50 Fun Facts About 80s Movie Quotes

Which US president quoted Back to the Future's closing line about not needing roads in a State of the Union address?

Ronald Reagan borrowed the line in 1986 to tell young Americans the future was theirs. The film jokes about him too: in 1955, Doc Brown scoffs at the idea of an actor becoming president.

Which talk show host's nightly introduction does Jack Torrance mimic after axing through a bathroom door in The Shining?

Johnny Carson walked on to that drawn-out cue from sidekick Ed McMahon every night on The Tonight Show. Jack Nicholson improvised the borrowing, and Carson later opened an anniversary show with the clip.

Which director refused Arnold Schwarzenegger's request to reword the cyborg's promise to return in The Terminator?

James Cameron kept the contraction even though his star struggled to pronounce it and wanted the words said in full. Schwarzenegger speaks only 17 lines in the whole film.

Which director's mother, Estelle, plays the deli customer who orders whatever Sally is having in When Harry Met Sally?

Rob Reiner handed the scene's punchline to his own mother, and his daughter Tracy appears in the film too. Billy Crystal came up with the line, and Meg Ryan suggested staging the scene in a restaurant.

In This Is Spinal Tap, Nigel Tufnel boasts that his amplifier beats ordinary ones because its dials reach which number?

Eleven is the top setting, which Nigel insists makes his amp louder than those that stop at ten. The scene gave English an idiom for pushing anything past its limit.

In Airplane!, which formerly dramatic actor plays Dr. Rumack, the deadpan doctor who objects to being called Shirley?

Leslie Nielsen had spent decades in serious leading roles before the spoof remade him as a deadpan comic. On set he kept castmates off balance with a device that made rude noises.

Which Princess Bride swordsman rehearses a greeting that names himself, accuses his father's killer and promises death?

Inigo Montoya has spent his life hunting a six-fingered man to avenge his murdered father. Mandy Patinkin played the Spanish fencer, one of three outlaws who kidnap the bride.

Which comedian improvised most of DJ Adrian Cronauer's broadcasts, wake-up bellow included, in Good Morning, Vietnam?

Robin Williams ad-libbed most of the on-air routines and earned an Oscar nomination for the role. The real Cronauer joked that doing half of what the film shows would have landed him in military prison.

Which suburban haunting film has young Carol Anne announce the spirits' arrival to a television full of static?

Poltergeist earned 69th place on the American Film Institute's list of great movie quotes for her two-word warning. Heather O'Rourke played Carol Anne, the Freelings' youngest daughter.

Which real economist plays the droning teacher who keeps calling an absent pupil's surname in Ferris Bueller's Day Off?

Ben Stein drew on his own career in economics to improvise the classroom lecture on a 1930 tariff act, which was never in John Hughes's script. Hughes cast him although he was not a professional actor.

Which actor plays Johnny Castle, the dance instructor who refuses to leave Baby sitting in a corner in Dirty Dancing?

Patrick Swayze's defiant line ranks 98th on the American Film Institute's list of great movie quotes. Johnny then leads Baby on stage for the lift the pair had failed to land earlier.

Which corporate raider sings the praises of greed to Teldar Paper's shareholders in the film Wall Street?

Gordon Gekko's creed was adapted from a real speech by trader Ivan Boesky, who was later convicted of insider trading. Michael Douglas won the Best Actor Oscar for the role.

Which Western star's catchphrase inspired the cowboy yell John McClane aims at Hans Gruber in Die Hard?

Roy Rogers used a child-friendly version of the cry, and the writers gave McClane a ruder one to mark him as an all-American hero. Bruce Willis backed the wording that reached the screen.

Which actor improvised greenskeeper Carl Spackler's fantasy of winning the Masters while swatting flowers in Caddyshack?

Bill Murray improvised most of the monologue from two lines of stage direction. The daydream of an unknown's fairy-tale win earned a place among the American Film Institute's 100 greatest movie quotes.

Which Marlon Brando film's lament about wasted promise does Jake LaMotta recite in his dressing room in Raging Bull?

On the Waterfront gave the speech to Terry Malloy, a prizefighter who threw a fight for a mob boss. Robert De Niro's LaMotta rehearses it before a mirror in a scene that took 19 takes.

Which actor rewrote replicant Roy Batty's dying speech about lost memories himself before filming it for Blade Runner?

Rutger Hauer reworked the monologue on his own and showed director Ridley Scott his version on set just before filming. Hauer played the thoughtful but violent leader of the fugitive replicants.

