Top 10 Pre-Kill Quips in Movies

After spending the entire film watching everyone around him slowly be turned into deadly monsters trying to kill him, it’s not surprising that MacReady is a little on edge. When his plan to destroy one of those creatures goes awry, this is his opportunity to release all of that anger. A perfect line that encapsulates the frustration he must be feeling and gives the audience a few seconds of levity, these words are the perfect capper to everything that came before it.

Kurt Russell is at it again. As a Special Ops Colonel who begins an adventure in another world with no great desire to survive or return home, he finds the fight for survival inside himself. Anubis, the personal guard of his enemy Ra, has the unenviable task of trying to relieve Jack O’Neil of his life, and this brings us to this line. Derisive and concise, this quip works on every level, especially when delivered by a true Hollywood hero.

Considered by many to the best “Die Hard” sequel - which makes sense when you remember the villainous family ties to the original – “With a Vengeance” features the coolest pre-kill wisecrack of them all. An allusion to the death of legendary villain Hans Gruber who McClane killed all of those years earlier, it works completely as a spit in the face to the bad guy and as a pleasant call-back for the audience. Despite also loving the all-time classic line from the original, “Happy Trails, Hans,” it was the huge smile this line brings to our faces that’s earned its place on our list.

As the “Nightmare on Elm Street” series progressed, Freddy Krueger became a catchphrase-uttering facsimile of his earlier, scarier self. Though that may not have worked for some horror purists, it certainly works for our list here today. Though lines like “Tell them Freddy sent you” and “Told ya, comic books was bad for ya” were stand outs, it was this line from the third film that worked the best for us. An exceptional example of how Freddy turns your vices against you, using a line any junkie would love to hear to kill a former one is his victim’s absolute nightmare.

When Peter Jackson chose to adapt J.R.R. Tolkien’s classic works into a series of films, he must have realized one weakness of the series was how few good female roles there were. Luckily for him, he could rely heavily on Éowyn to fill that responsibility. In the final film, she has as strong an effect on the outcome of the battles for Middle-earth as nearly anyone. Uttering this classic, succinct line after she was told no man could kill the leader of the Nazgûl, she puts down a truly deadly villain as bravely and effectively as any man could – or in this case, more so.

It’s an unfortunate truth but the two mediocre sequels to this sci-fi classic have obscured some people’s memories of just how awesome this first film truly is. Up until this moment, we thought it seemed impossible to take down an agent at all. Among many other things, they’ve shown themselves capable of dodging a bullet, but Trinity finds a surefire way to put an end to that. Sure, afterwards we know the agent popped into another body and the only thing Trinity killed was the body of an innocent, but seriously, how awesome is this?

Harrison Ford will always be associated with his two standout roles as Han Solo and Indiana Jones. And though they both have some truly magnificent dialogue, they aren’t known for their pre-death wit. Instead, it is Ford’s turn as a president whose family is under attack midflight that finds its way here. The type of line that only works if you’re an actor as cool as the Ford and happens to be playing a kickass country leader, everything came together for this one.

It seems outrageous that an actor with a thick Austrian accent might just be the best actor for conveying whatever hilarious zinger screenwriters can come up with, yet we can’t argue against it. We think the key to Arnie’s success in this highly competitive field is his ability to spew ridiculousness completely earnestly, like he’s not in on the joke, and then have giant muscles that back up his claims with deeds. Best represented in this amazing sequence in this eighties classic, Arnold made this line that probably sounded insane on paper completely badass.

One of the most quoted phrases in film history, there doesn’t appear to be any better way we can think of to encapsulate the reckless abandon Tony Montana’s rise to power was built on than this. Screamed by a man who is fueled by cocaine and a death wish just prior to taking down a legion of hitmen sent to kill him, Al Pacino and his little friend have gone down in the annals of film history and there they will stay.

Before we reveal our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions:
- “How about a magic trick? I’m going to make this pencil disappear.”
“The Dark Knight” (2008)
- “No, thanks, I already had a wife.”
“From Dusk till Dawn” (1996)
- “Swallow this.”
“Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn” (1987)
- “Time to face gravity!”
“Die Another Day” (2002)
- “I like the way you die, boy.”
“Django Unchained” (2012)

Okay, we know, technically the T-1000 comes back to life after this scene, but we think it’s close enough - and the strength of the line and how much it’s caught on in pop culture won it the number one slot despite that. And after all, Arnold does get his man, er, robot, in the end. In the history of cinema, out of touch writers have many times thrown slang into films that was either passé or that they just thought sounded cool. Prior to this movie, we don’t remember ever hearing these words strung together quite like this – funny, inspired and fitting.

Do you agree with our list? What’s your favorite pre-kill quip? For more action top 10s published daily, be sure to subscribe to WatchMojo.com.