittedly heavy-handed plotting and dialogue."

• Great: "Michael B. Jordan and Octavia Spencer's chemistry would carry Fruitvale Station even if the script wasn't as good. The mid-movie prison scene in particular, where the camera never leaves their faces, shows how much they can convey with nothing but their eyelids, the flashing tension of neck muscles, and a barely cracking voice."
• Bad: " Jurassic World's biggest flaw, a complete lack of relatable female characters, is only further underscored by a laughably unrealistic shot of our heroine running away from a dinosaur – in heels."
• Okay: "At the end of the day, Snowpiercer can't decide what kind of movie it wants to be. The attention to detail in fight scenes, where every weapon, lightbulb, and slick patch of ground is accounted for, doesn't translate to an ending that seems powerful but ultimately says little of substance."

• Does the film reflect on a current event or contemporary issue? It could be the director's way of engaging in a bigger conversation. Look for ways to relate the content of the film to the "real" world.
• Does the film seem to have a message, or does it attempt to elicit a specific response or emotion from the audience? You could discuss whether or not it achieves its own goals.
• Does the film connect with you on a personal level? You could write a review stemming from your own feelings and weave in some personal stories to make it interesting for your readers.

Composing Your Review

• When you name characters in your plot summary, list the actors' names directly afterward in parenthesis.
• Find a place to mention the director's name and the full movie title.
• If you feel you must discuss information that might "spoil" things for readers, warn them first.

• Cinematography: " Her is a world drenched in color, using bright, soft reds and oranges alongside calming whites and grays that both build, and slowly strip away, the feelings of love between the protagonists. Every frame feels like a painting worth sitting in."
• Tone: "Despite the insane loneliness and high stakes of being stuck alone on Mars, The Martian's witty script keeps humor and excitement alive in every scene. Space may be dangerous and scary, but the joy of scientific discovery is intoxicating."
• Music and Sound: " No Country For Old Men's bold decision to skip music entirely pays off in spades. The eerie silence of the desert, punctuated by the brief spells of violent, up-close-and-personal sound effects of hunter and hunted, keeps you constantly on the edge of your seat."
• Acting: "While he's fantastic whenever he's on the move, using his cool stoicism to counteract the rampaging bus, Keanu Reeves can't quite match his costar in the quiet moments of Speed, which falter under his expressionless gaze."

• Keep your writing clear and easy to understand. Don't use too much technical filmmaking jargon, and make your language crisp and accessible.
• Present both the facts and your opinion. For example, you might state something such as, "The Baroque background music was a jarring contrast to the 20th century setting." This is a lot more informative then simply saying, "The music was a strange choice for the movie."

• Great: "In the end, even the characters of Blue Ruin know how pointless their feud is. But revenge, much like every taut minute of this thriller, is far too addictive to give up until the bitter end.""
• Bad: "Much like the oft-mentioned "box of chocolates", Forest Gump has a couple of good little morsels. But most of the scenes, too sweet by half, should have been in the trash long before this movie was put out."
• Okay: "Without the novel, even revolutionary concept, Boyhood may not be a great movie. It might not even be "good.” But the power the film finds in the beauty of passing time and little, inconsequential moments – moments that could only be captured over 12 years of shooting – make Linklater's latest an essential film for anyone interested in the art of film."

Polishing Your Piece

• Ask yourself whether your review stayed true to your thesis. Did your conclusion tie back in with the initial ideas you proposed?
• Decide whether your review contains enough details about the movie. You may need to go back and add more description here and there to give readers a better sense of what the movie's about.
• Decide whether your review is interesting enough as a stand-alone piece of writing. Did you contribute something original to this discussion? What will readers gain from reading your review that they couldn't from simply watching the movie?

Studying Your Source Material

• The title of the film, and the year it came out.
• The director's name.
• The names of the lead actors.

• Make a note every time something sticks out to you, whether it's good or bad. This could be costuming, makeup, set design, music, etc. Think about how this detail relates to the rest of the movie and what it means in the context of your review.
• Take note of patterns you begin to notice as the movie unfolds.
• Use the pause button frequently so you make sure not to miss anything, and rewind as necessary.

• Direction: Consider the director and how he or she choose to portray/explain the events in the story. If the movie was slow, or didn't include things you thought were necessary, you can attribute this to the director. If you've seen other movies directed by the same person, compare them and determine which you like the most.
• Cinematography: What techniques were used to film the movie? What setting and background elements helped to create a certain tone?
• Writing: Evaluate the script, including dialogue and characterization. Did you feel like the plot was inventive and unpredictable or boring and weak? Did the characters' words seem credible to you?
• Editing: Was the movie choppy or did it flow smoothly from scene to scene? Did they incorporate a montage to help build the story? And was this obstructive to the narrative or did it help it? Did they use long cuts to help accentuate an actor's acting ability or many reaction shots to show a group's reaction to an event or dialogue? If visual effects were used were the plates well-chosen and were the composited effects part of a seamless experience? (Whether the effects looked realistic or not is not the jurisdiction of an editor, however, they do choose the footage to be sent off to the compositors, so this could still affect the film.)
• Costume design: Did the clothing choices fit the style of the movie? Did they contribute to the overall tone, rather than digressing from it?
• Set design: Consider how the setting of the film influenced its other elements. Did it add or subtract from the experience for you? If the movie was filmed in a real place, was this location well-chosen?
• Score or soundtrack: Did it work with the scenes? Was it over/under-used? Was it suspenseful? Amusing? Irritating? A soundtrack can make or break a movie, especially if the songs have a particular message or meaning to them.

Expert Q&A

• If you don't like the movie, don't be abusive and mean. If possible, avoid watching the movies that you would surely hate. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 1
• Understand that just because the movie isn't to your taste, that doesn't mean you should give it a bad review. A good reviewer helps people find movie's they will like. Since you don't have the same taste in movies as everyone else, you need to be able to tell people if they will enjoy the movie, even if you didn't. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 1
• Structure is very important; try categorizing the different parts of the film and commenting on each of those individually. Deciding how good each thing is will help you come to a more accurate conclusion. For example, things like acting, special effects, cinematography, think about how good each of those are. Thanks Helpful 1 Not Helpful 0

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Expert Interview

Thanks for reading our article! If you’d like to learn more about writing, check out our in-depth interview with Marissa Levis .

• ↑ https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/subject_specific_writing/writing_in_literature/writing_about_film/terminology_and_starting_prompts.html
• ↑ https://www.spiritofbaraka.com/how-write-a-movie-review
• ↑ https://www.nyfa.edu/student-resources/9-tips-for-writing-a-film-review/
• ↑ https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/writing-help/top-tips-for-writing-a-review
• ↑ https://writingcenter.unc.edu/tips-and-tools/summary-using-it-wisely/
• ↑ https://twp.duke.edu/sites/twp.duke.edu/files/file-attachments/film-review-1.original.pdf
• ↑ https://www.dailywritingtips.com/7-tips-for-writing-a-film-review/
• ↑ https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/subject_specific_writing/writing_in_literature/writing_about_film/film_writing_sample_analysis.html
• ↑ https://learning.hccs.edu/faculty/onnyx.bei/dual-credit/movie-review-writing-guide
• ↑ https://writingcenter.unc.edu/tips-and-tools/conclusions/
• ↑ https://www.grammarly.com/blog/how-to-write-a-movie-review/
• ↑ https://gustavus.edu/writingcenter/handoutdocs/editing_proofreading.php
• ↑ https://writingcenter.unc.edu/tips-and-tools/editing-and-proofreading/
• ↑ https://edusson.com/blog/how-to-write-movie-review

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15 Great Movie Quotes About Movies

Let's look at some of the greatest quotes about movies directly from some of the greatest movies of all time.

Who better to write interesting lines about filmmaking than the screenwriters themselves? No one else can offer as pithy, funny, and dangerously sharp a movie quote as the scriptwriter. There's also no one more capable at tanking a movie with trite, obnoxious dialogue and empty structure. They say write what you know, and no one knows more about the ins and outs of filmmaking than the writers and directors who work so hard to bring films to screens both big and small. So no one is more qualified to provide insightful commentary on the milieu. Let's look at some of the greatest quotes about movies directly from some of the greatest movies of all time.

15 "It's the actor's job to strive for one hundred percent effectiveness. Naturally, we never succeed, but it's the pursuit that's meaningful." — Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

Wisdom comes from an unlikely place for Rick Dalton in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood . The aging actor is in unfamiliar territory, playing the heavy in a Western with a beard covering a face that used to dominate movie posters. At lunch, he catches a moment alone with his costar in an upcoming scene, the 8-year-old Trudi. On paper, he should despise what she represents— the new generation of Brandos and Landaus and Burstyns, taking the roles that were once his bread and butter.

Her natural deflection of being a sweet little girl throws him off, and her precocious professionalism stirs him. It's a vulnerable, profound moment , and he learns from her, using those feelings to knock the scene off its socks an hour later.

14 "If it's not in frame, it doesn't exist!" — Shadow of the Vampire

It's the very definition of mise en scène , the French theatrical concept translated as "placing on stage." What it really means is everything that is seen in between the frames of the camera (and much that isn't). Lighting, lenses, camera angles, set design, background, costumes, wigs, makeup, props, animals, actors, all come together to make exactly what you see twenty-three times every second.

20 Iconic Quotes From Batman Movie Villains

In Shadow of the Vampire , the actual German director of Nosferatu , F.W. Murnau, is played by John Malkovich . Throughout his performance, he's largely portrayed as a hack, though there's honesty in his obsession. He speaks this line even as his star actor, who it turns out really is a vampire, murders his crew and drinks their blood; even then, his maniacal, uncompromising fixation to get the shot rings true.

13 "We don't have a permit. Run!" — Ed Wood

Tim Burton's most cerebral collaboration with Johnny Depp was 1994's Ed Wood . Shot in black and white and featuring winning performances from Sarah Jessica Parker, Bill Murray, and the most foul-mouthed you've ever seen Martin Landau as famed Dracula actor Bela Lugosi.

Ed Wood's typically low-budget fare necessitated a bare-bones approach to filmmaking. While shooting on a public street, he gets one take of one shot, and tells his crew to move on without any coverage. Good thing, too, because they spot the cops. Ed's reaction is the same as every student, artsy, or indie director who's ever gotten caught shooting without a permit — just ask Jon Favreau about that scene off the highway on the way back from Vegas in Swingers .

12 "Every movie costs $2,184." — Bowfinger

B-Movie filmmaker Bobby Bowfinger recognizes his shot, and he plans to take it. It's time to go all in on Chubby Rain , the sci-fi script written by his accountant, that will put him and his small stable of actors and crew on the map. Luckily, he's been preparing for just such a moment, revealing a metal box into which he's deposited $1 every week since he was ten years old.

"Movies cost millions of dollars to make."

"That's after gross net deduction profit percentage deferment ten percent of the nut. Cash? Every movie costs $2,184."

