35 Movie Quotes Every '90s Kid Knows by Heart — Best Life (2024)

Hello, it's the '90s! A decade spent chasing fads, wallowing in the low-fi aesthetic of grunge, and—lucky for us—watching a brilliant crop of memorable, highly quotable movies. From Hannibal Lecter's slurping to Jack and Rose pledging their love amid the wreckage of the Titanic to (indeed) infinity and beyond, the movies of the '90s knew how to deliver dialogue that would live forever. These '90s movie quotes will remind every '90s kid that films are like a box of chocolates: You never know what you're gonna get.

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"A census taker once tried to test me. I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice chianti."

Any list of memorable quotes from the films of the '90s is going to include the erudite Dr. Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins). In an early scene of the 1991 thriller, he and FBI agent Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster) are trying to push at each other's limits. Lecter gets his message across to Starling with a story about one of his early cannibal killings. The addition of red wine and fava beans just gives the people-eating an air of sophistication.

"Molly, you in danger, girl."

Oda Mae Brown (Whoopi Goldberg) takes a lot of convincing to help Sam Wheat (Patrick Swayze), the ghost trying to warn his still-living fiancée Molly (Demi Moore), that his killer is coming after her, too. So when she comes calling on Molly, she insists on delivering the dire warning her own way. Goldberg won an Oscar for her pitch-perfect work in this 1990 film, and this enduring line delivery is a great example of why.

"You can't handle the truth!"

The thunderous courtroom face-off between brash young JAG lawyer Lieutenant Daniel Kaffee (Tom Cruise) and imperious Marine Colonel Jessep (Jack Nicholson) in the climactic scene of 1992's A Few Good Men isn't limited to this one line, delivered with extreme ferocity by Nicholson in response to an equally ferocious demand for the truth from Cruise. Jessep follows it with a whole monologue about the American security state. But it was "you can't handle the truth" that became the film's calling-card phrase.

"Listen up, ladies and gentlemen, our fugitive has been on the run for 90 minutes. Average foot speed over uneven ground, barring injuries, is 4 miles per hour. That gives us a radius of 6 miles. What I want from each and every one of you is a hard-target search of every gas station, residence, warehouse, farmhouse, henhouse, outhouse, and doghouse in that area. Checkpoints go up at 15 miles. Your fugitive's name is Dr. Richard Kimble. Go get him."

It's a mouthful, but that's probably why Tommy Lee Jones won an Oscar for his role as a U.S. marshal on the trail of an escaped wrongfully convicted murderer (Harrison Ford) in 1993's The Fugitive. Jones' rat-tat-tat delivery ratchets up the tension and pretty much spring-loads the rest of the movie's action.

"My mama always said life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get."

Forrest Gump's mantra about the unpredictability of his life comes from his mama, of course. And he's not shy about sharing it with anyone who will share a bus bench with him. Tom Hanks' Oscar-winning performance wasn't just this signature phrase, but it's the one almost everybody associates with the 1994 movie.

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"Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things. And no good thing ever dies."

It's maybe surprising that the chosen quote from 1994's The Shawshank Redemption isn't something delivered in the wise and dulcet tones of Morgan Freeman, America's narrator. Instead it's Tim Robbins' Andy Dufresne who offers up the central theme of Shawshank: hope in the most hopeless of places.

"Houston, we have a problem."

It's Tom Hanks again, this time alerting mission control that things have gone awry on the Apollo 13 space shuttle. Ron Howard's 1995 take on the thrilling true story earned its place of immortality within '90s American culture with this one rather economical turn of phrase.

"That'll do, pig."

Farmer Hoggett (James Cromwell) doesn't say much in the beloved 1995 film Babe; it's the barnyard animals that do the talking, after all. But it only takes three words to express his gentle appreciation for this most unusual pig who can herd sheep. A job well done by that adorable little oinker.

"There's more to life than a little money, ya know. Don'tcha know that? And here ya are, and it's a beautiful day. Well. I just don't understand it.

Sheriff Marge Gunderson (Frances McDormand) is a most unlikely hero at the end of the 1995 Coen Brothers black comedy Fargo, apprehending the men (well, man, after he does away with his accomplice) who kidnapped and killed a car salesman's wife. Marge's simple goodness, which gets played somewhat for laughs earlier in the film, shines through at the end with affecting sincerity, as she honestly can't comprehend the greed and violence she's dealing with.

"Show me the money!"

It was a dead heat between recognizing the above quote and the more romantic—though no less memorable—"You had me at hello." But Cuba Gooding Jr.'s infectious enthusiasm and brazen confidence in this iconic scene is what gives 1995's Jerry Maguire a jolt of energy. It also helped win him an Oscar.

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"I'll never let go, Jack."

