MovieChat Forums > Avatar (2009) Discussion > No famous lines from the highest grossin...

No famous lines from the highest grossing movie?


How can the highest grossing movie of all time (and by some accounts this makes it the best movies of all time) not have any memorable lines that have made their way into pop culture?

Some examples:

Star Wars: "Luke, I am your father", "use the force"
Forrest Gump: "Run, Forrest, run!""Life is like a box of chocolates"
Jaws "You're gonna need a bigger boat"
Terminator 2 "Hasta la vista baby", "I'll be back"
Captain Phillips "I'm the captain now"
Goodfellas "Funny how? Like a clown?"
A Christmas Story "You'll shoot your eye out kid"
Wizard of Oz "We aren't in Kansas anymore" "I'll get you.. and your little dog too!!"
Titanic "I'm the king of the world!!"
ET "ET phone home"
Scarface "Say hello to my little friend!"
Apocalypse Now "I love the Smell of napalm in the morning"
Big Lebowski ... let's not even get started.

etc etc etc

Avatar doesn't have any lines like this.

Where are the memorable characters? Memorable scenes even?

Darth Vader
Hannibal Lecter
The Godfather
The Wicked Witch
Forrest Gump
The Terminator
Alien
Freddy Kreuger
Snow White
Little Mermaid

Say any of those names and everyone will know who you are talking about. I have never heard anyone mention any Avatar characters by name. I have heard "the blue chick alien" and "the paralyzed dude" and that's about it. That tells you a lot right there.

What a strange movie this Avatar; giant box office earnings, little to no staying power in our daily lives. Just like the bag of popcorn you ate watching it, once it was done it was never thought of again.



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You see, science fiction has always been used to tell us something about ourselves, and in that regard Avatar is a true science fiction movie. It's not a fantasy, like Star Wars, it's (intelligent) science fiction with a message about environment, species extermination, greed, nature, spirituality, etc. Those are all very important and interesting topics. Avatar may not have some catchy phrases, but it has a great story, good action, and stunning visuals/cinematography. The great thing about this movie is that for once the humans are the antagonists, and from the perspective of nature and many earth species, we indeed are the enemy. Rarely does a movie with such sentiment come along, if ever. That's really one of the strong points of Avatar.

When it comes to lines from the movie, I would suggest this one (by Sully):

"When people are sittin' on shît that you want, you make 'em your enemy. (Then you're justified in taking it.)"

And that is SO TRUE when it comes to our own world (politics, etc.).

Another example (a line by Neytiri):

"Sky People can not learn, they do not see."

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Couldn't agree more. Avatar had a solid story, solid characters and it took a unique perspective in that humans for once were the bad guys. Thats pretty rare for Hollywood films. There have been Avatar haters since the day it was first releaesed and thats fine and dandy. People are entitled to thier own subjetive opinions. At least for myself, Avatar remains the single most entertaining film I have ever seen in the theater.

And another very unique aspect to Avatar was that it appealed to people of all ages. Kids loved it, teens loved it, people in thier 20's and 30's loved it, even senior citizens loved it. I wound up taking my family the 3rd time I saw it, including my mother. She is about as anti science fiction as one can get. She has maybe seen 5-6 science fiction film in her entire life. She prefers really bad Lifetime movies at this point in her life and she absolutely LOVED Avatar. She actually wound up buying it for herself on Blu Ray, which was absolutely shocking. I was in awe when I saw in on her Blu Ray shelf and found out that she was the one that had purchased it. I think its the only action/scence fiction film she has ever purchased. And of course, that is one of the main reasons it made so much money. People of all ages went to see it, and then went to see it again and again. Its not like most films, which wind up appealing mainly to a single segment of the population, at least far more so than others. Avatar appealed to people of all ages. Not to mention both sexes and various nationalities. Avatar was a worldwide phenomenon.

Still Shooting With Film!

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@bestlandy "I am your father" is from Empire Strikes Back, not Star Wars.

Anyways, it is strange how Avatar has no famous lines, especially when you consider that it was written by James Cameron, who you've quoted.

You forgot this gem from Aliens: "Game over, man! Game over!" Instantly recognizable.

James Cameron has written a bunch of memorable lines, but there don't seem to be any in Avatar. And like you said, no memorable character names, either. Strange indeed.

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Let's keep this mission high and tight, I wanna be home for dinner.

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@bestlandy "I am your father" is from Empire Strikes Back, not Star Wars.


I think you know full well that he meant Star Wars the series.

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@wielderofspoons I think you know full well that he meant Star Wars the series.
I don't know if that's the case, but if it is then I think it's unfair to compare a series to one movie.

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Here's a question. How many people remember any one line from Dark Crystal or even The Labyrinth? Not many. BUT no one will deny how great of an accomplishment those movies were for puppetry.

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@LukeLovesFilm28 How many people remember any one line from Dark Crystal or even The Labyrinth? Not many.
Neither movie was the highest-grossing of the year, either.

By the way, it's Labyrinth, not The Labyrinth. You don't even remember the title, lol.