What's great is that when you get right down to it, he's not wrong. His number is off, but every major film is also a major bureaucracy, with union requirements and salary floors and quotes from stars. Some famously low-budget films that went on to be big include Enter the Dragon , The Blair Witch Project , and Napoleon Dynamite, and the careers of David Lynch, Robert Rodriguez, and Christopher Nolan were launched with independent financing and guerrilla filmmaking.

11 "I was just thinking what an interesting concept it is to eliminate the writer from the artistic process. If we could just get rid of these actors and directors, maybe we've got something here." — The Player

Genius Robert Altman's 90s satire of the movie bix The Player belongs on any list when discussing movies about movies. The irony of the story is baked in, as it would have made an incredible flick even without the shoehorned story of a murdered screenwriter plaguing producer Griffin Mill's conscience. The B-story revolves around the upstart, Larry Levy, vying for Griffin's job by introducing executive-led story development, nullifying the contribution of screenwriters in general.

Griffin's sarcastic response wins the boardroom duel, but the most excruciating part is that it's barely sarcastic. As events surrounding the 2023 WGA strikes have pointed out, certain producers won't be happy until the creative process has all the automation of a Henry Ford assembly line. How original.

10 "When you put your heart and genitals into something, it's always personal." — Átame! (Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!)

While Pedro Almodóvar's best known film about film remains semi-autobiographical Dolor y Gloria (Pain and Glory), it's 1989's Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! , about an actress kidnapped and held against her will by a disturbed drifter who fancies himself a gallant savior. The perversity of their relationship is the crux of the movie, but there's a playfulness surrounding the concepts of innocent and guilt throughout.

Not least of which belongs to Marina, the kidnapped actress, who until recently, had a serious drug problem and worked regularly in pornography. However, the director of her latest film, a sort of B-horror flick, is insulted when a journalist brings up Marina's past, nearly kicking her off set. While infatuated with his young actress himself, he still comes off as a paternal (almost grandfatherly) influence on her career, and speaks beguilingly of her art in the above quote, in an effort to comfort her. It's a good line.

9 "No, please don't kill me, Mr. Ghostface, I wanna be in the sequel!" — Scream

Quintessential slasher comedy Scream revitalized Wes Craven's career, and gave us the next generation of horror fans and scream queens for the 90s. Among them was Rose McGowan's Tatum, best friend to Neve Campbell's Sidney Prescott. With her blond wig and devil-may-care attitude surrounding serial killers, she's an early, if not obvious, victim of the film's Ghostface killer.

Alone in the garage grabbing beers, Tatum is trapped by a Ghostface, which she assumes to be a prank from one of her friends. The meta nature of the story gives birth to this line, perfectly summing up the gory allure of teen slasher flicks and calling them stupid all at once, like a snake eating its own tail. Spoiler alert: Tatum isn't in the sequel.

8 "Your time today is through, but you'll spend eternity with angels and ghosts." — Babylon

Jean Smart understands better than most what it is to have ups and downs in a movie career. Her work on standout HBO show Hacks has reinvigorated her popularity with superb drama and smart humor. In Babylon , Damian Chazelle's underappreciated tragedy , her buoyant honesty is what makes the moment so poignant.

"In a hundred years, when you and I are both long gone, any time someone throws a frame of yours through a sprocket, you'll be alive again. You see what that means? One day, every person on every film shot this year will be dead. And one day, all those films will be pulled from the vaults, and all their ghosts will dine together, adventure together, go to the jungle to war together. A child born in fifty years will stumble across your image, flickering on the screen, and feel he knows you, like a friend. Though you breathed your last before he breathed his first. You've been given a gift. Be grateful. Your time today is through, but you'll spend eternity with angels and ghosts."

She is the gossip peddler, the pop culture movie reviewer, the bizarrely over-plumed erudite with the Mid-Atlantic affectation. But at this moment, she's the grim reaper for Brad Pitt's Jack Conrad, who has been popular his whole career, but is unprepared for the precipitous and inevitable drop. Her words are conciliatory but sharp, and flay open his soul with the easy efficiency of light passing through a lens. He disagrees, but knows it in his heart.

It's not an easy truth, and his was among the first generation of actors to learn it; like many from the period, he places himself in the hands of fate.

7 "All of us here are writers. The pictures originated with us. They are our own ideas. But, they're owned by the Studio." — Hail, Caesar!

You said it, brother. Hail, Caesar! was from 2016, but set in the dark period of 1950s Hollywood, when actors and writers had their careers killed by blacklisting. The idea of owning another person's idea seems, at its most simple, incongruous. A story is what takes an idea and turns it into a picture; why wouldn't the screenwriter be an integral piece of its remuneration?

Because that's the way it is. And if you don't like it, then you're a Communist. Hail, Caesar! is hardly a political film, but it does raise interesting points about class battles within the film industry, and the last time those with money punished thinking, working people who asked questions.

6 "This is a business where the buyer gets nothing for his money but a memory. What he bought still belongs to the man who sold it. That's the real magic of the movies. And don't let anybody tell you different." —Mank

This quote and the one above it pretty much sum up the movie business to a tee. In Mank , it's spoken by none other than Louis B. Mayer, one of the founders of MGM Studios . There's a wool pulled over the eyes of every movie lover, as tangible as the darkness in a movie theater.

You're sold an experience (and some popcorn), but the dollar flows upward. Like our current gig economy, we never own anything. Even if you had a VHS or a DVD or, bless you, a laserdisk, the technology moves so fast that your media is obsolete by the time you spring for a new TV. Louis B. Mayer knew it, the streamers and the studios know it. Most of the time, it's just the viewers left sitting in the dark.

The Sopranos: Tony Soprano's 10 Best Quotes

5 "it'll be just like in the movies. we'll pretend to be someone else." — mulholland drive.

Director David Lynch loves simple things. Old-fashioned, storybook settings, blissfully naive characters, and weird postmodern narratives. The arc of a young actress wanting to become a starlet in Hollywood dates back to the origins of film itself, but Mulholland Drive subverts that expectation and does what it wants. A pipe dream of stardom and a murder mystery combine beauty with horror.

David Lynch's stories deal less with traditional plot progression, and more with the emotions of the viewer. When doe-eyed blond Betty says this quote, she's speaking not just as herself, but as every actress whose ever, say, wanted a part in a David Lynch film. Which is just as well, because we, the viewer, may be inside a fabrication of her mind the whole time, anyway. The lines are blurry in this peculiar but gripping romantic thriller.

4 "That's the point, that we all have stories." — Barton Fink

The send up of the scene aren't Bart's words, but who they're spoken to. While staying indefinitely in a cheap Hollywood hotel, 1940s Broadway playwright Barton Fink , played by John Turturro, is roomed next door to Charlie Meadows (John Goodman), who sells insurance. After sharing a drink, Bart says he wants to write about working class people.

"That's the point, that we all have stories. The hopes and dreams of the common man are as noble as those of any king. The stuff of life. Why shouldn't it be the stuff of theater? I mean, god****it, why should that be such a hard pill to swallow? Don't call it New Theater, Charlie. Call it Real Theater. Call it Our Theater."

He condescendingly points to Charlie as the common man, swearing that he has stories to tell. But anytime Charlie tries to tell them, Bart interrupts in another insufferable, existentialist oratory, as guilty of the high-minded but hollow dialogue as the guys he's trash-talking.

3 "What's an Associate Producer credit?" "It's what you give to your secretary instead of a raise." — State and Main

David Mamet was already an experienced screenwriter and playwright by the time he wrote State and Main. A lot of it probably happened to him. The movie-within-a-movie is called The Old Mill , and they're shooting on location in a small Vermont town which, of course, doesn't have an old mill. Everybody is an old hand, trying to help solve the workaday problems encountered on a movie set; except for playwright Philip Seymour Hoffman, for whom this is the first time working a big budget movie. After hearing the director joke about giving the horse wrangler an Associate Producer credit, he pulls aside a grip and asks the above question.

For all of us not working the movies, it answered a longstanding question about all those names we see during the opening credits. For those who do know, it rings true except for one part— they call them assistants now.

2 "You really know Warren Beatty?" "Yes I do. I took a leak next to him once at the Golden Globes. Taco?" — Argo

Argo is a story about lying. In Los Angeles and Tehran, lies save lives.

In order to protect his cover story to extricate refugee State Department employees from almost certain death during the Iran hostage crisis, CIA agent Tony Mendez recruits legendary producer Lester Siegel to help him make a fake movie. In a meeting with the script agent, Les' offer is rejected, and he's insulted to his face.

Spy master Tony side-eyes him, wondering if he put stock in the right man, but Les proves it to him. He concocts a story about sharing a drink with Warren Beatty, the biggest star of the era , at Trader Vic's (a famous Hollywood haunt), and getting the inside scoop about a work stoppage at MGM, knocking the agent's argument down to size and winning back the leverage. Les and Tony walk out with a deal and a script, but Tony just has to know.

1 "I am big. It's the pictures that got small." — Sunset Blvd.

Sunset Blvd. is the greatest American movie ever made about filmmaking. The cyclical, ephemeral tragedy of moviestardom, even in its adolescence in 1950, is as real as the changing of the seasons. Of course, there are no seasons in Los Angeles, so change is a big surprise to everyone in Sunset Blvd . There's no more tragic example of that than Norma Desmond, out of the game for decades, deluded beyond reason, certain that her career in pictures will continue.

"You're Norma Desmond. You used to be in silent pictures. You used to be big."

"I am big. It's the pictures that got small."

The fact this it was played by an aging Gloria Swanson, herself a silent film star with a lot of similarities to the character, gave the film a twisted metatheatricality, which oddly enough, imprints the film with so much more realism— and accuracy . There's a lot of quotable material from this movie, but this one sums it all up best.

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The Best Movie Reviews We’ve Ever Written — IndieWire Critics Survey

David ehrlich.

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Every week, IndieWire asks a select handful of film critics two questions and publishes the results on Monday. (The answer to the second, “What is the best film in theaters right now?”, can be found at the end of this post.)

While this survey typically asks smart critics to direct readers toward good movies, we hope that the reverse is also true, and that these posts help movies (good or bad) direct readers towards smart critics. 

In that spirit, we asked our panel of critics to reflect on their favorite piece of film criticism that they’ve ever written (and we encouraged them to put aside any sort of modesty when doing so).

Their responses provide rich and far-reaching insight into contemporary film criticism, and what those who practice it are hoping to achieve with their work.

Siddhant Adlakha (@SidizenKane), Freelance for The Village Voice and /Film

Let’s cut right to the chase. Christopher Nolan is probably my favourite working director, and going five thousand words deep on his career after “Dunkirk” was an itch I’d been waiting to scratch for nearly a decade. “The Dark Knight” was my dorm-room poster movie — I’m part of the generation that explored films through the IMDb Top 250 growing up — though as my cinematic horizons expanded and my understanding of storytelling grew, I didn’t leave Nolan’s work behind as I did the likes of “Scarface” and “The Boondock Saints.” What’s more, each new film by Nolan hits me like a tonne of bricks. I’m waiting, almost eagerly, for him to disappoint me. It hasn’t happened yet, and I needed to finally sit down and figure out why.

