10 Most Misquoted Movie Lines of All Time, Ranked

With cinema’s transformation into a talking medium in the ’30s, dialogue quickly became one of the key components of the art form. Indeed, to this day, the vast majority of films are built on the foundation of dialogue. As such, one of the most fun parts of movie fandom are quotes — learning them, re-watching the scenes they’re contained in, and finding the best spots in everyday conversation to throw them around.

But while pop culture is generally pretty good at choosing the most memorable lines to enshrine and at remembering their every detail, people sometimes get it wrong. Over the years, the reception of several movie quotes has been a game of broken telephone where they get somewhat distorted. They may not come to mean something different altogether, but their meaning sure is altered, so it’s good to remember these often-misquoted lines.

10 “Hello, Clarice,” — ‘The Silence of the Lambs’ (1991)

The real quote: “Good evening, Clarice.”

One of the most important and influential thrillers of the ’90s, so eerie and creepy that it borders on belonging to the horror genre, The Silence of the Lambs is the latest film to win the Big Five Oscars — Picture, Directing, Lead Actress, Lead Actor, and Screenplay. It’s a police procedural about a young FBI cadet who must receive the help of a manipulative cannibal prisoner in order to catch another serial killer.

The film has several great and iconic lines, but one of the most popular is Hannibal’s greeting of Clarice when she comes to the prison to meet him. Hannibal is an elegant gentleman, though. He wouldn’t greet a lady he just met with a simple “Hello” like most people today seem to wrongly recall, oh no. Instead, when the killer first meets Clarice, he says hi with a creepy “Good evening.” A world of difference.

9 “If you build it, they will come.” — ‘Field of Dreams’ (1989)

The real quote: “If you build it, he will come.”

One of the best sports movies of all time, mixing the most charming parts of the genre with a fantastical touch, Field of Dreams is a love letter to baseball. It’s about an Iowa farmer who’s inspired by a mysterious voice to pursue a dream he can hardly believe. He begins the quest by turning his ordinary cornfield into a place where dreams can come true.

The movie has one of cinema’s best-remembered lines, except it’s usually wrongly remembered. There’s a simple explanation for the mix-up, though. The line itself, “If you build it, he will come,” is speaking directly about the protagonist’s late father. However, another one of the film’s best scenes is the legendary James Earl Jones‘s “People will come” monologue (a testament to the inimitable power of the actor’s voice). So, it’s likely that, over the years, people have gotten the two pieces of dialogue confused.

8 “Mrs. Robinson, are you trying to seduce me?” — ‘The Graduate’ (1967)

The real quote: “Mrs. Robinson, you’re trying to seduce me, aren’t you?”

The Graduate is one of the greatest and most important outings in the New Hollywood film movement, showcasing how far Hollywood had come since its Golden Age. It’s a coming-of-age dramedy about Ben Braddock, a disillusioned and confused college student who finds himself torn between his older lover and her daughter, a symbol of the limbo between teenhood and adulthood that he currently finds himself entangled in.

The Graduate is truly one of the greats, as well as one of the classic films with the best cast ensembles. This includes Dustin Hoffman, who plays Ben, at the top of his game, delivering lines as iconic as the one when he first finds himself seduced by Mrs. Robinson, who’s about fifteen years his senior. The film’s common misquote takes away most of what makes the line so great: Ben’s befuddlement and total lack of contextual awareness, which gives the scene its comedic dimension.

7 “Would you like to play a game?” — ‘Saw’ franchise

The real quote: “I want to play a game.”

One of the most prolific and beloved modern horror movie franchises, the Saw films have had their fair share of ups and downs, but for those who like its particular subgenres, it’s mostly been ups. The villain of these movies is Jigsaw, a mysterious killer who takes people who don’t appreciate their lives and places them in elaborate, deadly traps.

When presenting his victims with their traps, people think that Jigsaw invites them into his games — except this isn’t actually the case. In retrospect, this misquote never really made much sense. Since when has Jigsaw, one of the most brutal horror movie villains with one of the highest kill counts in the genre, been a polite gentleman who asks for his victims’ permission to play his twisted games?

6 “We’re going to need a bigger boat.” — ‘Jaws’ (1975)

The real quote: “You’re going to need a bigger boat.”

Back in the day, Steven Spielberg pretty much invented the summer blockbuster with his hyper-profitable Jaws. Now one of the most iconic horror movies of all time, it’s about a massive killer shark that unleashes chaos and blood on a beach community off Long Island. So, it’s up to the local sheriff to team up with a marine biologist and an old seafarer to hunt the beast down.

