The best action movie one-liners are perfectly delivered quotes that have people re-quoting them for years to come. Some of the best one-liners have become so popular that there are even people delivering the lines who might not even know what movie they came from. While there are great one-liners in Westerns, horror movies, and even sci-fi, the action movie genre specifically lends itself to the best chances to deliver these lines.
Action movie heroes are perfect to deliver these lines, as there are some action stars who have made a career out of delivering one-liners that are instantly repeatable. Looking at Arnold Schwarzenegger's career, it has almost become expected for every movie he is in to deliver a one-liner that everyone starts repeating, as well as some that are almost cringeworthy, such as his lines in Batman & Robin. It should be no surprise that the best one-liner comes from Arnold himself.
Even Samuel L. Jackson has made his name with one-liners, although as Snakes on a Plane shows, they almost always center on one word. The best thing about many of these one-liners is that they are sometimes improvised. Others are thrown in to prove a point in the script. These also range throughout movie history, going back to the 1960s and up to the 2010s, with each line delivering its message in a variety of tones.
10 “You're A Disease, And I'm The Cure.” - Cobra (1986)
When looking at Sylvester Stallone's best action movie quotes, it's easy to find them in everything from Rocky to Rambo, and as beloved as "Yo, Adrian" is, the best Sly movie quote came from his 1986 action movie Cobra. Sylvester Stallone stars as Lt. Marion “Cobra” Cobretti, an LAPD Lieutenant on the elite Zombie Squad who handles cases other cops won't touch. He delivers this line during a hostage situation.
Cobra faces off with a supermarket gunman early in the movie, and he delivers this line when confronting him, and even follows up with, "I don't deal with psychos. I put 'em away." Of course, the meaning is that crime is an infection, and he is the remedy to cure the city of it. Out of all of Stallone's lines, this is the line that really showcases the actor's no-nonsense 1980s action persona. It works even better since Stallone delivers it in a flat, cold manner, proving his threat.
9 “Hasta La Vista, Baby.” - Terminator 2 (1991)
Arnold Schwarzenegger has delivered more one-liners than any other action star in history. This includes several one-liners in the Terminator franchise, including this one from the second movie, Terminator 2: Judgment Day. In this movie, Schwarzenegger returns as the T-800 in this movie, but this time around, he is sent back as a protector for the young John Connor, with the new T-1000 (Robert Patrick) as the threat.
Throughout the movie, young John teaches the T-800 what he can about how to act like a normal person, and part of this is delivering quotes from the 1990s. One of the quotes he teaches him is "Hasta la vista, baby," which John believes is a great quote to deliver to put an enemy in their place. The T-800 then delivers the line right before he shatters the T-1000 with a gunshot. He says the first half before firing the shot, then finishes with 'baby,' which perfects the one-liner.
8 “I Have Come Here To Chew Bubblegum And Kick A**.” - They Live (1988)
In 1988, John Carpenter directed the sci-fi dystopian thriller They Live, which showed a world where aliens have already assimilated into society and have taken over the ruling class in both the government and business worlds. Sunglasses were created that allow a person to see the aliens in their true form, and Roddy Piper's drifter, Nada, finds a pair and tries to reveal their existence to the world.
This specific line is interesting because Piper improvised it for the scene, and Carpenter kept it in the movie. Piper, a professional wrestler, was used to cutting improvised promos, and this was no different. The scene is when Nada walks into a bank armed with a shotgun and then delivers the line to let everyone know what he is there for. This quote has been used for decades since the movie and was even part of the video game Duke Nukem, where Duke often quoted lines from the movie.
7 “Yeah, I'm Thinking I'm Back.” - John Wick (2014)
John Wick came out in 2014, and it tells the story of a former assassin who has retired from the business. However, after his wife's death, he lives alone with his dog and only wants to be left alone. When the son of a high-level mobster attacks John and kills his dog, Wick comes out of retirement and kills everyone in his way as he seeks revenge.
When the killer's father, crime boss Viggo (Michael Nyqvist), captures Wick, the former assassin delivers this one-liner. "I'm back" is a simple comment that lets both Viggo and the audience know that he isn't going to stop. This led to four more movies, which saw John Wick kill 458 total people in the franchise. He says it in a low, menacing manner, showing he is not being blustery, and it is deadly serious.
