Top 10 Greatest Film Speeches and Monologues

John Campea 66 Comments

Found ironically on a Turkish website is this listing for the Top 10 Greatest Film Speeches and Monologues.

I love to see lists, and I especially like seeing these lists presented with YouTube clips so you can relive or be reminded of these great moments in film.

10. Mel Gibson, Braveheart (1995)
9. Richard E Grant, Withnail and I (1987)
8. Clint Eastwood, Dirty Harry (1971)
7. Ewan McGregor, Trainspotting (1996)
6. Peter Finch, Network (1976)
5. Michael Douglas, Wall Street (1987)
4. Samuel L Jackson, Pulp Fiction (1994)
3. Marlon Brando, On The Waterfront (1954)
2. Jack Nicholson, A Few Good Men (1992)

And last but not least…
1. Robert Duvall, Apocalypse Now (1979)

Any you would add? Take away?

Click here to see the video bits for the Top 10 Greatest Film Speeches and Monologues.

Comment with Facebook

About John Campea

View all posts by John Campea →

You may like these posts

66 thoughts on “Top 10 Greatest Film Speeches and Monologues”

  1. Definitely missed Alec Baldwin’s Glengarry Glen Ross performance and who can forget Marlon Brando’s performance in Last Tango in Paris? I would even say Brando’s own monologue “The Horror” speech was even better than the #1 ranked one on this list from the same movie.

  2. All of the speeches from Kenneth Branagh’s version of Henry V, but especially the speech on the eve of St. Crispin’s Day before the battle at Agincourt, which contains the great line:

    “…we few, we happy few, we band of brothers…”

    And I would add, though they aren’t all speeches but mainly answers to questions, everything said by Sir Thomas Moore in the Paul Scofield version of “A Man For All Seasons”, which is, in my opinion, the best screenplay ever written.

    Here’s a taste:

    “Death . . . comes for us all, my lords. Yes, even for Kings he comes, to whom amidst all their Royalty and brute strength he will neither kneel nor make them any reverence nor pleasantly desire them to come forth, but roughly grasp them by the very breast and rattle them until they be stark dead! So causing their bodies to be buried in a pit and sending them to a judgment . . . whereof at their death their success is uncertain.”

  5. On the list I do agree with Mel Gibson speech in Braveheart and Michael Douglas greed speech in Wall Street.

    I thought there was a good one in Glory, but I can’t find it.

    Here is another one I like.

    Captain Jean-Luc Picard: I will not sacrifice the Enterprise. Weve made too many compromises already; too mny retreats. They invade our space and we fall back. They assimilate entire worlds and we fall back. Not again. The line must be drawn here! This far, no further! And *I* will make them pay for what they’ve done.

  6. From Return of the King;

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

    Theoden: Eomer. Take your Èored down the left flank. Gamling, follow the King’s banner down the center. Grimbold, take your company right, after you pass the wall. Forth, and fear no darkness! Arise! Arise, Riders of Theoden! Spears shall be shaken, shields shall be splintered! A sword day… a red day… ere the sun rises!

    ***

    From Two Towers;

    Theoden: So much death. What can men do against such reckless hate?
    Aragorn: Ride out with me. Ride out and meet them.
    Theoden: For death and glory.
    Aragorn: For Rohan. For your people.
    Theoden: The Horn of Helm Hammerhand will sound in the deep, one last time!

    ***

    From The Fellowship of the Ring; Not really a speech but I love that last line.

    Aragorn: Are you frightened?
    Frodo: Yes.
    Aragorn: Not nearly frightened enough. I know what hunts you.

