Greatest Opening Film Lines
Greatest Opening
Film Lines and Quotes



1990s



Greatest Opening Film Lines
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Greatest Opening Film Lines
1990s
Film Title
Famous Opening Lines
Dances With Wolves (1990)

- "This is the last one?"
- "I don't know. There's no ether either."
- "Jesus Christ. You there, is this the last one?"
- "Oh God, what a mess… at least there's no gangrene."
- "But there will be if it doesn't come off soon."
- "Well, I can't saw if I can't keep my eyes open. I'm sorry. Let's coffee up. He can wait a few more minutes."

Play clip (excerpt): Dances With Wolves (1990)

Flatliners (1990)

(voice-over) "Today is a good day to die."
Play clip (excerpt): Flatliners (1990)

GoodFellas (1990)

(voice-over) "As far back as I can remember, I always wanted to be a gangster...To me, being a gangster was better than being President of the United States."
Play clip (excerpt): GoodFellas (1990)

Memphis Belle (1990)

(voice-over) - "Okay, let's see who we got here. Virge Hoogesteger. What kind of name is that? Youngest of six. Worked in the family diner before joining up. Writes home every week. Nicknamed 'The Virgin.' Who's this goon? Jack Bocci from the south side of Chicago. Graduate of several reform schools. Better keep him in the background. This is the religious one. There's always a religious one: Eugene McVey from Cleveland. There's always one from Cleveland. Nineteen, high-strung, always coming down with something. How'd he get in this bunch? Richard 'Rascal' Moore. Eighteen, 5 foot 4, 120 pounds. Has a real reputation as a ladies' man. At least that's what he says. Clay Busby, a farmer's son. And look at this, when his father lost their farm in a poker game, Clay started playing piano in a New Orleans cathouse. The papers'll love that. This kid couldn't be more Irish if he tried, Danny Daly. A student, editor of the school paper, valedictorian. He volunteered the day after he graduated from college. That's not bad. I think we got something to work with here."
Play clip (excerpt): Memphis Belle (1990)

Pretty Woman (1990)

- "Broke in right on the two of them."
- "No matter what they say, it's all about money. So let's imagine, ladies, that you're a Savings and Loan officer. Watch. One, two, three. See? You've got it all, and we've got nothin'. And you have all four, take a look."
- "Oh!"
- "But I wouldn't trust you with real gold. That's why this one's only worth about a penny. And if you wonder where the other one went, watch."
- "A penny from the ear. How much for the rest? Have you seen Edward?"
- "No, I haven't. Great party, Philip."
- "Well, my wife went to a lot of trouble. She called a caterer."
Play clip (excerpt): Pretty Woman (1990)

Reversal of Fortune (1990)
(voice-over): "This was my body. On December 27, 1979, I lay in bed all day. Whether I was asleep or in a coma later became a subject of dispute. When my breathing became obstructed, my husband, Claus von Bulow, finally did as my maid had been urging all day: he summoned a physician. I stopped breathing. My heart stopped beating. By this time, I was certainly in a deep coma from which I awoke several hours later. By the next morning, I was myself again....This first coma aroused suspicion and fear in the minds of my personal maid Maria, my son Alex, and my elder daughter Ala. From this time on, though they never voiced their suspicions to me, they kept a vigilant eye on Claus. A year later, just before Christmas, their darkest fears seemed justified....My husband did not want our daughter Cosima to see what he had found, so he motioned to his stepson Alex. Second coma. My pulse was 38, my temperature 81.6 degrees...All this activity was pointless. I never woke from this coma, and I never will. I am what doctors call 'persistent vegetative', a vegetable. According to medical experts, I could stay like this for a very long time, brain-dead, body better than ever."
Cape Fear (1991)

(voice-over) "My reminiscence. I always thought that for such a lovely river, the name is mystifying: Cape Fear. When the only thing to fear on those enchanted summer nights was that the magic would end and real life would come crashing in."
Play clip (excerpt): Cape Fear (1991)

Rambling Rose (1991)

(voice-over) "In deep Dixieland, the month of October is almost summery. I had come South to visit my father. Mother had died a few years before, and Daddy was livin' all alone. He wouldn't have it otherwise. Lookin' at that old house, a painful nostalgia gripped me for the South itself, the old South I had known, and the people in it. When I was thirteen years old, a girl came to this house. I overheard my father decide in a conference with my mother to hire this girl, a good natured and highly unfortunate girl who was workin' for a farm family down near Gadsden, Alabama. Thus she was hired, sight unseen, by a long distance call. She was the first person I ever loved outside members of my own family. But, as my father said, she caused one hell of a damnable commotion."
Play clip (excerpt): Rambling Rose (1991)

Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991)

(title card) "800 years ago, Richard "The Lionheart", King of England, led the third Great Crusade to reclaim the Holy Land from the Turks. Most of the young English noblemen who flocked to his banner never returned home." Jerusalem 1194 A.D.
- "Show them the courage of Allah!"
Play clip (excerpt): Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991)

Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)

(voice-over) "Three billion human lives ended on August 29th, 1997. The survivors of the nuclear fire called the war Judgment Day. They lived only to face a new nightmare, a war against the machines...The computer which controlled the machines, Skynet, sent two Terminators back through time. Their mission: to destroy the leader of the human resistance, John Connor, my son. The first Terminator was programmed to strike at me in the year 1984, before John was born. It failed. The second was set to strike at John himself when he was still a child. As before, the resistance was able to send a lone warrior, a protector for John. It was just a question of which one of them would reach him first."
Play clip (excerpt): Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)

Malcolm X (1992)

- "In the name of Allah the beneficent, the merciful, all praises due to Allah, Lord of all the worlds. The one God to whom praise is due forever. The one who came to us in the person of Master Fard Muhammad and raised up the Honorable Elijah Muhammad. Amen. Asalaam-alaikum!"
- "Alaikum-salaam!"
- "How do you feel?"
- "Good!"
- "Who do we want to hear?"
- "Malcolm X!"
- "Are we gonna bring him on? Yes, we gonna bring him on. Well let us hear from our minister, Minister Malcolm X. Let us bring him on with a round of applause!"

