Movie Lines You've Been Misquoting
We've all quoted our favorite movie lines to friends, family, and even random people. Sometimes we'll say they can't handle the truth because we just don't feel like talking. Sometimes, fathers with newborn sons will say, "I am your father." And then there's the rare occasion in which a person finally meets someone named Clarice and attempts to greet her in the creepiest way possible. More often than not, however, we tend to get those famous quotes wrong. Want to know the correct versions? Keep reading.
"Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the fairest of them all?"
The world of animation changed the day Walt Disney and his animation studio released Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Certain aspects of this classic resonate with audiences to this day, such as the poisoned apple, the magic mirror, the Evil Queen—and the eternal question "Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the fairest of them all?" Problem is, no one actually says that in the film. The Evil Queen actually asks, "Magic mirror on the wall, who is the fairest of them all?" This in itself, however, is a bit of a misquote: in the Grimm brothers' original story, the Queen queries, "Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who in this land is fairest of all?"
"We're gonna need a bigger boat."
Steven Spielberg pioneered the summer blockbuster in 1975 with this terrifying tale of a great white serial killer. The music, the poster, the characters, and the quotes—they all made Jaws the classic movie it is today. We all know how the story goes: after a few people turn up dead in the water, Chief Brody, Matt Hooper, and Quint go out hunting for the shark. When they meet their match, Brody realizes that they'll need a bigger boat to defeat the sea creature. It's easy to believe Brody told Quint, "We're gonna need a bigger boat." Why wouldn't he? He was on the boat too. While the misquote makes sense, Brody actually told Quint, "You're gonna need a bigger boat."
"Fasten your seat belts, it's gonna be a bumpy ride."
Based on Mary Orr's short story "The Wisdom of Eve," Joseph L. Mankiewicz's 1950 drama All About Eve is among the most memorable films ever made, ranking high on AFI's list of Best American Films. The film institute also ranks All About Eve high on their list of Best Movie Quotes for the line, "Fasten your seat belts, it's going to be a bumpy night," said by Bette Davis' character Margo Channing. At one point or another, we've all either said or wanted to utter that line. The thing is, most of us probably misquoted the line and instead said, "Fasten your seat belts, it's going to be a bumpy ride." Admittedly, the incorrect version can be used in virtually any situation, whereas the correct version only applies at night.
"If you build it, they will come."
Phil Alden Robinson's 1989 film Field of Dreams is unique because it's a fantasy film that's also a sports drama. Sure, most sports films tend to rely on miracles, but it's rare to see the two genres mix as seamlessly as they did here. And we see that association play out in the opening scene. While walking through his crop fields, Kevin Costner's Ray Kinsella has a vision of a baseball field. But before he sees the diamond, he hears a voice telling him, "If you build it, he will come." The voice repeats the line a few times, with Kinsella believing he's going crazy every time. While the quote refers to one person, it's often misquoted as "If you build it, they will come." It's a small change, but it's still incorrect.
"I want to suck your blood"
Everyone's heard of Count Dracula. Some aspects of the character stem from the 15th-century Romanian Prince Vlad III, aka Vlad the Impaler, but the depiction of the character everyone recognizes comes from Bram Stoker's Dracula novel. Over the years, Hollywood has adapted Dracula numerous times, and the eponymous character has become one of the most recognizable in all of pop culture. So has his famous line, "I want to suck your blood"—a frightening threat that has persisted throughout the years despite Bela Lugosi never saying the line in Tod Browning's 1931 Dracula film. Because of the quote's popularity, though, Tim Burton paid homage to Lugosi by having the character Dr. Tom Mason (Ned Bellamy) say the line while practicing his Lugosi impression in the 1994 film Ed Wood, a biographical period dramedy centering on the life of the titular filmmaker.
"Run, you fools!"
Peter Jackson made waves in Hollywood with his Lord of the Rings trilogy. It took him years, but he finally managed to bring J.R.R. Tolkien's beloved novels to life on the big screen in 2001. The movies have an abundance of profound quotes, and people tend to get most of them right—but there's one that always gets mistaken: "Run, you fools!" Gandalf yells the line to the rest of the fellowship mere moments before falling into the chasm with the Balrog in The Fellowship of the Ring. Sure, the line isn't as iconic as some of other quotes in this feature, and it may not even be the most quoted from the Lord of the Rings movies, but people still use it and still get it wrong. Gandalf doesn't say, "Run, you fools!" He says, "Fly, you fools!" Why would he say that when none of his traveling companions had wings? "Fly" in old English means to flee.
"Greed is good."
"Greed is good"—it's an adage that perfectly defines the sentiment on Wall Street, the banking industry, and capitalism in general. It's also a famous quote from Oliver Stone's 1987 film Wall Street, starring Michael Douglas as sleazy financier Gordon Gekko. Douglas' portrayal of Gekko was so well-received that it won him the Academy Award for Best Actor, and the character's association with corporate finance has never diminished. While the phrase is often the one thing people remember and cherish most about the film, the problem is Gekko doesn't actually say it—he says, "The point is, ladies and gentlemen, that greed, for lack of a better word, is good." He then continues with the rest of a speech that defines and attributes greed to modern societies.
