'On a scale of 1 to 10...' quote - The Devil's Advocate (1997) Discussion

[–] fiatlux-1 10 years ago

He says "11."

"I'd say this cloud is Cumulo Nimbus."
"Didn't he discover America?"
"Penfold, shush."

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I watched the scene again, and noticed that not only does he say '11' but it almost sounds like '7'....but he also puts up his fingers so quickly that it looks like '7'!
In reality, Milton puts up 10 fingers super quick followed by 1...equals 11.

(On a side note, I did not even realize that Milton spoke clearly during the scene where he transforms into a monster form briefly & kills Christabella. It sounds like gibberish, but he's actually saying:
"ENOUGH! Haven't I given ENOUGH?!"

I love this film, but its quirky!

"I'd say this cloud is Cumulo Nimbus."
"Didn't he discover America?"
"Penfold, shush."

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[–] bsharporflat 10 years ago

(On a side note, I did not even realize that Milton spoke clearly during the scene where he transforms into a monster form briefly & kills Christabella.

First, I don't think he just kills her. I think he just sort of breathes out fire in frustration, which reveals her true form as an ancient woman. I think he had probably been keeping Christabella magically alive for centuries, just for this moment. Hence his frustration when Kevin ruins it with suicide.

Second, I think it is clear that what Milton transforms into isn't exactly a "monster". He is revealing his true form as Lucifer/Satan who is a fallen angel of God. Hence the wings.

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[–] packro 8 years ago

He says "seven" and even puts up seven fingers. You must be blind and deaf. The number seven is also very symbolic biblically. It would make sense to use the number seven because that would be blasphemous to God.

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[–] someonesmart21 9 years ago

He says "Seven" his fingers point it.

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[–] Pmdmnym 8 years ago

He says 7 and holds up 7 fingers.

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[–] gabby_bm 10 years ago

Definitely "Seven", though it sounds more like "se-VON". Here's the clip. the part you speak of is at 1:15. Replay it over and over all you like. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WdWH53nsu8

And his fingers match the number he says.

We're talking ONE being a usual run-in at the Lomax house and TEN being the most depraved act of sexual theater known to man.
I mean, Mary Ann didn't give a blow job to a giraffe while taking it anally from an 8-year old Milton in blackface as she receives golden showers from a bevy of nuns who sang "The Rodeo Song" while it was all going down.

I think "Seven" is a pretty high number of depravity- especially considering the source of that depravity. On a scale of one-to-ten, I think anything Satan would consider a"seven" would be pretty damned sick and twisted.

Anyway, watch and listen to that clip over and over. I agree that initially it sounds like "'leven" (leaving the first "E" off). but repeatedly, you can see and hear him say "seven".

**WARNING: MY POSTS MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS**
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[–] saulsx 8 years ago

He says "seven" & is holding up seven fingers.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCblhzhwdj1cKzh8s9xzVNtQ

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[–] mball1297 10 years ago

He definitely says "eleven", since that's the only thing that makes sense. Seven would just be odd. It does look like he holds up seven fingers, though.

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[–] fiatlux-1 10 years ago

He definitely says "eleven", since that's the only thing that makes sense. Seven would just be odd. It does look like he holds up seven fingers, though.

Agreed. Of course he says "Eleven". Why would he say anything else, it makes zero sense.

"I'd say this cloud is Cumulo Nimbus."
"Didn't he discover America?"
"Penfold, shush."

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[–] gabby_bm 10 years ago

"Eleven" is an unbelievable exaggeration. Milton keeps it real. He doesn't need to exaggerate. He's the friggin' devil.
"Seven" is very believable and it's six levels above the sexual escapades of Kevin and Mary Ann which would definitely screw with Kevin's head.

And "seven" makes perfect sense. Using "eleven" on a scale of one-to-ten is something immature children do.

**WARNING: MY POSTS MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS**
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[–] mball1297 10 years ago

You're looking at it wrong. He's not trying to be exactly accurate. He's using the 1-to-10 scale to make a point. He did some seriously sick and depraved things with his wife. He introduces the 1-to-10 scale in order to shock Kevin.

