Fans of Furiosa, to be released in theaters. While the May 2024 release date for George Miller's Anya Taylor-Joy and Chris Hemsworth movie couldn't feel further away, fans of cinematic apocalypses still have plenty of other classics to binge on.
From George Miller's violent Mad Max series to a wildly intelligent Pixar classic, the concept of an apocalypse has delved into numerous genres aimed at any number of demographics. What are the most memorable lines from these end-of-the-world tales?
WALL-E (2008)
"WALL-E!"
WALL-E is as gorgeous visually as it is thematically, and it stands as one of the most poignant films Pixar Animation Studios has ever made.
Those two factors prove especially important, because WALL-E is extremely light on dialogue, particularly from its lead character and his female counterpart, EVE, both of whom mostly rely on body language. Like a Pokémon, WALL-E only seems to be able to utter his own name, but even after frequent uses, it only becomes more endearing rather than annoying.
Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)
"Out Here, Everything Hurts. You Wanna Get Through This? Do As I Say. Now Pick Up What You Can And Run."
At the very least, Mad Max: Fury Road was the best action movie of 2015. Fortunately, it was so much more, even going so far as to give Charlize Theron her best role since Aileen Wuornos in Monster (2003).
However, while Theron's Furiosa is the film's highlight, she's surrounded by Tom Hardy's even more stoic take on Max Rockatansky and the instantly iconic Nux (Nicholas Hoult), as well as Immortan Joe (Hugh Keays-Byrne) and his wives. And, just like them, Furiosa gets her iconic line in the form of "Out here, everything hurts. You wanna get through this? Do as I say. Now pick up what you can and run." The quote firmly establishes Furiosa as the film's true protagonist, and even serves as a fun spin on a chunk of Max's dialogue in The Road Warrior.
Children Of Men (2006)
"Pull My Finger!"
Alfonso Cuarón's Children of Men is not only considered one of the best apocalyptic films ever made, but also one of the best films from the 2000s overall.
It was nominated for three Academy Awards, one for Best Film Editing, the other for Best Cinematography, and, lastly, for the screenwriters' collective work in adapting P.D. James' 1992 novel of the same name. It's mostly a very dark film, but there are moments of levity, and they're all thanks to Michael Caine's Jasper Palmer, a pothead who lives in isolation and loves to make jokes about breaking wind. This mostly comes in the form of the classic "Pull my finger" gag, which Caine turns from cliche to laugh riot.
Waterworld (1995)
"Nothing's Free In Waterworld."
A notorious flop upon release, Kevin Reynolds' Waterworld has nonetheless gone on to become an important piece of film history, even if it's mostly as a cautionary tale. But the Kevin Costner vehicle is an inventive and fun piece in its own right, even if it does run about a half-hour too long.
The film also does a good job of setting up its decayed, water-soaked world, with particular attention to detail paid to the vehicles and costumes. There's also a believably hesitant camaraderie between the Earth's few survivors, a capitalist society fueled by bartering. When describing the barter system, Costner's Mariner says "Nothing's free in Waterworld," but he's also talking about much more than swapped trinkets...he's talking about survival.
Planet Of The Apes (1968)
"Take Your Stinking Paws Off Me, You Damned Dirty Ape!"
Released in 1968, one of the best years for sci-fi movies, Planet of the Apes kicked off a franchise that's been twice rebooted, but it's doubtful any sequel or reimagining's script contained a line as brilliant as the one screamed by Charlton Heston's captured George Taylor: "Take your stinking paws off me, you damned dirty ape!"
The irony of the line is how Taylor is seen as an ape, just the same way he sees his captors. His barked order is the first utterance from a human that the apes have ever heard, just as the reply he receives is the first time he's ever heard an ape speak. It's a reversal of fortune moment that's jarring enough to let the audience know that Taylor is in serious trouble.
Night Of The Living Dead (1968)
"They're Coming To Get You, Barbara!"
George A. Romero's well-aged Night of the Living Dead is a horror masterpiece that proves both frightening and frighteningly prescient over 50 years after its release.
The opening scene alone is a how-to on beginning a horror film. It quickly establishes that Barbara and Johnny are siblings, and they're both unhappy. Barbara is more so, because not only is her brother an abrasive jerk, but she seems more shaken up about visiting their father's grave than he does. It's on that note that the audience sees the apocalypse begin to unfold via one stumbling zombie. However, before encountering the member of the undead, Johnny cruelly taunts his sister with "They're coming to get you, Barbara." Unfortunately for him, he was first.
They Live (1988)
"I Have Come Here To Chew Bubblegum And Kick A**, And I'm All Out Of Bubblegum"
Arguably the last great John Carpenter film, They Live is a whip-smart satire of consumerism backed up by a dominating performance from professional wrestler "Rowdy" Roddy Piper.
Considering he didn't get his start in film acting, Piper sells each line as well as he does the film's notorious extended fist fight scene, including the classic piece of action star dialogue he yells as he enters a bank mostly filled with aliens: "I've come here to chew bubblegum and kick a**...and I'm all out of bubblegum."
The Road Warrior (1981)
"Two Days Ago, I Saw A Vehicle That Would Haul That Tanker. You Want To Get Out Of Here? You Talk To Me."
George Miller's superb follow-up to Mad Max, 1981's The Road Warrior, shows off one of the darkest depictions of the future in post-apocalyptic movies.
Mad Max was a character study of Rockatansky, but he wasn't the fully formed character fans came to love. The Road Warrior fixes that, making Rockatansky less of a tragic, grieving figure and more of a grizzled, cold man who may be the most reluctant antihero of 1980s cinema. This is never made more apparent than when he tells a starving, dehydrated, and beaten down group "Two days ago, I saw a vehicle that would haul that tanker. You want to get out of here? You talk to me."
Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)
"Oh, What A Day...What A Lovely Day!"
Mad Max: Fury Road isn't the most dialogue-heavy film, but when it isn't smashing cars in two, the lines spouted by its stable of struggling characters are phenomenally succinct.
Fury Road shows a world beyond saving, where dictators rule with the seldom-fulfilled promise of water for their subordinates and followers. One of those followers is Nicholas Hoult's Nux, who has drunk Immortan Joe's Kool-Aid to the point he's excited about death because he believes it will actually lead him to Valhalla. To express his excitement, as he barrels towards a vicious sandstorm, Nux screams "Oh, what a day...what a lovely day!"
Dawn Of The Dead (1978)
"When There's No More Room In Hell, The Dead Will Walk The Earth."
As presciently intelligent about consumerism as its predecessor was about race relations, the shopping mall-set Night of the Living Dead is and has comparably memorable dialogue to match.
The film's script is as ridden with dread as its imagery is grotesque, with no line more foreboding than the one uttered by Ken Foree's Peter Washington as he looks down at the mall's blood and chaos-soaked first floor: "When there's no more room in Hell, the dead will walk the Earth."
