Movies have given the world some of the best quotes out there. Whether they’re inspiring, satirical, romantic, or comical, something about a quote from a favorite character or favorite story tends to stay with you. And while fantasy movies certainly have no shortage of meaningful citations, some continue to stand out and stay at the forefront of viewers’ memories.
Fantasy films connect their audience to reality by exploring other, remarkable possibilities. The expression of these meaningful exploits in adventure is honed through beautifully penned lines of script. The testament to the impact and enduring nature of both the written and spoken word is that these snippets of ideology still ring true and are still mentioned time and time again. Even though the movie was made 10, 20, 50 years ago, the quote is still being used.
10 “For my will is as strong as yours and my kingdom as great. You have no power over me.”
‘Labyrinth’ (1986)
Image via Tri-Star Pictures
Being a teenager means discovering who you are and what matters to you. The main character Sarah (Jennifer Connelly) in Labyrinth goes on her journey of self-realization in an alternate world of magic and goblins. Annoyed that her stepmother always makes her watch her baby stepbrother and the infant’s incessant crying, she wishes him away one night and offers him to the goblins. A few minutes later, she is shocked to find that her halfhearted whim has been granted.
Instantly regretting what she has done, she travels to the Goblin City and demands her brother back from Jareth, the Goblin King (David Bowie). Though he captivates her under a spell and offers her everything she could desire, she breaks free from his mind control and, in one of the final scenes, asserts that she knows exactly who she is and what she wants by delivering the iconic line “You have no power over me.” As a result of her adventure, she learns to stand up for herself and that she does care for her brother after all.
Labyrinth
Release Date June 27, 1986
Director Jim Henson
Tagline Where everything seems possible and nothing is what it seems.
9 “There’s no place like home.”
‘The Wizard of Oz’ (1939)
All Dorothy Gale (Judy Garland) wanted was to get away from home in The Wizard of Oz. Dreaming that a better life existed “somewhere over the rainbow,” Dorothy wondered what life would be like anywhere but the small farm where she lived. When a cantankerous neighbor (Margaret Hamilton) confiscates her beloved dog Toto (Terry), it is the tipping point for Dorothy, and she runs away from home.
Even though the use of color technology ensured the magical land of Oz was visually breathtaking, Dorothy soon learns that the grass isn’t’ greener on the other side of the rainbow. In Oz she discovers dangers and evil she had never encountered before. She also soon realizes that being separated from her loved ones is not the fate she wants after all. As she is preparing to depart, after searching long and far for a way home, the Good Witch, Glinda (Billie Burke) informs her that she had the power to go back all along. By clicking her heels three times and repeating the phrase “There’s no place like home,” Dorothy returns to her senses and her farm in Kansas, with all her friends and family welcoming her.
The Wizard of Oz
Release Date August 15, 1939
Director Victor Fleming , Mervyn LeRoy , Richard Thorpe , King Vidor
Cast Judy Garland , Frank Morgan , Ray Bolger , Bert Lahr , Jack Haley , Billie Burke
Tagline Gaiety! Glory! Glamour!
Runtime 101
Studio Warner Bros.
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8 “Second star to the right and straight on ’til morning.”
‘Peter Pan’ (1953)
Image via RKO Radio Pictures
When receiving directions, you expect them to be based on positions or landmarks. However, if you are a companion of Peter Pan (Bobby Driscoll), you find your heading based on the stars because you can fly. Humans have been trying to get airborne as far back as the Renaissance when Leonardo da Vinci drew plans for a flying machine. And it turns out that all you need is some faith and trust, and a little bit of pixie dust. As the Darling children (Kathryn Beaumont, Paul Collins, Tommy Luske) prepare to follow their host to his magical island of Neverland, he gives them the coordinates, “Second star to the right and straight on ’til morning.”
Another deep human longing Peter Pan touches on is that of everlasting youth. The quest for the ability to turn back the hands of time is keeping many cosmetic, pharmaceutical, cryogenic, and other corporations gainfully employed. With mermaids, pirates, and the ability to fly, Peter Pan continues to be an enduring gem in the genre of fantasy, and when watching the movie, even but for a moment, audiences get to feel like a kid again.
