Bad Monologues vs Good Monologues (Writing Advice)
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- čas přidán 17. 04. 2024
- Learn what separates bad monologues from good ones. Examples from Game of Thrones, Star Wars, Good Will Hunting, Any Given Sunday, and more!
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FULL MONOLOGUES:
- GOOD WILL HUNTING: • Good Will Hunting | 'Y...
- ROCKY IV: • Rocky Balboa's speech ...
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- SNOW WHITE AND THE HUNTSMAN: • Snow White and the Hun...
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- STAR WARS THE LAST JEDI: • Star Wars The Last Jed...
- GAME OF THRONES JAIME MONOLOGUE: • Game of Thrones: Seaso...
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"As we all know Heath Ledger doesn't care about money"
I had to pause the video I was laughing so hard
I like to believe that an actor's roles are all the same character, just in different times and places. There are some for whom it works well:
Liam Neelson in Batman and the Taken series works.
Same. Then I had to check the comments to ensure mentioning it was the top comment.
he cares about sending a message
He's only burning his half.
Same here
Rocky ended the cold war, I don't see any problems here
Let's fucking go!
Haha I really should've given him credit for that one
...and it ended with a speech about believing in ourselves and without violence.
If you are familiar with latest generation of Soviet leaders you can see that the first to clap is a man resembling comtrade Gorbachov; and the last to stand is a man resembling his main opponent in the party, comrade Ligachev. This is the time of "perestroyka", and "change" was one of the favourite Gorbachov's slogans. Surely, it's all quite cartoonish, but the parallel is there.
So, yeah, there is more to this scene than meets the eye.
My thoughts exactly
Theoden's Battle Cry in Return of the King always gives me chills.
A SWORD DAY!! A RED DAY!!!! boo-effin'-yah
@@Sure0Foot DEEAAATHHH!!!!
Same answer. Especially as the inspiring speech is juxtaposed with the orc motivational approach: "Form ranks, maggots!"
Forth Eorlingas!
Ere the sun rises!
Fun fact: part of the reason Kat’s monologue in 10 Things I Hate About You sounds natural is that her beginning to cry wasn’t in the script, it was just the actress’s natural reaction in the moment.
Fun fact: I can’t not cry with her every single time, even just then!
I miss Julia
I'm sure you will disagree but I liked the Hallmark one better, maybe because my wife delivers monologues exactly like that on a daily basis
That's what good actors do, they change the script for the better.
No wonder her crying felt so real. It’s the biggest reason that scene gets to me.
Monologues can feel like exposition dump, but good ones feel like art!
Absolutely. Gotta inject the right amount of heart into them to make them shine
💯🎯
@WriterBrandonMcNulty Kudos for not picking a speech from LOTR or Braveheart. Great speeches, but everyone has heard them.
But they all disappear like tears in the rain.
The Star Wars prequel movies were all bad writing, that monologue didn't stand out for badness. But maybe the movies should have been about Luke and Kylo's backstory.
"This fails because it sounds like a Wikipedia summary"
Hahaha 😆
Simon Cowell directness. You're really good at this. 😊
Haha thanks!
C3PO did a better job resuming what happened before to the ewoks in Return of the Jedi.
"I'm not going to be her brother, and here's why" 🤣🤣 Really looking forward to the new book, Brandon!
All-time favorite monologue. I cannot even think of this scene without getting misty eyed:
“I can’t do this, Sam.
I know. It’s all wrong. By rights we shouldn’t even be here. But we are. It’s like in the great stories, Mr. Frodo. The ones that really mattered. Full of darkness and danger, they were. And sometimes you didn’t want to know the end. Because how could the end be happy? How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad had happened? But in the end, it’s only a passing thing, this shadow. Even darkness must pass. A new day will come. And when the sun shines it will shine out the clearer. Those were the stories that stayed with you. That meant something, even if you were too small to understand why. But I think, Mr. Frodo, I do understand. I know now. Folk in those stories had lots of chances of turning back, only they didn’t. They kept going. Because they were holding on to something.
What are we holding onto, Sam?
That there’s some good in this world, Mr. Frodo… and it’s worth fighting for.”
Runner up:
"I've seen things you people wouldn't believe... Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion... I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhäuser Gate. All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain... Time to die."
Ah, yes, Sam's is a classic. Great call
My favourite comes from the StarCraft video game.
