Sometimes, an iconic line of dialogue unexpectedly takes on a life of its own and ends up infiltrating our cultural vernacular for no apparent reason. And all it takes is one or two famous catchphrases to turn a great movie into a full-blown pop-cultural phenomenon that embeds itself in the public consciousness and that fans can’t help but recite among friends on a daily basis.
From ‘The Big Lebowski’ to ‘Mean Girls’ to ‘The Princess Bride,’ we have rounded up 10 well-known and instantly recognizable classic movies that still inspire deep obsession all around the world and happen to feature memorable lines that either became hilarious memes or continue to be parroted as part of our daily lexicon. Let us know what your favorite go-to movie quote is in the comments and scroll down below to see what we got right and what we missed in our list of 10 most quotable movies of all time.
1. The Big Lebowski (1998)
“That rug really tied the room together.”
Back in 1998 when it quickly flamed out of theaters in without much fanfare, few could have predicted the lasting impact of this $15 million stoner comedy directed by the Coen Brothers — let alone the fact that it would inspire annual conventions and a full-blown religion with over half a million affiliated members styled on Jeff Bridges’ Zen-like slacker.
Alas, the saga about Jeffrey ‘The Dude’ Lebowski, a forty-something ex-hippie layabout otherwise known as His Dudeness, Duder or El Duderino who finds himself embroiled in a hilarious case of mistaken identity involving shady millionaire tycoons, Nihilists, nymphomaniacs, severed toes and urinated rugs, has since taken a life of its own and become mythically embedded in pop-culture as the ultimate hangout movie of its generation.
Anchored by a whip-smart script, stacked cast, and knockout performances (none better than John Goodman’s spot-on John Milius impression), almost every line delivery in the Coens’ tongue-in-cheek homage to post-war noir novels is a nugget of gold that never gets old no matter how many times you’ve seen it already. We’ve all heard someone say “That’s like your opinion, man” every now and then, but “obviously you’re not a golfer” and about every “shut the fuck up, Donny!” Walter screams at the top of his lungs always have us in stitches.
2. Casablanca (1942)
“Here’s looking at you, kid.”
The timeless megawatt star pairing of Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman set the screen aflame and made audiences collectively swoon as Rick and Ilsa, a pair of star-crossed love birds who are caught in a vortex of conflicted loyalties and helplessly swept aside by the tides of history after bumping into each other years after their fling in the titular Moroccan city during the thick of World War II.
Far and away one of the great stories about romantic longing, one of the most deserving Best Picture winners in the history of the Academy Awards, and as beloved as any film made under the Hollywood studio system, Michael Curtiz’s “Casablanca” offers such an abundance of memorable lines and golden moments to choose from — whether it’s “Here’s looking at you, kid” and “We’ll always have Paris,” or “Louis, I think this is beginning of a beautiful friendship” — that even those who haven’t actually sit through the movie from start to finish could likely still be able to quote several lines of the dialogue by heart.
3. The Lord of the Rings trilogy (2001-2003)
“My friends, you bow to no one.”
Hollywood blockbusters simply don’t get more expansive, wondrous, or transportive than Peter Jackson’s monumental saga based on the bestselling novels by J.R.R. Tolkien, which somehow, miraculously, lived up to the source material, introduced a new generation of audiences to the world of Middle Earth, and is rightfully regarded today as the gold standard for franchise filmmaking.
Because we love all three of them dearly and singling out only one feels just wrong, we’re bending the rules by slipping in the complete trilogy — the fantasy epic to end all fantasy epics and a series of films that have more than cemented their status 20 years later as a perennial Holidays fixture we make a point to watch religiously every year from start to finish.
There are too many iconic moments and quotes to name, so choosing one line to rule them all is no easy task. Hardcore fans and book purists might point to Gandalf’s iconic sacrifice at Moria (“You Shall not Pass!”) or the climactic fight by the sword-swinging, Witch-king-slaying Éowyn at the end of “Return of the King” (“I am no man”). But how are we supposed to leave out Boromir’s instantly meme-able “One does not simply walk into Mordor” or Aragorn’s hair-raising speech in front of the gates of Mordor? Now, excuse us while we grab a bag of popcorn, get comfortable, and buckle up for our umpteenth 11-hour-long Lord of the Rings marathon.
4. Pulp Fiction (1994)
“And you will know my name is the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon thee.”
To say that Quentin Tarantino’s sophomore breakthrough was a complete game changer that single-handedly transformed the entire cinematic landscape would be a massive understatement — Few films in cinema history have spawned as many rip-offs and held onto its place in the public consciousness as fiercely throughout the decades as “Pulp Fiction”.
You can thank the Palme d’Or-winning film’s soaring success for America’s newfound interest on non-linear narratives, gangster flicks, surf rock, John Travolta, and the nuanced terminology of European fast food (turns out they call the Quarter Pounder a Royale with Cheese). Captivating from first frame to last, this intoxicating cinematic cocktail featuring loud-mouthed contract killers, ruthless mob kingpins, melancholy boxers, fixers, sadomasochist dungeons, and a barrage of pop-culture homages has infiltrated so thoroughly the cultural vernacular that it now runs the risk of being reduced to a collection of quotable lines and scenes.
We’re not about to include the entire Bible verse that Samuel L. Jackson’s Jules eloquently recites while on an errand to prove our point, but we dare you, we double dare you to find a more quotable 1990s movie than this one right here.
5. The Princess Bride (1987)
“Hello. My name is Iñigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die.”
One couldn’t ask for a finer tonic for the soul to whisk you away, lift your spirits, and put you in a good mood when you’re feeling down than Rob Reiner’s whimsical, inventive, and impossibly delightful skewering of the fairy tales of old, based off the 1973 novel by William Goldma. A cult classic in every sense of the word, “The Princess Bride” offers a little something for everybody on family movie night: Action! Romance! Suspense! Hilarious gags! Memorable characters! Awesome villains! Princesses! Kidnappers! Sword-fighting wizards! Pirates! André the Giant! Oh, and a treasure trove of iconic quotes.
The rare (dare I say… inconceivable?) case of a childhood go-to comfort movie that you only grow fonder and fonder of as you become older, this 1987 classic provided us with such invaluable lessons as to never go in against a Sicilian when death is on the line, that true love is the greatest thing in the world except for a nice mutton, lettuce and tomato sandwich, that there’s a shortage of perfect breasts in this world, that mostly dead is still slightly alive, that death cannot stop true love, and that trying to kidnap what someone’s rightfully stolen is quite ungentlemanly. Take that for a bedtime story.