For 1997's Titanic, we could havegone with "I'm the king of the world," a phrase that was ubiquitous enough even before director James Cameron co-opted it for his Oscar acceptance speech. But Rose's (Kate Winslet) shivering promise to Jack (Leonardo DiCaprio) as they're both floating in the frigid Atlantic Ocean isn't just a cinematic way to say goodbye—it's a promise to live on, into old age, until one day she could tell their story.

"I got her number. How do you like them apples?"

Good Will Hunting from 1997 is about many things, including mathematics, wounded upbringings, masculine pride, and heavy Boston accents. At its center is a titular genius (Matt Damon), who works as a janitor and spends his free time clowning around with his friends. When he outsmarts a Harvard smartie to get the attentions of Minnie Driver's Skylar, he cleverly delivers the world's greatest produce-based kiss-off.

"Do I make her proud?"

"I see dead people" is what makes it onto the clip reels, but dig a little deeper into The Sixth Sense and you'll find a movie about a sweet little boy (Haley Joel Osment) whose terrifying gift (he, you know, sees dead people) has made him a mystery to his mom (Toni Collette), the only person he has in his life. Their scene in the car in the 1999 thriller is more than just a parlor trick where he proves to his mom that he really can commune with the dead. It's also the moment they both trust each other enough to share their scariest and saddest secrets. Collette's delivery of the signature line is a tearjerker.

"The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist."

Oft repeated and adapted in the media and online (the devil is pulling so many tricks these days!), the line within the context of 1995's The Usual Suspects seems surprisingly matter of fact. Verbal Kint (Kevin Spacey) isn't trying to scare Agent Kujan (Chazz Palminteri). He's just explaining the most insidious gift of the gifted criminal Keyser Söze: He's convinced the world he's a ghost story.

"To infinity and beyond!"

Buzz Lightyear's (Tim Allen) catchphrase doesn't really approach the sweet, sometimes melancholy heart of the original Toy Story, released in 1995. But it fully defines the heedless confidence of Buzz himself, who refuses to admit for much of the movie that he's merely a toy.

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"I ordered some spaghetti with marinara sauce, and I got egg noodles and ketchup. I'm an average nobody. I get to live the rest of my life like a schnook."

It's not quite remorse in Henry Hill's (Ray Liotta) voice as he talks about his new life in witness protection at the end of the 1990 gangster flick Goodfellas—far from New York City's fine Italian food, and also the life of crime that had him riding high for a long time. It's such an evocative image, though: egg noodles and ketchup. A pale imitation of the real thing. Food for schnooks. Hill's ultimate comeuppance.

"Towanda!"

When Kathy Bates hears the story of Idgie Threadgoode (Mary Stuart Masterson) and her headstrong, bee-charming ways in the 1991 adaptation of Fannie Flagg's novel, she decides to take charge of her own life, taking Idgie's battle cry as her own. It comes in handy when a couple young blonde jerks steal her parking spot at the grocery store.

"You wanted to tussle. We tussled."

Jennifer Lopez won raves for her performance in Steven Soderbergh's funny and sexy caper flick based on the Elmore Leonard novel of the same name. Her signature scene comes when a low-level thug (Isaiah Washington) leers threateningly at her one too many times and pays the price.

"I know kung fu."

There's also the red pill/blue pill speech from Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne), but more fun and less problematic is Neo (Keanu Reeves) reacting to his fancy new fightin' upgrades with the most deadpan Keanu delivery he could muster.

"Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could that they didn't stop to think if they should."

Dr. Ian Malcolm's (Jeff Goldblum) warnings to John Hammond (Richard Attenborough) about the hubris of his dinosaur amusem*nt park fall on deaf ears… at least until the dinosaurs start rampaging. Since Jurassic Park's 1993 release,Malcolm's words have become universally applicable to all risky undertakings.

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"The first rule of Fight Club is 'You do not talk about Fight Club.'"

The second rule of Fight Club is also, "You do not talk about Fight Club," which makes it really easy to remember. Brad Pitt delivers the rules with a threatening charisma that makes you really, really curious about what goes on in this most secret society.

"That rug really tied the room together."

Of all the foolishness that goes down as Jeffrey Lebowski (Jeff Bridges) gets himself mixed up with a wealthy man with his same name—including kidnapping, sex, a fire, and a bowling-based dream sequence—things always seem to circle back to the befouled rug he's simply seeking restitution for. It wasn't an expensive rug, but as everyone in his life including bowling pal Walter (John Goodman) agrees, it really tied the room together.

"Everything the light touches is our kingdom."

Amid the ever-turning circle of life, young cub Simba (Jonathan Taylor Thomas) must learn the ways of the African savannah from his father, the great king Mufasa (James Earl Jones), before he grows up. The first lesson is to survey his kingdom, which includes, well, everything. It's a handy phrase to pull out of your pocket whenever you want to describe something vast and nearly borderless.

"You're a virgin who can't drive."

