Iconic quotes from '70s movies

Francis Ford Coppola's 1972 adaptation of Mario Puzo's novel "The Godfather" is widely considered one of the greatest films ever made. The film stars Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, and James Caan as members of the Corleone crime family who struggle to balance external threats with internal tension as their father grows old. With an excellent score by Nino Rota, influential directing and cinematography, and complex characters, "The Godfather" is a cultural touchstone. Often-quoted dialogue like "I'm going to make him an offer he can't refuse" and "Leave the gun, take the cannoli" cemented its place in film history.

"Apocalypse Now" from director Francis Ford Coppola is a gut-wrenching film about the horrific conditions seen during the Vietnam War. With Joseph Conrad's "Heart of Darkness" providing the base structure, audiences watch as Captain Willard (Martin Sheen) abandons his humanity amidst a journey to assassinate the rogue Colonel Kurtz (Marlon Brando). Outside of one of the strongest opening sequences in cinema history, "Apocalypse Now" also created the quote "I love the smell of napalm in the morning," delivered by the violence-obsessed Colonel Kilgore (Robert Duvall).

Stanley Kubrick is most known for his work on films like "2001: A Space Odyssey" and "The Shining," but there's an argument to be made for "A Clockwork Orange" being the master filmmaker's best work. This literary adaptation of Anthony Burgess' 1962 novel of the same name follows a gang of violent youth, led by the sadistic Alex, in a dystopian future world. The film contrasts shocking and brutal scenes of violence with high art pop culture and illustrious set pieces—for example, Alex and his droogs (i.e., his gang) break into a couple's house and sexually assault the woman living there, all while singing the Gene Kelly classic song "Singin' in the Rain," making the lyrics an unsettling yet iconic quote from the film.

It's difficult to pick just one iconic quote from "Monty Python and the Holy Grail," as this renowned comedy never misses a beat within its 90-minute runtime. One of five movies from the Monty Python troupe, "Holy Grail" utilizes the group's satirical wit against the backdrop of Arthurian England on a divine quest for the titular grail. Some notable excerpts from the film include: "Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries," wherein French soldiers hurl insults at our noble protagonists, and "Just a flesh wound… 'Tis but a scratch!" delivered by a knight whose arms and legs had been cut off.

"The Exorcist'' is a horror movie that managed to traumatize an entire generation upon its release, and to this day is still considered one of the scariest movies ever made. Based on a William Peter Blatty novel and directed by William Friedkin, the film details Father Merrin's (Max von Sydow) attempts to exorcize the 12-year-old Regan as she becomes increasingly violent due to demon possession. Father Merrin wields his cross and decidedly shakeable faith, chanting the now-famous phrase "The power of Christ compels you!" repeatedly in a last-ditch attempt to save the girl.

Al Pacino's character Michael Corleone was a reluctant participant in his family's criminal empire in "The Godfather," but the Michael of "The Godfather Part II" is a completely different man. Becoming hardened by the weight of his position as the head of the Corleone family, he is now forced to reconcile with the knowledge that someone close to him is working as a double agent. This causes him to deliver the line: "Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer," which is a phrase that has been attributed to a number of different people, including Machiavelli and Sun Tzu.

"Dog Day Afternoon" is simultaneously a naturalistic crime thriller, a bank heist, a dry comedy, and a touching love story about a queer couple. Al Pacino stars as Sonny Wortzik, a poor and desperate man forced to rob a bank to get enough money for his lover to pay for gender-affirmation surgery—a plot that was notably based on a real-life heist. Sonny becomes something of a folk hero to the poor working man thanks to TV broadcasting, screaming "Attica! Attica!" to a roaring crowd in a pointed reference to the Attica prison riots of 1971 in Attica, New York.

Critic David Thomson describes "Alien" as "a haunted house film… the only difference is that the old dark house just happens to be a spaceship." This quote perfectly summarizes the film's plot, which follows the crew of the Nostromo as they are trapped in close quarters with a bloodthirsty alien, unafraid to pop out of any dark corner. Ridley Scott's sci-fi horror is most lauded for the character of Ellen Ripley, the unrelenting female protagonist permitted to be just as strong and complex as male counterparts at the time—her last line is, of course: "This is Ripley, last survivor of the Nostromo, signing off."

Martin Scorsese and screenwriter Paul Schrader manage to successfully capture the raw, intense energy of the American 1970s—particularly that of New York City in the '70s—in the classic film "Taxi Driver." This is an intimate character study of Travis Bickle, played by a young Robert De Niro, who spends his nights working in the titular occupation, all while considering himself the only righteous person left in a corrupt NYC. While his mental state deteriorates, he has an imaginary confrontation in front of his bathroom mirror, asking: "You talkin' to me?" in an increasingly aggravated fashion.