Play clip (excerpt): Malcolm X (1992)

Reservoir Dogs (1992)

- "Let me tell ya what 'Like a Virgin' is about. It's all about a girl who digs a guy with a big dick. The entire song. It's a metaphor for big dicks."
- "No it ain't. It's about a girl who's very vulnerable. She's been f--ked over a few times. And uh, then she meets a guy who's really sensitive..."
- "Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa... Time out Green Bay. Tell that f--kin' bulls--t to the tourists."
- "Toby... Who the f-k is Toby?"
- "'Like a Virgin' is not about some sensitive girl who meets a nice fella. That's what 'True Blue''s about, now granted, no argument about that."
- "Which one is 'True Blue'?"
- "You ain't heard of 'True Blue'? It was a big ass hit for Madonna. I don't even follow that Tops In Pops s--t, and I've even heard of 'True Blue'."
- "Look, asshole, I didn't say I ain't heard of it, you know. That's why I asked how's it goes? Excuse me for not being the world's biggest Madonna fan."
- "Personally, I can do without her."
- "I used to like her early stuff. 'Borderline' - but once she got off into her 'Papa Don't Preach' phase, I tuned out."
- "Hey, you guys are like, makin' me lose my train of thought here. I was sayin' somethin', what was it?"
- "Oh, Toby - that little Chinese girl, what was her last name?"
- "What's that?"
- "Eh, it's an old address book I found in a coat I haven't worn in a coon's age. What was that name?"
- "What the f--k was I talkin' about?"
- "You said 'True Blue' was about a guy, and...a sensitive girl who meets a nice guy, and that 'Like a Virgin' was a metaphor for big dicks."
- "OK. Lemme tell you what 'Like a Virgin' is about. It's all about this cooze who's a regular f--k machine. I'm talkin' morning, day, night, afternoon, dick, dick, dick, dick, dick, dick, dick, dick, dick."
- "How many dicks is that?"
- "A lot."
- "Then one day, she meets this John Holmes motherf--ker and it's like, whoa baby. I mean this cat is like Charles Bronson in 'The Great Escape.' He's diggin' tunnels. Now, she's gettin' serious dick action and she's feeling something she ain't felt since forever. Pain. Pain."
- "Chew? Toby Chew?"
- "It hurts. It hurts her. It shouldn't hurt, you know, her pussy should be Bubble Yum by now, but when this cat f--ks her, it hurts. It hurts just like it did the first time. You see the pain is reminding a f--k machine what it was once like to be a virgin. Hence, 'Like a Virgin'."
- "Wong?"

Play clip (excerpt): Reservoir Dogs (1992)

A River Runs Through It (1992)
(voice-over) "Long ago, when I was a young man, my father said to me, 'Norman, you like to write stories.' And I said, 'Yes, I do.' Then he said, 'Someday, when you're ready you might tell our family story. Only then will you understand what happened and why'."
Groundhog Day (1993)

- "Somebody asked me today: 'Phil, if you could be anywhere in the world, where would you like to be?' And I said to him: 'Probably right here - Elko, Nevada.' Our nation's high at 79 today. Out in California, they're gonna have some warm weather tomorrow, gang wars, and some very overpriced real estate. Up in the Pacific Northwest, as you can see, they're gonna have some very, very tall trees. It'll be cIear across the Rockies and the Great PIains mostly. But Iook out, here comes troubIe. Oh, oh, boy! Front comin' our way! Look out! What's that gonna mean to us here in the Three Rivers area? One of these big bIue things! This coId, frigid arctic air, this big mass comin' out of the north. It's gonna meet up with aII of this moisture comin' up out of the GuIf. It's gonna mix together at high aItitudes and cause some snow. Goin' out on a limb, now. Not gonna hit us here in Pittsburgh, but'll push off and hit AItoona. Phew! CIose caII, folks! Let's take a Iook at the five-day. As you can see, nothin' to be too scared about. BundIe up warm, of course, but I think you can Ieave your gaIoshes at home. I'm not gonna be here for the 10:00 o'clock. Tomorrow is Groundhog Day, and I'm going out to Punxsutawney for our country's oIdest Groundhog FestivaI. So, as you know, and according to the Iegend, tomorrow, February 2nd, if the groundhog wakes and sees his shadow, we've got six more weeks of winter to look forward to, so keep your fingers crossed, huh."
- "Sounds Iike a lot fun. You must reaIIy enjoy it. This is your third year in a row, isn't it, Phil?"
- "Four, Nan. Four."
- "Thanks, PhiI."
Play clip (excerpt): Groundhog Day (1993)

Jurassic Park (1993)

- "Everybody, heads up. Heads up. Keep it clear. Keep it clear. Stand back."
- "That's good. Slow it down."
- "The pushing team, move in there."
- "Move it."
- "I want tasers on full charge."
- "Go on. Step back in."
- " Move it. Move it."
- "And push! Well, locked. Loading team, step away. Gate keeper. Jophery, raise the gate."
- "Block the opening! Don't let her get out!"
- "Ahhh! Ahh!"
- "Somebody help him!"
- "Work her back!"
- "Ahh!"
- "Shoot her! Shoot her!"
Play clip (excerpt): Jurassic Park (1993)

