“If any of us get laid tonight, it’s because of Eric Bana and ‘Munich.’”
The scene: The characters are chatting and mingling at the bar. “Knocked Up” came out in the late aughts and features some of Hollywood’s most prominent stars like Seth Rogan, Katherine Heigl, Paul Rudd, and Leslie Mann.
This film was written with the knowledge that most of the lines would be improvised anyway. Harold Ramis said, “the script is what we have if we can’t think of anything better.” And this comedy gem definitely didn’t need the script too much. In fact, most of this movie comes from the actors improvising.
Young Frankenstein
"What hump?"
The scene: Dr. Frankenstein, who was played by Gene Wilder, arrives at the Transylvania Station where he meets Igor for the first time. Frankenstein says “I don’t mean to embarrass you, but I’m a rather brilliant surgeon. Perhaps I could help you with that hump.”
Marty Feldman, who played Igor in the movie, very obviously has a hump that Dr. Frankenstein offers to fix. His straight-faced response referring to not having any hump on him led to one of the best satirical (and unscripted) lines in the film. The movie had a strong cast and is still revered as one of the best comedies ever made, (even after all these years).
Taxi Driver
"You talkin' to me?" The scene: The main character, Travis Bickle, who is played by the critically acclaimed actor Robert De Niro, is talking to himself in the mirror. “Taxi Driver” came out in 1976 and to this day gets praised for being one of the best movies ever made.
This line is one of the most iconic lines in cinematic history, and it is all thanks to Robert De Niro. To this day, people utter this phrase in all different types of scenarios. The director’s instructions for this scene were loose and minimal, so they let De Niro take the reigns on this one, and he definitely succeeded!
The Shining
"Here's Johnny!"
The scene: Jack Torrance has gone insane, so he attempts to break into the bathroom while Wendy is in the shower. He presses his face between the crack of the door while yelling at Wendy. More than 40 years since its release, the movie “The Shining” is still considered as one of the most outstanding horror flicks ever made.
This became one of the most famous lines in a horror film, and in cinema history, for that matter. In another film directed by Kubrick, he instructs his actors to improvise so they can come up with the most genuine lines, and it definitely worked this time.
Forrest Gump
“My name is Forrest Gump. People call me Forrest Gump.”
The scene: Forrest Gump and Bubba meet for the first time. Tom Hanks carried this film with so many one-liners people use to this day. He plays this character perfectly and improvises his lines to support his role.
When he introduces himself to Bubba, he delivers this unscripted line that perfectly matches the attributes of Forrest Gump. The movie was such a hit when it was released in 1994 that it managed to score a whopping six Oscars, not to mention the 74 nominations it received on top of that. Now that’s impressive!