In “Convergence At ‘Dunkirk,’” by far the longest piece I’ve ever written, I’d like to think I unpacked a decade worth of my awe and admiration, for a filmmaker who uses the studio canvas to explore human beings through our relationship to time. Tarkovsky referred to cinema as “sculpting in time.” Time disorients. Time connects us. Time travels, at different speeds, depending on one’s relationship to it, whether in dreams or in war or in outer space, and time can be captured, explored and dissected on screen.

What’s more, Nolan’s films manipulate truth as much as time, as another force relative to human perception, determining our trajectories and interpersonal dynamics in fundamental ways. All this is something I think I knew, instinctively, as a teenage viewer, but putting words to these explorations, each from a different time yet connected intrinsically, is the written criticism that I most stand by. It felt like something that I was meant to write, as I interrogated my own evolving emotional responses to art as time went on.

Carlos Aguilar (@Carlos_Film), Freelance for Remezcla

At the 2017 Sundance premiere of Miguel Arteta’s “Beatriz at Dinner,” starring Salma Hayek, I found myself in shock at the reactions I heard from the mostly-white audience at the Eccles Theatre. I was watching a different movie, one that spoke to me as an immigrant, a Latino, and someone who’s felt out of place in spaces dominated by people who’ve never been asked, “Where are you really from?” That night I went back to the condo and wrote a mountain of thoughts and personal anecdotes that mirrored what I saw on screen.

This was a much different piece from what I had usually written up to that point: coverage on the Best Foreign Language Oscar race, pieces on animation, interviews with internationally acclaimed directors, and reviews out of festivals. Those are my intellectual passions, this; however, was an examination on the identity that I had to built as an outsider to navigate a society were people like me rarely get the jobs I want.

My editor at Remezcla, Vanessa Erazo, was aware of the piece from the onset and was immediately supportive, but it would take months for me to mull it over and rework it through multiple drafts until it was ready for publication in time for the film’s theatrical release. In the text, I compared my own encounters with casual racism and ignorance with those Hayek’s character faces throughout the fateful gathering at the center of the film. The reception surpassed all my expectations. The article was shared thousands of times, it was praised, it was criticized, and it truly confronted me with the power that my writing could have.

A few months later in September, when Trump rescinded DACA, I wrote a social media post on my experience as an undocumented person working in the film industry, and how difficult it is to share that struggle in a world were most people don’t understand what it means to live a life in the shadows. The post was picked up by The Wrap and republished in the form of an op-ed, which I hope put a new face on the issue for those who didn’t directly knew anyone affected by it before. Once again that piece on “Beatriz at Dinner” regained meaning as I found myself filled with uncertainty.

Ken Bakely (@kbake_99), Freelance for Film Pulse

Like many writers, I tend to subconsciously disown anything I’ve written more than a few months ago, so I read this question, in practice, as what’s my favorite thing I’ve written recently. On that front, I’d say that the review of “Phantom Thread” that I wrote over at my blog comes the closest to what I most desire to do as a critic. I try to think about a movie from every front: how the experience is the result of each aspect, in unique quantities and qualities, working together. It’s not just that the acting is compelling or the score is enveloping, it’s that each aspect is so tightly wound that it’s almost indistinguishable from within itself. A movie is not an algebra problem. You can’t just plug in a single value and have everything fall into place.

“Phantom Thread” is Paul Thomas Anderson’s dreamy cinematography. It is Jonny Greenwood’s impeccably seductive, baroque music. It is Vicky Krieps’s ability to perfectly shatter our preconceptions at every single turn as we realize that Alma is the movie’s actual main character. We often talk about how good films would be worse-off if some part of it were in any way different. In the case of “Phantom Thread,” you flat-out can’t imagine how it would even exist if these things were changed. When so many hot take thinkpieces try to explain away every ending or take a hammer to delicate illusions, it was a pleasure to try and understand how a movie like this one operates on all fronts to maintain an ongoing sense of mystique.

Christian Blauvelt (@Ctblauvelt), BBC Culture

I don’t know if it’s my best work, but a landmark in my life as a critic was surely a review of Chaplin’s “The Circus,” in time for the release of its restoration in 2010. I cherish this piece , written for Slant Magazine, for a number of reasons. For one, I felt deeply honored to shed more light on probably the least known and least respected of Chaplin’s major features, because it’s a film that demonstrates such technical virtuosity it dispels once and for all any notion that his work is uncinematic. (Yes, but what about the rest of his filmography you ask? My response is that any quibbles about the immobility of Chaplin’s camera suggest an ardent belief that the best directing equals the most directing.) For another, I was happy this review appeared in Slant Magazine, a publication that helped me cut my critical teeth and has done the same for a number of other critics who’ve gone on to write or edit elsewhere. That Slant is now struggling to endure in this financially ferocious landscape for criticism is a shame – the reviews I wrote for them around 2009-10 helped me refine my voice even that much more than my concurrent experience at Entertainment Weekly, where I had my day job. And finally, this particular review will always mean a lot to me because it’s the first one I wrote that I saw posted in its entirety on the bulletin board at Film Forum. For me, there was no surer sign that “I’d made it”.

Richard Brody (@tnyfrontrow), The New Yorker

No way would I dare to recommend any pieces of my own, but I don’t mind mentioning a part of my work that I do with special enthusiasm. Criticism, I think, is more than the three A’s (advocacy, analysis, assessment); it’s prophetic, seeing the future of the art from the movies that are on hand. Yet many of the most forward-looking, possibility-expanding new films are in danger of passing unnoticed (or even being largely dismissed) due to their departure from familiar modes or norms, and it’s one of my gravest (though also most joyful) responsibilities to pay attention to movies that may be generally overlooked despite (or because of) their exceptional qualities. (For that matter, I live in fear of missing a movie that needs such attention.)

But another aspect of that same enthusiasm is the discovery of the unrealized future of the past—of great movies made and seen (or hardly seen) in recent decades that weren’t properly discussed and justly acclaimed in their time.”. Since one of the critical weapons used against the best of the new is an ossified and nostalgic classicism, the reëvaluation of what’s canonical, the acknowledgment of unheralded masterworks—and of filmmakers whose careers have been cavalierly truncated by industry indifference—is indispensable to and inseparable from the thrilling recognition of the authentically new.

Deany Hendrick Cheng (@DeandrickLamar), Freelance for Barber’s Chair Digital

It’s a piece on two of my favorite films of 2017, “Lady Bird” and “Call Me By Your Name”, and about how their very different modes of storytelling speak to the different sorts of stories we tell ourselves. Objectively, I don’t know if this is my best work in terms of pure style and craft, but I do think it’s the most emblematic in terms of what I value in cinema. I think every film is, in some way, a treatise on how certain memories are remembered, and I think cinema matters partly because the best examples of it are prisms through which the human experience is refracted.

Above everything else, every movie has to begin with a good story, and the greatest stories are the ones that mirror not just life, but the ways in which life is distorted and restructured through the process of remembering. Every aspect of a film, from its screenplay on down, must add something to the film’s portrayal of remembering, and “Lady Bird” and “Call Me By Your Name” accomplish this organic unity of theme with such charm yet in such distinct ways, that they were the perfect counterpoints to each other, as well as the perfect stand-ins for cinema as a whole, for me.

Liam Conlon (@Flowtaro), Ms En Scene

My favorite piece of my own work is definitely  “The Shape of Water’s” Strickland as the “Ur-American.”  I’m proud of it because it required me to really take stock of all the things that Americans are taught from birth to take as given. That meant looking at our history of colonialism, imperialism, racism, anticommunism and really diving into how all Americans, whether they’re liberal or conservative, can internalize these things unless they take the time to self-examine. Just as “Pan’s Labyrinth’s” despotic Captain Vidal was a masterful representation of Francisco Franco’s fascism, Richard Strickland represents a distinctly American kind of fascism. Writers Guillermo del Toro and Vanessa Taylor took great care in Strickland’s creation, and my piece was my own way of self-examining to make sure I never become or abide by a person like Strickland ever again.

Robert Daniels (@812filmreviews), Freelance

This is tricky, but “Annihilation” is definitely my favorite piece of film criticism that I’ve written. My writing style is a combination of criticism and gifs, and sometimes the words are better than the gifs, and the gifs are better than the words. With “Annihilation,” I thought the balance was perfect . My favorite portion: “Lena is just an idea, part of an equation that’s been erased from a chalkboard and rewritten with a different solution. The shimmer is part of her, even down to the DNA” is up there as one of my best. It was also a struggle to write because that film had more wild theories than the Aliens in Roswell. Also, the amount of research I had to do, combining Plato’s Ideal Forms, Darwin, the Bible, and Nietzsche, was absurd. However, it did make it easier to find matching gifs. The result made for my most studious, yet lighthearted read.

Alonso Duralde (@ADuralde), The Wrap

I’m the worst judge of my own material; there’s almost nothing I’ve ever written that I don’t want to pick at and re-edit, no matter how much time has passed. But since, for me, the hardest part of film criticism is adequately praising a movie you truly love, then by default my best review would probably be of one of my favorite films of all time, Charlie Kaufman’s “Synecdoche, New York.”

David Ehrlich (@davidehrlich), IndieWire

I can’t summon the strength to re-read it, but I remember thinking that my piece on grief and “Personal Shopper” was emblematic of how I hope to thread individual perspective into arts criticism.

Shelley Farmer (@ShelleyBFarmer), Freelance for RogerEbert.com and Publicist at Film Forum

My favorite piece is a very recent one: For this year’s Women Writers Week on Roger Ebert, I wrote about “Phantom Thread”, “Jane Eyre,” and twisted power dynamics in hetero romance . I loved that it allowed me to dig deep into my personal fixations (19th century literature, gender, romance as power struggle), but – more importantly – it was exciting to be part of a series that highlighted the breadth of criticism by women writers.

Chris Feil (@chrisvfeil), Freelance for The Film Experience, This Had Oscar Buzz Podcast

My answer to this would be kind of a cheat, as my favorite work that I do is my weekly column about movie music called Soundtracking that I write over at The Film Experience. Soundtracks and needle drops have been a personal fascination, so the opportunity to explore the deeper meaning and context of a film’s song choices have been a real labor of love. Because of the demands and time constraints of what we do, it can be easy to spend our all of our energy on assignments and chasing freelance opportunities rather than devoting time to a pet project – but I’ve found indulging my own uncommon fascination to be invaluable in developing my point of view. And serve as a constant check-in with my passion. Pushed for a single entry that I would choose as the best, I would choose the piece I wrote on “Young Adult”‘s use of “The Concept” by Teenage Fanclub for how it posits a single song as the key to unlocking both character and narrative.

