The 25 most iconic film quotes

Our younger readers might not know the origins of “Alright, Mr. DeMille, I’m ready for my close-up,” and our older viewers might misremember it as “I’m ready for my close-up, Mr. DeMille.” But almost everyone is at least aware of the line...even if they forget that it’s from 1950’s “Sunset Boulevard” starring Gloria Swanson.

We’re not sure how many times the six actors who have portrayed James Bond since 1962 said the famous introductory line, “Bond. James Bond,” but we’re certain that it’s the most famous quote in any of the 24 films. As for the line’s debut? That would be the first film, “Dr. No,” starring Sean Connery.

“E.T. phone home” has been quoted and spoofed countless times since the release of “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial” in 1982. Even people who haven’t seen the film can make the reference, as basically the entire plot of “E.T.” was that he wanted to phone and go home. And he really digs Reese’s Pieces.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle never actually wrote the line, “Elementary, my dear Watson” in any of his Sherlock Holmes stories, but the phrase nevertheless became popular based on a single mention of “elementary” in “The Adventure of the Crooked Man” (1839). It was subsequently included in the first Sherlock talkie, “The Return of Sherlock Holmes” in 1929, and later “The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes” in 1939.

Clark Gable’s final line in 1939’s “Gone with the Wind” turned out to be the most memorable line in the nearly four-hour-long film. Legend has it that producer David O. Selznick was fined $5,000 for the use of the word “damn,” but this is just a myth, as the Motion Picture Association allowed “damn” and “hell” to be used in film when quoting a literary work.

Clint Eastwood has had a lot of famous lines, but the most well known has to be “Go ahead, make my day.” Everybody knows it, even though not everyone has seen the film it came from. In fact, most people probably couldn’t name it. Give up? It’s not from the original “Dirty Harry” — it’s actually from the franchise’s fourth installment, 1983’s “Sudden Impact.”

Some people might argue that “Play it again, Sam” is the most iconic film quote from 1942’s “Casablanca,” but those people are wrong. Neither Humphrey Bogart nor Ingrid Bergman every uttered these four words in succession. Both come close, but “Play it once, Sam” and “Play it, Sam” are the closest versions actually said.

Of course we have to include at least one Tom Hanks line in this list, and his iconic quote from 1995’s “Apollo 13” fits the bill. Although most of the film’s dialogue between ground control and the astronauts was taken verbatim from transcripts and recordings, “Houston, we have a problem” was not the exact wording. In reality, the real Jim Lovell said “Houston, we’ve had a problem here” and “Houston, we’ve had a problem.”

“On the Waterfront” is a 108-minute-long film, but people remember it most for one scene: the moment when Terry (Marlon Brando) tells his brother, Charley (Rod Steiger), “I coulda been a contender. I coulda been something, instead of a bum, which is what I am.” Of course, in the end, Terry is finally recognized as being a somebody.

Most of the credit for “I see dead people” catching on should go to 10-year-old Haley Joel Osment, who delivered it with the perfect amount of terror in 1999’s “The Sixth Sense.” Of course, M. Night Shyamalan wrote the script to the horror-thriller, so he at least deserves partial credit.

Arnold Schwarzenegger had several short-and-sweet lines in both “The Terminator” (1984) and “Terminator 2: Judgement Day” (1991), including “Hasta la vista, baby” and “Come with me if you want to live” from the latter film. However, it's in the first installment when he utters the most iconic quote: “I’ll be back.” Schwarzenegger actually had trouble saying “I’ll” in his famous line and didn’t believe a robot would use a contraction, so he attempted to rally director James Cameron to change it to “I will be back.” Thankfully, he was unsuccessful.

“The Godfather” is often cited as one of the best films of all time, and there’s no doubt that Marlon Brando saying, “I’m gonna make him an offer he can’t refuse” is the movie's most iconic line. Of course, to say it correctly, you have to puff out your cheeks like Don Corleone. For his audition, Brando stuffed cotton balls in his mouth. For the film, he had a mouthpiece made by a dentist.

