Say what? Famous movie misquotes

This line from “Forrest Gump” may seem like a slight difference, and it is and isn’t. When people quote this line, they often say, “Mama always said, ‘Life is like a box of chocolates’.” It’s more than a change of tense, though. Forrest’s line is not a direct quote, and he is speaking of his late mother, so the past tense makes sense.

This is perhaps the iconic one, so much so people don’t misquote it as much now, or at least do so knowingly. Hey, it’s more fun to do Darth Vader saying, “Luke, I am your father,” right? Plus, saying the actual line devoid of context wouldn’t land the same, especially if you don’t sound like James Earl Jones.

We get this one. Nobody these days talks like this. It’s not natural to say “I’ve a feeling.” People tend to say, “I’ve got a feeling” or elide all that and just say “We’re not in Kansas anymore.” Also sometimes in this “Wizard of Oz” line, Toto is moved to the end.

This is fully a nitpick, but it’s also super common so we’re including it. “Jaws” is a beloved blockbuster, if not the most-quotable film. People do quote this line, but when they do they seem to envision Brody speaking for the group. That is to say, many say “we’re” instead of “you’re.”

If Gordon Gekko were a real person, the common misquote from “Wall Street” is different enough that he could argue he was taken out of context. Now, we aren’t here to say Gekko is anything but a classic ‘80s Wall Street sleaze, but his line, delivered in the middle of a speech, hits differently than saying “Greed is good” in a vacuum.

“Planet of the Apes” has a famed twist ending, but also has a notable, if minor misquote. People tend to say “get” instead of “take.” That may not seem like much, but Heston’s Taylor insisting the ape take his paws off him definitely hits with more oomph.

What happens when Kevin Costner builds his baseball field? A bunch of ghosts of baseball players show up. He builds it after hearing a voice call to him, so many seem to put A and B together in their brains and assume the voice said, “If you build it, they will come.” No, though, it’s “he,” meaning, in the end, Costner’s late father.

Anthony Hopkins won Best Actor for “Silence of the Lambs” even though he’s in the movie for, like, eight minutes. That speaks to how definitive Hopkins’ turn as Hannibal Lecter was. He was the kind of character people liked to do impressions of, and the line they often said was, “Hello, Clarice.” However, Dr. Lecter never says that. “Good evening, Clarice” is the closest he gets.

Now this is the quote people often say from “Apocalypse Now.” Ah, but those ellipses we dropped are crucial. In an incredible, brief performance, Robert Duvall’s Kilgore gives a speech before walking out of the movie. He says both of these things, but in between he says a few more sentences. Due to length, and also the use of racial slurs that make sense for the character, we have not quoted it in full.

“King Kong,” both the original and Peter Jackson’s reverent remake, end with the same line. This actual line is close to the usual misquote, which perhaps doesn’t get said as much almost a century after the original “King Kong” came out. Perhaps owing to the old-timey nature of it, people would quote the line saying, “Twas beauty that killed the beast.”

Before “Luke, I am your father,” there was another line that stood as the most-misquoted. It became burned into the popular consciousness that Humphrey Bogart said, “Play it again, Sam.” There’s even a movie called “Play It Again, Sam.” Ah, but Rick never says that. Nobody does. What Rick says is this line.

It became something said so often that you may have heard it, or said it, not knowing its provenance. You know the line: “Mirror, mirror on the wall, who’s the fairest of them all?” Honestly? We think the fact that the mirror in “Snow White” is, you know, magic, is worth mentioning.

Is it accurate to say the misquote associated with “Apollo 13” predates the movie? Sure, perhaps the movie helped popularize it, but this is a film based on real events, and it kind of feels like “Houston, we’ve got a problem” maybe started to gain traction from that, though it also became synonymous with the film. The actual line, though, is spoken with less conviction, and also in the past tense.

The misquote associated with this one makes sense. Devoid of the context of the movie, saying this would sound weird. Harry Callahan is speaking for the person he is pointing his gun at. When people quote it, they often say, “Do you feel lucky?” and skip the whole preamble. Speaking of quote trivia, while this line comes from the first “Dirty Harry,” “Go ahead, make my day” is from one of the sequels.

“All About Eve” won Best Picture, among other awards, and it also spawned a famous quote. That quote just happened to be a bit off. Bette Davis’ Margo Channing recommends the fastening of seatbelts because it’s going to be a bumpy night, not a bumpy ride. They are not actually in a car at the time the line is said either.

Some imagine Dustin Hoffman’s Benjamin Braddock as more inquisitive, and perhaps more confident. People will quote him saying, “Mrs. Robinson, are you trying to seduce me?” In actuality, upon seeing Mrs. Robinson’s come-hither leg, he at first asserts seduction, before losing his nerve and asking for clarification.

You probably don’t know the line the movie comes from, and that’s alright. You may know that Mae West said it, but the movie is known mostly to film buffs. West said it in a Pre-Code 1933 film called “She Done Him Wrong,” and it’s the kind of line that you could say before Hollywood got demure. Misquotes of this line tend to change the grammar to a way that sits better with most: “Why don’t you come up and see me sometime?”

We’re fairly certain in “UHF” he does say “Badgers? We don’t need no stinkin’ badgers.” However, in “Treasure of the Sierra Made,” nobody says “Badges? We don’t need no stinkin’ badges!” The full quote from the villainous “Gold Hat” is, “Badges? We ain't got no badges! We don't need no badges! I don't have to show you any stinkin' badges!

To the extent anybody remembers the movie “…And Justice for All,” they remember Al Pacino delivering a blustering line. And yet, it is also usually misquoted. This is the actual line here. Misquotes usually following along the lines of, “I’m not out of order! You’re out of order!” Perhaps the misquoter also adds, “The whole system is out of order.” You can maybe blame “The Simpsons” for that.

It’s the most-famous line from “Tarzan,” and it isn’t said at all. This is not so much a misquote as it is a made-up one. At no point does Tarzan say “Me Tarzan, you Jane.” While we’re at it, here’s one more never-quote for you: Never in a “Star Trek” movie did William Shatner’s Captain Kirk ever say, “Beam me up, Scotty.”