The Piano (1993)

(voice-over) "The voice ya hear is not my speaking voice, but my mind's voice. I have not spoken since I was six years old. Lord knows why, not even me. My father says it is a dark talent, and the day I take it into my head to stop breathing will be my last. Today, he married me to a man I have not yet met. Soon my daughter and I shall join him in his own country. My husband said my muteness does not bother him. He writes - and hark this! 'God loves dumb creatures, so why not he?' Were good he had God's patience, for silence affects everyone in the end. The strange thing is, I don't think myself silent, that is, because of my piano. I shall miss it on the journey."
Play clip (excerpt): The Piano (1993)

True Romance (1993)

[Lyrics to "Graceland" by Charlie Sexton]
"...Yes, I've never been to Graceland. Never took that trip. I'd rather think of Elvis As a crazy Memphis kid. Yeah, I've never been to Vegas, 'Cept one summer day. I never left the airport. Ain't goin' back again. Yes, I've never been to Graceland...]
- "In Jailhouse Rock, he was everything rockabilly is about. Nah, I mean, he is rockabilly: mean, surly, nasty, rude. In that movie, he couldn't give a f--k about nothin'. Except rockin' and rollin', livin' fast, dyin' young and leavin' a good-lookin' corpse, ya know. I watch that hillbilly, and I want to be him so bad. Elvis looked good. Hey, I ain't no fag, but Elvis was prettier than most women, ya know? Most women. Ya know, I always said if I had to f--k a guy, you know, I mean had to, and my life depended on it, I'd f--k Elvis."
- "I'd f--k Elvis."
- "Really?"
- "Well, when he was alive, not now."
- "Well, I don't blame ya. So we'd, uh, we'd both f--k Elvis. It's nice to meet people with common interests, ain't it? Yeah. Well, enough about the King. How, uh, how about you?..."
Play clip (excerpt):
True Romance (1993)

Forrest Gump (1994)

- "Hello. My name's Forrest. Forrest Gump. Do you want a chocolate? I could eat about a million and a half of these. My mama always said life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get. Those must be comfortable shoes. I bet you could walk all day in shoes like that and not feel a thing. I wish I had shoes like that."
- "My feet hurt."
- "Mama always said there's an awful lot you can tell about a person by their shoes: where they're going, where they've been. I've worn lots of shoes. I bet if I think about it real hard, I could remember my first pair of shoes. Mama said they'd take me anywhere. She said they was my magic shoes."
- "All right, Forrest, you can open your eyes now. Let's take a little walk around. How do those feel? His legs are strong, Mrs. Gump, as strong as I've ever seen. But his back is as crooked as a politician. But we're gonna straighten him right up now, aren't we, Forrest?"
(voice-over) "Now, when I was a baby, Mama named me after the great Civil War hero General Nathan Bedford Forrest. She said we was related to him in some way. What he did was, he started up this club called the Ku Klux Klan. They'd all dress up in their robes and their bed sheets and act like a bunch of ghosts or spooks or somethin'. They'd even put bedsheets on their horses and ride around. And anyway, that's how I got my name, Forrest Gump. Mama said the 'Forrest' part was to remind me that sometimes we all do things that, well, just don't make no sense."
Play clip (excerpt): Forrest Gump (1994)

Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994)

(after opening credits)
- "...Oh, f--k! F--k!"
- "F--k."
- "F--k! Right, we take yours."
- "It only goes 40 miles an hour."
- "What turn-off? Better not be the B359."
- "It's the B359!"
- "F--k it."
- "F--k!"
- "F--k. F--k. F--k. F--kity f--k. Bugger."

Play clip (excerpt): Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994)

The Lion King (1994)

- "Life's not fair, is it? You see I -- well, I shall never be King. Heh. And you shall never see the light of another day. (chuckles) Adieu..."
- "Didn't your mother ever tell you not to play with your food?"
- "What do you want?"
- "I'm here to announce that King Mufasa's on his way. So you'd better have a good excuse for missing the ceremony this morning."
- "Oh, now, look, Zazu. You've made me lose my lunch."
- "Ha! You'll lose more than that when the King gets through with you. He's as mad as a hippo with a hernia."
- "Ohhh... I quiver with FEAR!"
- "Now, Scar, don't look at me that way. HELP!!!!"
- "Scar!"
- "Mm-hmm...Hmm?"
- "Drop him."
- "Impeccable timing, Your Majesty."
Play clip (excerpt): The Lion King (1994) (first spoken words)

Pulp Fiction (1994)

- "Forget it. It's too risky. I'm through doin' that s--t."
- "You always say that. The same thing every time. 'I'm through, never again, too dangerous'."
- "I know that's what I always say. I'm always right, too."
- "But you forget about it in a day or two."
- "Yeah, well the days of me forgettin' are over, and the days of me rememberin' have just begun."
- "You know, when you go on like this, what you sound like?"
- "I sound like a sensible f--kin' man. That's what...."
- "You sound like a duck. Quack, quack, quack, quack, quack, quack..."
- "Take heart, 'cause you're never gonna have to hear it again. Since I'm never gonna do it again, you're never gonna have to hear me quack if I'm never gonna do it again."
- "After tonight?"
- "Correct. I got all tonight to quack."

Play clip (excerpt): Pulp Fiction (1994)

Braveheart (1995)

(title) Scotland 1280 A.D.
(narrating) "I shall tell you of William Wallace. Historians from England will say I am a liar, but history is written by those who have hanged heroes. The king of Scotland had died without a son, and the king of England, a cruel pagan known as Edward the Longshanks, claimed the throne of Scotland for himself. Scotland's nobles fought him, and fought each other over the crown. So Longshanks invited them to talks of truce - no weapons, one page only. Among the farmers of that shire was Malcolm Wallace, a commoner with his own lands. He had two sons, John and William."