"Do you feel lucky, punk?"
Clint Eastwood is part of a rare breed of actors who are also capable of directing award-winning hits—his list of directorial classics includes Unforgiven and Million Dollar Baby. But no matter how many movies Eastwood directs or stars in, his fans will always remember him as the guy from those spaghetti Westerns—notably Sergio Leone's Dollars trilogy—as well as the SFPD cop Harry Callahan from the Dirty Harry series. In the series' first film, Eastwood's Harry drops one the greatest quotes in film history while standing over a wounded bank robber, aiming his .44 magnum at him: "You've got to ask yourself one question: 'Do I feel lucky?' Well, do ya, punk?" It'll be difficult to blend that into a regular conversation, which is why people often tend to misquote Harry by saying, "Do you feel lucky, punk?"
"Play it again, Sam."
As with many other entries on this list, Michael Curtiz's Casablanca is one of the most cherished films in American history. It's beloved for several reasons, including its abundance of memorable quotes. In fact, there are so many famous Casablanca lines that the American Film Institute had no choice but to select six of them on their list of 100 Best Movie Quotes (which we're sure is some sort of record). While most people tend to get five of the quotes right, the sixth one, "Play it again, Sam," is often bungled. When Ilsa walks into the cafe, she says to Sam, "Play it, Sam. Play 'As Time Goes By.'" This didn't stop it from influencing the title of Woody Allen's 1972 comedy film, Play It Again, Sam.
"Hello, Clarice..."
Long before Mads Mikkelsen took on the role of Hannibal Lecter on NBC's Hannibal, the legendary Anthony Hopkins played the cannibalistic psychiatrist in Jonathan Demme's The Silence of the Lambs, based on the second novel of the same name in Thomas Harris' novel series. Hopkins gave an award-winning performance in the film, and his delivery of the line "Good evening, Clarice" chillingly sums up his entire portrayal of the character. The thing is, people tend to say mistakenly, "Hello, Clarice," instead of the correct "good evening" greeting. No matter which one you choose to quote, though, both lines are equally as haunting, especially when you're imagining them delivered by Hopkins.
"Beam me up, Scotty!"
In 2016, the Star Trek franchise celebrated its 50th anniversary. Gene Roddenberry's original series debuted on CBS in 1966, and the sci-fi world has never been the same since. Star Trek has blessed the world with futuristic ideas we've only begun to realize. For now, while we wait to explore the final frontier, we'll have to settle for the many quotes the casts have left us, including the oft-misattributed phrase, "Beam me up, Scotty!" Everyone knows this one—even those who've never seen Star Trek—but the fact is, no one ever utters the phrase in either the movies or TV shows. Instead, we get variations like "Scotty, beam us up," or "Beam us up, Mr. Scott," but never "Beam me up, Scotty."
"Luke, I am your father."
Star Wars is perhaps the biggest entertainment franchise ever to exist—and recent releases like Star Wars: The Force Awakens and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story have only built on that legacy. Aside from the uber-cool lightsabers, the vast galaxy, and the expansive story, the movies (and TV shows) contain an abundance of famous lines. Everyone knows quotes like "May the Force be with you" and "I find your lack of faith disturbing"—but what about the big one? The one that everyone gets wrong? When Darth Vader reveals the truth to Luke Skywalker in The Empire Strikes Back, telling him that he's his father, Vader doesn't say, "Luke, I am your father"; he says, "No, I am your father" in response to Luke accusing Vader of killing his father.
"Frankly, Scarlett, I don't give a damn."
When adjusting for inflation, George Lucas' original Star Wars film ranks far above The Force Awakens. In fact, it ranks as the second highest-grossing film of all time, right behind Victor Fleming's 1939 epic Gone with the Wind, starring Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh. Winning ten of its 13 Academy Awards nominations, Gone with the Wind frequently ranks among the greatest films of all time and was part of the Library of Congress' inaugural selection into the National Film Registry in 1989. For all that success, when people think about Gone with the Wind, they immediately remember the quote, "Frankly, Scarlett, I don't give a damn." The actual quote is, "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn." Interestingly, as a reference to Gone with the Wind in the film Clue, Wadsworth utters the misquoted line to the character Ms. Scarlett.
"I don't think we're in Kansas anymore, Toto."
It only makes sense that one of the most famous quotes in history comes from one of the most iconic films in history: The Wizard of Oz. Based on the novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum, Victor Fleming's film (1939 was a fantastic year for Fleming) followed Dorothy Gale as she traveled from her home state of Kansas to the fantastical world of Oz and helped defeat the Wicked Witch of the West. When Dorothy arrives in Oz via tornado, she says to her dog, "Toto, I've a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore." Over the years, people have misquoted the line by assuming Dorothy said, "I don't think we're in Kansas anymore." Nevertheless, the quote has become so famous that variations are frequently used in pop culture.