Which actor plays Private Hudson, the panicky Marine who declares the fight lost after the dropship crash in Aliens?

Bill Paxton feared the boastful private would annoy audiences until he saw him as comic relief for the tense scenes. The part won him a Saturn Award for best supporting actor.

Which former drill instructor wrote about half of Sergeant Hartman's lines, insults included, for Full Metal Jacket?

R. Lee Ermey was hired only as a technical advisor, then won the part by improvising abuse at men trying out as background recruits. Stanley Kubrick put his share of the character's dialogue at half.

Which romantic comedy has Cher slap Nicolas Cage and order him to pull himself together when he declares his love?

Moonstruck won Cher the Best Actress Oscar as Loretta Castorini, a widow who falls for her fiancé's hot-tempered younger brother. Her order ranks 96th on the American Film Institute's quote list.

Which actor plays Tony Montana, who introduces his grenade launcher as a small companion in Scarface's final shootout?

Al Pacino's Cuban refugee turned Miami drug lord makes his last stand with a rifle fitted with a grenade launcher. Pacino sought the remake after seeing the 1932 original in a Los Angeles theater.

Which newcomer playing boxer Clubber Lang in Rocky III first voiced a catchphrase of scornful pity for a rival?

Mr. T turned the taunt into a personal trademark, though Sylvester Stallone wrote it for the script. Two real heavyweights were considered for the part first but rejected over their voices.

Which literary seafarer does the dying villain quote while triggering the Genesis device in Star Trek II?

Captain Ahab's vengeful words suit Khan because the film borrows heavily from Moby-Dick. To make the parallel plain, the director placed a visible copy of the novel in Khan's dwelling.

Which actress gave an uncredited voice to Jessica Rabbit, who protests that she is merely drawn to look wicked?

Kathleen Turner supplied the speaking voice without credit, while Amy Irving sang the character's nightclub number. The animators borrowed her look from stars such as Rita Hayworth and Veronica Lake.

In Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Henry Jones Sr. reveals that the hero took the name Indiana from which source?

The family dog was called Indiana, as the elder Jones gleefully points out in the closing scene. The joke is true to life: George Lucas named the hero after his own Alaskan Malamute.

Faye Dunaway's tirade over wire coat hangers in Mommie Dearest portrays which real Hollywood star as an abusive mother?

Joan Crawford was depicted through the memoir of her adopted daughter Christina, and her relatives condemned the film as harsher than the book. The studio ended up marketing it as an unintentional comedy.

Which poet wrote the elegy whose title students shout from their desktops to salute John Keating in Dead Poets Society?

Walt Whitman wrote the poem in 1865 to mourn a murdered president, and Keating introduces it to the boys in their very first class. Their salute comes as he is forced out of the school.

Which simple game does the WarGames supercomputer play against itself to learn that nuclear war cannot be won?

Tic-tac-toe ends in draw after draw, teaching the machine that some contests have no winner. It then runs every nuclear attack plan, finds the same result, and gives up control of the missiles.

After insisting that merely trying is not an option, Yoda lifts what from a Dagobah swamp in The Empire Strikes Back?

An X-wing, Luke Skywalker's sunken starfighter, rises on the Force alone after Luke gives up on the task. Yoda was a puppet, performed and voiced by Frank Oz.

Which Motown singer voices Audrey II, the plant that bellows at Seymour to feed it in Little Shop of Horrors?

Levi Stubbs, a Rock and Roll Hall of Famer with the Four Tops, gave the man-eating plant its voice. At its largest, the puppet needed around 60 operators.

Which actor earned an Oscar nomination as Mr. Miyagi, who teaches karate through car-waxing chores in The Karate Kid?

Pat Morita had been known mostly for comedy before the role revived his career. His handyman's menial chores turn out to drill defensive blocks into Daniel's muscle memory.

Which jungle thriller has Arnold Schwarzenegger's Dutch bellow at Anna to run for the extraction helicopter?

Predator has Dutch send Anna running once he realizes the alien hunter attacks only those it sees as a threat. She returns aboard the helicopter at dawn to collect him.

Which villain's question about dancing with the devil by moonlight shows Bruce Wayne who killed his parents in Batman?

The Joker used to put the same question to his victims as a young mugger, so Wayne realizes he is facing his parents' murderer. The line was nominated for the American Film Institute's top 100 quotes.

Which musical comedy sends Jake and Elwood on a self-proclaimed divine mission to save the orphanage that raised them?

The Blues Brothers must reunite their old band and stage a concert to cover the orphanage's $5,000 tax bill. Jake hits on the plan during a sermon at a Baptist church.