*Raszagal:* "Congratulations, your success has brought us the promise of hope against the zerg. However, we face a new threat within our own ranks. In your absence, Judicator Aldaris and an entire legion of Khalai survivors from Aiur have begun an open revolt against us."
*Zeratul:* "By the gods, this is ill news indeed. Why would Aldaris betray us so?"
*Raszagal:* "He and his brethren believe it was wrong for them to have abandoned Aiur and consorted with our people. Their prejudices have driven them to perpetuate the Conclave's sins against us. Even now, Aldaris and his loyalist templar forces are preparing to attack our citadel."
*Artanis:* "I can scarcely believe this. As if the zerg were not enough. Matriarch, are you certain of this?"
*Raszagal:* "All too certain, young templar. As matriarch of the dark templar and custodian of this world, I hereby order you to terminate Judicator Aldaris and quell this untimely uprising without delay. There will be no dissent among us while the zerg are poised to strike."
_Raszagal exits._
*Zeratul:* "There is something amiss here. The Matriarch has always been a wise and gentle soul. Though there is some merit in her decision, this is unlike her."
*Artanis:* "That may well be, but right now, we have a friend to kill. May Adun forgive us."
@@reubenmanzo2054 Even better: Mengsk's speech at the end of the first Terran campaign. Brilliant piece of propaganda.
@@Xenozfan2 Yes, or Stukov's monologue right before he dies. Or Tassadar's trial.
Come to think of it, in the first zerg campaign, all the Overmind's lines are monologues with maybe one exception.
@@reubenmanzo2054 "Let my death have some meaning!" Oooh, shivers, every time.
Spoilers for SC2:LotV's epilogue below.
When Stukov faces Narud in the epilogue the dialogue goes "Stukov. You've come to gloat, haven't you?" "No, I've come to say goodnight." A DIRECT CLOSING OF A STORY LOOP FROM SC:BW! I'm so happy they did that.
Quint's monologue in Jaws where he talks about what happened when he was on the Indianapolis during the war - - I am mesmerized by that speech every time, no matter how many times I have seen that movie.
Perfect writing, perfect actor, perfect delivery.
Todd Stashwick gets to do a nod to this in the final season of Picard, as a survivor of Wolf 359 recounting the time he met "Picard" (i.e. Locutus). The character's last name is even Shaw.
patton's opening speech has the same effect on me...
"black eyes, like a doll's eyes." oh man!
Jaime’s monologue… is perfect.
Makes you want to forget “I never really cared for them. Innocent, or otherwise” even more.
That was the moment that started his almost perfect character arc.
@@brandonbuchner1771 I am still mad when I think about Jaime's redemption arc. It was set up so beautifully with an obvious but heartbreaking conclusion that we all knew would happen but instead they fucked it in the name of subverting expectations and made him go back to Cersei to die by rocks with her instead of killing her. Like wtf!!!!
@@karabomasibi2331 It's one of the examples I use to shown that 'subverting expectations' are crap if the only reason they're done is for a 'bet you didn't see that coming?' moment, subverting expectations still need to make sense for the character and situation.
Yeah so sad to remember the great monologues of early GOT knowing how the writing landed in the final season
Subverting expectations can be a great, surprising element in a story. It can also just be for a cheap shock factor. The latter is horrible.
I love that Jaime speech because it's so close to the book and GRRM writes such extraordinary characters in such a compelling way. There is some kind of catharsis in this monologue because we've spent so long hating and judging Jaime that when he reveals he's shades of grey (just like any other character in the series) it's so powerful and it all makes sense. Added to thay is the fact he's not a pov character from the start so you don't know what or how he thinks until later books, and here he's half crazed with physical pain, fever, and the heat from the tub after a rough time in the wild, so it all starts pouring out of him, that's why it's so satisfying.
Jaime's monologue still gives me chill to this day.
It pains me how GOOD GoT was...
To quote Mystery Men: "Used to. That's the problem, Captain. USED to."
House of the dragons is still great and so are the books. If only George could bring himself to finish them...
"You want me on that wall! You NEED me on that wall!"
That monologue still gives me chills when I watch that movie.
I'm surprised you didn't include Batty's "tears in rain" speech from BLADE RUNNER in here. Not only is it a poetic piece of art, but it changes the whole story and how we feel about Batty. He no longer feels like a villain by the end of his speech.