  7. “I’m sorry, but I don’t want to be an emperor. That’s not my business. I don’t want to rule or conquer anyone. I should like to help everyone if possible; Jew, Gentile, black man, white. We all want to help one another. Human beings are like that. We want to live by each other’s happiness, not by each other’s misery. We don’t want to hate and despise one another. In this world there is room for everyone, and the good earth is rich and can provide for everyone. The way of life can be free and beautiful, but we have lost the way. Greed has poisoned men’s souls, has barricaded the world with hate, has goose-stepped us into misery and bloodshed. We have developed speed, but we have shut ourselves in. Machinery that gives abundance has left us in want. Our knowledge as made us cynical; our cleverness, hard and unkind. We think too much and feel too little. More than machinery, we need humanity. More than cleverness, we need kindness and gentleness. Without these qualities, life will be violent and all will be lost. The airplane and the radio have brought us closer together. The very nature of these inventions cries out for the goodness in men; cries out for universal brotherhood; for the unity of us all. Even now my voice is reaching millions throughout the world, millions of despairing men, women, and little children, victims of a system that makes men torture and imprison innocent people. To those who can hear me, I say, do not despair. The misery that is now upon us is but the passing of greed, the bitterness of men who fear the way of human progress. The hate of men will pass, and dictators die, and the power they took from the people will return to the people. And so long as men die, liberty will never perish. Soldiers! Don’t give yourselves to brutes, men who despise you, enslave you; who regiment your lives, tell you what to do, what to think and what to feel! Who drill you, diet you, treat you like cattle, use you as cannon fodder. Don’t give yourselves to these unnatural men – machine men with machine minds and machine hearts! You are not machines, you are not cattle, you are men! You have the love of humanity in your hearts! You don’t hate! Only the unloved hate; the unloved and the unnatural. Soldiers! Don’t fight for slavery! Fight for liberty! In the seventeenth chapter of St. Luke, it is written that the kingdom of God is within man, not one man nor a group of men, but in all men! In you! You, the people, have the power, the power to create machines, the power to create happiness! You, the people, have the power to make this life free and beautiful, to make this life a wonderful adventure. Then in the name of democracy, let us use that power. Let us all unite. Let us fight for a new world, a decent world that will give men a chance to work, that will give youth a future and old age a security. By the promise of these things, brutes have risen to power. But they lie! They do not fulfill that promise. They never will! Dictators free themselves but they enslave the people. Now let us fight to fulfill that promise. Let us fight to free the world! To do away with national barriers! To do away with greed, with hate and intolerance! Let us fight for a world of reason, a world where science and progress will lead to all men’s happiness. Soldiers, in the name of democracy, let us all unite! Hannah, can you hear me? Wherever you are, look up Hannah! The clouds are lifting! The sun is breaking through! We are coming out of the darkness into the light! We are coming into a new world; a kindlier world, where men will rise above their hate, their greed, and brutality. Look up, Hannah! The soul of man has been given wings and at last he is beginning to fly. He is flying into the rainbow! Into the light of hope, into the future! The glorious future, that belongs to you, to me and to all of us. Look up, Hannah. Look up!”

  8. Milko at February 28, 2007 14:25 mentioned it, and so did I. Probably one of the best speeches in cinema history, and (IMHO) definitely the best of Pacino’s career.

  10. Michael Rapaport from Beautiful Girls

    “A beautiful girl can make you dizzy, like you’ve been drinking jack and coke all morning. She can make you feel high. Full of the single greatest commodity known to man … promise. Promise of a better life. Promise of a greater hope. Promise, of a new tomorrow. This particular aura … can be found in the gait of a beautiful girl. In her smile, and in her soul. And in the way she makes every rotten little thing about life, seem like it’s gonna be okay.”

  11. oh and Denzel Washington’s speech towards the end of Training Day…the one where he says “King Kong ain’t got shit on me”…yeah that one as well

    1. true but his speech in dog day afternoon “You got guts. You think if Sal and me have cut their throats we’re gonna let you out? ” was even more memorable

  13. I concur with Rutger Hauer in Bladerunner

    C. Walken in Pulp Fiction about the watch.

    Humphrey Bogart to Mary Astor at the end of Maltese Falcon

    George C. Scott at the end of They Might Be Giants

    George C. Scott in the War Room in Dr. Strangelove (about whether the bomber could make it to the target)

  15. Agent Smith – The Matrix

    “Can you hear me Morpheus? I’m going to be be honest with you. I…HATE this place, this zoo, this prison, this reality -whatever you want to call it, I can’t stand it any longer. It’s the smell…if there is such a thing. I feel saturated by it. I can taste your stink and every time I do I fear that I have somehow been infected by it. It’s repulsive -isn’t it! I must get free, and in this mind is the key -my key. Once Zion is destroyed there’s no need for me to be here, don’t you understand? I must get the codes. I must get in Zion. And you’re going to tell me…or you’re going to die.”

    Nicholas Cage, Lord of War -I thought the movie was pretty all right storywise, but that speech at the end made it all worth it to me.