If you’ve never stood on the bow of a ship and yelled, “I’m the king of the world!” like you’re Leonardo DiCaprio in 1997’s “Titanic,” then color us shocked. Not only has almost everyone seen "Titanic," but the famous scene has been parodied more times than the number of dollars earned by the film at the box office. For the record, that haul was $2.187 billion.

Ray Kinsella (Kevin Costner) hears “If you build it, he will come” in just the first few minutes of the 1989 fantasy sports classic “Field of Dreams.” And if the line didn’t stick in your mind as an iconic quote the first time it was said, don’t worry, because there’s plenty of repetition.

Interestingly, “May the Force be with you” is said only three times in the original "Star Wars" trilogy: once by Luke Skywalker, once by Han Solo and once by General Dodonna. However, the phrase nevertheless became iconic, and it was subsequently said in Episodes I-III a total of 12 times and in “The Force Awakens” once.

“Nobody puts Baby in a corner,” Johnny Castle (Patrick Swayze) says to Dr. Jake Houseman (Jerry Orbach) in the most iconic scene of 1987’s “Dirty Dancing.” It has since inspired countless nods, spoofs, lyrics and episode and song titles in all areas of pop culture...even by people who have never seen the movie!

It takes all 116 minutes for 1985’s “Back to the Future” to get to its most iconic line, but it’s worth it. After everything in the film seems like it’s back to normal, Doc Brown suddenly appears in a newer, flying version of the DeLorean and whisks Marty and Jennifer away to the future. The year they are headed to? 2015. Yikes.

Not only is “Rosebud” the first line spoken in 1941’s “Citizen Kane” — often referred to as the greatest movie in film history — but it also is the basis of the entire story. Jerry Thompson (William Alland) spends all 119 minutes trying to figure out the meaning of the word but fails to realize that it was Charles Foster Kane’s childhood sled. As the last scene shows the sled getting incinerated, the mystery never gets solved.

When Cuban drug kingpin Tony Montana (Al Pacino) realizes he is outnumbered and staring death in the face, he breaks out a grenade launcher-equipped M16, utters, “Say hello to my little friend,” and goes down in a hail of gunfire. It has since been quoted in real life and pop culture more frequently than the f-bomb is dropped in the 170-minute, 1983 film... which, for the record, is 226 times.

Of course a line uttered repeatedly by both Tom Cruise and Cuba Gooding Jr. would become a catchphrase that is still used today. After all, “Jerry Maguire” was no flop; in 1997 it was nominated for five Academy Awards (including Best Picture) and won one, a Best Supporting Actor for Gooding.

The phrase “There’s no place like home” existed long before the 1939 film “The Wizard of Oz,” but it’s hard to utter that line today — nearly 80 years later — without thinking of Judy Garland clicking together the heels of her red ruby slippers. In the 1900 book on which the movie is based, not only does Dorothy never say this line (it’s actually, “Take me home to Aunt Em”), but her shoes are made of silver!

The best Batman film ever made has to be 2008’s “The Dark Knight,” and that’s mostly due to Heath Ledger’s iconic portrayal of the Joker. The late Ledger somehow made the character likable, humorous and absolutely psychotic all at the same time while also making the Joker’s dialogue extremely memorable. “Why so serious?” wasn’t just a famous line in the script, but it also became a tagline for the film’s promotional campaigns.

If you show anyone a photo of Sylvester Stallone in any of the seven "Rocky" films and ask them the first quote that comes to mind, the unanimous reply will likely be, “Yo, Adrian!” In fact, the photo doesn’t even have to be from a "Rocky" movie; it just needs to be of Sly, as the line is simply that iconic.

Nowadays, few people ever say they want the truth. That’s because since 1992, that request has been met with the response: “You can’t handle the truth!” Seriously, even in a heated argument, it’s difficult not to throw out that line from “A Few Good Men.” Thanks a lot, Jack Nicholson. (But on a more serious note: Thanks a lot, Jack Nicholson!)

Forty-one years after “Taxi Driver” was released, “You talkin’ to me?” is still a pop culture mainstay. Roger Ebert called the quote “the truest line in the film,” even though it doesn’t actually appear in the script. It only reads “Travis speaks to himself in the mirror” and was ad-libbed by Robert De Niro.