The amazing thing about that speech is that it's so short, but the impact of it is huge, making it feel longer than it actually is.
T h i s
I will never not think about it when both monologues and communicating the theme
This. That one monologue completely flipped the audience impression of his character, and is still one of the best I've ever seen in cinema.
Exactly! My favourite, too. Completely changed the meaning of the whole movie and my view of the characters. Masterpiece!
Possibly because it wasn't scripted, so it might not be illustrating his point in the video? It was completely ad-libbed by Rutger Hauer
My favourite monologue is hands-down Theoden's speech from Return of the King. Very well written, and the visuals make you feel like you're part of his army as he's talking.
That would be one of my favorites too. Also his monologue when facing possible defeat at Helm's Deep.
The Lord of the Rings trilogy is chockful of great monologues! That's a great pick, so powerful.
I think as a monologue I prefer the one Aragorn gives at the black gate, but as a scene I prefer the one with Theoden, the built up tension from the music and its consequent release never fails to make me shed a tear
The Star Wars series "Andor" has a number of brilliant monologues. The ones by Fiona Shaw and Andy Serkis were powerful, but Stellan Skarsgård's monologue on sacrifice gave me goosebumps.
Yes! All were incredible.
Yes!!
And Deedra's speech to Bix before she's tortured
Red’s parole speech and explanation of Andy’s escape in Shawshank are pretty sweet.
His explanation of Andy’s escape was not monologue. It might’ve been a soliloquy- I don’t know if narration can be soliloquy.
@@ElZo1212o true… you have a point. But, it is still remarkable.
My absolute favorite monologue is Mal's speech after they discovered Miranda in Serenity.
"Sure as I know anything I know this, they will try again. A year from now, ten. Maybe on another world or maybe on this very rock swept clean. Sooner or later they'll swing round to the belief that they can make people.... better. And I do not hold to that.
"So no more running. I aim to misbehave."
Man, Serenity was so good. Another thing that made that speech was so good, is the interior of the ship has always been dark, and kind of cold. But in that moment, in that speech, the galley, the inner most heart of the ship is LIT UP with warm bright light. AS though her heart is full of light and heat and purpose, as is Mal's.
brown coats!
Oh mercy! When you said "let's look at a good example" I thought Heath Ledger was Tommy Wiseau for a moment 😂
Hahahah I can't unsee this now
I thought the same thing!
OMG the dichotomy between Heath Ledger and Tommy Wiseau
Oh, hi Mark.
Me too! 😂
While Good Will Hunting was released a few years before I got married I didn't get around to seeing it until after my wife had died. That speech was powerful!
🥺
Two monologues I've always enjoyed were: Choose Life from Trainspotting and Dr. Evil backstory monologue during family therapy.
LOL
One of my favourite new monologues is the one from Stellan Skarsgård in Andor. Such a brilliant speech.
Yes!!!!
"Calm. Kindness. Kinship. Love. I've given up all chance at inner peace. I've made my mind a sunless space. I share my dreams with ghosts. I wake up every day to an equation I wrote 15 years ago from which there's only one conclusion: I'm damned for what I do. My anger, my ego, my unwillingness to yield, my, my eagerness to fight, they've set me on a path from which there is no escape. I yearned to be a savior against injustice without contemplating the cost, and by the time I looked down…there was no longer any ground beneath my feet. What is my sacrifice? I'm condemned to use the tools of my enemy to defeat them. I burn my decency for someone else's future. I burn my life to make a sunrise that I know I'll never see. And the ego that started this fight will never have a mirror or an audience or the light of gratitude. So what do I sacrifice? EVERYTHING! You'll stay with me, Lonni. I need all the heroes I can get."
I also love the prison monologue because it so fits the character and situation.
"My name is Kino Loy. I'm the day shift manager on Level Five. I'm speaking to you from the command center on Level Eight. We are, at this moment, in control of the facility...