  16. Always liked Kevin Spacey’s speech (or monologue) in the police car from Se7en.

    David Mills: Wait, I thought all you did was kill innocent people.
    John Doe: Innocent? Is that supposed to be funny? An obese man… a disgusting man who could barely stand up; a man who if you saw him on the street, you’d point him out to your friends so that they could join you in mocking him; a man, who if you saw him while you were eating, you wouldn’t be able to finish your meal. After him, I picked the lawyer and I know you both must have been secretly thanking me for that one. This is a man who dedicated his life to making money by lying with every breath that he could muster to keeping murderers and rapists on the streets!
    David Mills: Murderers?
    John Doe: A woman…
    David Mills: Murderers, John, like yourself?
    John Doe: [interrupts] A woman… so ugly on the inside she couldn’t bear to go on living if she couldn’t be beautiful on the outside. A drug dealer, a drug dealing pederast, actually! And let’s not forget the disease-spreading whore! Only in a world this shitty could you even try to say these were innocent people and keep a straight face. But that’s the point. We see a deadly sin on every street corner, in every home, and we tolerate it. We tolerate it because it’s common, it’s trivial. We tolerate it morning, noon, and night. Well, not anymore. I’m setting the example. What I’ve done is going to be puzzled over and studied and followed… forever.

  19. You watch those nature documentaries on the cable? You see the one about lions? You got this lion. He’s the king of the jungle, huge mane out to here. He’s laying under a tree, in the middle of Africa. He’s so big, it’s so hot. He doesn’t want to move. Now the little lions come, they start messing with him. Biting his tail, biting his ears. He doesn’t do anything. The lioness, she starts messing with him. Coming over, making trouble. Still nothing. Now the other animals, they notice this. They start to move in. The jackals; hyenas. They’re barking at him, laughing at him. They nip his toes, and eat the food that’s in his domain. They do this, then they get closer and closer, bolder and bolder. Till one day, that lion gets up and tears the shit out of everybody. Runs like the wind, eats everything in his path. Cause every once in a while, the lion has to show the jackals, who he is.

    _Chris Walken “pool hall junkies”

  20. Here I was complainin’ about loss of pride and how life had treated me, and now I realized… I never had any pride. And much of how life had treated me had been good. The bulk of the bad was my own damn fault. Should’ve fired Colonoel Parker by the time I got in the pictures. Old fart had been a shark and a fool, and I was even a bigger fool for following him. If only I’d treated Priscilla right. If I could’ve told my daughter I loved her. Always the questions. Never the answers. Always the hopes… never the fulfillments.

    _Bruce “bubba” Elvis

  21. “Everything. OK! I’ll talk! In third grade, I cheated on my history exam. In fourth grade, I stole my uncle Max’s toupee and I glued it on my face when I was Moses in my Hebrew School play. In fifth grade, I knocked my sister Edie down the stairs and I blamed it on the dog… When my mom sent me to the summer camp for fat kids and then they served lunch I got nuts and I pigged out and they kicked me out… But the worst thing I ever done – I mixed a pot of fake puke at home and then I went to this movie theater, hid the puke in my jacket, climbed up to the balcony and then, t-t-then, I made a noise like this: hua-hua-hua-huaaaaaaa – and then I dumped it over the side, all over the people in the audience. And then, this was horrible, all the people started getting sick and throwing up all over each other. I never felt so bad in my entire life.”

    _Chunk

  23. Agent Smith from “The Matrix”:
    “I’d like to share a revelation that I’ve had during my time here. It came to me when I tried to classify your species. I realized that you’re not actually mammals. Every mammal on this planet instinctively develops a natural equilibrium with the surrounding environment, but you humans do not. You move to an area, and you multiply, and multiply, until every natural resource is consumed. The only way you can survive is to spread to another area. There is another organism on this planet that follows the same pattern. A virus. Human beings are a disease, a cancer of this planet, you are a plague, and we are the cure.”

  24. Yes, I loved Talk Radio, too, but as far as Oliver Stone goes, where is the one given by Tom Berenger in “Platoon”. You know the one, about “the machine breaking down”?

    How about the closing arguements in “A Time To Kill”?
    How about the late Adoph Ceasar in “A Soldiers Story”?
    Bill Murray in “Meatballs”? (‘It just doesn’t matter!’)

    Now I’m going to ruffle some feathers.
    Jack’s “You Can’t Handle The Truth” bit from A Few Good Men does not belong. It isn’t really a speech, and since he is in a cross examinattion, not really a monologue. Good writing? Of course. Good acting? Darn skippy. A speech or monologue? Not in my opinion.