The best part about the film’s most iconic line is the fact that it was an improvised in-joke from Roy Scheider, referencing the myriad problems that had been affecting the shoot — including a small tugboat owing its size to budget limitations. It’s one of the best improvised movie quotes of all time, even if many viewers tend to get a pronoun wrong whenever they recall the memorable scene where the three leading men realize that the shark may be a bit too big for their tiny boat.

5 “Toto, I don’t think we’re in Kansas anymore.” — ‘The Wizard of Oz’ (1939)

The real quote: “Toto, I’ve a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore.”

One of the earliest pioneers in Technicolor technology, the beautiful The Wizard of Oz is as timeless as family musicals come. In it, young Dorothy Gale and her dog Toto are swept away by a tornado from their Kansas farm and brought to the magical Land of Oz. There, they embark on a quest with three new friends to see the Wizard, who can supposedly return Dorothy and Toto to their home and fulfill the others’ wishes.

With stunning musical numbers, a phenomenal cast, and one of the most unique fantasy worlds in all of cinema, the film is still remembered as a massive classic for a number of reasons — not the least of which is its variety of quotable lines. Its most popular isn’t too different from what it’s typically misquoted as, but it’s definitely different enough to alter the feeling of the sentence considerably.

4 “Play it again, Sam.” — ‘Casablanca’ (1942)

The real quote: “Play it, Sam.”

Casablanca may just have the greatest screenplay in the history of Classic Hollywood, as well as being the best film that America produced during World War II. It’s a romantic drama about a cynical American cafe owner in French Morocco, who struggles to decide whether or not to help his former lover and her fugitive husband escape the Nazis.

A big part of what makes the movie’s script so widely celebrated is its abundance of iconic lines, which have come to perfectly embody what Hollywood’s Golden Age was all about. Several of these quotes are among the most romantic in movie history, including the one where Ilsa asks the cafe’s pianist, Sam, to play “As Time Goes By.” Just play it, not play it again. It’s a simple misquote, but in the context of the scene, it’s perfectly understandable why the word “again” isn’t uttered.

3 “Luke, I am your father.” — ‘The Empire Strikes Back’ (1980)

The real quote: “No, I am your father.”

It’s anyone’s guess whether George Lucas knew in 1977 that what he was releasing into the world in the form of Star Wars would become the biggest pop-cultural phenomenon in history. It’s also a mystery whether the people behind the film’s sequel, The Empire Strikes Back (now Episode V) knew that their movie would in the future be remembered as one of the greatest sci-fi films ever. In it, Luke continues his Jedi training while his friends are pursued across the galaxy by the Empire and the fearsome bounty hunter Boba Fett.

Universally-known though it may be today, the reveal that the sinister Darth Vader is in fact Luke Skywalker’s father is still one of sci-fi’s best plot twists. In the most famous line from the scene (and perhaps from the whole movie), though, Vader doesn’t directly address his son. It doesn’t really make much of a difference, but if there’s anything that Star Wars fans are known for, it’s for their profound love of the unalterable canon.

2 “Houston, we have a problem.” — ‘Apollo 13’ (1995)

The real quote: “Houston, we’ve had a problem.”

Ron Howard isn’t typically counted among many people’s favorite Hollywood directors, but every now and then, he puts out a genuine banger. Such was the case in 1995, when he directed the great Apollo 13, one of the most scientifically-accurate sci-fi movies ever. Telling the tale of the real Apollo 13 mission, the movie follows NASA having to devise a strategy to return the ship to Earth safely after it undergoes massive internal damage, putting the lives of the three astronauts on board in jeopardy.

The film’s most iconic quote is one of those lines of dialogue that transcend the medium itself, becoming more popular, even, than the film they came from. However, popular though it may be to use in daily conversation whenever there’s a minor inconvenience, it’s actually not typically quoted correctly. It’s quite interesting how the ubiquitous use of a popular phrase can alter it so much that the real quote now sounds weird.

1 “Mirror, mirror on the wall, who’s the fairest of them all?” — ‘Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs’ (1937)

The real quote: “Magic mirror on the wall, who is the fairest one of all?”

One of the very first animated features of all time, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs introduced the world to Walt Disney and the entertainment empire that his company would go on to become. Based on the Grimm brothers‘ fairy tale, it’s about a princess who’s exiled into the dangerous forest by her wicked stepmother, who’s jealous of her beauty. She’s rescued by seven dwarf miners who make her part of their household.

The movie’s most famous line is spoken by the villain, the Queen, when she’s asking her magic mirror who the most beautiful lady in all the kingdom is — shocked to find that it’s Snow White and not her. It’s one of the best fantasy movie quotes, even if it’s probably also the most universally misquoted movie line in history. Frankly, there’s more rhythm and poetry to the real dialogue — but at this point, the film belongs to the public. It’s up to them to decide.

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