After a refreshing break, a quick Clark Kent style change of outfit and a pep talk from the Tony D'Amato school of team talks, I'm ready to crack on with our homage to the great movie speeches...
Next up is a short speech but delivered in such a way it leaves you with chills. I don't know if its Liam Neeson's smooth Irish accent that makes this even more powerful but every time I watch this film I just find myself wishing I was this damn cool. The film I'm talking about is not Star Wars episode 1 or Rob Roy - I am actually talking about Pierre Morel's brilliant thriller, Taken. In short, guy has his daughter kidnapped, guy goes about kicking ass all over Europe until he finds his daughter. If you haven't watched this film I can't recommend it highly enough - for me it's everything Collateral tried so hard to be (and failed); dark, violent and as it's lead a damn cool dude.
The moment in question comes after Neeson has listened to his daughter be kidnapped (they are on the phone when the intruders break in, I won't go in to it...watch it!) he hears a guy pick the phone up and delivers a speech that is short but bloody scary and you know full well this is a man who means what he says. Brilliantly delivered by Neeson and probably the best man for the role (after all he was Aslan, Qui-Gon Jinn and Oskar Schindler - you don't mess with this chap!)
This film is simply one of the finest pieces of cinema of all time - fact, end of, no debate. The Shawshank Redemption. I could literally write a dissertation on the magnificence of this film. Stunning movie. I love every single minute of this film and there are some fantastic scenes and brilliant speeches. The one that gets my nod here is Red's final Parole meeting. Morgan Freeman delivers this speech of contempt, acceptance, remorse and defiance in such a way you wonder if he is talking from experience. Of course he isn't, he was never in jail but that is the brilliance of the acting in this scene. He doesn't take his eyes off the parole officer as he speaks and there is something in his eyes that seems like he has just given up, which adds even more power to his words. He has been here so many times before and as he so eloquently puts it, he 'doesn't give a shit' anymore. I love this speech and I love this film.
I end with an inspirational moment from a film I found inspirational virtually throughout. The Pursuit of Happyness. Personally I think this is Will Smith's best film, in terms of performance anyway. He displays here he can actually act (who knew?!) and there are some real moving scenes in this film. The one in the subway well and truly got me - which I know isn't exactly hard before you all start scoffing at me - The speech I have chosen again is a short moment of brilliance but its spoken from the heart from a dad to his son and it is superb.
So there you have it, just a few of the great movie speeches. Of course there are many classics overlooked - De Niro in Taxi Driver, Neeson in Schindler's list, Nicholson in A Few Good Men and Simba in the Lion King to mention just a few - but let's face it, you don't come to the Armchair Director to read the same recycled words you can read anywhere else...and the world of film is a vast, vast landscape and if maybe I have shown you a scene you hadn't heard of before then that can only be good!
So while I am off to write a speech of epic proportions to deliver to the next hot girl I see that will make her fall in love with me instantly I ask, what is your favourite movie speech?
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