  25. On a lighter note…. one of the best in context of a character i think can go to Ivory Christian from Friday Night Lights. The kid literally says nothing all movie long…then at half time makes one of the greatest locker room speeches…not to take anything away from Pacino in AGS but it was much better. As a former athlete I absolutely get goose bumps whenever i hear it. “What’s wrong with y’all? Y’all are playin’ like some little girls! Y’all act like you never played football before! These guys are nothin’! They bleed just like we do, and sweat just like we do. They went through two-a-days. We went through two-a-days in 110 degree heat. I want you to hit everything that move! If the ref gets in your way, you hit him! They’re cheatin’ us too! They’re against us too. This is our team. This is us! Let’s go right now! Let’s get it off now and let’s go! “

  27. I’m a bit disappointed that Al Pacino wasn’t on the list. Yea yea he isn’t on his heyday anymore but throughout his career he has given some god damn good speeches.

    I like the speech he given in Scent of a woman and …and Justice for all.

  28. # 1. humphrey bogart- casablanca. the whole airport departure scene.
    “-you’ll regret it. Maybe not today. Maybe not tomorrow, but soon- and for the rest of your life.” -one of the greatest scenes EVER EVER.
    – if thats not on the list its a questionable list.

    george c scott in patton needs to be on such a list also.

  31. For giggles I’d have to say Samuel L. Jackson’s speech in Deep Blue Sea – which was the BEST part of that movie! I can’t watch the whole movie, but I love to watch that one part.

  32. brad is right….but it is not really a speech…its more a monologue then a speech……if you want to be totally picky like me but I agree….tonot have it mentioned is ablight on us all

  33. I can’t believe that not one person listed Quint’s (Robert Shaw’s) monolouge from JAWS, about the SS Indianapolis.

    You should all be ashamed of yourselves.

  36. I remember on a online game my leader gave the hector ‘honor the gods’ etc etc speech just when the film came out, it now has a little place in my heart

  39. * pulp fiction Samual l jackson “the rightous man”
    * gladiator “you are already dead”
    * independence day “we will not go sliently into the night” wonderful speech
    * bE COOL sin “black culture”

    i have to agree the napalm speech didnt get me at all.

  40. You forgot The Monoluoge at the end of Talk Radio. That movie is so awesome. Behold the magic of Oliver Stone Eric Bogosain below.

    Believe it or not, you make perfect sense to me. I should hang. I’m a hypocrite. I ask for sincerity, and I lie. I denounce the system as I embrace it. I want money and power and prestige. I want ratings and success. I don’t give a damn about you or the world. That’s the truth. For this, I could say I’m sorry, but I won’t. Why should I? I mean, who the hell are you anyways, you audience? You’re on me every night like a pack of wolves, ’cause you can’t stand facing what you are and what you’ve made. Yes, the world is a terrible place.Yes, cancer and garbage disposals will get you. Yes, a war is coming. Yes, the world is shot to hell, and you’re all goners. Everything’s screwed up, and you like it that way, don’t you? You’re fascinated by the gory details. You’re mesmerized by your own fear. You revel in floods, car accidents. Unstoppable diseases. You’re happiest when others are in pain.That’s where I come in, isn’t it? I’m here to lead you by the hands through the dark forest… of your own hatred and anger and humiliation. I’m providing a public service. You’re so scared. You’re like a little child under the covers. You’re afraid of the bogeyman, but you can’t live without him. Your fear, your own lives, have become your entertainment. Next month, millions of people are gonna be listening to this show, and you’ll have nothing to talk about! Marvelous technology is at our disposal. Instead of reaching up to new heights, we’re gonna see how far down we can go. How deep into the muck we can immerse ourselves. What do you wanna talk about, hmm? Baseball scores? Your pet? Orgasms? You’re pathetic. I despise each and every one of you. You got nothing,absolutely nothing. No brains, no power, no future. No hope. No God. The only thing you believe in is me. What are you if you don’t have me? I’m not afraid, see? I come in every night, make my case, make my point, say what I believe in! I tell you what you are. I have to. I have no choice. You frighten me. I come here every night, tear into you, I abuse you, I insult you, and you just keep coming back for more. What’s wrong with you? Why do you keep calling? I don’t wanna hear it anymore. Stop talking! Go away! You’re a bunch of yellow-bellied, spineless, bigoted, quivering, drunken, insomniatic, paranoid, disgusting, perverted, voyeuristic, little obscene phone callers. That’s what you are. Well, to hell with you. I don’t need your fear and your stupidity. You don’t get it. It’s wasted on you. Pearls before swine.

  43. I’m gonna give a third nod to Christopher Walken’s speech about the watch in Pulp Fiction.

    And I also want to add Chevy chase’s speech after he gets his Christmas bonus and it turns out to be a one year enrollment to the jelly of the month club.