"Jaws" was the surprise hit from Steven Spielberg that launched his career and launched the contemporary film industry, leading to the popularization of the "event" film and making summer the most exciting season to release a blockbuster. A water-based horror-thriller, "Jaws" follows new-sheriff-in-town Martin Brody as a massive shark starts attacking the small island's residents—the only catch being that Brody is afraid of the water. Audiences don't see the shark until well into the film, at a time when the protagonist is trapped at sea with a shark specialist and a fisherman, prompting Brody to deliver the highly quotable, "You're gonna need a bigger boat."

No film has developed a subculture quite like that of "The Rocky Horror Picture Show," particularly when it comes to its notorious midnight screenings that involve costume competitions, actors reenacting scenes, audiences throwing rice, and crowds chanting in response to dialogue. Starting as a musical unlike any audiences have ever seen, its film adaptation harnesses the musical's electric and sexual energy, which is heightened by the incredibly catchy soundtrack. Tim Curry's performance as Dr. Frank-N-Furter, a trans alien scientist, is one of his best, including his delivery of the line: "I see you shiver with antici…pation" in the middle of the song "Sweet Transvestite."

Few franchises have ever come close to the cultural importance of the "Star Wars" series, first introduced by George Lucas' 1977 original "Star Wars" film (retroactively titled "A New Hope") and most recently joined by the spinoff show "Andor" in 2022. A classic tale of good vs. evil, this first film introduces the character of Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill), the son of a former Jedi who must awaken his powers (from a source dubbed "the Force") with help from Obi-Wan Kenobi. Many beloved characters originated from this film, including the late Carrie Fisher's Princess Leia and Harrison Ford's rugged Han Solo, who is one of several characters that delivers the line "May the Force be with you," which has since become the calling card of the franchise.

While much of the cinema of the 1970s reflected the darker war-torn world around it, audiences found a different kind of entertainment with "Love Story," a romantic tear-jerker. The first hour of this film details an escapist but somewhat realistic romance between Oliver, a rich hockey player at Harvard, and Jenny, a working-class librarian. The second half, however, is the gut-wrenching heartbreak of discovering Jenny has a fatal blood disease and is inevitably dying. "Love Story" is a testament to the undying love audiences everywhere yearn for, perfectly summarized by Jenny's line: "Love means never having to say you're sorry."

It seems no one knows where the television industry is going thanks to the advent of streaming, and this sentiment of confusion and possibility is similarly present in the 1970s film "Network" (albeit, without the streaming element). "Network" follows broadcaster Howard Beale (Peter Finch) who becomes infamous for having a breakdown on live television after receiving the news of his impending firing. His infamy leads to him receiving his own talk show where his mad ramblings become something of gospel, but nothing will ever be as memorable as his proclamation: "I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take this anymore!"

With the recent resurgence of this franchise, starting with 2018's "Halloween" and ending with 2022's "Halloween Ends," it's clear that the characters of Michael Myers and Laurie Strode have cemented themselves in pop culture. Their first appearance together is in John Carpenter's 1978 film "Halloween," a majorly successful low-budget independent horror that follows Myers as he hunts down local babysitter Strode on the night of Halloween. The beloved film boasts an iconic score, inventive cinematography, unparalleled scares, and a timeless piece of dialogue: "Death has come to your little town, Sheriff."

While Brian DePalma's "Carrie" can easily be brushed off as just another Stephen King book adaptation, that would undermine its emotional core and smart filmmaking. The plot revolves around the eponymous Carrie (Sissy Spacek), a shy teenage girl from a strict evangelical household who discovers telekinetic abilities during puberty. Balancing campy high school drama and horror spectacle—naturally, the final showdown occurs at prom—Carrie is asked to the dance by one of the popular boys, causing her mother to remark: "He's gonna laugh at you. They're all gonna laugh at you!"

"National Lampoon's Animal House" finds itself in the unique position of appealing to both film buffs and frat bros everywhere. Inspired by the real-life frat experiences of the writers at National Lampoon Magazine, the film introduces audiences to the troublemaking yet oddly charming Delta Tau Chi brothers whose stupid and often sexist schemes have created the blueprint for every college film that follows. The late John Belushi shines as Bluto, most notable for his loud chants of "Toga! Toga!" at the exciting prospect of a toga party, but the begrudging Dean Wormer delivers another iconic line to our protagonists: "Fat, drunk, and stupid is no way to go through life, son."