Which Spaceballs sage, played by director Mel Brooks, teaches the hero a mystical power that spoofs the Force?

Yogurt lives in a hidden desert temple and sends the heroes off with a pun on the Jedi farewell. He also breaks the fourth wall to advertise fictitious Spaceballs merchandise.

Which satirical action film features TV comic Bixby Snyder, forever announcing that he would buy something for a dollar?

RoboCop keeps cutting to Snyder's leering comedy show, part of its satire of a near-future Detroit on the brink of collapse. His catchphrase sits beside the cyborg's own arrest warning among the film's best-known lines.

Which Untouchables actor won an Oscar as Malone, the beat cop who tells Eliot Ness to answer a knife with a gun?

Sean Connery won Best Supporting Actor as the veteran Irish-American officer who joins the fight against Al Capone. His was the only win among the film's four Academy Award nominations.

Which actress plays Alex Forrest, who warns her married lover that she refuses to be ignored in Fatal Attraction?

Glenn Close earned a Best Actress nomination as the colleague Dan Gallagher cannot shake off. Her character later boils his daughter's pet rabbit on the Gallaghers' stove.

Which fantasy film about duelling immortals carries the tagline that only a single one of them can remain?

Highlander follows Connor MacLeod, a Scot who learns he is immortal and duels his own kind across the centuries. Its tagline outlived the film to become a pop-culture catchphrase.

Which Clint Eastwood film has Harry Callahan dare a diner robber holding a hostage to give him an excuse to fire?

Sudden Impact, the fourth Dirty Harry film, gave the series its most enduring catchphrase. The dare ranks sixth on the American Film Institute's list of 100 movie quotes.

Which creatures does Indiana Jones groan about finding on the floor of the Well of Souls in Raiders of the Lost Ark?

Snakes are the hero's one great fear, and the scene stalled until handlers across Europe supplied thousands more. The cobras stayed behind plexiglass to protect cast and crew.

Which Kevin Costner film has an Iowa farmer hear a whisper promising that someone will come if he builds something?

Field of Dreams has never revealed who performed the whisper; the voice's identity has stayed unconfirmed since the release. The promise ranks 39th on the American Film Institute's quote list.

Which film's stranded alien croaks a wish to call his planet in the voice of heavy smoker Pat Welsh?

E.T. got his rasp from Welsh's two-pack-a-day habit, blended with recordings of 16 other people and assorted animals. She spent nine and a half hours recording the part and was paid $380.

In A Christmas Story, which gift do Ralphie's mother, teacher and a store Santa all warn will cost him an eye?

A BB gun, specifically a Red Ryder air rifle, is all the nine-year-old wants for Christmas. He hears the same warning three times, the last from a disgruntled department-store Santa.

Which actor voiced the paternity reveal in The Empire Strikes Back but declined a screen credit for the role?

James Earl Jones turned down billing because he saw his voice as mere special effects for David Prowse's physical performance. He had made the same choice on the first Star Wars film.

Which actor plays Vizzini, the Sicilian schemer who keeps declaring events unthinkable in The Princess Bride?

Wallace Shawn's kidnapper dies in a battle of wits, tricked by the man in black into drinking poison. Vizzini leads the trio that seizes the bride before her wedding.

Which pro wrestler plays Nada, the drifter who announces he has run out of bubblegum in John Carpenter's They Live?

Roddy Piper met Carpenter at WrestleMania III, and the director decided at once that he was right for the part. A 1973 film had used a similar bubblegum boast years earlier.

Which film has John Merrick, cornered by a mob in a London rail station, cry that he is human, not a beast?

The Elephant Man stars John Hurt as Merrick, a kind, intelligent man shunned for his severe deformity. The mob corners him after boys harass him through Liverpool Street station.

Which Roman poet coined the Latin motto about seizing the day that John Keating whispers in Dead Poets Society?

Horace wrote the phrase in the first book of his Odes, published in 23 BC. Its verb literally means to pick or pluck.

Which Manhattan deli hosted the scene in which Sally loudly fakes ecstasy for Harry in When Harry Met Sally?

Katz's Delicatessen, a well-known Jewish deli, hosted the lunch. The scene grew from a suggestion by writer Nora Ephron, and Meg Ryan offered to act the moment out herself.

Which comedy features a freelance bio-exorcist who can be summoned only by saying his name three times?

Beetlejuice stars Michael Keaton as the ghoul, whose name is spelled Betelgeuse in the film. An early script let him roam free and be summoned simply by digging up his grave.