Play clip (excerpt): Braveheart (1995)

Casino (1995)

(voice-over) "When you love someone, you've gotta trust them. There's no other way. You've got to give them the key to everything that's yours. Otherwise, what's the point? And, for a while, I believed that's the kind of love I had...Before I ever ran a casino, or got myself blown up, Ace Rothstein was a hell of a handicapper, I can tell ya that. I was so good that whenever I bet, I could change the odds for every bookmaker in the country. I'm serious, I had it down so cold that I was given Paradise on earth. I was given one of the biggest casinos in Las Vegas to run, the Tangiers, by the only kind of guys that can actually get ya that kind of money. $62,700,000 dollars. I don't know all the details..."
- "A matter of fact, nobody knew all the details, but it should've been perfect. I mean, he had me, Nicky Santoro, his best friend, watching his ass and he had, Ginger, the woman he loved, on his arm. But in the end, we f--ked it all up. It should've been so sweet too. But it turned out to be the last time that street guys like us were ever given anything that f--kin' valuable again."
Play clip (excerpt): Casino (1995)

Dead Man (1995)

"Look out the window. And doesn't this remind you of when you were in the boat, and then later than night, you were lying, looking up at the ceiling, and the water in your head was not dissimilar from the landscape, and you think to yourself, 'Why is it that the landscape is moving, but the boat is still?'"
Play clip (excerpt): Dead Man (1995)

GoldenEye (1995)

"Beg your pardon, forgot to knock."
Play clip (excerpt): GoldenEye (1995)

Mallrats (1995)

(voice-over) "One time, my cousin Walter got this cat stuck in his ass. True story. He bought it at our local mall, so the whole fiasco wound up on the news. It was embarrasing for my relatives and all, but the next week, he did it again. Different cat, same results, complete with another trip to the emergency room. So, I run into him a week later in the mall and he's buying another cat. And I says to him: 'Jesus, Walt! What are you doing? You know you're just gonna get this cat stuck in your ass, too. Why don't you knock it off?' And he said to me: 'Brodie, how the hell else am I supposed to get the gerbil out?' My cousin was a weird guy."
Play clip (excerpt): Mallrats (1995)

Se7en (1995)

- "Neighbors heard them screamin' at each other, like, for two hours. It was nothin' new. Then they heard the gun go off. Both barrels. A crime of passion."
- "Yeah. Just look at all the passion on that wall."
- "Yeah, well, this is a done deal. All but the paperwork."
- "Did the kid see it?"
- "What?"
- "The kid?"
- "What kind of f--kin' question is that? You know, we are all gonna be real glad when we get rid of you, Somerset. You know that? It's always these questions. 'Did the kid see it?' Who gives a f--k? He's dead. His wife killed him. Anything else has nothin' to do with us."

Play clip (excerpt): Se7en (1995)

Toy Story (1995)

- "All right, everyone! This is a stick-up. Don't anybody move! Now empty that safe! Ooh, hoo hoo! Money, money, money! Stop it! Stop it, you mean old potato! Quiet, Bo Peep! Or your sheep get run over! Help! Baaa! Help us! Oh no! Not my sheep! Somebody do something!"
- "Reach for the sky!"
- "Oh no! Sheriff Woody! I'm here to stop you, One-eyed Bart! D'oh! How'd you know it was me? Are you gonna come quietly? Ya can't touch me, Sheriff! I brought my Attack Dog, with a built-in force field! Well, I brought my dinosaur! Who eats force field dogs! Arr rawr rawr! Yipe, yipe-yipe-yipe! You're goin' to jail, Bart. Say goodbye to the wife and tater tots. You saved the day again, Woody!"
- "You're my favorite deputy!"
["You've Got a Friend in Me"]
Play clip (excerpt): Toy Story (1995)

The Usual Suspects (1995)

(title card) "San Pedro, California - last night"
- "How you doin', Keaton?"
- "I can't feel my legs, Keyser."
- "Ready?"
- "What time is it?"
- "Twelve thirty." (gunshot blasts)
(voice-over) "It all started back in New York six weeks ago. A truck loaded with stripped gun parts got jacked outside of Queens. The driver didn't see anybody, but somebody f--ked up. He heard a voice. Sometimes that's all you need."
Play clip (excerpt): The Usual Suspects (1995)

Jerry Maguire (1996)

(voice-over) "So this is the world, and there are almost six billion people on it. When I was a kid, there were three. It's hard to keep up. There. That's better. That's America. See, America still sets the tone for the world. In Indiana, Clark Hodd, 13, the best point guard in the country. Last week he scored a hundred points in a single game. Erica Sorgi. You'll see her in the next Olympics. In Seattle, Dallas Malloy, 16. Her lawsuit helped pave the way for women boxers everywhere. She's picturing her ex-boyfriend right now. In Indio, California, Art Stallings. Check out what pure joy looks like. In Odessa, Texas, the great Frank Cushman. This April, 26 teams will be falling all over themselves to sign him in the next NFL draft. He's my client, my most important client... Believe me, there's genius everywhere, but until they turn pro, it's like popcorn in the pan. Some pop... Some don't... I'm the guy you don't usually see. I'm the one behind the scenes. I'm the sports agent."
Play clip (excerpt): Jerry Maguire (1996)

Kissed (1996)

