When characters deliver quotes in sci-fi movies, they are meant to elicit an emotion, and the most underrated of these shines a light on society as a whole. Sci-fi movies have always been meant to show the world of its time in a light that reveals what could happen if things continue as they are. It is a dark look at the real world.
"There's No Right, There's No Wrong, There's Only Popular Opinion." - Twelve Monkeys
Terry Gilliam directed the brilliant sci-fi movie Twelve Monkeys, a time travel story where a man from the future is sent back to find out what caused the extinction event that destroyed most of the world. Bruce Willis stars as Cole, the man sent back in time, while Brad Pitt is Goins, the young man Cole believes is guilty.
There are twists and turns in the movie, but one of the best quotes comes from Goins while the two men were institutionalized. Goins, going off as he acts more off than he really is, delivers a great line here where he says all that matters is personal opinion, no matter what is right or wrong.
This was a great, underrated line in Twelve Monkeys, but it hits even harder now. With social media prevalent now, it is more true now than it even was when this movie was released. No one cares if they are right or wrong as long as they have enough people on their side. It is sci-fi horror at its best in the real world.
"Memory Is A Strange Thing" - Arrival
The sci-fi movie Arrival is a Dennis Villeneuve sci-fi movie about an alien spacecraft arriving in Earth's orbit. The government then brings in a linguist named Louise Banks (Amy Adams) to try to decipher their messages to find out if they are on Earth in peace or for nefarious means.
The movie opens with the death of Louise's 12-year-old daughter from an incurable illness. The movie then moves on and Louise works to find out what the aliens want and what they have to say, while also falling in love with a theoretical physicist named Ian (Jeremy Renner). However, the movie ends with a massive twist.
Without spoiling that twist ending, Louise makes this underrated quote about memories being a strange thing, and that ties into how her memories played into the story's twist and the decisions she makes, even when knowing the truth.
"It's Too Bad She Won't Live. But, The Again, Who Does?" - Blade Runner
Blade Runner has an incredible script, which is a big reason it remains listed among the best sci-fi movies ever made. The one quote that everyone talks about is when Roy Blatty talks about what he saw over his short life that no human will ever witness. However, that is just one of many great quotes.
There is an underrated quote that remains one of the strongest of the film, and it comes from Edward James Olmos's officer named Gaff, who greets Deckard after Roy dies at the end of the film. Gaff then offhandedly says that Rachael (Sean Young) will not live, but then he finishes off by saying no one does.
There are a couple of thoughts about this quote. For one, it is a brilliant look at life itself and how no one actually lives life. However, there is an undertone that maybe everyone in this movie is a replicant, and by exposing and killing some, it keeps everyone else under control.
"Monsieur Neary, I Envy You" - Close Encounters Of The Third Kind
Close Encounters of the Third Kind was a cerebral sci-fi alien movie, as it didn't focus on an alien invasion, but instead, with a look at humans wanting to make contact with extra-terrestrials. However, there was another twist to this as it was about a father who abandons his family to look to the stars.
This was a choice that the man made, making it clear that his thirst for information was more important to him than his wife and children, and their need for him. This is a theme that Steven Spielberg has used in a lot of his work. It also makes this underrated sci-fi movie quote interesting.
The line is spoken by Claude Lacombe (François Truffaut) to Roy Neary (Richard Dreyfuss) in the final scene of the movie before Neary is chosen to board the ship and leave Earth. It is all about the obsession with this dream, and it shows how important these dreams are at the expense of all other things.
"This Is How Liberty Dies... With Thunderous Applause" - Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith
The Star Wars prequels were heavily criticized, but the best of the three have one of the best quotes in the entire franchise. It is an underrated sci-fi movie quote explaining why almost every dystopian or post-apocalyptic world ended up in shambles. It is a quote from Padmé Amidala.
This happened at the Senate meeting when Emporer Palpatine explains the Jedi tried to assassinate him, and he chooses now to end the alliance and create the Galactic Empire. Everyone in the Senate room cheers his decision, which frustrates Amidala. She then delivers this masterful quote.