Tai's (Brittany Murphy) "way harsh" assessment of Cher (Alicia Silverstone) comes after their big argument over Josh (Paul Rudd). Tai goes for the jugular in the way only high schoolers can, hitting Cher right where she lives: her dating life and her tendency to bump into things with her car.

"What's your favorite scary movie?"

And so begins Ghostface's reign of terror. The cold open to the first Scream is one of the greatest scenes of the '90s, a terrifying, ground-shifting, post-modern jolt of horror. And it all starts with one creepy question on the phone, asked by Ghostface (voiced byRoger L. Jackson) of Drew Barrymore's doomed high school student.

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"So you're telling me there's a chance."

The sheer stupidity of Lloyd Christmas (Jim Carrey) and Harry Dunne (Jeff Daniels) as they bumble across America, chasing Mary Swanson (Lauren Holly), the girl of Lloyd's dreams, offers no shortage of hilarious moments. But it's Lloyd's refusal to accept Mary's odds of one out of a million that she'd date him that's both funny and rather sweet. One in a million, after all, is still a chance.

"Bye, Felisha!"

One of the many enduring legacies of the 1995 comedy Friday was to gift the world with one of the great blow-off lines in movie history. Are you finished with a conversation? "Bye, Felisha." Is someone bugging you on X and about to get blocked? "Bye, Felisha." (We pretty much always spell it "Felicia" now, but the sentiment remains the same.)

"What's in the box?"

The twisted, gruesome final act of Seven turns the tables on detectives Somerset (Morgan Freeman) and Mills (Brad Pitt) when John Doe (Kevin Spacey) has a package delivered to Mills out in the middle of nowhere. Doe is trying to goad Mills into fulfilling the seventh deadly sin: wrath. While Somerset tries mightily to intervene, he has to admit that Doe has the upper hand. So what was in the box? The truth may leave you gooped.

"Shade comes from reading."

The highly influential documentary Paris Is Burning pulls back the curtain on the house balls of uptown Manhattan during the '80s, where voguing was invented and LGBTQ+ people competed in high-stakes pageants. One particularly clever queen, Dorian Corey, explains the concepts of reading (running down insults on the queen in front of you) and shade (backhanded insults delivered with faux-softness). "I don't have to tell you you're ugly because you already know," for example. That is shade.

"Help! I'm in a nutshell! How did I get into this nutshell? Look at the size of this bloody great big nutshell! What sort of shell has a nut like this? This is crazy!"

Middle-schoolers all over the world could not be stopped from quoting the spy movie parodyAustin Powers: International Man of Mystery throughout the late '90s. But for every "shagadelic" uttered by starMike Myers, there's an even funnier joke. Take for example Austin's impression of himself "in a nutshell." We know you still use this one.

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"I'm also just a girl, standing in front of a boy, asking him to love her."

Julia Roberts'character in the 1999 rom-comNotting Hillmay be an internationally famous movie star, but with one ridiculously enduring line, she reminds her bookseller paramour (Hugh Grant) that she's also… well, you know how it goes.

"Are you crying? There's no crying. There's no crying in baseball!"

For Tom Hanks' third appearance on this list, we have to shout out his reluctant Rockford Peaches coach Jimmy Dugan fromPenny Marshall'sbeloved sports film based on the real All-American Girls Professional Baseball League of the '40s. When one of his players (Bitty Schram) breaks down, he delivers a line—a meltdown, really—that's been repeated countless times in the dugout and beyond.

"Oh god, I've pierced the toast!"

Elaine May'sscript for the 1994 comedy based on the French film La Cage aux Follesis jam-packed with jokes, but they wouldn't come off as well without the hilarious performances from the movie's stars. Nathan Laneis particularly great in the scene where his partner Armand (Robin Williams) is giving Albert a crash course on how to behave in a stereotypically masculine way so he can be passed off as their son's straight uncle when his conservative future in-laws come to visit. A line great for any time you also pierce the toast, or any other food item.

"When I grow up and get married, I'm living alone!"

There are many quotable lines in this 1990 family holiday film, including but not limited to: "You're what the French call 'les incompetents,'" and "Keep the change, ya filthy animal." But perhaps none is more relatable than eight-year-old Kevin's (Macaulay Culkin) complaint that there are too many people in his dang house and that he just wants some alone time.

"Now that's how you supposed to drive!"

The originalBad Boyskicked off a franchise that's still active to this day. And why wouldn't it be, with the money-printing idea of pairing superstars Martin Lawrenceand Will Smithin an action-packed buddy cop movie? Neither actor is stranger to creating a catchphrase, either on TV and in the movies, but we're highlighting Mike's (Smith) reaction to Marcus (Lawrence) doing some offensive driving after poking fun at him for driving "almost slow enough to drive Miss Daisy" earlier in the 1995 flick.

This story has been updated to include additional entries, fact-checking, and copy-editing.