(voice-over) "When you die, your life flashes, and you disintegrate, radiating energy. When a thing turns into its opposite, when love becomes hate, there are always sparks. But when life turns into death, it's explosive. There are streaks of light, magical, and electrifying. Everyone senses something, some energy, some spirit, some sort of illumination. But I see it. I've seen bodies shining like stars. Some say there's no soul, no afterlife, that life and death is the straightest line on the compass, and nothing more. I say believe what you want, because no matter what you do, cut everything up, burn it all down, you're in the path of something beyond your control."
Play clip (excerpt): Kissed (1996)

Scream (1996)

- "Hello?"
- "Hello."
- "Yes?"
- "Who is this?"
- "Who are you trying to reach?"
- "What number is this?"
- "Well, what number are you trying to reach?"
- "I don't know."
- "Well, I think you have the wrong number."
- "Do I?"
- "It happens. Take it easy."
Play clip (excerpt): Scream (1996)

Sleepers (1996)

(voice-over) "This is a true story about friendship that runs deeper than blood. This is my story and that of the only three friends in my life that truly mattered. Two of them were killers who never made it past the age of 30. The other's a non-practicing attorney living with the pain of his past - too afraid to let it go, never confronting its horror. I'm the only one who could speak for them, and the children we were. (music during title credits) ... My three friends and I were inseparable, happy and content to live in the closed world of Hell's Kitchen. The West Side streets of Manhattan were our private playground - a cement kingdom where we felt ourselves to be nothing less than absolute rulers. Hell's Kitchen was populated by an uneasy blend of Irish, Italian, Puerto Rican, and Eastern European laborers. Hard men living hard lives. We lived in railroad apartments inside red brick tenements. Few mothers worked and all had trouble with the men they married...Domestic violence was a cottage industry in Hell's Kitchen. Yet, there was no divorce and few separations. The will of the Church was forceful. For a marriage to end, someone usually had to die. Yet, despite the harshness of life, Hell's Kitchen offered the kids on its streets a safety net, enjoyed by few other neighborhoods. Crimes against people of the neighborhood were not permitted. When they did occur, the punishment doled out was severe and, in some cases, final..."
Play clip (excerpt): Sleepers (1996)

Trainspotting (1996, UK)

(narrated, voice-over) "Choose life. Choose a job. Choose a career. Choose a family. Choose a f--kin' big television. Choose washing machines, cars, compact disc players, and electrical tin openers. Choose good health, low cholesterol and dental insurance. Choose fixed-interest mortgage repayments. Choose a starter home. Choose your friends. Choose leisure wear and matching luggage. Choose a three piece suite on hire purchased in a range of f--kin' fabrics. Choose DIY and wondering who the f--k you are on a Sunday morning. Choose sittin' on that couch watching mind-numbing, spirit-crushing game shows, stuffing f--kin' junk food into your mouth. Choose rottin' away at the end of it all, pissin' your last in a miserable home, nothing more than an embarassment to the selfish, f--ked-up brats that you've spawned to replace yourselves. Choose your future. Choose life...But why would I want to do a thing like that? I chose not to choose life. I chose somethin' else. And the reasons? There are no reasons. Who needs reasons when you've got heroin?"
Play clip (excerpt): Trainspotting (1996)

Good Will Hunting (1997)

"Mod f(x) squared dx. So please finish Percival for next time. I know many of you had this as undergraduates, but it won't hurt to brush up. Thank you, Steven. I also put an advanced Fourier system on the main hallway chalkboard. I'm hoping that one of you might prove it by the end of the semester. Now the person to do so will not only be in my good graces, but also go on to fame and fortune by having their accomplishment recorded and their name printed in the auspicious M.I.T. Tech. Former winners include Nobel laureates, Field's medal winners, renowned astrophysicists and lowly M.I.T. professors. Well, that's all. If you have any questions, I'm sure that Tom has the answers."
Play clip (excerpt): Good Will Hunting (1997)

L.A. Confidential (1997)

(voice-over) "'Come to Los Angeles! The sun shines bright, the beaches are wide and inviting, and the orange groves stretch as far as the eye can see. There are jobs aplenty, and land is cheap. Every working man can have his own house, and inside every house, a happy, all-American family. You can have all this, and who knows, you could even be discovered, become a movie star, or at least see one. Life is good in Los Angeles. It's paradise on Earth.' Ha ha ha ha. That's what they tell ya, anyway. Because they're selling an image. They're selling it through movies, radio and television. ln the hit show, Badge of Honor, the L.A. cops walk on water as they keep the city clean of crooks. You'd think this place was the Garden of Eden. But there's trouble in paradise and his name is Meyer Harris Cohen, Mickey C, to his fans. Local LA color to the Nth degree. And his number one bodyguard, Johnny Stompanato. Mickey C's the head of organized crime in these parts. He runs dope, rackets and prostitution. He kills a dozen people a year. And the dapper little gent does it in style. And every time his picture's plastered on the front page, it's a black eye for the image of Los Angeles. Because how can organized crime exist in the city with the best police force in the world? Somethin' has to be done. But nothin' too original, because, hey, this is Hollywood. What worked for Al Capone would work for the Mickster."
- "Mr. Cohen, you're under arrest. Nonpayment of federal income tax."
(voice-over) "But all is not well. Sending Mickey up has created a vacuum. And it's only a matter of time before someone with balls of brass tries to fill it. Remember, dear readers, you heard it here first, off the record, on the QT and very Hush-Hush.''
Play clip (excerpt): L.A. Confidential (1997)

Lolita (1997)

(voice-over) "She was 'Lo' - plain 'Lo' in the morning, standing 4 feet 10 in one sock. She was 'Lola' in slacks. She was 'Dolly' at school. She was 'Dolores' on the dotted line. But in my arms, she was always 'Lolita'. Light of my life, fire of my loins, my sin, my soul. (whispered) Lolita."
Play clip (excerpt): Lolita (1997)

My Best Friend's Wedding (1997)

[Song: Wishin' And Hopin']
- "Two and two, menu! Brian, 22, immediately! Guillermo! Guillermo! Two pigeons!"
- "Two pigeons."
- "Right away!"
- "Right away."
- "Very important table, right here!"
- "Give me two grain!"
- "I'll take that polenta!"
- "All right, Chef."
- "This is the one. This is the one I'm waiting for! Right here."
- "Yes, sir."
- "I need that special meat right now."
- "Pastry, get ready. It's comin' at ya."
- "I will kill your whole family if you don't get this right. I need this perfect."
- "Yes, sir."
- "I'm writing it up as inventive and confident."