"How long we hang on, how far we get, how many of us make it out, all of that is now up to us. We have deactivated every floor in the facility. All floors are cold. Wherever you are right now, get up, stop the work. Get out of your cells, take charge and start climbing. They don't have enough guards and they know it. If we wait until they figure that out, it'll be too late. We will never have a better chance than this and 'I would rather die trying to take them down than giving them what they want.' We know they fried a hundred men on Level Two. We know that they are making up our sentences as we go along. We know that no one outside here knows what's happening. And now we know, that when they say we are being released, we are being transferred to some other prison to go and die, and that ends today! There is one way out. Right now, the building is ours. You need to run, climb, kill! You need to help each other. You see someone who's confused, someone who is lost, you get them moving and you keep them moving until we put this place behind us. There are 5,000 of us. If we can fight half as hard as we've been working, we will be home in no time. One way out!"
One of the best monologues I've ever seen, particularly in Star Wars, is in Andor when the character, Luthen Rael (played brilliantly by Stellan Skarsgård), is talking about what he's sacrificed for the Rebellion.
Ohhh my god, yes. That was one of the best monologues ever.
Love it too! And the recorded one by Andor's mother in the last episode is also dynamite.
Heyyy, I was hoping I’d find some Andor enjoyers out here
Andy Serkis also had no right to go so hard on his monologue in Andor too
that whole show is so good! theres also the monologue in the finale
I know you didn't want Game of Thrones to completely dominate this list, but i would have put Tyrion's speech before the Battle of Blackwater here. It's not too long, is almost poetic with how blunt and straightforward he is while reiterating the stakes to the soldiers, and is terrific character development for Tyrion. He shows he understands common people and what motivates them better than most nobles, and for all his flaws, he's no coward. Tyrion was the character you liked and felt sorry for, recognizing how much of an unfair shake he got from the world, but this was the moment the audience got to see him be an unlikely hero.
I actually felt that more when he killed the guy on the road with the shield, well before this battle. It was a great moment, and I think that was when Tyrion first realized that despite his stature, he actually could fight and win. It was a little shocking to him, but I think it gave him the courage he needed for the Battle of Blackwater.
One of my favorite monologues is when Maximus reveals himself to the emperor in Gladiator
Just an awesome scene, Crowe kills it
Father to a murdered son.
Husband to a murdered wife.
That speech was a great one. As was "what we do in life, echoes in eternity."
My name is Maximus, Decimus, Meridius. Commander of the armies of the north. General of the Felix Legions…I love it…the reveal is awesome.
You Sly Dog! We Caught You Making Videos About Monologuing! 🤪
But yeah that scene with Tyrion in the Courtroom was extremely cathartic, which yeah is also ironic considering that he was at his lowest point mentally. But having the context of Tyrion’s abuse from Tywin (simply because Tyrions Mother died giving birth to him) spilled out in a vicious monologue would spell Tywin’s downfall right there.
“I’ve Been On Trial For That, MY ENTIRE LIFE.”
That scene is incredible because all the right pieces are in place--everyone who matters/mattered to Tyrion is present and he can launch his feelings at them. Such a well crafted scene
The line about "a thousand lying whores" with the cutaway to Shae puts the biggest hook in me.
Yet not a single clip of Syndrome. Tragic.
Jaime's monologue is amazing, but Gwendoline Christie's reaction to it elevates that scene so much. That's 2 outstanding actors with an amazingly written scene giving a performance of a lifetime. Rewatch - look at her eyes' reactions. A masterclass on acting and reacting by 2 magnificent actors.
One of my favorite monologues was in Breaking Bad. The scene where Jesse's Rehab Counselor tells the story of how he accidentally killed his daughter under the influence.
I don't even remember the visuals of the scene, but the scene I imagined will never leave my head.
Such a subtle, yet powerful performance by the great Jere Burns
The Hospital scene where an injured Jesse monologues to Walt (In “One Minute”) is another great Breaking Bad monologue as well.
Breaking Bad is loaded with good ones. Almost included the "One Who Knocks" speech in this video.
@@WriterBrandonMcNulty "Better Call Saul" has some really great speeches too. My personal favorite is Mike's speech in Season 1 where he talks to his daughter-in-law about how he failed his son by making him take a bribe.