Peter Pan
Release Date February 5, 1953
Director Clyde Geronimi , Wilfred Jackson , Hamilton Luske
Cast Bobby Driscoll , Kathryn Beaumont , Hans Conried , Bill Thompson , Heather Angel , Paul Collins
Tagline It will live in your heart forever!
Runtime 77
7 “26 years ago, we all started playing a little game. And now we’re going to sit down and finish it. And guess what, it’s your turn.”
‘Jumanji’ (1995)
Image via TriStar Pictures, Columbia Pictures
Somewhere between horror and fantasy, Jumanji brings a cautious tale for anyone who seeks to leave their world behind. Much like the Wizard of Oz, a young person seeks to run away from home after a confrontation with an adult, only to have an adventure beyond their wildest dreams, which teaches them to appreciate being home. After being trapped in the game Jumanji for 26 years, Alan Parrish (Robin Williams) is faced with the terrible realization that the only way to make the adverse consequences of the game stop is that he will have to play. But it wasn’t his turn. He had begun to play the game as an adolescent in 1969 with his friend Sarah Whittle (Bonnie Hunt), and the game was not completed, so Jumanji demanded that the original game go on.
After some understandable resistance from Sarah to play the game again after being traumatized by Alan’s disappearance last time, Alan eventually calms her down and reminds her that everyone’s fate depends on her willingness to play. They, along with the two new players, Judy (Kirsten Dunst) and Peter (Bradley Pierce), must all work together if they want to survive the game and restore their reality.
Jumanji
Release Date December 15, 1995
Tagline A game for those who seek to find a way to leave their world behind
Runtime 104 minutes
6 “She’s your match, Henry.”
‘Ever After: A Cinderella Story’ (1998)
Image via 20th Century Fox, Buena Vista Pictures
Is there such a thing as one person being meant for another? That is the question Prince Henry (Dougray Scott) asks himself and Leonardo da Vinci (Patrick Godfrey) in Ever After: A Cinderella Story. Given an ultimatum by his parents, he must find a woman of his choosing to marry before a ball or be wed to the girl they have chosen for him, the Princess of Spain. Henry confides his puzzled and confused thoughts to Leonardo and wonders how he can be sure that he’s met the right person, what to do if he somehow misses them, and so on. Leonardo patiently replies that he believes there is such a thing as one person being destined for another, but sometimes you must give fate a hand.
Prince Henry and Leonardo could never have imagined the surprising revelation of who is meant for Henry. When the woman he loves, Danielle (Drew Barrymore) is revealed to be a commoner and not nobility rather ungraciously by her wicked stepmother (Anjelica Huston) at the ball, Henry, hurt and confused, rejects her and goes to sulk alone. Leonardo seeks him out and confronts him. When Henry tries to claim his bruised and wounded ego as a reason to deny his feelings, Leonardo tells him straight, “She’s your match, Henry.” Luckily, Henry eventually realizes this for himself and the movie ends, as it were, happily ever after.
Ever After
Release Date July 31, 1998
Director Andy Tennant
Runtime 121 minutes
5 “All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us.”
‘The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring’ (2001)
Image via New Line Cinema
When ordinary people are put in extraordinary circumstances, it can be a possibility for great things to happen, and it can also be overwhelming. Similar to a diamond being formed by intense pressure, some people, even the most unlikely ones, rise to the occasion when times get tough.
Hobbits are known in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring for being simple, quiet folk who tend to keep to themselves. But when a young hobbit named Frodo Baggins (Elijah Wood) is sent on an epic quest fraught with peril, he proves to be a great hero in his own right. However, that doesn’t mean he feels heroic all the time. In a touchingly vulnerable scene, Frodo confesses to his mentor, Gandalf (Ian McKellen), that he wishes he had never been sent on the great journey in the first place. Gandalf comforts Frodo, saying his feelings are understandable and that when times are tough and everything feels insurmountable, “All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us.”
4 “Always.”
‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2’ (2011)
Image via Warner Bros.
