The Greatest Closing Lines in Films

We all love a good movie, don’t we? However, as we are fickle creatures what we love most of all is an explosive ending. The bad guy dying horribly, the lovelorn couple finally getting it together and the world being saved again are all great endings.

Having said that, the power of language means that some of the best movie endings of all are those which involve an unforgettable closing line. See if you can guess the movies these closing lines are from:

I do wish we could chat longer, but... I'm having an old friend for dinner. Bye.

Did you guess who said this? Of course you did. It couldn’t have been anyone other than our old intellectual friend with cannibalistic tendencies, Hannibal Lecter. This was the closing line in Silence of the Lambs, as our hungry chum gave Agent Starling the slip and got the chance to dine on poor old Dr Chilton.

Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship

You probably know what the end of this film looks like but did you know the final words as well? Humphrey Bogart speaks this immortal line in Casablanca as they leave Morocco behind to start a new life. As poignant film endings go, it doesn’t get much better than this.

Roads? Where we're going we don't need roads.

This is the film that made everyone in my class want to be Michael J Fox. Some of them are still quite keen on the idea, if we are being honest. Wacky old Dr Brown speaks this great line to Marty McFly after pulling up at his house to warn him about the dangers the future holds for his family. Little did he know that this would mean a couple of duff sequels and a guest appearance by bearded rockers ZZ Top.

After all, tomorrow is another day!

I had always thought that the closing line to Gone with the Wind was the famous, “Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn”. It turns out that I was wrong and that after Rhett Butler delivered that fantastic line Scarlett O’Hara got her reply in.

A man's got to know his limitations

Clint Eastwood has delivered some classic lines throughout his career but this one is up there with the very best of them. As the bad guy (apparently he was called Lieutenant Briggs) is dying, Clint’s Harry Callahan character gets to mutter this line.

The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn’t exist. And like that – poof – he’s gone!

This is one of the few movies which genuinely had me utterly confused the first time I watched it. Kevin Spacey’s character (Verbal Kint) gets to deliver this line during The Usual Suspects and it is repeated at the end as a flashback. A brilliant end to a top movie.

What is your favourite closing line from a film?