@@jkta97 That was beautiful. Throughout two excellent series, Johnathan Banks is the definition of stoic, but the way he breaks when talking about Matty is just devastating. E
What I love so much about Jaime's monologue is he does an amazing job of helping you picture the events of that fateful day. We only saw a glimpse in the actual show of him killing Aerys, but this actually makes you visualize it in your mind, and that is fantastic. Meanwhile, Luke's dialogue is clunky and cagey. He may be ashamed of what he tried to do, but it comes off feeling more like he doesnt want to admit his actions that led to things going as sideways as they did. And I've seen some comments online and heard people in real life defend his monologue, saying he's vague because he's ashamed or because he's blocked the events from his memories. But that doesn't actually fit with what we heard and saw in that scene. And no disrespect to Mark Hamil, but the anguish and other emotions that were in Jamie's monologue are not there in Luke's. And I would think a man who almost tried to kill his own nephew, unwittingly helping to push him into the Dark Side, and leading to the death of all of his students, and nearly himself, would be in absolute AGONY over what his actions led to. But we don't get that.
It's not Mark Hamil's fault. That's what he was given to work with.
@@janiefallout8 That's what I'm saying. That's why I said no disrespect to Mark Hamil.
@@SaiyanSweetheart45 You said you don't disrespect him but didn't clarify why he had to deliver this clunky monologue. The fact is that somebody wrote it that way and somebody directed it that way and they are at fault.
Bernard Hill’s King Theôden monologue before the ride of the Rohirram never ceases to hype me.
especially when you remember orcs feared two things: horses, and death DEEEEAAAAATH!!!!!
Here for Andor representation: Skarsgaard and Andy Serkis, incredible. Andor’s mother also has some amazing lines and monologue at the end
"By Grabthar's hammer, what a savings."
(Just kidding.)
An actual favorite is Sheriff Bell's monologue at the end of No Country for Old Men. The first time I saw the movie I was disappointed, because it seemed anticlimactic. But it grew on me, and now I think it's genius.
I loved that monologue too. Disappointingly, the novel’s author, Cormac McCarthy, would later write his own original screenplay and insert one of the most out-of-place fails of a monologue ever witnessed in film.
My favorite monolog is Quint's speech in Jaws about his experience of delivering the bomb. It made me forget about the shark.
i can hear his voice in my head....
Hands down the best monologue I've seen was Orson Welles in the Third Man. His speech about people on the Ferris Wheel with Joseph Cotten is an example of his genius.
I'm glad you brought this up because I meant to watch The Third Man a while ago but put it off because I wasn't in the mood for an older movie. Gotta get around to it ASAP. Heard amazing things
"Third Man" is such a great movie!
Yeah, Third Man. I haven't seen it in about ten years. I should watch it again. It's great. It's such great commentary for the period just following WW2.
@@WriterBrandonMcNultyWing tips.
@@WriterBrandonMcNulty I watched it about 15 years ago, and for the first 30-40 minutes was really underwhelmed and thought about switching off. But stuck with it and got sucked into the story
Another thing I noticed about the good monologues is that even if you have not seen the movie/show, the monologue stirs something in you. I haven't seen Good Will Hunting or Any Given Sunday, but both monologues gave me goosebumps. I have seen 10 Things I hate About You and that one yet again, made me tear up. Good monologues stand on their own.
Two of my favorites are:
Apocalypse Now: I love the smell of napalm in the morning. While a cliche at this point, it connects to the plot's insanity theme. It gives us information about the psychology of the soldiers and the David vs Goliath battle in Vietnam.
LOTR - Return of the King: Theoden's speech. I think it's a very good "before the battle" speech. By itself, it doesn't do what the Any Given Sunday speech does, but everything comes together when you take the fact that the speech also applies to King Theoden. He orders his soldiers to "ride for ruin, and the world's ending" and to die, and he rides along with them. He doesn't watch the battle from a safe hilltop, he is at the front of his army, commanding troops from the battle. That's what creates the "we" feeling.
Kilgore is great.
"Someday this war is going to end."
And he is genuinely sad to consider that. He is a warrior completely in his element here. Zero fear. He is almost hit with a mortar and shrugs it off.
Definitely Rocky’s “That’s how winning is done!” speech in Rocky Balboa. I can’t believe it was omitted from this video.
“But as we all know, Heath Ledger doesn’t care about money…” that line made me laugh way harder than it should’ve great line
Hans Landa's (played by Christoph Waltz) speech at the beginning of Inglorious Basterds was one of my favorites.
It is crazy how good monologues can achieve amazing storytelling, but even when you are not a writer you feel it when something is off. I had this when I watched Avatar TLA (the new live action) recently. In the first episode there is a big Monologue from Katara, just a bad backstory dump, telling Aang and the audience how and why she had to grow up fast. In the original the same is achieved by Katara saying while she was sledding on a penguin "Wow I did this the last time when I was a child" and Aang just responds with "You still ARE a child".