Play clip (excerpt): My Best Friend's Wedding (1997)

Titanic (1997)

(sonar pings, whirrings)
- "Thirteen meters; you should see it. Okay, take her up and over the bow rail."
- "Okay, Mir2, we're going over the bow. Stay with us."
- "Okay, quiet. We're rolling. Seeing her coming out of the darkness like a ghost ship still gets me everytime. To see the sad ruin of the great ship sitting here where she landed at 2:30 in the morning of April 15, 1912 after her long fall from the world above."
- "You are so full of s--t, boss."
Play clip (excerpt): Titanic (1997)

The Big Lebowski (1998)

(voice-over) "A way out west, there was this fella that I wanna tell ya about. Fella by the name of Jeff Lebowski. At least that was the handle his lovin' parents gave him, but he never had much use for it himself. This Lebowski, he called himself 'The Dude.' Now, 'Dude' - that's a name no one would self-apply where I come from. But then there was a lot about the 'Dude' that didn't make a whole lot of sense to me. And a lot about where he lived, likewise. But then again, maybe that's why I found the place so dern interestin'.

They call Los Angeles the 'City Of Angels.' I didn't find it to be that, exactly. But I'll allow there are some nice folks there. 'Course I can't say I seen London, and I've never been to France. And I ain't never seen no queen in her damned undies, as the fella says. But I'll tell ya what - after seein' Los Angeles, and this a-here story I'm about to unfold, well, I guess I seen somethin' every bit as stupefyin' as you'd see in any of those other places. And in English, too. So I can die with a smile on my face, without feelin' like the good Lord gypped me.

Now this a-here story I'm about to unfold took place back in the early '90s - just about the time of our conflict with Sad'm and the I-raqis. I only mention it because sometimes there's a man - I won't say a hero, 'cause, what's a hero? But sometimes, there's a man - and I'm talkin' about the 'Dude' here. Sometimes, there's a man, well, he's the man for his time and place. He fits right in there. And that's the 'Dude' in Los Angeles. And even if he's a lazy man - and the 'Dude' was most certainly that, quite possibly the laziest in Los Angeles County, which would place him high in the runnin' for laziest worldwide. But sometimes there's a man, sometimes, there's a man. Wow, lost my train of thought here. But, aw, hell. I've done introduced him enough."

Play clip (excerpt): The Big Lebowski (1998)

Fallen (1998)

(voice-over) "I wanna tell you about the time I almost died..."
Play clip (excerpt): Fallen (1998)

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998)

(title card) "He who makes a beast of himself gets rid of the pain of being a man." DR. JOHNSON.
(voice-over) "We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the drugs began to take hold. I remember saying something like..."
- 'I feel a bit lightheaded. Maybe you should drive.'
(voice-over) "Suddenly, there was a terrible roar all around us, and the sky was full of what looked like huge bats, all swooping and screeching and diving around the car, and a voice was screaming."
- 'Holy Jesus. What are these goddamn animals? Hut! Hut! Hut! F--king pigs.'
- "Did you say something?"
- "Hm? Never mind. It's your turn to drive."
(voice-over) "No point mentioning these bats, I thought. Poor bastard will see them soon enough."
- 'F--king pigs, flying.'
(voice-over) "We had two bags of grass, seventy-five pellets of mescaline, five sheets of high-powered blotter acid, a salt-shaker half-full of cocaine, and a whole galaxy of multi-colored uppers, downers, screamers, laughers. Also, a quart of tequila, a quart of rum, a case of beer, a pint of raw ether, and two dozen amyls. Not that we needed all that for the trip, but once you get locked into a serious drug collection, the tendency is to push it as far as you can. The only thing that really worried me was the ether. There is nothing in the world more helpless and irresponsible and depraved than a man in the depths of an ether binge, and I knew we'd get into that rotten stuff pretty soon."
Play clip (excerpt): Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998)

Rounders (1998)

(voice-over) "Listen, here's the thing. If you can't spot the sucker in your first half hour at the table, then you are the sucker. Guys around here'll tell ya, you play for a living. It's like any other job. You don't gamble. You grind it out. Your goal is to win one big bet an hour, that's it. Get your money in when you have the best of it, and protect it when you don't. Don't give anything away. That's how I've paid my way through half of law school. A true grinder. See, I learned how to win a little at a time. But finally, I've learned this. If you're too careful, your whole life can become a f--kin' grind. This is Teddy KGB's place...You won't find it in the Yellow Pages... He doesn't look like much, but KGB is connected all the way to the top of the Russian mob. He's the one guy in the game you don't want to f--k with. But if you're lookin' for high stakes, this is the only place in town. They all know me as a small-timer, but that's about to change. Joey Knish is a New York legend. He's been a rounder, earning his living at cards since he was nineteen years old...He's as close to a friend as there is in this place. But tonight, I don't want to see him."
Play clip (excerpt): Rounders (1998)