Candice Frederick (@ReelTalker), Freelance for Shondaland, Harper’s Bazaar

“ Mother ” written for Vice. It’s one of my favorites because it conveys how visceral my experience was watching the movie. It’s truly stifling, uncomfortable, and frantic–and that’s what my review explains in detail. I wanted to have a conversation with the reader about specific aspects of the film that support the thesis, so I did.

Luiz Gustavo (@luizgvt), Cronico de Cinema

Well, I recently wrote a piece for Gazeta do Povo, a major outlet at Paraná state in Brazil, about Guillermo del Toro’s “The Shape of Water” (it is not on their site, but they were kind enough to let me replicate on my own website ). I don’t know the extent of the powers of Google Translator from Portugese to english, so you have to rely on my own account: is a text in which I was able to articulate de cinematographic references in the work of Mr. Del Toro, as well his thematic obsessions, the genre bending and social critique. All of this topics were analyzed in a fluid prose. On top of that, it was really fun to write!

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50 master quotes that show why screenwriters shouldn’t worry about film criticism

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No soul can be braver than a screenwriter or filmmaker putting their labours of love out there into the world for everyone to see. It’s a risk like no other. Audiences either lap up your work or reject it outright. It’s rare to find any in-betweens these days.

As if that worry isn’t enough, we also have to bite our nails over film critics’ and other reviewers’ views about our movies.

While more reviews equal more coverage (and, thus, more publicity), it’s still a clammying experience when we see a scathing takedown of our best efforts. Some of these powerhouse experts hold the final word in film recommendations and can sway public opinion.

Yet, there’s also the increasing disconnect between what critics prefer and what audiences do. And so, we wonder whether it’s worth pleasing a select bunch of highbrows at the cost of a larger viewership.

I’m all for having the necessary conviction while writing and making a film, without worrying about what critics say. No point in making a movie that critics fill up with praises while box-office counters go empty, right? I unabashedly admit my inclination towards creating commercial entertainers over arthouse cinema.

For more inspiration and strength, seek them out in these 50 quotes by some of the finest screenwriters and filmmakers of our time. You’ll automatically develop the much-needed grit and gumption, without the need for validation. Not saying that film criticism shouldn’t exist—though it can be way better than the hotchpotch it has become. Simply spelling out that it depends on us what we do about it.

“If film critics could destroy a movie, Michael Bay and Adam Sandler would be working at Starbucks. If film critics could make a movie a hit, the Dardenne brothers would be courted by every studio in town.”

― Alonso Duralde

“There was a cultural war going on, the ’60s was going on. All the film critics were square.”

― John Waters

“Someday, I’ll make a film that critics will like. When I have money to waste.”

—Francois Truffaut

“You highbrows writing on movies are nuts! In order to write about movies, you must first make them.”

― Orson Welles

“To see a film once and write a review is an absurdity.”

― Stanley Kubrick

“There’s not much in a critic showing off how clever he is at writing silly, supercilious gags about something he hates.”

“No film critic’s going to say it, but Madagascar 3 is better than The Artist .”

― Chris Rock

“I despise the phony, fancy-pants rhetoric of professors aping jargon-filled European locutions— which have blighted academic film criticism for over 30 years.”

― Camille Paglia

“What critics call dirty in our pictures, they call lusty in foreign films.”

—Billy Wilder

“Of course, the French are making very credible movies and it is still one of the greatest nations in terms of world cinema, but the real problem is the decay in film criticism.”

― Wim Wenders

“I would never have guessed that the profession of film criticism would be going the way of the dodo bird.”

—Quentin Tarantino

“One thing I don’t do anymore is read or pay attention to the critical response…”

― Casey Affleck

“In some cases, the critics just didn’t like the film—fair cop. Others, I think, didn’t understand it.”

—Guy Ritchie

“In this age of consumerism, film criticism all over the world—in America first but also in Europe—has become something that caters for the movie industry instead of being a counterbalance.”

“Reviews, although they feel devastating in the immediate moment, are not remotely as significant as the significance you endow them with on the day that they appear.”

—Tony Kushner

“The culture of independent film criticism has totally gone down the drain…”

“Plays can outlast even the opinions of the chief film critic of The New York Times …”

“Many, many critics say to me that my films are not good because they are too unbelievable, but this is my style.”

―Dario Argento

“It’s hard to see a film one time and really ‘get it’ and write fully and intelligently about it.”

—Richard Linklater

“I never think anyone will like what I do.”

—Terence Davies

“A lot of the films I do go down brilliantly critically and win awards, but not a lot of people see them.”

—Martin Compston

“I'm always terrified the critics won’t like my film and of course you always count the people who leave at the screening. They are on your death list. The people who stayed, stayed because they wanted to. You see it in a different way with an audience.”

“They used to criticize happy endings, but really, what’s the point of going to a film if you have to come out hating your fellow man?”

—Ray Harryhausen

“Critics are not aware of it, but (directing) is hard, physical work.”

—Roger Corman

“I’m sad that so many critics so uncritically use words like franchise, which should be reserved for your local Burger King.”

—David Edelstein

“For the film to ‘earn’ the right to be criticized on a scientific level is a high compliment indeed.”

—Neil deGrasse Tyson

“I don’t have any bone to pick with critics … Most of my bone is I would be a better film critic than most of the film critics I read.”

“In America, even the critics—which is a pity—tend to genre-ize things.”

—Francis Ford Coppola

“You can get critically acclaimed and go to various film festivals around the world, but that doesn’t necessarily mean the majority of people are going to hear about it.”

—Hugo Weaving

“The trouble is that when you read criticisms about the other films that I’ve made, you get the impression that they’re all about themes, or problems, or ideas. But those are actually things that develop out of characters, out of images, and out of other things. These more abstract things develop while working on the material, and out of it. It’s not a theoretical exercise from the outset.”

—Michael Haneke

“A theatrical on a tight budget really only becomes about generating critical reviews for you and your film, not revenue.”

—Aurora Guerrero

“I don’t have a very high opinion, actually, of the world of criticism—or the practice of criticism. I think I admire art criticism, criticism of painting and sculpture, far more than I do that of, say, films and books, literary, or film criticism. But I don’t much like the practice. I think there are an awful lot of bad people in it.”

—Tom Robbins

“Would it be nice to win a film award one day? Yes. But the critics are going to have to wait till I’m ready. Right now, my gift is making big movies that audiences want to see.”

—Brett Ratner

“Making judgments on films is in many ways so peculiarly vaporous an occupation that the only question is why, beyond the obvious opportunities for a few lectures’ fees and a little careerism at a dispiritingly self-limiting level, anyone does it in the first place.”

—Joan Didion

“I think films are about having a good time, so I don’t know that there’s a message. The message of a film is always what a critic writes, and the fun of a film or the emotion of a film is what the audience feels.”

—Steve Martin

“The artist doesn’t have time to listen to the critics. The ones who want to be writers read the reviews, the ones who want to write don’t have the time to read reviews.”

—William Faulkner

“Film criticism became the means whereby a stream of young intellectuals could go straight from the campus film society into the professionals’ screening room without managing to get a glimpse of the real world in between.”

—Judith Crist

“Does the critic wish to influence the kind of film that costs more than £250,000? It is as if he were to send a postcard to General Motors explaining that he would like them to make a raft next year, or a helicopter, instead of a car.”

—Kenneth Tynan

“Sometimes, it occurs to me that the job of a serious cultural critic mostly consists in telling the generality of people that their opinions—on films, on books, on all manner of widgets, gadgets, and even the latest electronic fidgets—simply aren’t up to scratch.”

“People think I’m against critics because they are negative to my work. That’s not what bothers me. What bothers me is they didn’t see the work. I have seen critics print stuff about stuff I cut out of the film before we ran it. So, don’t tell me about critics.”

—Jerry Lewis

“Remember: when people tell you something’s wrong or doesn’t work for them, they are almost always right. When they tell you exactly what they think is wrong and how to fix it, they are almost always wrong.”

—Neil Gaiman

“In city after city, newspaper after newspaper has diminished its staff of critics, sometimes to zero. Film and TV critics have been dropped and not replaced. Maybe they’re deemed unnecessary because nobody cares if anything’s good or not.”

—Tom Shales

“Critics sometimes appear to be addressing themselves to works other than those I remember writing.”

—Joyce Carol Oates

“I’m telling you, every film I’ve ever made has been hated by the UK critics.”

—James Gray

“What distinguishes modern art from the art of other ages is criticism.”

—Octavio Paz

“Pay no attention to what the critics say. A statue has never been erected in honor of a critic.”

—Jean Sibelius

“Having the critics praise you is like having the hangman say you’ve got a pretty neck.”

—Eli Wallach

“There are many critics who invite me on their show, and I (tell) them that (whenever) my film releases, you … give it (a) one-and-a-half-star rating. That’s fine. There’s no issue because stars will matter when I’m planning to open a five-star hotel. When I’m making films, I don’t need stars.”

—Rohit Shetty

“Critics in particular treat CGI as a virus that’s infecting film.”

50 of the funniest, most searing movie reviews ever written

• Movie reviewers have had some pretty scathing takes on films throughout the years. 
• One reviewer referred to a film as like "Grease: The Next Generation" acted out by the food-court staff at SeaWorld.
• Another riffed "Some movies leave a bad taste in the mouth. This one causes full-on halitosis."

For many viewers, a movie can simply exist as something to fill a void of upwards of 90 minutes. Film critics, who spend their lives scribbling notes in dark theaters, ask for a little more.

" I have a colleague who describes his job as 'covering the national dream beat,' because if you pay attention to the movies they will tell you what people desire and fear in their deepest secrets," the late Roger Ebert wrote in 1992 . "At least, the good ones will. That's why we go, hoping to be touched in those secret places. Movies are hardly ever about what they seem to be about. Look at a movie that a lot of people love, and you will find something profound, no matter how silly the film may seem."

Sometimes the best thing to come out of a movie is a blistering review. INSIDER rounded up 50 of the funniest, most searing movie reviews ever written.

Critics said that heartbreak was preferable to watching "Valentine's Day."

"'Valentine's Day' is being marketed as a Date Movie. I think it's more of a First-Date Movie. If your date likes it, do not date that person again. And if you like it, there may not be a second date." —   Roger Ebert , Chicago Sun-Times.

Critics eviscerated "Twilight," but the movie still made more than $390 million at the box office.

"I've had mosquito bites that were more passionate than this undead, unrequited, and altogether unfun pseudo-romantic riff on 'Romeo and Juliet.'" — Marc Salov , The Austin Chronicle.  

"The Other Woman" wasn't a hit with critics.

"I know what you're thinking ... 'Enough beating around the bush. Just tell us whether you liked it.' Consider this, which I will say in terms this movie would understand, if you were on an airplane, 'The Other Woman'   might not be preferable to simply staring into your empty airsick bag, but it has enough nicely executed physical comedy that in the event you become ill, it is definitely preferable to staring into your occupied airsick bag." — Linda Holmes , NPR.

