Movie quotes are such a huge part of our pop culture, and they seem to span generations. Every year it seems at least one is added to the list, and often many of them will become part of the every day language of our cultures. While a great movie quote is a sure fire way to help a movie become a hit, they do not come along with every single movie. They seem to pop up out of nowhere, and have no particular rhyme or reason to why. After some studying of famous movie quotes, I have come up with a list of things that makes a movie quote great, and what they all seem to have in common. Here are the things that makes a movie quote great in our culture of entertainment:
1. A great movie quote is short - Though their have been a few movie quotes that have been longer, the vast majority are quick, short, one liners that are to the point and straightforward.
2. A great movie quote is easy to remember - You do not hear of many movie quotes that are loaded with complicated words and phrases. Most great movie quotes are easy to remember for the average movie goer.
3. A great movie quote is heard and seen by the masses - Most great movie quotes are from movies that large numbers of people have seen. While some cult classic movies that have been seen primarily by a select group of people will be embraced by that group, they do not really qualify as a great movie quote. A great movie quote has to infiltrate all groups of people, and all levels of society.
4. A great movie quote has backing in advertising - Many great movie quotes are pushed as such long before the public embraces it as a movie quote. Movies are shoved on us months in advance of actually seeing them, and the movie quotes often come from the initial trailers. Certainly the people making the movies know to put the best chances for catch phrases on the trailers and if not they should be fired.
5. Finally, a great movie quote does something to our emotions. It makes us cry, laugh, sing, dance, mope, miss, or meander in some way. Bottom line, it moves us in some way that is universal to all who hear it. Great movie quotes in history all do this simple thing at a minimum.
Great movie quotes are created. As such, they are trackable, and predictable to some degree. There is the occasional classic movie quote that hits the big time for no apparant reason, but that is far from the usual. Most movie quotes that hit the big time public awareness are planned and sent into our ears and eyes long before the movie ever even touches the big screen. Either way, the great movie quote is something that is likely to permeate our society forever, and make us keep going back for more.
