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Saving the best for last... now, this is how you end a movie.
By Marc Chacksfield
22 February 2022
Starting a script is a hard task but finding just the right line to end things on can be just as tough. But get it right, as this best final lines in movies list proves, then you can turn a great movie into a classic.
Great final lines are key: while your audience may have started watching with a feeling of expectancy and excitement, chances are that come the conclusion, their eyes may be falling deeper into the destructive world of sleep.
Now's the time to fuel their dreams/nightmares with a catchy one-liner.
We've assembled 50 of the best here but would like to hear if you think we've missed any out. Comments are at the bottom.
Best closing lines in movies
1. The Silence Of The Lambs
"I do wish we could chat longer, but I'm having an old friend for dinner..."
Hannibal Lector (Anthony Hopkins)
164
50
Thanks for voting
2. Ferris Bueller's Day Off
“Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once and a while you might miss it.”
Ferris Bueller (Matthew Broderick)
154
44
Thanks for voting
3. Back To The Future
"Roads? Where we're going, we don't need roads!"
Dr. Emmett Brown (Christopher Lloyd)
134
28
Thanks for voting
4. The Usual Suspects
"The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he did not exist. And like that... he is gone."
Verbal Kint (Kevin Spacey)
141
38
Thanks for voting
5. The Truman Show
"In case I don't see you, good afternoon, good evening, and goodnight.”
Truman Burbank (Jim Carrey)
128
27
Thanks for voting
6. Casablanca
"Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship."
Rick (Humphrey Bogart)
117
22
Thanks for voting
7. Some Like It Hot
"Well, nobody's perfect."
Osgood Fielding III (Joe E Brown)
89
21
Thanks for voting
8. Stand By Me
“I never had any friends later on like the ones I had when I was 12. Jesus, does anyone?”
The Write (Richard Dreyfuss)
91
27
Thanks for voting
9. Planet Of The Apes
"You Maniacs! You blew it up! Ah, damn you! God damn you all to hell!"
George Taylor (Charlton Heston)
87
24
Thanks for voting
10. Casino Royale
"The name's Bond. James Bond."
James Bond (Daniel Craig)
88
27
Thanks for voting
11. Babe
"That'll do, Pig. That'll do."
Farmer Hoggett (James Cromwell)
12. The Wizard Of Oz
“There’s no place like home!”
Dorothy Gale (Judy Garland)
79
20
Thanks for voting
13. Iron Man
"The truth is...I am Iron Man."
Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr)
94
36
Thanks for voting
14. Seven
"Ernest Hemingway once wrote, "The world is a fine place and worth fighting for." I agree with the second part."
William Somerset (Morgan Freeman)
75
20
Thanks for voting
15. The Dark Knight
"We will hunt him down because he can take it. Because he's not our hero. He's a silent guardian. A watchful protector. A dark knight..."
Lt. James Gordon (Gary Oldman)
82
31
Thanks for voting
16. Toy Story 3
"So long... partner."
Woody (Tom Hanks)
70
19
Thanks for voting
17. Fight Club
"You met me at a very strange time in my life."
The Narrator (Edward Norton)
76
27
Thanks for voting
18. Alien
"This is Ripley, last survivor of the Nostromo, signing off."
Ripley (Sigourney Weaver)
75
27
Thanks for voting
19. Gone With The Wind
"After all, tomorrow is another day."
Scarlett O'Hara (Vivien Leigh)
70
27
Thanks for voting
20. The Thing
"Why don't we just wait here for a little while... see what happens..."
MacReady (Kurt Russell)
60
20
Thanks for voting
21. Magnum Force
"A man’s got to know his limitations."
Harry Callahan (Clint Eastwood)
60
20
Thanks for voting
22. Psycho
"I'm not even gonna swat that fly. I hope they are watching. They'll see. They'll see and they'll know and they'll say, 'Why, she wouldn't even harm a fly'..."
Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins)
60
21
Thanks for voting
23. E.T.
"I'll be right here..."
E.T. (E.T.)
58
20
Thanks for voting
24. Memento
"Now, where was I?"
Leonard (Guy Pearce)
56
20
Thanks for voting
25. King Kong
"Oh, no! It wasn't the airplanes. It was Beauty killed the Beast."
Carl Denham (Robert Armstrong)
54
18
Thanks for voting
26. Spider-Man
"This is my gift, my curse. Who am I? I'm Spider-man."
Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire)
59
24
Thanks for voting
27. Rocky Balboa
"Yo, Adrian, we did it. We did it."
Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone)
61
26
Thanks for voting
28. Chinatown
"Forget it, Jake. It's Chinatown.
Lawrence Walsh (Joe Mantell),
58
24
Thanks for voting
29. Shutter Island
"This place makes me wonder... Which would be worse, to live as a monster, or to die as a good man?"
Teddy Daniels (Leonardo DiCaprio)
55
22
Thanks for voting
30. The Matrix
"Where we go from there is a choice I leave to you."
Neo (Keanu Reeves)
48
17
Thanks for voting
31. The Italian Job
"Hang on, lads; I've got a great idea."
Charlie Croker (Michael Caine)
59
28
Thanks for voting
32. Inglourious Basterds
"You know somethin', Utivich? I think this just might be my masterpiece."
Lt. Aldo Raine (Brad Pitt)
53
23
Thanks for voting
33. Terminator 2: Judgment Day
"The unknown future rolls toward us. I face it, for the first time, with a sense of hope. Because if a machine, a Terminator, can learn the value of human life, maybe we can too."
Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton)
49
20
Thanks for voting
34. Apocalypse Now
"The horror, the horror..."
Colonel Walter E. Kurtz (Marlon Brando)
44
20
Thanks for voting
35. Goodfellas
"Right after I got here, I ordered some spaghetti with marinara sauce and I got egg noodles and ketchup. I'm an average nobody. I get to live the rest of my life like a schnook."
Henry Hill (Ray Liotta)
47
24
Thanks for voting
36. Army of Darkness
"Hail to the king, baby."
Ash (Brce Campbell)
40
21
Thanks for voting
37. L.A. Confidential
"Some men get the world. Others get ex-hookers and a trip to Arizona."
Lynn Bracken (Kim Basinger)
38
22
Thanks for voting
38. Gandhi
"There have been tyrants and murderers and for a time they can seem invincible, but in the end they always fall. Think of it. Always."
Mahatma Gandhi (Ben Kingsley)
38
23
Thanks for voting
39. Black Swan
"I was perfect."
Nina Sayers (Natalie Portman)
32
19
Thanks for voting
40. Scarface
"Go ahead! I take your fucking bullets! You think you kill me with bullets? I take your fucing bullets! Go ahead!"
Tony Montana (Al Pacino)
33
25
Thanks for voting
41. Road To Perdition
"When people ask me if Michael Sullivan was a good man, or if there was just no good in him at all, I always give the same answer. I just tell them, he was my father."
Frank Sullivan Jr (Tyler Hoechlin)
27
24
Thanks for voting
42. Kill Bill: Volume One
"One more thing, Sofie... is she aware her daughter is still alive?"
Bill (David Carradine)
28
25
Thanks for voting
43. Before Sunset
"Baby, you are gonna miss that plane."
Celine (Julie Delpy)
34
33
Thanks for voting
44. Cape Fear
"Still, things won't ever be the way they were before he came. But that's alright because if you hang onto the past you die a little every day. And for myself, I know I'd rather live."
Danielle Bowden (Juliette Lewis)
26
26
Thanks for voting
45. A Clockwork Orange
"I was cured all right!"
Alex (Malcolm McDowell)
26
27
Thanks for voting
46. Shallow Grave
"Oh yes, I believe in friends. I believe we need them, but if one day you find that you just can't trust them anymore then what then? What then?"
David Stephens (Christopher Eccleston)
21
26
Thanks for voting
47. Raging Bull
"I'm da boss, I'm da boss, I'm da boss, I'm da boss, I'm da boss... I'm da boss, I'm da boss, I'm da boss, I'm da boss, I'm da boss, I'm da boss."
Jake La Motta (Robert De Niro)
18
29
Thanks for voting
48. Avengers: Infinity War
"Oh, God."
Steve Rodgers (Chris Evans)
28
41
Thanks for voting
49. Schindler's List
"Heil Hitler."
Amon Goeth (Ralph Fiennes)
28
58
Thanks for voting
50. The Ring
"What about the person we show it to? What's happens to them?"
Aidan Keller (David Dorfman)
77
202
Thanks for voting
- The best opening lines in movies, revealed.
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