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[–] fiatlux-1 10 years ago

You're looking at it wrong. He's not trying to be exactly accurate. He's using the 1-to-10 scale to make a point. He did some seriously sick and depraved things with his wife. He introduces the 1-to-10 scale in order to shock Kevin.

EXACTLY! The Devil is not trying to be 'accurate' at all. His one & only goal at this point is to infuriate Kevin so much that he will attack him, and he succeeds.
Kevin peppers him with bullets, therein committing an evil deed & releasing his anger.

"I'd say this cloud is Cumulo Nimbus."
"Didn't he discover America?"
"Penfold, shush."

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[–] emptyspaces153 9 years ago

He says 7. Subtitles say 7. Fingers say 7. It's also more realistic than "11" since he clearly didn't have the "most depraved sex the devil could have"...plus 1.

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[–] fiatlux-1 10 years ago

He did some seriously sick and depraved things with his wife.

Yes. This was meant to further attack Mary Ann, the next step in destroying her.
Milton also knew or at least strongly suspected that Kevin would disbelieve Mary Ann's accusations, because he fooled Kevin in thinking he was in court all day.

"I'd say this cloud is Cumulo Nimbus."
"Didn't he discover America?"
"Penfold, shush."

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[–] Scaar_Alexander 9 years ago

Oookay, no, sorry, but he says ELEVEN. I know it's not realistic, I understand that you care about that sort of things in a movie, even when that movie is about the Devil and its offspring and the end of days, but... it IS realistic, in the movie, because it's meant to be a JOKE. He's joking as a way of saying that Mary Ann was the *beep* of the century (hence Kevin's reaction). That may be something only a kid would do in YOUR world, but in the movie, where Milton claims to *beep* "EVERYWHERE" in front of his partners, followed by a satanic laugh, trust me, it's quite believable.

Plus, seven wouldn't make any sense, anyway. Why seven ? Would you give a seven to Charlize Theron ? Why not eight ? Do you really believe the screenwriter got all worked up on that ? That would be moronic.

Anyway. It's ten. My God, how can people not get something as simple as this ? It's sad.

___________
- Booker, are you afraid of God ?
- No. But I'm afraid of you.

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[–] packro 8 years ago

/facepalm...

People like you are a joke. He holds up seven fingers and says SEVEN. WATCH IT AGAIN! Also, you obviously know nothing about the Bible. If you did, you would know how symbolic the number seven is to God, and he was trying to be blasphemous towards Him. It doesn't take a rocket surgeon to figure this out!

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[–] parvati_patil_mm24 10 years ago

I definitely agree that it wouldn't make any real sense to say anything less than 10, but after watching the video gabby_bm posted, I'm confused. I always thought he didn't say seven because after all, I didn't hear an "s" sound, but it sounds a bit like he's saying "seven" with a lisp.

I still don't get it, though. I mean, he says "ten being the most depraved act of sexual theatre know to man". Since Milton isn't human, it would make perfect sense to say he did something more than 10.

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[–] fiatlux-1 10 years ago

He was saying this because he was speaking to a human , thus using a scale of reference that a human could understand.
He couldn't really say "I did things to Mary Ann to a supernatural level!" to Kevin.
Kevin, like us viewers, would have NO idea what he meant.

But to say "11"....Kevin got the evil, nasty point!

"I'd say this cloud is Cumulo Nimbus."
"Didn't he discover America?"
"Penfold, shush."

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[–] gabby_bm 10 years ago

I think "seven" is nasty enough. i mean, Mary Ann IS only human after all. I just can't see Satan being that childish and exaggerating. If he wanted to get nasty, Milton could have simply opened up a panel and said "watch" as a video clip showed Mary Ann pleasurably begging for more as she's being monkey-f^cked by seventeen chimpanzees as ferrets and squirrels scurry up her bleeding ass.