Professor Severus Snape (Alan Rickman) is a complicated character and one that keeps fans of the Harry Potter movies guessing for most of the films. Is he loyal and willing to be trusted? Or is he evil and to be feared? While he picks on Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) and seems to generally dislike him, he then takes measures to protect Harry and looks out for his well-being. It is only towards the very end of the series that his true motives are revealed, and it turns out they have nothing to do with Harry. Severus loved Harry’s mother, Lily (Geraldine Somerville).
Although Lily only ever saw Severus as a friend, he remained devoted to her for the rest of his life. Even after her death, his enduring love for Lily motivated him to watch out for her son while he attended the school where Severus taught, Hogwarts. In a dramatic scene where Professor Dumbledore’s (Michael Gambon) true intentions for Harry are revealed, Severus projects a doe in a Patronus spell, which was Lily’s Patronus. Dumbledore asks him, “After all this time?” To which Severus replies, “Always.”
3 “I am no man.”
‘The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King’ (2003)
Image via Warner Bros
How do you beat an unbeatable foe? The heroes of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King were faced with such a dilemma when the evil Witch-king of Angmar (Lawrence Makoare) was unleashed. An undead, powerful enemy, it was said that no mortal man could kill him. Indeed, even the powerful wizard Gandalf (Ian McKellan) seemed ineffective against him.
When all seems lost and the Witch-king is about to have his riding creature devour Theoden (Bernard Hill), a soldier appears between him and his victim and commands, “I will kill you if you touch him.” After fighting the soldier, the Witch-king reminds them that no man can kill him. Wounded from behind by a Hobbit named Merry (Dominic Monaghan), the Witch-king falls to his knees. The soldier takes off their helmet, revealing their identity to be that of Eowyn (Miranda Otto), Theoden’s niece. She declares triumphantly, “I am no man,” and vanquishes the villain and frees all of Middle Earth from his tyranny.
2 “As you wish.”
‘The Princess Bride’ (1987)
Image via 20th Century Studios
There are many different ways to say “I love you,” but perhaps none is as memorable as “As you wish.” In the movie The Princess Bride, Westley (Cary Elwes) is a farmhand who falls in love with his employer’s daughter, Buttercup (Robin Wright). As he does her bidding day and night, no matter how menial the task, he only replies, “As you wish.” As time goes on, Buttercup recognizes his feelings and discovers that she shares them and loves him too.
The phrase gets an important second meaning in the latter half of the film when Buttercup is captured by the Dread Pirate Roberts, and seeing an opportunity to free herself, she pushes him off a cliff, telling him to die. Her captor replies, “As you wish,” and she knows instantly that it has been Westley in disguise. An enduring romantic classic, the movie and the quote continue to hold real, personal meaning for many couples who have found their true love.
The Princess Bride
Release Date October 9, 1987
Tagline Scaling the Cliffs of Insanity, Battling Rodents of Unusual Size, Facing torture in the Pit of Despair. – True love has never been a snap.
Runtime 98 minutes
Studio Act III Communications
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1 “Call my name.”
‘The NeverEnding Story’ (1984)
Image via Warner Bros. Pictures
Stories undoubtedly impact the audience, but does an audience have the ability to impact the story? When young Bastian (Barret Oliver) confiscates a book from a local shop, he never intends to literally get caught up in it. As he reads The NeverEnding Story, it begins to become clear that he, as the reader, is inexplicably linked to the drama unfolding, and he plays a key role in determining its fate.
As the whole world of the book (Fantasia) is about to dissolve into nothing, the Empress in the story (Tami Stronach) says that to save their world, Bastian must give her a new name. Bastian struggles to believe in magic and that he could use his imagination to affect any positive change, stating, “I have to keep my feet on the ground.” As the tension mounts, the Empress pleads directly to him, “Call my name.” Moved to action, Bastian runs to a window and calls out the name he has chosen for her, Moon Child. More than simply asking for a fresh moniker, the appeal of the Empress calls to more than just Bastian; it reaches out to all viewers, inviting them to interact with and invest themselves in the stories they observe. To become active participants in the realms of fantasy.
The Neverending Story
Release Date July 20, 1986
Cast Noah Hathaway , Barret Oliver , Tami Stronach , Patricia Hayes , Sydney Bromley , Gerald McRaney , Moses Gunn
Runtime 94
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