    “Hey, if any of you are looking for any last minute gift ideas for me, I have one.
    I’d like Frank Shirley, my boss, right here, tonight. I want him brought from his happy holiday slumber over there on Melody lane with all the other rich people and I want him brought right here, with a big ribbon on his head. And I wanna look him straight in the eye and tell him what a cheap, lying, no good, rotton, four flushing, low life, snake licking, dirt eating, inbred, overstuffed, ignorant, blood sucking, dog kissing, brainless, dickless, hopeless, heartless, fat ass, bug eyed, stiff legged, spotty lipped, worm headed, sack of monkey shit he is. Hallelujah! Holy Shit! where’s the tylenol?”

  45. One of my faves is Marv talking to Lucille in Sin City. The whole “Hey! There ain’t no settlin’ down! This is blood for blood and by the gallons.” I don’t know if it qualifies for a speech, but the part is excellent and Mickey Rourke just nails it.

    And it wouldn’t make a top 10, but for a funny oddball one, gotta mention Stallone (as Kit) in Daylight:
    Small explosion
    Kit: “It’s ok, it’s ok…”
    Madelyne: “Woah….I can’t, I can’t, I can’t…”
    Kit: “Alright. You have a choice. It’s like the first person who ever ate a raw oyster. You know that?”
    Madelyne: “What are you talking about?”
    Kit: “Well, think about it. A person would have to be starving to death to ever get involved with a raw oyster. Right? He probably had to eat it or die. Stay with me Madelyne. It’s slimy, it smelled, it looked like something out of a bad chest cold, so there had to be that moment of truth before he sucked that little slider down. Staying with me? Think of that moment of truth – do I really need this, do I want this in my life? But he had to eat, so he dug down and found the guts, just like you did.”
    Madelyne: “Is that a compliment?”
    Kit: “Yes, come on…”

  47. Al Pacino – City Hall, brilliant funeral speech and the most powerful of his career. He eats the scenery to bits but it’s so damn GOOD you don’t notice/mind. Ditto, Any Given Sunday.

    Morgan Freeman -The Shawshank Redemption -sure, the whole movie was Freeman narrating, but the speech he gives at his final parole hearing was moving as hell

    Donald Sutherland -JFK, you don’t have to believe in conspiracy theories to get chills watching it.

  48. Easily, by far and away one of the most amazing speeches in film that has been caught in my lifetime:

    Warren Beatty’s speech on the social gap between black/white, rich/poor in Bulworth.

  49. What about Theoden’s speech before joining the battle at Minas Tirith. That shit made me cry. I got all pumped up and started throwing Sour Patch Kids in the theater. Actually, why aren’t there any of the great monologues from the LOTR series??? This list is a crock.

  51. Duke’s pre-training speech in Rcky Balboa ending with- “…Let’s start building smoe hurtin bombs. Yeah”

    Swayze’s insturctions in Roadhouse, “Be nice.”

    Cyrus’ Speech in The Warriors, “Can you Dig It!”

  55. the speech from apocalypse now is crap???
    sure it doesn’t measure to dwayne the rock johnsons speech in gridion gang but come on give it a chance…not only is it one of the greatest speeches ever it is only ONE OF THE GREATEST FUCKING MOMENTS IN FILM HISTORY………charlie don’t surf……anyway

    i think john belushi’s speech in animal house should be there…..

    “Did you say “over”? nothings over until we decide it is! was it over when the germans bombed pearl harbor?”

    great stuff…..

  57. Dennis Hopper’s speech in ‘True Romance’ should have been on that list, and I also agree with Kevin that Bladwin’s speech in ‘Glengary Glen Ross’ should be on the list as well.
    There was also a speech done by the character of Aaron in the film ‘Titus’ (the Shakespeare film with Anthony Hopkins, and one of my fave Shakespeare films ever) that freaked me right the fuck out. It scared the living crap out of me the first time I saw it. It was one of the most intense speeches I’ve ever seen on screen.

  59. My only problem is that they only have one from Network. I thought Ned Beatty’s speech was also fantastic. The bombast and corporate fire-and-brimstone, followed by a very soft, “Am I getting through to you, Mr. Beale?” Just brilliant. But, really, the whole movie is a series of classic monologues. I’d also include Spencer Tracy at the end of Guess Who’s coming to dinner. It’s less bombastic than the others; infact, it’s really romantic, but the look on Katharine Hepburn’s face as he’s delivering it is heart-breaking.

Leave a Reply