"The Emoji Movie" has an 8% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

"This is a movie about how words aren't cool, but you can still expect a girl to fall at your feet in response to mild wordplay. Please keep up. Or throw whatever device you’re reading this on into the ocean. Send me a postcard ... tell me what it’s like to be free." — Kaitlyn Tiffany and Lizzie Plaugic , The Verge.

Netflix is making a sequel to "Bright" despite the fact it was totally panned by critics.

"While I had the misfortune to see 'Bright' in a theater, most people will simply press 'play' out of curiosity on their Roku remote. I am willing to concede that this might elevate the experience a little ... the ability to take a quick trip to the kitchen or restroom after shouting 'no, don't pause it' to your partner on the couch will be liberating." — Jordan Hoffman , Vanity Fair.

"Battlefield Earth" was a box-office bust and a critical failure.

"'Battlefield Earth' saves its scariest moment for the end: a virtual guarantee that there will be a sequel." — Desson Howe , The Washington Post.

The basic plot of "Milk Money" perplexed critics.

Roger Ebert imagined what the conversation between studio executives would have looked like when they greenlit the movie:

"Studio Executive A: Kind of like 'Working Girl Turns a Trick?'

"Studio Executive B: Cuter than that. We start with three 12-year-old boys. They're going crazy because they've never seen a naked woman.

"Studio Executive A: Whatsamatter? They poor? Don't they have cable?"

Even fans of the HBO series prefer to pretend "Sex and the City 2" doesn't exist, according to critics.

"When viewed as a rom-com, 'Sex and the City 2' is terrible and crappy and a horrific inversion of everything the show once was. But when viewed as a science fiction film, 'SATC2' is subversive, stylish and chilling. Like The Island from 'Lost,' we may never know The City's true identity — Is it a VR computer program? A malevolent interdimensional god? Satan?" — Cyriaque Lamar , i09.

Making fun of "Gigli" became a national past-time.

"Even making a little game of it, and trying to pinpoint the exact moment when Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez fell in love, stops being fun after a while. Perhaps it's when he says, in an attempt to seduce her, 'I'm the bull, you're the cow.' Or when she beckons him into foreplay by lying back in bed and purring, 'Gobble, gobble' — which could forever change the way you view your Thanksgiving turkey." — Christy Lemire , The Associated Press.

"The Adventures of Pluto Nash" wasn't a hit with critics.

"It's good to know that, if we have to leave Earth someday, we won't have to go without our kitsch. Forensics experts will be digging through the rubble of this fiasco for a long time, trying to reconstruct the accident. How did so many lines fall flat? Why were the action scenes so corny and unconvincing? Who put the stink on this?" — Jack Mathews , New York Daily News.

"Superbabies: Baby Geniuses 2" has a 2% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

" At its best/worst, 'Superbabies' hallucinatory idiocy inspires open-mouthed horror at what happens when an ill-conceived premise leads to even more jaw-droppingly misguided execution." — Nathan Rabin , AV Club.

Critics thought "Gotti" was so bad it was almost criminal.

"I'd rather wake up next to a severed horse head than ever watch 'Gotti' again. The worst movie of the year so far, the long-awaited biopic about the Gambino crime boss' rise from made man to top dog took four directors, 44 producers and eight years to make. It shows. The finished product belongs in a cement bucket at the bottom of the river." — Johnny Oleksinski , New York Post.

Critics got personal with their contempt for "Jaws: The Revenge."

"In the just-released 'Jaws: The Revenge' the shark's main course is intended to be Roy Scheider's widow, Ellen Brody, a frumpy middle-aged woman played by boring actress Lorraine Gary, who happens to be married to the president of MCA Universal, which finances the 'Jaws' films and which explains her lead role. Let's put it this way: When you see and hear the nasal Lorraine Gary on screen you want the shark to eat her." — Gene Siskel , Chicago Tribune.

"One Missed Call" didn't warrant anyone's attention, according to critics.

"The kid in front of me spent most of the movie playing Tetris on his phone. I didn't care enough about the movie to ask him to stop, or to find a cooler game." — Wesley Morris , The Boston Globe.

The critical response to "Jack Frost" was icy.

"With emotions as sincere as the soap flake snow on its sets, 'Jack Frost' goes on to show how much fun it is to have a snowman as a loving, though dead, father … As one more Hollywood effort to look on the sunny side of fatality, 'Jack Frost' is so sugarcoated that it makes other recent efforts in this genre look blisteringly honest." — Janet Maslin , The New York Times.

"The Snowman" left critics cold.

"'The Snowman' is like if aliens studied humanity and tried to make their own movie in an attempt to communicate with us. This simulacrum contains all the requisite pieces of a movie, but humanity got lost in translation." — Barbara VanDenburgh , The Arizona Republic.

Critics saw "Batman & Robin" as more of a cash-grab than a movie.

" The people who made this movie — which, as always, is set up for a sequel — will be laughing all the way to the bank. But isn't there someone in that bank who can lock them all inside a safety-deposit vault and throw away the key?" — Peter Rainer , The Phoenix New Times.

"Cool World" was almost universally hated by critics.

"The plot of Michael Grais' and Mark Victor's screenplay is even more nonsensical than it needs to be, revolving around frequent unmotivated trips between parallel cartoon and live-action universes, and around the question of whether cartoon women will have sex with human men." — Janet Maslin , The New York Times.

"Titanic" won 11 Academy Awards, but critics thought it took its sweet time getting to the point.

"'Titanic' is a good, often stunning movie caught in a three-and-a-half hour drift. As we marvel at the physical spectacle of the Titanic's last few hours, we're left staggeringly untouched by the people facing their last moments. This movie should have blown us out of the water. Instead, we catch ourselves occasionally thinking the unpardonable thought: 'OK, sink already.'" — Desson Howe , The Washington Post.

"Howard The Duck" was a one-note movie that prompted critics to question for whom exactly the movie was made.

"The story has no center; the duck is not likable, and the costly, overwrought, laser-filled special effects that conclude the movie are less impressive than a sparkler on a birthday cake. George 'Star Wars' Lucas supervised the production of this film, and maybe it's time he went back to making low-budget films like his best picture, 'American Graffiti.'" — Gene Siskel , The Chicago Tribune.

"Catwoman" is considered by critics to be one of the worst superhero movies ever made.

"The film could have turned out worse, but only via the addition of a Tom Green cameo, or an accident in which the actors caught on fire." — Keith Phipps , The AV Club

Critics thought "Mac and Me" was a discount version of "ET: The Extraterrestrial."

"'Mac and Me,' which opened yesterday at the Guild and other theaters, has a final police shootout and a fiery explosion in which Eric is the victim. When a doctor announced that Eric was gone, a small boy behind me said, 'He ain't dead,' with all the calm assurance of an experienced moviegoer who knows perfectly well that if E.T. came back, so would Eric. Cloning is a dangerous thing." — Caryn James , The New York Times.

Only a sucker would bother watching "Sucker Punch" after reading reviews.

"In the end, though the metaphor of mental institution as battleground is an interesting one to explore, that is not the analysis at the heart of this movie. Nope, 'Sucker Punch' is a two-hour $82 million fetish film examining how hot sad schoolgirls look when holding weapons. Snyder should have just made a porn movie — it might have been better, and it definitely would have been cheaper and more honest." — Dodai Stewart , Jezebel.

"Movie 43" prompted devastating reviews.

"It's as if 'Movie 43' was itself a feature-length f--- you to Hollywood, a movie made simply to show how bad a movie a studio could be induced to make and actors could be persuaded to act in." — Richard Brody , The New Yorker.

The best thing critics could say about "Fifty Shades Freed" was that the trilogy was finally over.

"Universal has had some fun with its marketing campaign, using the tag-line, 'Don't miss the climax.' It's a shame, though, that the posters exhibit considerably more ingenuity than the film itself." — Brian Lowery , CNN.

"A Christmas Prince" falls squarely in the category of "so bad it's good."

"It's a Netflix original movie, but it feels like a violation of nature that it somehow isn't from Lifetime or the Hallmark Channel. Nathan Atkins is credited with the screenplay, but this film is such a perfect amalgam of established tropes that I am not entirely convinced that isn't a pseudonym to keep us from discovering that Netflix has created the artificial-intelligence technology to generate a script using auto-complete." — Dana Schwartz , Entertainment Weekly.

"A Christmas Prince: The Royal Wedding" seemed to revel in shoddiness.

"It plays like a piece of Prince Harry and Duchess Meghan fan fiction, written by a child who actually doesn't know who they are but has watched the 'Princess Diaries' films." — Carly Mallenbaum , USA Today.

Critics thought "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice" was far too depressing for a superhero movie.

"An even less charitable way to put it is that a clearly excited 7- or 8-year-old kid sitting in front of me busted out crying and had to be whisked out of the theater by his father within the first five minutes. Perhaps he was unnerved by the harsh, operatic violence of Bruce Wayne's parents getting murdered — the mom's pearls get tangled around the gun, somehow, which allows for some very tight and poignant slow motion — or maybe he was offended by the notion that a 2016 Batman movie felt it necessary to depict Bruce Wayne's parents getting murdered. Either way, this kid bounced." — Rob Harvilla , Deadspin.

Critics thought "Transformers: The Last Knight" was simply too incoherent to describe.

"I'll admit, I've been dreading the thought of trying to at all explain the plot of this movie — even in broad, simple terms. I honestly had anxiety dreams last night about this moment. It's like staring at a projected kaleidoscope for two and a half hours and then trying to tell someone about the plot." — Mike Ryan , Uproxx.

Many thought "The Brown Bunny" was tedious and only remembered for its inclusion of one explicit scene.

"It's not really a movie. I suppose it's what could be called a recorded behavior. It simply reproduces, with some crude fidelity, the hapless anguish of a grieving man as he copes with his loss. It has no characters, it has no conflict, it has nothing that could be called a plot. It offers no reason to watch it — that is, no reason within the picture." — Stephen Hunter , The Washington Post.

Critics were thoroughly disgusted by "The Human Centipede," but they were also bored by it.

"This is one of those movies where victims repeatedly have opportunities to escape but choose not to, guaranteeing still more grotesque degradation, full of gore, torture, and sexual humiliation — and contains not an iota of wit or intelligence to justify any of it." — Michael Ordoña , The Los Angeles Times.

"Avatar" is still the highest grossing movie of all time, but not everyone was a fan.

"' Avatar' isn't about actors or characters or even about story; it's about special effects, which is fine as far as it goes. But for a movie that stresses how important it is for us to stay connected with nature, to keep our ponytails plugged into the life force, 'Avatar' is peculiarly bloodless. It's a remote-control movie experience, a high-tech 'wish you were here' scribbled on a very expensive postcard. You don't have to be fully present to experience 'Avatar'; all you have to do is show up." — Stephanie Zacharek , Salon.

Critics thought "I Know Who Killed Me" was embarrassing for everyone involved.

"Pretentious and inane, 'I Know Who Killed Me' arouses unexpected sympathy for its embattled star. 'Should we populate the movie with competent, strong performances, or were we looking for stars?' asks the producer, Frank Mancuso Jr., in the film's production notes. Out of the mouths of producers." — Jeannette Catsoulis , The New York Times.