6 “Dead Or Alive, You’re Coming With Me.” - RoboCop (1987)
Orion PicturesRoboCop was never meant to be a character who talked a lot. However, like Arnold Schwarzenegger's action hero roles, there were perfect chances for the cyborg hero to deliver some wild one-liners. Played by Peter Weller, RoboCop is a former police officer gunned down and left for dead. However, his body is rebuilt, and he becomes a cyborg police officer who represents the authoritarian police force.
Over the course of the movie, RoboCop becomes more of a hero, and eventually, he shows what is wrong with the system. However, before this happens, he delivers this action movie one-liner to a criminal who recognizes who he is. RoboCop makes it clear that the criminal is coming with him, dead or alive, and this quote ends up being used multiple times across the franchise in movies, video games, and even comics.
5 "Bond. James Bond." - Dr. No (1962)
James Bond has lots of great quotes, including the way he asks for his Martinis. However, his best quote is the one where he introduces himself, and it all started in the very first Bond movie, Dr. No. Played by Sean Connery, Bond is a secret agent known as 007, and he delivers the iconic line during a baccarat game at Les Ambassadeurs club in London. What is interesting is how the line originated.
He meets Sylvia Trench (Eunice Gayson), who introduces herself as “Trench. Sylvia Trench." Amused at how she introduces herself, he mimics it by saying, "Bond. James Bond." While it all started out as a simple introduction used for a reason, it became synonymous with the character, and it became his signature introduction across the series.
4 "Go Ahead, Make My Day." - Sudden Impact (1983)
This action movie quote has often been mistaken for one from the original Dirty Harry. That movie did have Harry Callahan (Clint Eastwood) ask a criminal if he knew how many bullets he had fired. However, the most famous Dirty Harry quote didn't come until the fourth movie in the franchise, Sudden Impact. This was also the only movie in the series that Eastwood directed.
What really makes this quote so notable is that it is an action movie one-liner that a President of the United States actually used in a presidential speech at the American Business Conference. Ronald Reagan challenged Congress that if they chose to vote to raise taxes, to "go ahead, make my day." Eastwood delivers it in a masterful performance, as he mostly whispers and growls the line to the criminal.
3 “Get To The Choppa!” - Predator (1987)
Arnold Schwarzenegger has delivered tons of one-liners in all of his movies, but when it comes to the action sci-fi movie Predator, it is more about how he delivers it rather than the actual reason for the quote. In Predator, Schwarzenegger plays Major Dutch Schaefer, a member of an elite special forces team sent into Central America on a rescue mission. However, they end up fighting an alien killing machine.
This line comes during the climax in the jungle, when Dutch and the surviving members of his team are in a gun battle against the Predator. He tells everyone to get back to the helicopter, but he pronounces it "Choppa," which ends up becoming a repeatable quote in the decades to come. The line spawned a long-running internet meme decades later, keeping it in the public consciousness.
2 “Yippee-Ki-Yay…” - Die Hard (1988)
In 1988, Hollywood created a new-look action hero, with an ordinary man in Bruce Willis proving he could carry an action movie as well as larger-than-life actors like Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone, and Dolph Lundgren. Willis plays NYPD cop John McClane as he travels to Los Angeles for a Christmas party with his estranged wife, only to find a terrorist named Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman) has taken the party hostage.
This line comes when Gruber mocks McClane as a "cowboy" wanting to save the day. This doesn't bother McClane, who responds with this quote, which includes an expletive at the end. The action movie one-liner was already a great one, but it has a long history since it was censored and changed on television networks, having him say, "Yippee-ki-yay, mother trucker."
1 “I’ll Be back.” - The Terminator (1984)
The best action movie one-liner arrived in 1984 in the movie The Terminator, where Arnold Schwarzenegger played the villain. He is an unstoppable killing machine known as the T-800, and his target is a young woman named Sarah Connor. Arriving from the future to protect her is Kyle Reese, sent by her future son, John Connor.
The T-800 kills or injures almost everyone who gets in his way. He goes to a police station looking for Sarah, and when the desk officer doesn't let him in, he looks at him and says, "I'll be back." He then drives through the front of the police station. It became Schwarzenegger's defining catchphrase, repeated across the Terminator sequels, and is a huge part of his public persona.
English (US) ·