8 Of The Best and Worst Lines in Cinema

Dialogue is one of the most important aspects of a film. Just like a book, It communicates the feelings and personality of a character using language. Unlike a book, however, dialogue can’t be used like prose to directly tell the audience what the characters are feeling. Screenwriters need to make sure it’s not too on the nose, not too boringly real, not too flowery, and not too long. Here’s 4 times filmmakers mastered the art of dialogue and 4 times they’ve failed it miserably.  

The Best

“I’m going to make him an offer he can’t refuse” (The Godfather)

According to the American Film Institute, this is the second most well known line from a film in the world. The expression was known before Mario Puzo wrote it into the film and his novel, but The Godfather shifted the interpretation of it. Before, it was more of a positive gesture, but in the context of the most well-known fictional mafia boss, it has more of a sinister ring to it. It works perfectly as a piece of dialogue in the seemingly professional atmosphere of Don Corleone’s  (Marlon Brando) office, with his suit, desk, fountain pen, leather seats. He seems like any other businessman talking about making an offer when saying it, when really it’s a twisted euphemism to disguise the underworld business of the family.

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“Some men just want to watch the world burn” (The Dark Knight)

“Some men aren’t looking for anything logical, like money. They can’t be bought, bullied, reasoned, or negotiated with. Some men just want to watch the world burn”, is how Alfred (Michael Cane) explains the Joker to Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale). What makes this dialogue so effective is the way that it perfectly encapsulates how dangerous the Joker is in an almost poetic way. The Joker’s only motivation for chaos is the pleasure he get’s out of it, and with his lack of ambitions and values he is practically unstoppable. The line makes this dawn on Bruce Wayne as well as the audience.

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“You talkin’ to me?” (Taxi Driver) 

The famous “you talkin’ to me line” said by Robert De Niro’s Travis Bickle as he has an imaginary confrontation in the mirror became an iconic moment in pop culture. De Niro improvised this line, going along with the humour of the scene. Despite the humorous and playful nature of the line, its context is extremely dark. The scene paints a picture of a man gone completely insane as he pretends to have a violent confrontation using weapons. Travis Bickle feels so isolated from society and people thatb the only way he feels he can make human contact is through violence. The humour of the line comes from the fact that Travis Bickle has stooped so far into isolation that he has lost all touch with reality. 

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“The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn’t exist” (The Usual Suspects)

Originally written by French poet Charles Baudelaire, this line beautifully ties up the shocking ending of this film. As Verbal explains to Kujan that someone as evil as Keyzer Soze would seldom let himself be seen, he delivers the famous line before revealing his identity. The quote shows the boldness of Verbal a.k.a Keyzer Soze and unravels the shock of the audience at the fact that this character is not the same man the film presented him to be. 

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Worst

“What? No!” (The Happening)

Director M. Night Shyamalan gave us brilliant thrillers like The Sixth Sense and more recently Split, making his unforgivably terrible 2008 film The Happening one of the most memorable displays of bad acting, writing, and directing. There’s an endless supply of awful lines to pick from, but the funniest (this was a horror film) has to be Mark Walburgs “What? No!”. Hiding in a house from the murderous wind, the owner accuses him of trying to murder her in her sleep. His face drops, and in the worst delivery possible he says “What? No!” in shock. In defense of Mark Walburg, the best actor on Earth wouldn’t be able to save the script.

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“Your scent. It’s like a drug to me. You’re like my own personal brand of heroin.” (Twilight)

This entire scene is a minefield of poor writing, from Edward’s cringeworthy pick up lines to Bella literally saying “I don’t care” after he insists he’ll murder her. Edward describing Bella’s scent as his own “personal brand of heroin” could have worked in passing conversation (or in a comedy), but not with Edward dramatically jumping onto a tree like a spider, leaning into her, then whispering the line. Edward shining like a disco ball and telling Bella how frightening he is certainly didn’t help to make the character seem intimidating. 

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“Do you know what happens to a toad when struck by lightning? The same thing that happens to everything else.” (X-men)

As Storm starts to float in the air with white eyes and lightning sizzling around her, she says “Do you know what happens to a toad when struck by lightning?...” before pausing, teasing how epic the end of the line will surely be. Of course, it isn’t epic at all, which is what makes this whole line terrible. It’s not even disappointing, just so bizarre and confusing how a piece of dialogue that says absolutely nothing was meant to add something to this scene. Not even the lighting she shoots at someone the second she finishes the line can bring back any note of seriousness into the scene.

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“‘Tis time we show the fire nation we believe in our beliefs as much as they believe in theirs.” (The Last Airbender)

The live action film of The Last Airbender left fans of the original series disappointed and even offended at how bad it was. Its badly written screenplay certainly justifies their frustrations. Director M. Night Shyamalan (again) got rid of the goofy, fun tone of the series and tried creating something serious, but instead ended up making something that was unintentionally hilarious. What’s meant to be an inspiring portrayal of bravery from Princess Yue, “‘Tis time we show the fire nation we believe in our beliefs as much as they believe in theirs'' is more like the nonsensical word salad of someone who just learned the word “believe”.

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