A big thank you to you Brandon, you and channels like yours are the reason why I can´t enjoy most new stuff nowadays, because I realize now why the writing is bad in so many cases... :D
Adding another monologue here that is literal poetry, from the Brooklyn 99 episode "The Mole", when Captain Holt is asked "is everything okay?" and he launches into a monologue full of poetic imagery that perfectly sums up the episode thus far while also letting us know his own emotional state. Andre Brauer's delivery is exquisite. The repetition of the line "And you ask, 'Is everything okay?'" is perfect, as it grows heavier and heavier with each stanza of hardship - yet also perfectly answers the question.
Loved it. This was a great one! Also, another thing about Jaime's monologue is the foreshadowing. "Caches of wildfire all over the city." I like being reminded just how good GOT was for the first few seasons.
It was excellent until it went past the books.
I have quite a few favorite monologues/speeches.
- The Lord of the Rings has so many i like.
- Roy Batty in Bladerunner.
- And it's probably a cliche, but i always adored the President's speech in Independence Day.
- And Mufasa explaining the Circle of Life to Simba.
Agreed ❤
14:52 Surprised you didn't use the Theoden's "Death!" speech.
An underrated example of listener reaction you didn't bring up is Airplane! and how at the end it turns one of these tropes on its head by having Robert Stack keep monologuing into the phone while the movie's wrapping up and no one cares anymore
Christmas Ted, what does that mean to you? For me it was a living hell. Do you know what it feels like to fall in the mud, get kicked in the head with an iron boot? Of course not, that never happens, dumb question Ted, forget it
LOL
The rallying monologue from Robert Pullman from Independence Day still gets me fucking pumped.
I've found my people
Bill Pullman* but yes SO EPIC!
I love that speech/monologue.
hells yes!
Gosh Tyrion gives me goosebumps every time. That was tense, deeply emotional, unexpected... Gosh that was a masterful performance with masterful writing.
Thanks for sharing those books btw. And your videos are among the best on youtube for perfecting writing.
best rally cry that I know is Theoden's when they charge for Gondor. DEEEAATH
In William Wallace‘s first pre-battle speech in Braveheart, I really liked how he started off kind of mediocre, then asked „WILL YOU FIGHT?“ and got the crowd‘s deserved response (being „not convinced“), but then went on and upped the game to a point where it felt earned when the crowd finally joined his battle cry.
Felt like so much was lifted from Shakespeare'sHenry V, Crispian's Day speech before Agincourt. "Men will hold their manhood light who were not with us this day..." of course, from the greatest quill to ever exist.
My favorite will always be Atticus Finch's closing arguments from To Kill a Mockingbird
Aragon's "Men of the West" speech at the Black Gate and Erwin's final charge speech from AOT are two of my favourite speeches in all of fiction.
I had the same reaction when i first saw the Snow white and the huntsman speech. I was like wtf? am i supposed to be willing to fight and possibly die based on that speech!?
Same
Brandon is dropping these fast, penetrating breakdowns then ending the vid with no pomp. Mark of master.
My absolute favorite monologue scene is actually a DOUBLE monologue. It’s the scene in Midnight Mass where the two main characters each take turns going into detail, describing what each of them thinks happens when you die. It’s one of the most beautifully written, brilliantly acted scenes in TV or movies.
“I’m in a bad vs good mood!” Great line definitely should include that in future bad vs good videos.
Luthen Rael’s monologue from Andor is top tier
Some good monologues I can think of:
-Jack Nicholson's "you can't handle the truth" rant in A Few Good Men
-Lucilla's speech at the very end of Gladiator
-technically not a monologue because Bond puts in a few words, but Trevelyan's reveal as Janus in Goldeneye.
Aemon's speech to Jon Snow in season 1. Where he says "love is the death of duty". It has such an impact on every season going forward.
Just re-watched Breaking Bad and there are TONS of amazing monologues. They are so good you recognize them immediately just from a few words. Walt's "I am the one who knocks", Jesse's confession at the rehab clinic "I'm here to sell you drugs! I made you my bitch!", Mike's "No more half measures" and so many more.