It is easy to see how a charismatic politician can cause even the smartest in society to cheer him on as he strips them of all their rights. This is pure sci-fi, and it shows why so many worlds in sci-fi movies have an authoritarian government with a population who are too clueless to understand how it happened.
"We Have Eliminated The Variable Of Choice" - THX 1138
THX 1138 is an early George Lucas sci-fi film, one that allowed him to focus on themes he would later look at in Star Wars, but on a much darker level. This was a dystopian movie that saw society all forced to remain the same and conform, until one person decides to break the chain and fight his way out.
"We Have Eliminated The Variable Of Choice" is a direct quote from Control, the ultimate administrator of the city. If anything, this quote plays into the themes of almost every dystopian sci-fi thriller, as they are almost all run by an authoritarian government.
This could relate to access to medicine, where they determine who lives and who dies. It involves where a person can live, work, or in this movie's case, even look. It is what replaces free thought, and it proves Lucas had his thumb on the entire genre from the start.
"We Used To Look Up At The Sky And Wonder At Our Place In The Stars" - Interstellar
Christopher Nolan's Interstellar is a movie about not only going into outer space and discovering great and dangerous wonders, but it is a film about humanity and how it doesn't know its place in the universe. The film sees the Earth is dying and astronauts are sent to find a new home for humans.
There is an underrated quote in Interstellar by Matthew McConaughey's Coop where he laments how curious humans used to be. It is a powerful quote where he says people used to look to the stars for the future, but now they only look to the dirt. It is not only a message for the movie, but for life itself.
This is the entire idea that humans get older and stop dreaming, stop reaching for the stars, reaching for goals, and just settle in and prepare to die. It is a sobering thought, but one that ties into this film's message so masterfully.
"Long Live The New Flesh." - Videodrome
The work of David Cronenberg is more than just body horror, although that is what many of his films remain known for. Videodrome was one of his top critically acclaimed films that shows how television can manipulate people in dangerous ways. Of course, this takes it to the extreme, which is what makes it horror.
James Woods stars as a television producer of a small UFC television station, and he finds a show broadcast with what appears to be snuff films. He then begins to record these broadcasts, and this is when he learns that this show is not only showing snuff films, but it is also changing people who watch it into something deadly.
The underrated quote in VIdeodrome that really slams home this message is "Long live the new flash." This quote means that the human consciousness has changed and merged into something dark and different. This fits even better today as it could also apply to social media, making it a quote that has stood the test of time.
"Life Finds A Way." - Jurassic Park
The entire theme from Jurassic Park is one that goes back to the start of sci-fi movies like Frankenstein. It is wrong to play God, and those who do are doomed to find tragedy in their endeavors rather than success. The creators of the new dinosaurs believed they had complete control, and soon learned they were wrong.
The best part is that there was a brilliant, underrated quote in the first movie that spelled this out and stands as the most important in the entire franchise. This Jurassic Park quote was from Jeff Goldman's Malcolm, as he discussed the scientists deciding only to create females to keep any dinosaur from breeding.
Goldblum simply looked at them and said, "Life finds a way," which is what happened over and over in the franchise. The dinosaurs multiplied and not one scientist had the control they believed themselves to possess. Even as the main scientist refused to believe it, things quickly spiraled out of control, as Malcolm knew they would.
"Sand Is Overrated. It's Just Tiny, Little Rocks" - Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind
There was a lot of deep meaning behind the brilliant Michel Gondry sci-fi drama Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. The movie stars Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet as Joel and Clementine, a couple who fall hard in love and then out of love. The sci-fi angle is that a procedure exists to erase memories from someone's mind.
Gondry creates a world where Joel learns Clementine has erased him from her memories. Heartbroken, he goes to do the same thing and the viewer experiences him losing his memories as he realizes too late that it might be a mistake. This quote is one that really slams that dark message home.
Joel admits that sand is overrated because it's just tiny little rocks. However, as the movie goes on, he realizes that memories are also tiny little rocks, and as he loses them one by one, he understands how important they really are. It is one of the greatest underrated sci-fi quotes in movie history.
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