Saving Private Ryan (1998)

- "Dad..."
(flashback)
(June 6, 1944, DOG GREEN SECTOR OMAHA BEACH)
- "Clear the ramp! 30 seconds! God be with ya!"
- "Port side, stick. Starboard side, stick. Move fast and clear those mortar holes. l want to see plenty of beach between men."
- "Five men is a juicy opportunity. One man is a waste of ammo."
- "Keep the sand out of your weapons. Keep those actions clear. l'll see you on the beach."
Play clip (excerpt): Saving Private Ryan (1998)

The Truman Show (1998)

- "We've become bored with watching actors give us phony emotions. We're tired of pyrotechnics and special effects. While the world he inhabits is, in some respects, counterfeit, there's nothing fake about Truman himself. No scripts, no cue cards. It isn't always Shakespeare, but it's genuine. It's a life."
- "If I'm not gonna make it, you're gonna have to go on without me. No way, mister. You're goin' to the top of this mountain, broken legs and all."
- "We find many viewers leave him on all night for comfort."
- "You're crazy, you know that?"
- "Well, for me, there is no, there is no difference between a private life and a public life. My, my life is my life, is The Truman Show. The Truman Show is a lifestyle. It's a noble life. It is a truly blessed life."
- "Yeah. Tell me something I don't know. All right, promise me one thing, though. If I die before I reach the summit, you'll use me as an alternative source of food. Ew, gross."
- "It's all true, it's all real. Nothing here is fake. Nothing you see on this show is fake. It's merely controlled."
- "Eat me, dammit. That's an order. Maybe just your love handles. I have love handles? Yeah. Little ones."

- "Truman! You're gonna be late."
- "OK." (loud sigh)

Play clip (excerpt): The Truman Show (1998)

What Dreams May Come (1998)

(voice-over) "When I was young, I met this beautiful girl by a lake."
- "Ow! Hey! Oh."
- "Ha, ha, ha. Scusi! Scusi! Scusi! Ah. Dov'e la Svizzera?"
- "No capisce."
- "No capisce? Uhm. Ou est la Suisse?"
- "S-Switzerland? Oh, Suisse. Yeah. You, uh.."
- "Yeah, Switzerland. Hi. Oh, you're American?"
- "So are you!"
- "Yeah."
- "Ha, ha, ha."
- "Yeah."
- "Keep goin' that way till you smell money or you step in chocolate."
- "OK...thank you."
- "Whoa, watch your head. You OK?"
- "I'm fine."

Play clip (excerpt): What Dreams May Come (1998)

American Beauty (1999)

- "I need a father who's a role model, not some horny geek boy who's gonna spray his shorts whenever I bring a girlfriend home from school. What a lame-o. Someone really should just put him out of his misery."
- "You want me to kill him for you?"
- "Yeah, would you?"
(voice-over) "My name is Lester Burnham. This is my neighborhood. This is my street. This is my life. I'm 42 years old. In less than a year, I'll be dead. Of course, I don't know that yet. And in a way, I'm dead already. Look at me: jerking off in the shower. This will be the high point of my day. It's all downhill from here. That's my wife Carolyn. See the way the handle on those pruning shears matches her gardening clogs? That's not an accident. That's our neighbor, Jim, and that's his lover, Jim...Man, I get exhausted just watching her. She wasn't always like this. She used to be happy. We used to be happy. My daughter, Jane. Only child. Janie's a pretty typical teenager - angry, insecure, confused. I wish I could tell her that's all going to pass, but I don't want to lie to her...Both my wife and daughter think I'm this gigantic loser. And they're right. I have lost something. I'm not exactly sure what it is, but I know I didn't always feel this -- sedated. But you know what? It's never too late to get it back."

Play clip (excerpt): American Beauty (1999) American Beauty (1999) (extended)

The Cider House Rules (1999)

(voice-over narration) "In other parts of the world young men leave home and travel far and wide in search of a promising future. Their journeys are often fueled by dreams of triumphing over evil, finding a great love, or the hope of fortunes easily made. Here in St. Cloud's not even the decision to get off the train is easily made, for it requires an earlier, more difficult decision. Add a child to your life, or leave one behind. The only reason people journey here is for the orphanage...I came as a physician to the abandoned children and unhappily pregnant women. I had hoped to become a hero. But in St. Cloud's there was no such position. In the lonely, sordid world of lost children, there were no heroes to be found. And so I became the caretaker of many, father of none. Well, in a way, there was one...His name was Homer Wells."
Play clip (excerpt): The Cider House Rules (1999)

Eyes Wide Shut (1999)

- "Honey, have you seen my wallet?"
- "Uh, isn't it on the bedside table?"
- "Now listen, you know, we're running a little late."
- "I know. How do I look?"
- "Perfect."
- "Is my hair okay?"
- "It's great."
- "You're not even looking at it."
- "It's beautiful. You always look beautiful."
- "Did you give Roz the phone and pager numbers?"
- "Yeah, I put it on the fridge. Let's go, huh."
- "Coming. All right. I'm ready."
- "What's the name of the babysitter?"
- "Roz. Okay, Roz, we're going now."

