Action movies are all about movement. Fights, chases, high adrenaline all around the world. As such, they're typically one of the genres with the least amount of dialogue. But when a character in a well-written action movie speaks, it's time to pay attention, as it often results in some of the most memorable and quotable lines of dialogue in all of cinema.
Indeed, throughout the decades, there have been multiple action films with not just one, but quite a few unforgettable lines of dialogue. Often quoted by fans of the genre in their daily lives, they also happen to be some of the best action films ever, period. From sci-fi action like The Matrix to plain old grounded-in-the-real-world action like Die Hard, these are films that prove that even a genre as dialogue-light as action can still have lines that are meaningful, funny, badass, or many of those things at the same time.
10 'Aliens' (1986)
Most iconic quote: "Get away from her, you b***h!"
Ridley Scott's Alien has stood the test of time and constantly proved itself to be one of the greatest sci-fi horror movies of all time. As such, it's no coincidence that the sequel directed by James Cameron, Aliens, is typically recognized as one of the greatest sci-fi action movies ever. Among the many things that make it so great, of course, is Cameron's script.
It's one of the main reasons why this is one of the best sci-fi films of the 1980s. The characters are compelling, the plot is simple but enthralling, and the dialogue is nothing short of iconic. From the many lines of banter between the characters to Ripley's badass challenge of the Xenomorph Queen, the way the dialogue largely contributes to making the heroes feel vibrant and distinct cannot be overstated.
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Aliens
R
Adventure HorrorSci-Fi
Action8 10
- Release Date
- July 18, 1986
- Runtime
- 137 minutes
WHERE TO WATCH
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9 'The Matrix' (1999)
Most iconic quote: "You take the blue pill—the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill—you stay in Wonderland and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes."
Easily and by far one of the most influential and revolutionary films ever in both the sci-fi and the action genres, the Wachowskis' The Matrix is indescribably entertaining, but also surprisingly profound. Indeed, the showstopping action sequences are flawlessly balanced with one of the most philosophically rich narratives the genre has ever seen.
So, aside from being one of the best-plotted action movies ever made, The Matrix obviously also has some terrifically-written dialogue that greatly contributes to world-building, characterization, and thematic work. There's Morpheus' many speeches, which lay down the foundations for the story's themes; there's Agent Smith's villainous tirades; there's how the way Neo speaks evolves as he grows in power and knowledge. All in all, The Matrix has dialogue as great as any sci-fi fan could possibly hope for.
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The Matrix
R
Action AdventureSci-Fi
8 10
- Release Date
- March 31, 1999
- Runtime
- 136 minutes
Cast
-
Keanu Reeves
-
Laurence Fishburne
8 'Scott Pilgrim vs. the World' (2010)
Most iconic quote: "We are Sex Bob-Omb and we are here to make you think about death and get sad and stuff."
With its dazzling music and sound design, its eye-popping and highly dynamic visuals, and its endless supply of high-energy action to throw at the viewer, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World is one of the most purely entertaining action films out there. Its script is perhaps its weaker aspect, but if there's one element of it that's hard to criticize, it's the dialogue.
Thanks to Edgar Wright's signature sense of humor and his cleverness when it comes to creating fully-rounded characters, Scott Pilgrim's most quotable lines of dialogue can go from hilarious to surprisingly moving. This is one of the biggest romance cult classics, constantly rewatched and quoted on a daily basis by its fans.
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Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
PG-13
Action AdventureComedy
Fantasy Romance- Release Date
- August 12, 2010
- Runtime
- 113 minutes
Cast
-
Michael Cera
-
Alison Pill
-
Mark Webber
-
Johnny Simmons
7 'Predator' (1987)
Most iconic quote: "If it bleeds, we can kill it."
There are many action movie stars, particularly from the 20th century, who one can immediately associate with a solid number of iconic one-liners — and of these action stars, it's easy to tell who the king of one-liners is: Arnold Schwarzenegger, and it's honestly not close. There are many Arnie films that one might call highly quotable, but few as much as Predator.
"Get to the chopper!", "you're one ugly motherf***er", and "stick around" are but a few of Predator's most iconic quotes, and those are only lines from Schwarzenegger's character, Dutch. All characters considered, this is by far one of the most quotable sci-fi movies ever, full of the kinds of lines that make fans dream of one day being in a situation that merits their usage.
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Predator
R
Action Adventure HorrorSci-Fi
- Release Date
- June 12, 1987
- Runtime
- 107 Minutes
Cast
-
Arnold Schwarzenegger
-
Carl Weathers
-
Elpidia Carrillo
-
Bill Duke
6 'Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl' (2003)
Most iconic quote: "This is the day you will always remember as the day you almost caught Captain Jack Sparrow!"
There are plenty of movies based on books, others based on video games, and several others based on other movies. What was unheard of before Disney started doing it were movies based on theme park rides. Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl wasn't the first, but it definitely was the most successful up to that point, reviving the pirate swashbuckler and proving that these kinds of films were ones that audiences were eager to see.
The entire Pirates of the Caribbean franchise is packed with quotable dialogue, but it's especially Curse of the Black Pearl that's one of the most quotable fantasy movies of all time. For reasons obvious to anyone familiar with these movies, the majority of these quotes come from Johnny Depp's Captain Jack Sparrow, but with all of the secondary characters bouncing off of him perfectly, conversations with Jack always result in some of the most quotable lines in Disney's filmography.