Milton says "seven" because that's enough. And it also demonstrates that he's capable of SO MUCH MORE! Probably more than most human females could endure and survive. The clip says it all. He says "seven", is holding up seven fingers and what he did to her was seven levels of perversity above the sexual escapades of Kevin and Mary Ann. That's pretty friggin' bad, I assume.

But hear what you want. I heard 'eleven' for the first few times myself.

(Of course scripts go for rewrites and actors like Pacino given carte blanche to ad-lib, but I can't see the logic behind going from six or seven to taking it off the scale completely)

This script has him saying "six":http://www.dailyscript.com/scripts/devils_advocate.pdf

This transcript has him saying "seven"
http://www.script-o-rama.com/movie_scripts/d/devils-advocate-script-tr anscript.html

The Slovenian subtitles have him saying "sedem"(seven):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOfUGixqV0A

The quotes section on the IMDB page have him saying "seven"

I haven't read anything other than personal opinions that he says 'eleven" and I believe that's due to the fact that Pacino doesn;t say it clearly enough. But re-listening to it over and over it sounds more like "seven" than "eleven" (or "'leven")

**WARNING: MY POSTS MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS**
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[–] bsharporflat 10 years ago

He was saying this because he was speaking to a human , thus using a scale of reference that a human could understand.
He couldn't really say "I did things to Mary Ann to a supernatural level!" to Kevin.
Kevin, like us viewers, would have NO idea what he meant.

But to say "11"....Kevin got the evil, nasty point!

Absolute agreement. That exactly is how I've always seen that scene....

Until just now. I reviewed the clip (below) and it is clear that his fingers and voice are both saying "seven!". You are right, gabby.

I agree with fiatlux-1 that the scene would have been better and had more impact if he really did say "eleven". But now I see/hear that he didn't.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7DMDscGOUpg

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[–] gabby_bm 10 years ago

Until just now. I reviewed the clip (below) and it is clear that his fingers and voice are both saying "seven!". You are right, gabby.

That makes me happy!

I

agree with fiatlux-1 that the scene would have been better and had more impact if he really did say "eleven". But now I see/hear that he didn't.

I think I like the idea of "seven" a lot better. Satan loves mixing lies with the truth and he DID start off saying, "to tell the truth" (or words to that effect). I find it more ominous that Satan went toward the high end of hedonistic depravity but didn;t take it all the way as he could have. "seven" is more believable without exaggeration and that implies that he wanted Kevin to truly believe what he was saying- and that he could have taken it further if he wanted.

and after seeing what he did to Mary Ann, thinking of three more possible levels after that is truly frightening!

Like I said, I think "eleven" is kind of a childish, exaggerative response and I never quite got the impression that Milton was being childish. Yes, Milton wanted Kevin to be emotionally overwhelmed and envision in his mind what took place. I think envisioning Satan and Mary Ann's "seven" is devastating whereas "eleven" just comes off as an off-the-scale exaggeration and goading. And Kevin, the spawn of Satan, would have seen that for what it was. And I think in this instance, the truth would have been a lot more fun for Satan than goading.

But it's not like "eleven" doesn't make sense. I mean, it made perfect sense to me the first few times I heard it too!

**WARNING: MY POSTS MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS**
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[–] Exar-Sama 10 years ago

Watching the film for the first time and I'm in the camp saying it was 7. Seven is a number that is mystical and commonly appears a lot in the bible, 7 deadly sins etc etc. Just works better in context of what likely happened.

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[–] Vorenus 10 years ago

I haven't watched in years, but I had thought he said eleven. Got to rewatch now.

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[–] R_Kane (15828) 3 years ago

He says 11. Period.

And Fuck You to all the old IMDb signatures you assholes used to use.

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[–] catannie 10 years ago

Guys, why the debate? In the scene he definitely held up 7 fingers. The "11" sounds absurd anyway if he had said that.

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[–] bsharporflat 10 years ago

The "11" sounds absurd anyway if he had said that

Not if you are familiar with the movie This Is Spinal Tap. Dialing it up to 11 is an important part of that movie.