Critics thought there was nothing redeeming about "Sorority Boys."

"I'm curious about who would go to see this movie. Obviously moviegoers with a low opinion of their own taste. It's so obviously what it is that you would require a positive desire to throw away money in order to lose two hours of your life. 'Sorority Boys' will be the worst movie playing in any multiplex in America this weekend, and, yes, I realize 'Crossroads' is still out there." — Roger Ebert , The Chicago Sun-Times.

"Forrest Gump" won multiple Academy Awards, but it still prompted some biting reviews.

"With two decades of perspective on 'Forrest Gump's triumph, you get the sense that '90s audiences were relieved to see a film that said it was OK — even honorable — to ignore all the bad stuff about war. So, too, was the Motion Picture Academy, which 12 months after lauding 'Schindler's List'   decided, 'Screw it, let's give the awards to the movie that sells cookbooks.' — Amy Nicholson , LA Weekly.

Critics absolutely hated "Life Itself."

"'Life Itself' thinks you're stupid. Or, if not stupid, unable to understand how a movie should work. It's a movie made for people who can't be trusted to understand any storytelling unless it's not just spoon-fed but ladled on, piled high, and explained via montage and voiceover" — Kate Erbland , IndieWire.

"Ridiculous 6" felt intentionally offensive.

"There's the broad racism and misogyny of the piece. After the controversial walk-offs, Netflix claimed that this was 'satire.' It's not. There's nothing satirical about Sandler's bad Native American accent, which totally comes and goes, by the way, or Schneider's Hispanic caricature. Saying that this is satire is like the drunk guy at the bar telling you how many black friends he has after telling a racist joke. Don't fall for it." — Brian Tallerico , RogerEbert.com.

"The Village" felt like a waste of time to some.

" [M. Night Shyamalan] directs the material as if he'd written it (which he did), and not a single friend dared tell him the truth." — Mick LaSalle , SFGate.

The extreme level of product placement in "Crossroads" was an issue for critics.

"It turns out that 'Crossroads' is not a music video, not yet a movie, but more like an extended-play advertisement for the Product that is Britney." — Ann Hornaday, The Washington Post.

Critics thought "Grown Ups" was a lazy attempt at comedy.

"The movie is symptomatic of a social attitude that might be called the security of incompetence. There's something reassuring about a bad movie that doesn't ask you to think or feel or even pay attention ... we can all be happy D-minus students huddled together in communal self-disgust in a D-minus world." — Stephen Holden , The New York Times.

Critics thought "Grown Ups 2" was so bad that it made them appreciate the first movie.

"In 'Grown Ups 2,' which is set on the last day of school, our heroes are now all living in the same small town together, and everybody's pretty happy, so there's little to motivate the action. It makes the first movie look like 'The Maltese Falcon.'" — Bilge Ebiri , Vulture.

Some thought "Suburbicon" was too smug for its own good.

"You absolutely can fault [George Clooney] for wrongheadedness in making a movie that condemns racism, and specifically segregation in the postwar housing boom, albeit in the most broad, perfunctory, awareness-ribbon-wearing way while barely allowing its black characters to speak. 'Suburbicon' might be the biggest embarrassment to pious Hollywood liberalism since 'Crash' won best picture in 2006." — Chris Klimek , NPR.

"Mother!" may not have been enjoyable, but it certainly was memorable.

"I admired the camerawork, the wide-angle close-ups of flaring nostrils, and the pandemonium of the crowd scenes in the second half of the film when it goes haywire and insanity reign. It's an odd sensation to still remember moments of technical brilliance in a movie I never want to see again." — Rex Reed , The Observer.

Some thought "Freddy Got Fingered" was an embarrassment for everyone involved.

" This movie doesn't scrape the bottom of the barrel. This movie isn't the bottom of the barrel. This movie isn't below the bottom of the barrel. This movie doesn't deserve to be mentioned in the same sentence with barrels." — Roger Ebert , Chicago Sun-Times.

Critics thought there just wasn't anything funny about "Joe Dirt."

"Why do American audiences accept the stance that silly movies have to be terrible by definition? There's nothing enjoyable about 'Joe Dirt.' Absolutely nothing. Spade's generic nonperformance is the centerpiece of a very wobbly story, and he simply isn't enough of an actor to keep you interested." — Paul Tatara , CNN.

Critics thought "Fantastic Four" was the opposite of fantastic.

"My notebook usually remains near my lap, but at this movie, it made involuntary trips over my mouth to cover all of my gasping. The entire experience is shameful — for us, for the filmmakers, for whoever at the studio had the job of creating the ads, in which the cast appear to be starring in hostage posters." — Wesley Morris , Grantland.

"From Justin to Kelly" was embarrassingly amateur, according to critics.

"How bad is 'From Justin to Kelly?' Set in Miami during spring break, it's like 'Grease: The Next Generation' acted out by the food-court staff at SeaWorld." — Owen Gleiberman , Entertainment Weekly.

"National Lampoon's Gold Diggers" has a 0% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

"Just how repellent is 'National Lampoon's Gold Diggers?' So stupefyingly hideous that after watching it, you'll need to bathe in 10 gallons of disinfectant, get a full-body scrub and shampoo with vinegar to remove the scummy residue that remains. Some movies leave a bad taste in the mouth. This one causes full-on halitosis." — Jen Chaney , The Washington Post.

"Venom" was a tonally-uneven, muddled mess, according to most critics.

"For all of its cult potential, and my God, is this film rife with it, it is 'Venom's' insidious political intonations, which were entirely avoidable, that become the least palatable aspect of the film. And this is a movie where you see Tom Hardy eat out of a garbage can." — Sarah Tai-Black , The Globe and Mail.

"North" almost universally disliked by critics and prompted one of Roger Ebert's movie memorable reviews.

"' North' is one of the most unpleasant, contrived, artificial, cloying experiences I've had at the movies. To call it manipulative would be inaccurate; it has an ambition to manipulate, but fails … I hated this movie. Hated hated hated hated hated this movie. Hated it. Hated every simpering stupid vacant audience-insulting moment of it. Hated the sensibility that thought anyone would like it. Hated the implied insult to the audience by its belief that anyone would be entertained by it." — Roger Ebert , Chicago Sun-Times.

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• Main content

• Writing Style
• How to write …
• Analysis of Speech
• Storytelling
• Career Development

How to Write a Film Review: Preparation, Steps, Examples

• by Anastasiya Yakubovska
• 06.10.2022 10.05.2024
• How to write ...

How to write a film review (true, professional, and comprehensive) and not be limited to the phrase “What a great movie!”? In this article, you will find answers to the next questions:

• How long is a movie review? 
• How many paragraphs does a movie review have? 
• Features of the Film Review 
• Functions of the Movie Review 
• How to Write a Film Review: Preparation for Writing 
• 10 Questions You Need to Answer Before You Start Writing a Movie Review 
• How to Write and Structure a Film Review: Step by Step 

What Is a Film Review?

A film review is a critical judgment or discussion that informs about the release of a new film and contains its analysis, assessment, summary, as well as personal impressions and experiences after watching.

How long is a movie review?

On average, the length of a film review is about 1000 words.

How many paragraphs does a movie review have?

It is recommended that the film review should consist of 5-7 paragraphs.

Read also article “How to Write a Book Review: Step by Step and Examples”.

Features of the Film Review

A film review is a persuasive piece of writing, it has some features as:

• A less formal style of writing. 
• You need to write objectively about the film. 
• But, on the other hand, movie reviews contain personal thoughts and feelings. 
• The film review’s audience is wider and more diverse. 

Movie reviews can be written by two groups of reviewers: professional critics and ordinary consumers. Therefore, the text of the review will differ. In the first case, when the reviewer is a professional critic, he will describe the movie instead of evaluating it. While consumer critics mostly write from a personal perspective. 

What is the main purpose of a film review?

The main purpose of a film review is to inform readers about the film (what can expect from it) and to help them determine if they want to watch the movie. 

Functions of the Movie Review

The film review performs several functions at once: it informs, analyzes, persuades, and entertains. If you can include all of these points in your review, then you will have an excellent result in the end. 

How to Write a Film Review: Preparation for Writing

Writing a review is, of course, a creative process, but you should not forget about the analytical approach to creating a convincing and high-quality text. You must take the work responsibly, which we will do now.

To write a professional film review, you first need to complete the following preparation steps:

• Of course, the first step is to find a film, if it has not been previously chosen by the manager/client/boss. There will be more chances to write a good review if the film was liked by both – film critics and you personally.
• Watch the movie at least 2-3 times. After the first viewing, you will get a general impression of the picture, and try to fully immerse yourself in the atmosphere of the film. Pay attention to the details the next time you watch it: the sound, the actor’s play, the editing, the plot. 
• If you have difficulty understanding the events covered in the film (for example, historical), be sure to find additional information and research the topic.
• If after two viewings you still do not have a final assessment of the film in the form of a brief thesis, watch the film again. You can look at other works of the director who worked on this film, this will help you determine his characteristic style. Also, as an option, you can look at the game of actors in other films (for comparison).
• When watching a movie, take notes: key scenes, interesting plot twists, inconsistencies, details, and quotes. Then, based on them, you can build a review text, and a good quote can become an excellent epigraph.
• Find information about the filming: location, duration, season, details about the filming process, difficulties the production team faced, casting, etc. Such information will make the review more attractive to readers.
• If the film is nominated for awards and prizes, please include this information in your film review. For a potential viewer, such an assessment of the film will be a weighty argument in the direction of -> compulsory viewing.

10 Questions You Need to Answer Before You Start Writing a Movie Review

• Does the film split into multiple parts? A sequel, prequel, or one of the movie series? 
• What is the film genre (action, comedy, historical, drama, fantasy, Western, political, thriller, gangster, horror, tragicomedy, romance, sports, mystery, science fiction)? Is the movie based on real or fictional events?
• Did the screenplay writer create an exciting plot?
• Is the rhythm of the film slow and quiet, heavy and static, or chaotic and frantic?
• What is the film’s rating according to the MPAA? ( G – General Audiences. All ages admitted. PG – Parental Guidance Suggested. PG-13 – Parents Strongly Cautioned. R – Restricted. Under 17 requires an accompanying parent or adult guardian. NC-17 – Adults Only.) 
• Are there any films with a similar/same theme? Sometimes it is worth mentioning some of them in a review, as a comparison.
• How can you characterize the work of a cinematographer? How accurately are the most expressive compositional, lighting solutions, as well as camera angles, selected and embodied?
• Is the film entertaining or covers a serious themes?
• Was the casting successful? Did all the actors cope with their roles?
• Is the atmosphere of the film tense, mysterious, sinister, relaxed, or romantic?

The answers to all of the above questions will help you understand how to write a film review, and above all, create a draft version of your future review. But, of course, this is not enough for the final result.