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Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
PG-13
Action Adventure Fantasy- Release Date
- July 9, 2003
- Runtime
- 143 Minutes
Cast
-
Johnny Depp
-
Geoffrey Rush
-
Orlando Bloom
-
Keira Knightley
5 'Die Hard' (1988)
Most iconic quote: "Yippee-ki-yay, motherf***er."
Whether it is or isn't a Christmas movie is irrelevant. What's an indisputable fact is that Die Hard is one of the best action masterpieces ever, and maybe even the single best of the late '80s. Despite a simple setup and taking place mostly in just one location (admittedly, it's a huge location spanning multiple floors, but the point stands), it's delightfully fresh and creative in its approach to action, characters, and—of course—dialogue.
Dialogue is one of the best ways of building characters, and Die Hard is a masterclass in how to use it to create compelling action heroes and villains. John McClane's one-liners and jokes, Hans Gruber's menacing way of speaking, and the way all of the characters around them react to these two forces of nature all result in some of the action genre's most memorable dialogue.
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Die Hard
R
Action Thriller- Release Date
- July 15, 1988
- Runtime
- 132 minutes
Cast
-
Bruce Willis
-
Bonnie Bedelia
-
Reginald VelJohnson
-
Paul Gleason
4 'Fight Club' (1999)
Most iconic quote: "The first rule of Fight Club is: you do not talk about Fight Club. The second rule of Fight Club is: you DO NOT talk about Fight Club!"
Not to break the rules, but it's worth bending them a bit if it's for a cause as good as praising David Fincher's Fight Club. It's mainly a drama and a thriller, but it's so packed with visceral action scenes (it's right there in the title) that it's hard not to include it in the canon of the '90s' great action films. Politically complex and cleverly satirical, it's one of action's most unique entries.
Brad Pitt laying down the rules of the titular club, the protagonist's many amusing bits of narration, and the many lines of scathing sociopolitical commentary, as well as one of the best improvised movie quotes ever, all make the question of why Fight Club is considered one of the most quotable films ever kind of self-explanatory.
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Fight Club
R
Drama10/10
- Release Date
- October 15, 1999
- Runtime
- 139 minutes
Cast
-
Brad Pitt
-
Meat Loaf
3 'The Dark Knight' (2008)
Most iconic quote: "You either die a hero or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain."
Perhaps the most pivotal landmark in the history of 21st-century superhero films, the über-influential The Dark Knight not only cemented Christopher Nolan as a master of the action genre, but also changed the degree to which superhero films took themselves seriously forever. Thrilling, complex, and gritty, it's one of the most entertaining entries in all of the genres it covers.
Thanks to Nolan's script (which he co-wrote with his brother, Jonathan Nolan), Christian Bale delivering one of the best-ever interpretations of Batman, and Heath Ledger giving one of the best villain performances of the 2000s, all of the film's dialogue comes alive in all manner of surprising ways. Particularly with the serious and nuanced way the dialogue is written (something rare for superhero movies), this is probably the most quotable comic book films ever.
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The Dark Knight
PG-13
Drama ActionCrime
Thriller Superhero10/10
- Release Date
- July 16, 2008
- Runtime
- 152 minutes
Cast
-
Christian Bale
Bruce Wayne
-
Heath Ledger
Joker
2 'Terminator' (1984) and 'Terminator 2: Judgment Day' (1991)
Most iconic quote: "I'll be back."
The vast majority of entries in the Terminator franchise aren't particularly well-liked or well-written, but the first two, The Terminator and Terminator 2: Judgment Day, are typically considered paragons of sci-fi action filmmaking. The titular character, embodied by Arnold Schwarzenegger in what's definitely his most iconic (and perhaps his best) performance, is one of '80s and '90s cinema's great characters.
The Terminator and T2 aren't only two of the best-edited action movies of all time, but also two of the ones with the best and most memorable dialogue. As one might expect from any Arnie film, there are plenty of awesome one-liners, from "I'll be back" to "hasta la vista, baby", but also plenty of equally iconic and equally quotable longer lines of dialogue spoken by other characters. These two masterpieces have lots of strengths, and their dialogue writing is typically one of the most underappreciated.
Terminator
R
Sci-Fi
Action- Runtime
- 107 minutes
- Director
- James Cameron
Cast
-
Michael Biehn
-
Linda Hamilton
-
Lance Henriksen
-
Paul Winfield
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1 'Star Wars' Movies
Most iconic quote: "May the Force be with you."
It may most typically be associated with fantasy and sci-fi, but the Star Wars franchise has more than enough showstopping action sequences to put most action-oriented movie franchises to shame. Something else it has, as even the biggest fans of the series will admit, is some pretty inconsistent writing. It can range from absolutely phenomenal to pretty abysmal, but there's one thing that remains constant throughout all kinds of Star Wars scripts: The dialogue is iconic.
From great quotes like Yoda's "do or do not. There is no try" from Empire Strikes Back; to terrible but hilariously iconic quotes like Anakin's "I don't like sand" spiel from Attack of the Clones; to conversations that concatenate memorable quote after memorable quote, like Anakin and Obi-Wan's duel at the end of Revenge of the Sith; to, of course, overarching quotes that show up several times throughout the saga, like "may the Force be with you"; there's no denying that Star Wars is one huge collection of incredible quotes. The films' dialogue may not always be good, but even when it's bad, that's never because it's dull or forgettable. Never has the action genre been more full of quotable lines.
Star Wars
- Created by
- George Lucas
- First Film
- Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope
- Latest Film
- Star Wars: Episode IX- The Rise of Skywalker
- First TV Show
- Star Wars The Clone Wars
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