There are a ton of lists about the greatest things that ever were. Books. TV shows. Cars. It goes on and on. Recently, BBC added to the list of lists by announcing the 100 greatest American movies of all time. According to the article, film critics from around the world provided their opinions.
To create this post, I decided to list the movies I have seen and include my favorite line from each one.
97. Gone With the Wind – Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn96. The Dark Knight
91. ET: The Extraterrestrial – I just hope we don’t wake up on Mars or something surrounded by millions of little squashy guys.
90. Apocalypse Now – Charlie don’t surf!
84. Deliverance – Sometimes you have to lose yourself ‘fore you can find anything.
82. Raiders of the Lost Ark – Bad dates.
78. Schindler’s List – There will be generations because of what you did.
76. The Empire Strikes Back – Never tell me the odds.
75. Close Encounters of the Third Kind – Einstein was probably one of them.
74. Forrest Gump – Anyway, like I was sayin’, shrimp is the fruit of the sea. You can barbecue it, boil it, broil it, bake it, saute it. Dey’s uh, shrimp-kabobs, shrimp creole, shrimp gumbo. Pan fried, deep-fried, stir-fried. There’s pineapple shrimp, lemon shrimp, coconut shrimp, pepper shrimp, shrimp soup, shrimp stew, shrimp salad, shrimp and potatoes, shrimp burger, shrimp sandwich. That- that’s about it.
73. Network – I’m as mad as hell and I’m not going to take this anymore.
66. Red River – Well, I don’t like to see things goin’ good or bad. I like ’em in between.
65. The Right Stuff – Hey, Ridley, ya got any Beeman’s?
61. Eyes Wide Shut – Life goes on. It always does, until it doesn’t.
56. Back to the Future – I guess you guys aren’t ready for that yet. But your kids are gonna love it.
55. The Graduate – Plastics.
52. The Wild Bunch – We all dream of being a child again, even the worst of us. Perhaps the worst most of all.
46. It’s a Wonderful Life – Ah, youth is wasted on the wrong people.
45. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance – Nothing’s too good for the man who shot Liberty Valance.
42. Dr. Strangelove – Gentlemen, you can’t fight in here! This is the War Room.
41. Rio Bravo – If I ever saw a man holdin’ a bull by the tail, you’re it.
38. Jaws – Well it proves one thing, Mr. Hooper. It proves that you wealthy college boys don’t have the education enough to admit when you’re wrong.
36. Star Wars – Hokey religions and ancient weapons are no match for a good blaster at your side, kid.
34. The Wizard of Oz – That’s a horse of a different color!
28. Pulp Fiction – There’s a passage I got memorized. Ezekiel 25:17. “The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he who, in the name of charity and good will, shepherds the weak through the valley of the darkness, for he is truly his brother’s keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to poison and destroy My brothers. And you will know I am the Lord when I lay My vengeance upon you.”
21. Mulholland Drive – I got the pool, she got the pool-man.
20. Goodfellas – Jimmy was the kind of guy that rooted for bad guys in the movies.
16. McCabe and Mrs. Miller – I got poetry in me!
14. Nashville – Who do you think is running Congress? Farmers? Engineers? Teachers? Businessmen? No, my friends. Congress is run by lawyers. A lawyer is trained for two things and two things only. To clarify – that’s one. And to confuse – that’s the other.
13. North by Northwest – In the world of advertising, there’s no such thing as a lie. There’s only expedient exaggeration.
10. The Godfather Part II – If anything in this life is certain, if history has taught us anything, it is that you can kill anyone.
9. Casablanca – Everybody comes to Rick’s.
5. The Searchers – That’ll be the day.
4. 2001: A Space Odyssey – It can only be attributable to human error.
2. The Godfather – Leave the gun. Take the cannoli.
1. Citizen Kane – Those are the only terms anybody ever knows – his own.
That makes 35 out of 100. Looks like I need to watch a few more.
SBI: A Thinning Crowd 
Garry and I just played “Guess that line.” Take the cannoli. And we’re gonna need a bigger boat.
A way bigger boat. How did ya’ll fare?
Garry disputes a few of your selections, feeling that “We’re gonna need a bigger boat,” “Toto, I don’t think we’re in Kansas anymore” and “Print the legend” are THE choices, but on most others he got it first time, no hesitation. Casablanca has so many good lines, it’s hard to choose, but since you ARE a Rick, your selection is unarguably appropriate. We had a good time with it. Lots of laughing. We’ll have to look at the list.
I’m glad you liked it. Sometimes, I go for the less popular stuff.
Rick, I like a man who knows his movies. Especially westerns. Means he’ll make his mark one day.
Thanks. I was glad to see several Westerns on the list.
Nice, I may have to try this myself with the full list 🙂
I would like to see your list.
Have you tried a top 100 yourself?
That’s a good idea. I may start out with a Top 10.
I’m not sure that will be easier haha. I always try and include Godfather 1 and 2 as one film.
Good point. I’m also sure that my list would include some clunkers.
Whatever you put down, you won’t please everyone ha
I figure the easiest way to tell if the writing/movie is special is by the number of great quotes that arise. And most of those movies are Great / Classics. Nicely done.
That’s true. Great movies have great dialogue.