How to Write and Structure a Film Review: Step by Step

Writing a film review is a long and complicated process. Therefore, it is better to break it down into stages and move step by step. This will help you not to get lost and not get confused in the details.

• The catchy introduction.

The introductory part of the review should contain important information about the film: title, director, release date, and genre. 

You can mention nominations and awards, as well as indicate the box office (if the numbers are impressive) and the cast. 

In addition to “technical” aspects and a simple presentation of the plot, it is necessary to express your impression of the film in the form of a thesis, for example, to tell:

• about the connection of the film’s central idea with current events and social problems;
• about the similarity of the film’s plot with a personal life situation, personal experience, and feelings;
• about the connection of technical elements (lighting, sound, editing) with the theme of the film.

2. Pass the verdict.

Do not torment the reader and express your opinion about the film in the first paragraphs of the review.

You should not leave all the most interesting “for later”. If you decide to give a final assessment of the film at the end of the review, what are the chances that the reader will read to this end?

3. Write a summary of the plot.

Choose 4-5 main events.

Avoid the film’s ending and spoilers. Keep the intrigue. If you want to spoil and share an unusual story development, warn the reader about this.

4. Bring the feelings.

In addition to presenting the plot of the film, you should add emotions to the text of the review and show what you felt while watching it.

5. Define the main purpose of the movie. 

Perhaps the film’s purpose is hidden in its plot. Or maybe the film does not pretend to solve global problems at all. Perhaps the film is entertaining, and this is its advantage – it is relaxed and simple.

Sometimes the main idea of a serious and deep film can be found in an interview with a film crew, a screenwriter, or a director.

6. Add some details of the filmmaking process. 

It is important to know the measure and not to overdo it with the terminology. Here’s what you can write about:

• Cinematography: visual mood, lighting elements, shot sizes and widths, camera angles, etc. 
• Sound. The main goal is to create the necessary atmosphere in the film. Sound in movies includes music, dialogue, sound effects, ambient noise, background noise, and soundtracks. 
• Editing is the creation of a finished motion picture from many shot scenes. A film editor must creatively work with the layers of images, story, dialogue, music, pacing, as well as the actors’ performances to effectively “re-imagine” and even rewrite the film to craft a cohesive whole.
• Mise-en-scène (from French – placement on the stage) is the mutual arrangement of the actors and their environment on the set, natural or pavilion. Mise-en-scene includes landscapes, visual effects, the psychological state of the characters, etc.

7. The deep meaning.

You may be able to spot specific symbolic items, repetitive moments, or key phrases that give depth to the film.

8. Give examples.

It is not enough to say “ an excellent game of actors ”. Explain what exactly caught your attention (appearance, facial expressions, costumes, or movements of the actor). 

9. A convincing conclusion.

Write about the moments in the film that made the biggest impression on you. Share a recommendation. To whom and why do you advise to watch this movie?

10. Reread the review text several times .

Edit, and correct mistakes that can spoil the impression even from a professionally written film review.

Examples of Film Reviews

To consolidate the received information, let’s move from theory to practice. Below are two examples of film reviews.

Apocalypse Now

Review by Roger Ebert

Francis Ford Coppola’s film “Apocalypse Now” was inspired by Heart of Darkness, a novel by Joseph Conrad about a European named Kurtz who penetrated to the farthest reaches of the Congo and established himself like a god. A boat sets out to find him, and on the journey the narrator gradually loses confidence in orderly civilization; he is oppressed by the great weight of the jungle all around him, a pitiless Darwinian testing ground in which each living thing tries every day not to be eaten.

What is found at the end of the journey is not Kurtz so much as what Kurtz found: that all of our days and ways are a fragile structure perched uneasily atop the hungry jaws of nature that will thoughtlessly devour us. A happy life is a daily reprieve from this knowledge.

A week ago I was in Calcutta, where I saw mile upon square mile of squatter camps in which hundreds of thousands live generation after generation in leaky huts of plastic, cardboard and scrap metal, in poverty so absolute it is impossible to see any hope of escape. I do not mean to equate the misery of those hopeless people with a movie; that would be indecent. But I was deeply shaken by what I saw, and realized how precious and precarious is a happy life. And in such a mood I watched “Apocalypse Now” and came to the scene where Col. Kurtz (Marlon Brando) tells Capt. Willard (Martin Sheen) about “the horror.”

Kurtz is a decorated hero, one of the best soldiers in the Army, who has created a jungle sanctuary upriver inside enemy territory, and rules Montagnard tribesmen as his private army. He tells Willard about a day when his Special Forces men inoculated the children of a village against polio: “This old man came running after us and he was crying, he couldn’t see. We went back there, and they had come and hacked off every inoculated arm. There they were in a pile, a pile of little arms. . . .”

What Kurtz learned is that the Viet Cong were willing to go to greater lengths to win: “Then I realized they were stronger than we. They have the strength, the strength to do that. If I had 10 divisions of those men, then our troubles here would be over very quickly. You have to have men who are moral and at the same time who are able to utilize their primordial instincts to kill without feeling, without passion, without judgment.” This is the “horror” that Kurtz has found, and it threatens to envelop Willard, too.

The whole movie is a journey toward Willard’s understanding of how Kurtz, one of the Army’s best soldiers, penetrated the reality of war to such a depth that he could not look any longer without madness and despair.

The film has one of the most haunting endings in cinema, a poetic evocation of what Kurtz has discovered, and what we hope not to discover for ourselves. The river journey creates enormous anticipation about Kurtz, and Brando fulfills it. When the film was released in 1979, his casting was criticized and his enormous paycheck of $1 million was much discussed, but it’s clear he was the correct choice, not only because of his stature as an icon, but because of his voice, which enters the film from darkness or half-light, repeating the words of T.S. Eliot’s despairing “The Hollow Men.” That voice sets the final tone of the film.

Film review: example

Diana biopic Spencer wobbles between the bold and the bad

By Nicholas Barber

You may feel that you’ve had enough of Princess Diana’s story on the big and small screens, what with Naomi Watts taking the role in Oliver Hirschbiegel’s awful Diana in 2013, and then Emma Corrin playing her in the most recent season of The Crown, with the mantel set to be passed in Elizabeth Debicki in the next run. But, to give it its due, Pablo Larraín’s Spencer marks the only time the People’s Princess has been shown delivering a lecture on Anne Boleyn to an old coat that she has just stolen off a scarecrow, and then having a chat with the ghost of Boleyn herself shortly afterwards. The Chilean director doesn’t go in for conventional biopics, as anyone who has seen Jackie (starring Natalie Portman) or Neruda will know. And here again he has gone for a surreal portrait of his iconic subject. The snag is that his experimental art house spirit keeps bumping up against the naffness and the familiarity of British films set in stately homes, so his psychodrama ends up being both ground-breaking and rib-tickling.

It’s set over three days in 1991, from Christmas Eve to Boxing Day, at Sandringham House in Norfolk. The rest of the Royal Family has arrived for their holiday in a fleet of chauffeur-driven cars, but Diana (Kristen Stewart) rocks up on her own in a Porsche convertible, having taken a detour to visit the aforementioned scarecrow: her dilapidated childhood home, from the days when she was Lady Diana Spencer, is a field or two away from Sandringham. Her late arrival concerns the sympathetic head chef (Sean Harris) and bothers the Scottish army veteran (Timothy Spall) who has the job of ensuring that everything goes the way the Queen wants it to. Her Majesty’s insufferable Christmas traditions include weighing all the guests when they arrive and when they leave to ensure that they’ve been sufficiently gluttonous. But Diana is in no mood for festive japes. Her Christmas present from Charles (Jack Farthing) – a necklace with pearls the size of golf balls – is identical to the one he has given his mistress. And the whisper in the servants’ quarters is that the Princess is “cracking up”. The filmmakers apparently agree.

Steering away from the same territory as The Crown, Larraín and Knight don’t fill the film with awkward meals and heated arguments (although there are one of each of those). Prince Charles does some grumbling, but the Queen has hardly any lines and Prince Philip has none: they are closer to menacing waxworks than people. For most of the time, Diana is either talking to her young sons, her trusted personal dresser (Sally Hawkins) or to herself. It’s interesting, this lack of dramatic conflict and discernible plot, but it can leave the film seeming as listless and purposeless as Larraín’s Diana herself. Her favourite occupation is to wander around the estate until she finds something that has an ominous symbolic connection to her, and then make an unconvincing speech about it. Ah, pheasants! So beautiful, yet bred to be killed!

Stewart is such inspired casting that she makes all this eccentric nonsense watchable. She’s been practising Diana’s signature moves for years – dipped head, hunched shoulders – and she certainly knows what it’s like to put up with intrusive tabloid photographers. She also looks suitably fabulous in the many outfits that Diana is required to wear over the long weekend. And unlike Watts’s performance in 2013, hers doesn’t seem distractingly like an impersonation. Mind you, she delivers all her lines in little bursts of hissing whispers, so if you don’t see it with English subtitles, as its first audiences did at the Venice Film Festival, you might not understand more than half of what she says.

The effect is a bit odd, but there are lots of odd things in the film, not least the tone and the pacing, which lurch around like someone who’s had too much after-dinner port. Between Jonny Greenwood’s squalling jazz soundtrack, the hallucinations, and the blush-making sexual confessions, Spencer is a folly that wobbles between the bold and the bad, the disturbingly gothic and the just plain silly. In some scenes, it’s heart-rending in its depiction of Diana’s self-harm and bulimia. In others, it’s almost as risible as the Diana biopic from 2013, and that’s saying something. I didn’t know any more about Diana afterwards than I did beforehand, but I can’t say I didn’t enjoy it. This is a film that echoes The Shining at the start and 2001: A Space Odyssey at the end. The Crown Christmas Special it ain’t.

Sources of information: 

• “The Film Analysis Handbook” by Thomas Caldwell. 
• https://payforwriting.com/writing/creating-review/how-to-write-movie-review
• www.mtsu.edu
• www.sciencedirect.com/science
• Image:   freepik.com
• Poster from the film Apocalypse Now

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The 10 Most Underrated Quotes from the Avengers Movies, Ranked

Might as well call him Tony Snark.

Though the series is an action-packed one, there’s an argument to be made that what makes The Avengers movies work as well as they do is the writing, particularly the banter-filled character interactions. These movies aren’t comedies, necessarily, but they can be very funny, having self-awareness about how extravagant they can get, how extreme certain characters are, and how high-stakes things typically are within such entries in the MCU.

Beyond the humor, though, there’s also a good deal of pathos to be found, with many of the most intense and emotional moments in the MCU saved for these big crossover/event movies. On the topic of Avengers films, there have been four so far, and all are filled to the brim with memorable dialogue . The following quotes might not always be the most famous, but they’re worthy of attention and worth remembering. It should be clarified that calling any quote from a series as big and popular as this “underrated” might seem like a stretch, but nevertheless, these instances of dialogue tend to be even more quotable than most give them credit for.

10 “This is beyond you, metal man. Loki will face Asgardian justice.”