I've been referencing "No more half measures" a lot lately.
My favorite rally cry monologue has got to be from The Lego Movie when Emmit makes a speech to rally all the master builders to his cause. Truly inspirational!
It doesn't hold a candle to the "dicks, pussies and assholes" speech from Team America.
Pure art
One of my favorites is Van Damme in JCVD where he plays himself. That may not sound quite appealing but it's a surprisingly good monologue. It made me think that Van Damme can act, but then again, he was playing himself. Still a great performance.
"...and that is how an RBMK reactor explodes"
chills!
I think the best warfield monologue is Aragorn’s speech before the Black Gate battle. So much inspiring and poetic.
The heath ledger joke is actually brilliant
I'm currently writing an antagonist who does a LOT of monologing... this should be helpful
Nice. Best of luck with you story!
I like Terrance Man's monologue at the end of Field of Dreams: it brought home the importance of what can be viewed as a silly game.
Oberyn monologue in Tyrions cell. Simple but so much subtext👌🏾.
I love how concise your videos are. Great job, and thanks for the help.
A good example of exposition that I personally love is the monologue Mike Ehrmantraut delivers in the episode Five-O from Better Call Saul
He basically details the entire backstory of how his son was killed, but its done so goddamn well with the acting and writing and its amazing seeing a grizzled, stoic old man break down and cry, recollecting the story of how he disappointed his son, and how his son died. I highly recommend not only the monologue but Better Call Saul as a show in general, the Chicanery monologue also being a very famous one.
"And I had to show him... that I was down in the gutter with the rest of them... broke my boy... I broke my boy..."
I'm not sure if it counts as a monologue per se, but Valerie's Letter to V in V for Vendetta is really powerful and emotional.
One of my absolute favorites is Marlon Brando at the end of Apocalypse Now. Something about him saying "I cried, I wept like.. some grandmother" just gets me every time.
Sam wise Gamgee's monologue at the end of The Two Towers still evokes tears from my eyes.
One of my favorite monologues is from "Seven Samurai" where Kikuchiyo (Toshiro Mifune) brings back a pile of armor that the farmers had gotten by killing fallen samurai. The other six samurai get angry at Kikuchiyo for doing so and judge the farmers for their actions. This causes Kikuchiyo to launch into a speech where he proceeds to point out how devious and murderous farmers can be. He then moves the speech into a new direction by revealing that the oppression of the farmers by samurai class is what has made them so desperate that they would resort to backhanded tactics. As he gets more and more manic from the speech, he suppresses tears but finally breaks down crying. The other samurai realize that he was born the son of a farmer. The speech works because it highlights the theme of class difference, and it shows Kikuchiyo's inner conflict. He loathes what the samurai have done to the villagers, but he still desires to be seen as a samurai. The reaction to the speech is also appropriate because the other samurai react with quiet shame and finally gain some empathy for a man they (and we) had initially viewed as a comical madman.
Watched the Last Samurai today with our kids. Epic movie.
I think general Zod’s monologue to Superman in Man of Steel was pretty good. He runs quickly through things we already know (virtually two simple sentences) and then elaborates, gives more details about what happened, describes what was it like to him when Krypton ended and what he wants. It solidifies the villain, challenges the hero and tells us exactly what we need to know.
Oh my goooooooooddddd I was so desperate for this content! I cant believe my favorite youtuber posted it (I have to finish a monologue this weekend and I'm really struggling, super insecure) Thanks a lot!!
My two favorite monologues are the free churro monologue from bojack horseman and Luthens speech from andor
That Any Given Sunday monologue gives me chills every single time. Amazing. Thank you for another phenomenally helpful video, Brandon!
thanks again for the in-depth analysis of story and language.
I love these bad vs good videos, I'm writing an essay for my A Level EPQ and am using this format, thank you Brandon you're a lifesaver
Doctor Who has one of the highest concentrations of great monologues of any show I've seen (particularly under Davies and Moffat, who are both fantastic monologue writers), and has too many to reasonably list; introductions ranging from 9's "That's who I am" to 11's "Basically, run"; impassioned pleas for someone to do the right thing like 12's "Scale model of war" and "Where I fall is where I stand" speeches; tragic farewells like 10's "I could do so much more" and 11's I will always remember when the Doctor was me"; filled in between with stories of the Doctor's travels and adventures, rousing battle speeches, threats and intimidation, alternately raving and ranting about the nature of the human race, other characters describing the Doctor, and more.