While David Fincher's "Zodiac" is the most accurate fictionalization of the Zodiac Killer, Don Siegel's "Dirty Harry" is another groundbreaking film that takes direct inspiration from the Zodiac's horrific crimes. Inspector Harry Callahan (Clint Eastwood) investigates the Scorpio killer, a master sniper operating in San Francisco, with the help of his rookie partner Inspector Chico Gonzalez (Reni Santoni). The character of Harry Callahan will go down in history books as being one of the most deranged but unabashedly cool police protagonists ever, evidenced by his iconic taunt: "You've gotta ask yourself one question: Do I feel lucky? Well, do ya, punk?"

"Marathon Man" is a high-stakes thriller that plays on the escalating tensions of a post-WWII and post-McCarthy era New York City. Writer William Goldman adapted his own novel into the "Marathon Man" screenplay, which follows Babe Levy (Dustin Hoffman), a Ph.D. candidate, who becomes unwittingly involved in a Nazi plot to smuggle diamonds. Levy gets kidnapped and interrogated by the lead antagonist, Dr. Szell (Laurence Olivier), who repeatedly asks Levy "Is it safe? Is it safe?"

Film critic James Verniere describes "Chinatown" as "an art-house movie in American mainstream drag," an apt summary of this neo-noir with overt Hitchcockian and pessimistic tendencies. While the narrative is multitiered, it primarily follows private investigator Jake Gittes (Jack Nicholson) as he discovers a shocking amount of corruption within the LA Department of Power and Water thanks to help from socialite Evelyn Mulwray (Faye Dunaway). The film has a remarkably depressing ending with one of the most memorable closing lines in all of cinema, "Forget it, Jake, it's Chinatown"—which essentially means, "Don't bother investigating, nothing will ever change."

Amidst the social progress of the 1970s was the rise of the environmental movement, thanks to the quickly escalating pollution of the 60s, and thus bodies like the Environmental Protection Agency and the Clean Air Act were born—along with the subgenre of environmental disaster films. "Soylent Green" is a notable entry in this genre and feels more relevant than ever, tracking a dystopian New York City where clean air and water are a luxury only the wealthy elite can afford. The lower and middle classes are forced to rely on various kinds of cheap wafers, including the titular Soylent Green; in a shocking twist, it's revealed that "Soylent Green is people!" and the wafers were actually repurposed corpses turned edible.

The 1970s saw the increased presence of black models/designers in the fashion scene, which directly correlated to the creation of the rags-to-riches film "Mahogany" starring Diana Ross as Tracy Chambers. Chambers is a fashion enthusiast from Chicago who struggles to break her way into the elite industry until she finds herself the most in-demand fashion model in the world, now renamed Mahogany. Produced by Motown Productions and directed by Berry Gordy, the excellence of this film is summarized by one of Mahogany's own lines, "I'm a winner, baby!"

The Muppets have a well-earned place in the hearts of many kids and adults alike, with their adorable designs, over-the-top personalities, and catchy tunes. At the time of the release of "The Muppet Movie" in 1979, The Muppets were a household name thanks to "The Muppet Show," but the release of the film allowed them to transition from beloved characters to genuine superstars. There are countless memorable jokes and gags, but arguably the film's best moment comes when Kermit begins to sing the now-famous song "Rainbow Connection," which promises that, "Someday we'll find it, the rainbow connection—the lovers, the dreamers, and me."

"Rocky" has the claim to fame of winning Best Picture at the 1977 Oscars over several other entries on this list, including "Taxi Driver" and "Network," as well as securing wins for Best Director and Best Film Editing. The classic underdog tale follows Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone), a small-time heavyweight boxer, who suddenly gets the opportunity to go face-to-face with world champion Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers). After losing to Creed at the end of the first film, Balboa faces him in a rematch in "Rocky II." After Rocky becomes the new heavyweight champion, he turns towards the crowd and shouts out for his love interest with the poetic, "Yo, Adrian, I did it!"

One of the most significant events in American history of the 1970s was the Watergate scandal, wherein President Nixon's office was exposed for covering up numerous illegal activities—including breaking into the Democratic National Committee headquarters. Shortly after this scandal, a film called "All the President's Men" was released, detailing a fictionalized but largely accurate retelling of how the Watergate scandal broke. After tracking down the elusive informant known as "Deep Throat," Carl Bernstein (Dustin Hoffman) and Bob Woodward (Robert Redford) receive simple-but-wise advice on how to discover the truth regarding Watergate: "Just follow the money."

Story editing by Chris Compendio. Copy editing by Tim Bruns. Photo selection by Clarese Moller.