‘the avengers’ (2012).

Thor , as a movie and a character, more or less launched Chris Hemsworth’s career , though it took a little while for everyone to warm up to him, given the hammy seriousness of the character’s MCU debut wasn’t for everyone. Still, it was an important movie in the lead-up to The Avengers , introducing not just a core member of said team, but also the main villain of the first Avengers movie: Loki, Thor’s brother.

2012’s The Avengers built their dynamic well, and also did a little of the groundwork needed to humanize Thor as a character, what with him being a literal god and all. Humor was a good way to achieve this, and Thor calling Iron Man “metal man” is an underrated and amusing line, kind of getting lost within an eventful and exciting action sequence, as well as overshadowed by Tony Stark’s more memorable quip regarding “Shakespeare in the park.”

The Avengers

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9 “It's like a pirate had a baby with an angel.”

‘avengers: infinity war’ (2018).

Avengers: Infinity War was great for many reasons, with one of them being the fact that it brought the Guardians of the Galaxy into a crossover movie for the first proper time, following their more isolated adventures in the excellent Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) and the solid follow-up that was Vol. 2 (2017). Sure, that first movie in 2014 did help build Thanos – Infinity War’s villain – as a threat, but it wasn’t until 2018 that the Guardians themselves got to interact with the members of the Avengers.

The film made a wise decision to pair Thor up with the Guardians, with the squad rescuing him from space, allowing for plenty of humor and emotion (given the members of the Guardians of the Galaxy and Thor are all dealing with loss and/or heartbreak). But to focus on the comedy, Drax of course gets some of the best moments, rather accurately describing Thor, upon seeing him, as a combination of an angel and a pirate.

Avengers: Infinity War

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8 Doctor Strange: “Is that everyone?” Wong: “What, you wanted more?”

‘avengers: endgame’ (2019).

For as monumental as Infinity War was, its follow-up, Avengers: Endgame , arguably went even bigger, having a runtime that was half an hour longer and an even more monumental box office gross (the highest of its decade) . And no scene in Endgame quite demonstrated the film’s commitment to scale like the climactic battle, which brought an unprecedented number of superheroes into one huge sequence, battling against Thanos and his forces.

It's just non-stop as a scene, being perhaps the biggest (and possibly best) final act of the 2010s, at least as far as blockbusters go. There’s so much to take in visually, and so many one-liners fired out in all directions by various characters. The exchange between Doctor Strange and Wong works at emphasizing the size of the scene and stands as particularly funny… though if a future Avengers movie can top Endgame in character count and/or battle size, then perhaps Dr. Strange “wanting more” won’t seem so outrageous in hindsight .

Avengers: Endgame

Watch on Disney+ ​​​​​

7 “They're gods, and they need someone to keep them down to Earth.”

‘avengers: age of ultron’ (2015).

Few people would call Age of Ultron their favorite Avengers movie, and indeed, it is the lowest-ranked overall from a critical perspective . Yet despite its less-than-great reputation, it’s really not a terrible superhero movie; more just an inconsistent one. It doesn’t quite have the scope of Infinity War or Endgame , nor the simplicity and charm of 2012’s The Avengers, but it has its moments and does serve certain characters well .

Case in point, it was a movie where Hawkeye really started to come into his own as a character, and overall helped establish him as a bit less of a pop-culture punching bag. He has a lot more screen time here, compared to The Avengers , and viewers even get a look at his family life. His wife, Laura Barton, also neatly summarizes his purpose within the Avengers team, emphasizing how he can help keep them – and their egos – grounded, what with the capacity for their godlike/fantastical/complex powers to lead to dysfunction and fierce rivalries.

Avengers: Age of Ultron

6 “he's never fought me twice.”.

Across Infinity War and Endgame , Thanos antagonizes and crushes the spirits of too many characters to count, with his actions in Infinity War’s opening scene proving particularly shattering to Thor. The hopeful ending of 2017’s Thor: Ragnarök is somewhat undone by that film’s foreboding mid-credits scene, decimated off-screen right before Infinity War starts, and then further crushed in the first 10 minutes of that movie, especially owing to the fact that Thanos kills Heimdall, a close ally of Thor’s, and Loki, his brother.

Thor discusses his quest for vengeance with Rocket Raccoon, the latter correcting him when Thor claims Thanos has never fought him before. Thor then awkwardly says, “He's never fought me twice” – a line that’s funny in the moment, but becomes heavy later in the film, when Thor does indeed clash with Thanos once again… and Thor makes a fatal mistake, neither using his head nor going for Thanos’ .

5 “Apparently I'm volatile, self-obsessed, and don't play well with others.”

Iron Man (2008) kick-started the MCU with style , introducing Tony Stark/Iron Man to a bigger audience than he’d ever had before as a comic book character. It was a movie that helped usher in the superhero genre’s dominance at the box office and within pop culture, and the titular character was instantly popular, continuing to be one of the most sharp-witted and sarcastic characters in the MCU for over a decade’s worth of movies.

Tony Stark has his moments of genuine kindness, more so as the series goes along, but The Avengers allows him to be in tip-top shape sarcasm-wise for the majority of its runtime. Addressing how he apparently didn’t qualify for the Avengers initiative at first , Stark admits he’s “volatile, self-obsessed, and (doesn’t) play well with others,” which is right on the money, even if he does eventually become an essential team-player in his own way later in the film.

4 “You have my respect, Stark. When I'm done, half of humanity will still be alive. I hope they remember you.”

Thanos made some brief appearances throughout a handful of earlier MCU movies, but it wasn’t until Avengers: Infinity War that he emerged as arguably one of the best villains in recent movie history . He poses a genuine threat to the entire universe, given the movie sees him determined to obtain all the Infinity Stones, and use them in combination to wipe out half of all life in the universe to reduce over-population on a massive scale.

He has clear goals, is ruthlessly efficient, and has a strong moral code and even respect for those superheroes who try – in vain – to stop his plan. He makes this apparent after besting Iron Man in combat, reiterating his desire to decimate half of humanity while telling Tony Stark – who seems to be on the verge of dying himself – that he’ll hopefully be remembered by those left behind .

3 “Actually he's the boss. I just pay for everything and design everything, make everyone look cooler.”

The ambitious Avengers: Age of Ultron continued to showcase Tony Stark at his snarkiest, and also built off the first Avengers movies by continuing to show some unease between him and Steve Rogers/Captain America. Their disagreements would boil over and become something more substantial in 2016’s Captain America: Civil War , but their alliance – while shaky – still holds throughout Age of Ultron .

Nevertheless, Tony Stark doesn’t want to give Captain America any wins too easily, surprisingly conceding that Captain America’s the leader of the Avengers, but that it’s actually himself who does most of the “cool” stuff. It’s one example of banter in a film that some would feel has too much of it , but as always, Robert Downey Jr.’s line delivery is on point, further showcasing how Tony Stark was a character he more or less seemed born to play.

2 “He's pissed. He thinks he failed. Which, of course he did, but you know, there's a lot of that going around, ain't there?”

Sure, Avengers: Endgame sees the MCU at its biggest and most epic , but the first half of the movie is surprisingly dominated by a focus on characters and some more intimate, downbeat scenes. After all, before the exciting climax that inevitably resurrects many of those lost during Infinity War , the characters all have to process their intense emotions and the fact that they comprised the losing side in the most important battle they ever fought.

Rocket Raccoon and Thor had a great dynamic when they were paired up together for much of Infinity War , both being able to discuss with each other the sorts of losses they’d faced and the grief they felt. Of course, they’re pushed even further into despair following Infinity War , with Thor failing to land a killing blow on Thanos and Rocket dealing with everyone else in his squad being killed by Thanos. Rocket highlights this general sense of failure with brutal honesty, and pins down why Thor is feeling extra rotten about it all.

1 "I got low. I didn't see an end, so I put a bullet in my mouth and the other guy spit it out."

Sometimes, recasting a significant role works , as is demonstrated by Mark Ruffalo stepping in as the Hulk after Edward Norton played him in what was (sort of) an earlier MCU movie: 2008’s The Incredible Hulk . Norton’s a great actor in the right role, but either didn’t fit the character of Bruce Banner/The Hulk ideally, or simply didn’t have as good material to work with as Ruffalo did.

Whatever the case, Mark Ruffalo slipped into the role with ease, and made a great impression in The Avengers . The film overall did the character of Bruce Banner justice in a way that 2003’s Hulk and the aforementioned The Incredible Hulk didn’t quite manage to do. The best instance of this is the surprisingly intense line Banner has about the anguish he feels, with the condition he has, and admitting he tried to take his own life is pretty grim by the MCU’s standards . Still, it’s a powerful moment, and a strong reminder of how difficult Banner’s life is, given he's torn between two very different personas/beings.

NEXT: The Best Quote From Each Spider-Man Movie

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Chris Pine’s ‘Poolman’ Got ‘F—ing Panned’ So Much That He Thought ‘Maybe I Did Make a Pile of S—‘; But He Refuses to Accept That: ‘I Love This Film’

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Chris Pine earned some of the worst reviews of his career for “ Poolman ,” a Los Angeles-set comedy mystery in the vein of “Chinatown” that Pine directed, co-wrote and starred in. The movie is Pine’s feature directorial debut, but it got eviscerated by critics when it premiered at last year’s Toronto International Film Festival. Variety critic Owen Gleiberman called it an “absurdist disaster,” for instance.

Making the press rounds to support the “Poolman” theatrical release, Pine stopped by the “Happy Sad Confused” podcast and refused to believe that he made a complete dud of a movie.

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“When the film came out at Toronto and just got fucking panned…I tried to make a joyful film,” Pine continued. “With so much joy behind it, to then be met with a fusillade of not-so-joyous stuff…the cognitive dissonance there was quite something. It’s ultimately been the best thing that’s ever happened to me. It’s forced me to double down on joy and really double down on what I love most about my job, which you kind of forget, it’s fundamentally about play. You become children for hours a day and make believe. There’s an impish quality that I don’t want to lose.”

Pine said that he has been talking to his therapist about how he wishes he could be impervious to negative reviews, but he stressed: “I fully own the deep hurt of that process.”

“In the reframing of it…one of my favorite quotes is in Latin and it’s ‘vigor grows from the wound,'” Pine said. “In everything that feels like a setback, yes there is the hurt of the cut, but as the scar tissue forms and the healing process happens you do benefit from a growth in resilience.”

“Poolman” stars Pine opposite Annette Bening, DeWanda Wise, Stephen Tobolowsky, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Danny DeVito and more. The director stars as an optimistic Los Angeles native whose career as a pool cleaner unravels when he stumbles upon a water heist. Gleiberman wrote in Variety review : “The actor plays a dud of a Dude in a movie he directed that’s all whimsical non-jokes and wispy warped dialogue that goes nowhere.”

“Poolman” opens in theaters May 10 from Vertical Entertainment. Watch Pine’s full appearance on the “Happy Sad Confused” podcast in the video below

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