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So what. Some films are super popular from the get go and some films become super popular only after they have made it to home theater. Some films take on a whole new life on home theater. The Dark Crystal and Labyrinth have HUGE fan bases and are largely considered amazing films yet as the poster stated, I am betting most people can't remember a single line from either of them. I guarantee there are CRAPLOADS of amazing films that people would have a very hard time remembering quotes from. That doesn't mean squat. Having one liners or quotes that are highly memorable is not the gold standard for what does or doesn't constitue an amazing film. In fact, its pretty much meaningless as again there are craloads of amazing films where people would have a very hard time remembering some of the dialogue. So what if it was the highest grossing film of the year. The amount of money a film makes does not necessarily reflect the level of quality of a particular film. If that were the case, films like Transformers would be some of the highest regarded films ever made. Even if it did mean something, which it doesn't, there will always be exceptions. There is no set rule in Hollywood in regards to what makes an amazing film.

The bottom line - this is simply a case of someone trying to make something out of nothing. The fact that Avatar doesnt have any memorable one liners doesnt mean anything more than Avatar didn't have any memorable one liners. Trying to make anything more out of that is a huge stretch, by anyone's standards.

Still Shooting With Film!

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The Dark Crystal and Labyrinth have HUGE fan bases and are largely considered amazing films yet as the poster stated, I am betting most people can't remember a single line from either of them.


Exactly. Those movies are famous now... after 30 years. My point was that not many people were referring to those movies within the first 10 years. Everyone was still hung up on Star Wars ironically.

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@gotmyorangecrush Trying to make anything more out of that is a huge stretch, by anyone's standards.
By your standards, sure. But here's a newsflash: not everyone in the world thinks like you do.

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He is an idiot eh?

"Unicorn, mermaid, vampire,sorceress! No name you'd give her would surprise me i love whom i love"

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Well, he did make a mistake in putting it as "Luke, I am your father" when it is simply "No, I am your father".

Empire does have some other famous lines:

"I'm not afraid" "You will be, you will be"
"Never tell me the odds"
"Do or do not, there is no try"
"Apology accepted, Captain Needa"
"I love you" "I know"
"Impressive - most impressive"

A New Hope has:

"These aren't the droids you're looking for"
"Who's more foolish - the fool, or the fool who follows the fool?"
"Aren't you a little short for a stormtrooper?"

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@wielderofspoons And getting back to the topic of this thread, Avatar has...

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All that really comes to mind is Zoe Soldana squealing "IIIIIIIII trusted youuuuuuuuuu!" (memorable only for its cheesiness), Sam Worthington's "There's no green there, they killed their mother" (ooooh the guilt), and Stephen Lang's "I will fight terror with terror" (gee, wonder who he's meant to sound like?)

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I agree with the OP, nothing from Avatar entered pop culture. This movie is quite forgetable. Heck, I even slept thru the third act. I watched it at home with my wife, after I got fed up with all the visual effects and tons of color pouring from the screen, I just fell to sleep, because the story was quite boring and predictable. Even the biggest Avatar fans will admit that.

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Because everyone is still too stupefied by the accomplishment of putting these actors convincingly in brand new, CGI alien bodies.

Here are a couple of great lines that haven't caught on yet but they are great:

"Where is my goddamn cigarette?"

"Do you think I felt like a Shaved Tail Louie?"

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You, pally, need to put away that crack-pipe for a little while.

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LOL

LukeLovesFilm is a freaking nutball.

I come back 4-5 years later and this guy is still constantly defending this movie at every turn.

Insane

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Who the fck are you to judge me? Why are you here? Why are so many Star Wars fans constantly buzzing around the Star Wars boards?

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Your an avatar fanboy, Star Wars fans are better than you and smarter.

Im even more mature than you are Lukey.

"What a bunch of slack jawed fags around here"-Predator.

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I wonder if you never ever really watched this movie, or you have the attention span of a tree, or you are that oblivious to have never seen someone quote Colonel Miles Quaritch's "and that's a fact".

Rasengan!

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LOL what??

Can't tell if this is sarcasm or not.

"That's a fact" is a pretty common phrase. Millions use it every day, and they sure as hell didn't get it from Avatar.

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A "pretty common" phrase that only became common after Avatar you hypocrite.

Rasengan!

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LOL holy sh*t you're delusional

Maybe you should get out more and talk to more people if you honestly believe that.

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Your denial is laughable.

Rasengan!

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Ya know what other movies don't have anything quoted today - Shrek films! And nobody complains about that fact with them.

Having a particularly remembered (and quoted) line is fine and all, but I think they usually happen by accident, there are tons of great films with no quotes memorable on that level, and frankly it doesn't matter.

Har ring molassis abounding
Common lap kitch sardin a poor floundin
.

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No really memorable scenes either. There are tons of parodies of scenes from Titanic, Star Wars, Nightmare on Elm St etc etc. Never seen one done on Avatar. The movie has zero staying power. It's timing was perfect in that people were gaga to see the next evolution in 3D film, that's about it.

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"Ogres are like onions" is quoted often enough. Also, Shrek is filled with memorable characters, including Shrek. Unlike Avatar.

If I never meet you in this life, let me feel the lack

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You're right. Not are there no memorable lines there are also no memorable characters. I've seen this film 3 times. Once in the cinema , once at home few months after it was out and 2 days ago. And still it doesn't compare to the 'star wars' films (few film do) for example where all the characters are memorable.

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"Traitor"
There is one, from Star Wars Force awakens.

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"Chewie, we're home"

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