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[–] gabby_bm 10 years ago

Knowing that The Keanu has his own band, I shudder at the idea of "This Is Dogstar"

**WARNING: MY POSTS MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS**
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[–] userrrrr 9 years ago

this sex goes up to eleven.

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[–] fiatlux-1 10 years ago

I was curious, given this debate, so I Googled it.

It seems that the '7's' may be correct! But what puzzled me, and still does, is I was so sure that I HEARD him say '11'!

Regardless who is correct, on a side note I myself think that '11' makes more sense for him to say.
He's the Devil, and portrayed here as being as excessive as he can be...AND TRYING HIS HARDEST TO PISS OFF KEVIN HERE...that it made sense for him to *pass* 10.

"I'd say this cloud is Cumulo Nimbus."
"Didn't he discover America?"
"Penfold, shush."

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[–] parvati_patil_mm24 9 years ago

It seems that the '7's' may be correct! But what puzzled me, and still does, is I was so sure that I HEARD him say '11'!

I know, I, too, was so sure he said 11, but it seems we were wrong! I agree that it would make more sense if he said 11, but well, the scripts on the Internet read "7", too, so I guess maybe they went for 7 as a symbolic number, as well - someone above mentioned the 7 deadly sins etc.

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[–] bsharporflat 9 years ago

We are all on the same page. We heard 11 for years and on multiple rewatches. but it really was 7. We couldn't hear it as 7 until we were told to listen for it.

This is a good illustration of the power of perception on one's sense of reality. What OTHER things in our lives are we "sure" of but are actually mistaken?

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[–] gabby_bm 9 years ago

In the past, I never heard "eleven", but rather, "'leven". Pacino never really put out the "S" sound for "seven" and there was no "E" for "eleven"

**WARNING: MY POSTS MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS**
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[–] parvati_patil_mm24 9 years ago

Exactly! You don't hear the initial "e", but you don't hear an "s" sound, either, so it's like "leven"! I always thought he said "'leven"!

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[–] daughterofolaf 9 years ago

He says seven. More specifically "se-VON." "Eleven" has three syllables and he absolutely does not say "eleven." His mouth doesn't match with "eleven," he says two syllables, not three and most importantly he spells out what the numbers on the scale represent.

I am stunned that anyone could possibly get "eleven" out of this when he 100% clearly says "seven." Eleven would make zero sense with everything else he said. If it were "eleven" then I think the wife would be in far, far worse shape than she was.

It wasn't me who was murdered, was it?

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[–] fiatlux-1 9 years ago

Actually, why would she be in 'worse shape'? Even if he had said & done 'eleven'....what would that mean?
Oral, vaginal, & anal? Mary Ann may not have suffered everything, but she looked almost as if she did. He beat the crap out of her.

I'd say this cloud is Cumulo Nimbus.
Didn't he discover America?
Penfold, shush.

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[–] daughterofolaf 9 years ago

Are you serious? Did you hear what he said 10 represented? lol

It wasn't me who was murdered, was it?

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[–] TheRaceIsLong 9 years ago

When you look at the context of how he actually ranks the scale, verbatim:
________________
Well...
...on a scale of one to ten...
Ten being the most depraved act
of sexual theater known to man.
One being your average
Friday night run-through at the Lomaxes'.
I'd say, not to be immodest...
...Mary Ann and I got it on at about seven.
_________________________

Basically, he in essence is saying whatever Kevin has done with her, it's 7x the intensity. Saying "eleven" would make him sound like a child, and wouldn't fit the seriousness of the conversation at all and also be totally unnecessary!

Look at my power over your weak predictable mind.DON'T READ.

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[–] gabby_bm 9 years ago

Saying "eleven" would make him sound like a child, and wouldn't fit the seriousness of the conversation at all and also be totally unnecessary!

My feelings exactly

My New Year's resolution is to simply write 2̶0̶1̶4̶ 2015 instead of 2014"
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[–] emptyspaces153 9 years ago

That long quote/diatribe about free will? I thought it was awesome. Comparing the ways of "god" and "satan". Was really cool

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