- "Wow, you look amazing, Mrs. Harford."
- "Oh, thank you."
Play clip (excerpt): Eyes Wide Shut (1999)

Fight Club (1999)

(voice-over) "People are always asking me if I know Tyler Durden."
- "Three minutes. This is it - ground zero. Would you like to say a few words to mark the occasion?"
- "...i... ann... iinn... ff... nnyin..."
(voice-over) With a gun barrel between your teeth, you speak only in vowels."
- "I can't think of anything."
(voice-over) "For a second I totally forget about Tyler's whole controlled demolition thing and I wonder how clean that gun is."
- "lt's getting exciting now."
(voice-over) "That old saying, how you always hurt the one you love. Well, it works both ways. We have front-row seats for this theater of mass destruction. The Demolitions Committee of Project Mayhem wrapped the foundation columns of a dozen buildings with blasting gelatin. ln two minutes, primary charges will blow base charges and a few square blocks will be reduced to smoldering rubble. l know this because Tyler knows this."
- "Two and a half. Think of everything we've accomplished."
(voice-over) "And suddenly I realized that all of this, the gun, the bombs, the revolution, has got something to do with a girl named Marla Singer."

Play clip (excerpt): Fight Club (1999)

The Green Mile (1999)

- "Katie! Cora!"
- "You love your sister? You make any noise, you know what happens."
- "Good morning, Estelle."
- "How am I lookin', Paul?"
- "That's better. That's better."
- "Mornin', Mr. Edgecomb. Some Danish this mornin'?"
- "No, just two pieces of dry toast, Hector. Thanks. Leftover's fine."
- "Dry and cold, same as always."
- "Cold is better."
- "Especially on those long walks. Am I right? Don't let Nurse Godzilla catch ya. She'll raise holy hell. You know we're not supposed to let you wander off. Where do you go every day? What do you do up in those hills?"
- "Just walk. I like to walk."
- "You try not to fall down, bust a hip. I don't wanna be in no damn search party."
Play clip (excerpt): The Green Mile (1999)

Magnolia (1999)

(narrating) "In the New York Herald, November 26, Year 1911, there is an account of the hanging of three men. They died for the murder of Sir Edmund William Godfrey; Husband, Father, Pharmacist and all around gentleman resident of Greenberry Hill, London. He was murdered by three vagrants whose motive was simple robbery. They were identified as: Joseph Green, Stanley Berry, and Daniel Hill. Green, Berry, Hill. And I Would Like To Think This was Only A Matter Of Chance. As reported in the Reno Gazette, June of 1983, there is the story of a fire, the water that it took to contain the fire, and a scuba diver named Delmer Darion. Employee of the Nugget Hotel and Casino, Reno, Nevada. Engaged as a blackjack dealer. Well liked and well regarded as a physical, recreational and sporting sort, Delmer's true passion was for the lake. As reported by the coroner, Delmer died of a heart attack somewhere between the lake and the tree. A most curious side note is the suicide the next day of Craig Hansen. Volunteer firefighter, estranged father of four and a poor tendency to drink. Mr. Hansen was the pilot of the plane that quite accidentally lifted Delmer Darion out of the water. Added to this, Mr. Hansen's tortured life met before with Delmer Darion just two nights previous. The weight of the guilt and the measure of coincidence so large, Craig Hansen took his life. And I Am Trying To Think This Was All Only A Matter Of Chance..."
Play clip (excerpt): Magnolia (1999)

The Matrix (1999)

(phone rings)
- "Yeah."
- "Is everything in place?"
- "You weren't supposed to relieve me."
- "I know, but I felt like taking a shift."
- "You like him, don't you? You like watching him."
- "Don't be ridiculous."
- "We're gonna kill him. You understand that?"
- "Morpheus believes he is the one."
- "Do you?"
- "It doesn't matter what I believe."
- "You don't, do you?"
- "Did you hear that?"
- "Hear what?"
- "Are you sure this line is clean?"
- "Yeah, of course I'm sure."
- "I better go."
Play clip (excerpt): The Matrix (1999)

Never Been Kissed (1999)

("Catch a Falling Star")
(voice-over) "You know how in some movies they have a dream sequence, only they don't tell you it's a dream? This is so not a dream. It wasn't supposed to be like this. I was just trying to do my job, and then things happened. My life happened. And now I'm here. Trust me, I'm not the kind of girl who does things like this. I mean, two months ago, you couldn't have picked me out of a crowd...Told you. I'm over there. I was the youngest copy editor at the Chicago Sun-Times...I had my own office, unlimited stationery supplies and a professional dedicated assistant..."

Play clip (excerpt): Never Been Kissed (1999)

Notting Hill (1999)

(interviewer voice-over) "So stay with us because later this afternoon, we're lucky enough to be talking to Anna Scott, Hollywood's biggest star by far. Miss Scott's latest film is once again topping the charts."
[Elvis Costello: "She"]
(voice-over) "Of course I've seen her films and always thought she was, well, fabulous. But, you know, a million, million miles from the world I live in, which is here, Notting Hill, my favorite bit of London. There's the market on weekdays selling every fruit and vegetable known to man."
- "Rock hard bananas, five for a pound!"
(voice-over) "The tattoo parlor with a guy outside who got drunk and now can't remember why he chose 'I love Ken.' The radical hairdressers where everyone comes out looking like the Cookie Monster, whether they want to or not. And then, suddenly, it's the weekend, and from break of day hundreds of stalls appear out of nowhere, filling Portobello Road, right up to Notting Hill Gate. And wherever you look thousands of people are buying millions of antiques, some genuine and some, not quite so genuine. And what's great is that lots of friends have ended up in this part of London..."

Play clip (excerpt): Notting Hill (1999)

The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999)

["Lullaby For Cain" by Sinead O'Connor]
"From the silence From the night Comes a distant Lullaby Soul Surrendering your soul The heart in you not whole For love For love Walked out Cast into the dark Branded with a mark Of shame Of Cain."
(voice-over) "If I could just go back... If I could rub everything out, starting with myself. Starting with borrowing a jacket."
"Oh, such fleeting paradise Such innocent delight To love Be loved A lullaby Then silence."
Play clip (excerpt): The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999)



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