Man your videos are equally as entertaining and informative. I love the good vs bad series haha
Great video. Thanks Brandon. Pretty much any Denzel Washington and Viola Davis monologue I love. Also Heath Ledger's Joker monologues were pure gold!
I think one key point is missing from the Last Jedi monologue. The fact the content itself literally makes no sense whatsoever. His teacher tries to kill him so obviously the best reaction to that is to kill all the other students, when a natural reaction would probably just be to run away to reassess wtf is going on. There is just needed information that is missing. Even Vader did not just go kill the Jedi temple. He was told to by his master and followed orders. Which would match the pattern of a person in great turmoil, susceptible to suggestion, not "ok I am now evil and I know what I need to do without thinking." Add to that the massive change in extremely well established characterization of Luke Skywalker again with little to no foreshadowing in the same monologue. It's too many jolting and forced revelations in a 45 second span. Yes Star Wars has the classic surprise a la "I am your father" but that's the only shock revealed, and it does have minor foreshadowing in retrospect with how Vader is fixated on Luke and also can clearly kill him (and happily kills anyone) but doesn't. As shocking as it is, it just does not feel near as disjointed and out of the storyline.
The thing about is speech that was illustrated here in the video is that Luke was lying to himself. It was a practiced story he was telling himself. He left out key facts because he himself didn’t want to admit the depth of his failure.
Didn’t know I needed a channel like this! But I do! Thanks!
Yay!! Monologues! Been waiting for this one! 🥰
that monologue from Independence Day from the president before the final battle is my favorite.
Aragorn's speech before the battle at the Black Gate in The Return of the King is my favorite monologue of all time.
You listed quite a few. I love the Bladerunner Roy Batty ending monologue. I did not understand that monologue when I was young, but now that I am old it resonates strongly.
As ever, your ability to produce videos at the perfect moment with just the right advice continues to shock me. How you manage to write with your fingers so deep in the brains of aspiring authors is wonderfully baffling.
I'm close to the end of my first novel and I've hit a wall on writing the scene where the mentor and student arrive at a new understanding. In other words, it is indeed monologue time in my tale and these tips will help a lot. I'm truly grateful for your concise breakdowns as they make it easy to turn my own work over to get a better look at the moving parts inside.
Great advice (as usual)! The main thing I wanted to commend you for, however, was how you did the spoiler warnings!
Such a great idea of highlighting major spoilers visually in red. Makes it very apparent and easily distinguishable.
Definitely gonna steal that idea myself if I ever make a video essay :p
Great video, Brandon. Good luck on your new book.
Thanks!
Stephen Rea's speech in V for Vendetta, where he talks about his visit to Lark Hill (and has an epiphany of what is about to unfold) is one of my favorite cinematic moments ever. Perfect monologue accented with perfect imagery.
that whole movie...v's speech
Tyrion's courtroom speech is so good. And everyone's reactions are just fantastic. One of the many reasons season 4 is the best season.
My favorite is:
"You were never one of us. You were nothing but a Usurper. A false Idol. My eyes have been opened. let me help you to see, Slayer."
From Doom Eternal. Don't know if it adds to the story, but it sure is awesome!
I think you can tell when it’s good and when it’s bad just by listening to it.
The good ones kept me captivated while the bad ones lost my focus. Or they didn’t make sense like listening to someone rambling and making up words on the spot just to fill in their sentence.
And once you get the reaction from the listeners, you just feel like “Wait, why are they cheering? Did I miss something? What was so good about that speech?”
Man that Robin Williams monologue though. Guy was such an amazing actor
This was a very well done analysis. Thank you!
Ah, this was super helpful! One of my MCs has a couple of backstory monologues, so I definitely plan to rewatch this a few times to help me get those right! Thanks!
One of my favorite monologues is Katherine’s at the end of The Taming of the Shrew. It’s so powerful, shows how much she changed as a character throughout the story.
Hey Brandon. Really enjoyed Entry Wounds. Like your CZcams stuff too. Keep doing what you love, man!
Hey thank you! Thrilled to hear you enjoyed EW. If you don’t mind, please leave a brief review on Amazon-reviews are a huge help with the algorithm
Very useful examples. Thanks for sharing your video!