Movies are known for delivering powerful moments. It’s one of the things that makes them so great. But for all the powerful monologues and scenes that have been portrayed on the silver screen over the years, there are a few that stand out as the best speeches ever delivered by movie characters. Below are some of these moments from our favorite films. Share if you agree or comment if you would recommend others.
6. Armageddon - 14 Brave Souls
When it happens: The rag-tag team of oil drillers has finally done all the training it can fit in. As they make their long walk to board the space shuttles to take them to destroy a meteor hurtling toward Earth, the fictional president of the United States delivers a powerful speech about mankind as the world finally sees its first glimpse of the only people who can save it. The music does a nice job of building up this Michael Bay moment as well.
5. Serenity – I Aim to Misbehave
When it happens: For those of you who have never heard of the movie Serenity, it’s the movie ending to the great western-Sci-Fi (yep, you read that right) TV series Firefly. If you haven’t seen either, you should. This great Captain Malcolm Reynolds speech to his crew adequately sums up Nathan Fillion’s character and the spirit of the series as a whole. He delivers it after they finally figure out the series-long mystery of what created the zombie-like Reavers.
Sadly, I couldn’t find an clip that I could embed, so click here to see/listen to the speech.
Captain Malcolm Reynolds (2nd from right) and the crew of the Serenity.
4. The Dark Knight – Why So Serious
When it happens: Any scene that Heath Ledger’s Joker was in during The Dark Knight was absolutely electrifying. He owned this film and made it spectacular. We had seen glimpses of the Joker and his madness before this speech (well, perhaps it’s just a story he tells), but this scene where he starts to take over Gotham’s crime scene was the moment when we finally saw what a ruthless psychopath he really was while he coined a phrase that would become part of the pop culture lexicon.
3. Good Will Hunting – My Boy’s Wicked Smaht
When it happens: Relatively early in the film, we get one of our first glimpses of Will Hunting’s amazing intellect at a Harvard pub when a pretentious Harvard grad student tries to embarrass Will’s best friend. Will comes to his aid, putting the grad student in his place by showing everyone that he is just plagiarizing other people’s work and pawning it off as his own. It’s one of the greatest scenes ever of putting a jerk in his place. It is later followed up by the iconic “How ’bout them apples!” scene.
2. Independence Day – We Will Not Go Quietly Into the Night
When it happens: This truly is one of the most recognized speeches in movie history. Will Smith and Jeff Goldblum have flown into space to disable the protective force-fields around the alien space crafts. Before the final battle, Bill Pullman’s President Whitmore delivers this powerful speech to the makeshift group of soldiers and civilians that will be participating in the final battle between man and alien that will determine the fate of mankind. It just so happens to take place on the 4th of July.
1. Braveheart – Sons of Scotland
When it happens: There are many reasons that Braveheart won so many Oscars (including Best Picture) and is beloved by men everywhere. One such reason is this incredible speech that William Wallace delivers on the battlefield at Hampden, leading to Scotland’s first victory over the undefeated English army. It inspired a revolution … and millions of movie-viewers since 1995.
