Top 20 MORE Improvised Movie Moments
#20: “Alright Alright Alright”
“Dazed and Confused” (1993) It must feel pretty darn good to have one of your improvised lines become an iconic piece of movie history. “Dazed and Confused” is a cult classic that is largely remembered for Matthew McConaughey’s David Wooderson. David has been widely memed throughout the years, and many of his lines are modern day classics. One of them is of course “Alright alright alright,” which is now something of a catchphrase for McConaughey himself. According to the actor, that legendary line was completely improvised. He heard “action” from writer/director Richard Linklater and spontaneously made movie history. Not too bad for your first major gig.
#19: Al Pacino Hits a Garbage Can
Yet Another Top 10 Improvised Movie Moments
“Scent of a Woman” (1992) This movie earned Al Pacino his first Oscar win. He plays Lieutenant Colonel Frank Slade, a cranky man who is blind, and is aided by Chris O'Donnell’s Charlie Simms. In one of the movie’s best sequences, Frank is walking down a busy street, runs into a garbage can, and stumbles. Legend has it that this was completely unplanned. Pacino apparently got into character by not allowing his eyes to focus, thereby simulating a degree of impaired vision. While shooting the scene, it’s been said he genuinely didn’t see the can and walked straight into it. Luckily, both he and O'Donnell are consummate pros, so they apparently just kinda ran with it.
#18: “Stu’s Song”
Another Top 10 Improvised Movie Moments
“The Hangover” (2009) Hitting the pause button on their efforts to find Doug, the main trio takes a break inside of their trashed hotel suite. Stu uses this opportunity to hop on the piano and sing a short song about his missing friend. The set of “The Hangover” was evidently quite welcoming, with director Todd Phillips encouraging creative freedom. As such, Stu’s Song was reportedly crafted by the musically talented Ed Helms. According to Helms, he would often goof around on the piano while filming, so Phillips decided to have him sing in the movie. The result was “Stu’s Song,” and one of the most memorable laughs of the whole film.
#17: Eating Baby Corn
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“Big” (1988) This classic Tom Hanks comedy concerns Josh Baskin, a 12-year-old kid who makes an ambiguous wish to become “big.” The next day, the preteen has suddenly grown into a grown man portrayed by Hanks. The result is a lot of great physical comedy, with the adult Hanks often acting like a child. The iconic actor brought a lot of creative magic to the performance, including one scene in which Josh eats baby corn like corn on the cob. Apparently director Penny Marshall signaled to Hanks that she wanted him to do something with the corn, and this is what we came up with. It was so great it ended up in the movie, which we think was a great decision.
#16: Mrs. White’s Speech
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“Clue” (1985) Near the end of this classic whodunnit, Mrs. White comically describes her hatred for Yvette. This is a defining and utterly hilarious moment in the movie, and it largely came from the creative mind of actress Madeline Kahn. Director Jonathan Lynn was reportedly quite strict about improvising and generally liked to keep to the script. However, this scene proved the exception, as Kahn seemingly couldn’t help herself. She took a straightforward line from the script and spinned it into comic gold, rambling and perfectly stumbling over her words. The confused reactions from the other characters are also genuine, as the actors had no idea what Kahn was saying.
#15: Many Moments
Top 20 Improvised Superhero Movie Moments
“Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy” (2004) And here we come to the other end of the spectrum. “Anchorman” had a script, courtesy of Adam McKay and Will Ferrell. But it seems that as director, McKay gave his actors lots of freedom when it came to improv. According to Paul Rudd, they would shoot the scene how it was written in the script and then do takes where they just improvised and played off each other. As such, many of the movie’s more iconic lines were ad-libbed by the actors, including Brick’s famous “I love lamp” moment. Another was apparently Ron Burgundy’s “glass case of emotion,” a brilliant term for the phone booth that’s been said to have been made up by Will Ferrell.
#14: Going to 11 (& Much More)
Top 20 Improvised Movie Moments
“This Is Spinal Tap” (1984) Rob Reiner is a brilliant director who is clearly a fan of improv. For example, the iconic “I’ll have what she’s having” from “When Harry Met Sally” was reportedly made up by Billy Crystal and given to Reiner’s mother to say. But that’s nothing compared to “This Is Spinal Tap.” Reiner told the British Film Institute that almost the entire movie was improvised. Usually, all they had were loose story arcs guiding how a scene should play, with some material anchoring the story. For example, they knew they wanted an amp that went to 11. But the bulk of the ordeal is pure improv magic, with the dialogue being made up on the spot by Christopher Guest and Reiner himself.
#13: The Truffle Shuffle
Top 10 Improvised Movie Moments of the 2000s
“The Goonies” (1985) This iconic film from Richard Donner is known for its sense of adventure, but that would mean nothing without a memorable cast of characters at the helm. One of them is Jeff Cohen’s “Chunk,” who is unfortunately often ridiculed for his appearance. In one of the movie’s most well-known scenes, Chunk is told he has to do the “truffle shuffle” before he can come into the house. He proceeds to lift his shirt and shake his belly while making a funny face. According to Donner, he didn’t give any direction to Cohen, and the silly dance was made up by the young actor.
#12: Takagi Won’t Be Returning
“Die Hard” (1988) At a time of wild excess in the action movie industry, “Die Hard” brilliantly flipped the script. One of the most notable aspects of the groundbreaking film was villain Hans Gruber. He wasn’t a stereotypically macho guy, but rather a sharp-dressed and wickedly intelligent man who utilized wits over brawn. Alan Rickman understood the assignment and, apparently, personally crafted one of the movie’s most darkly comedic lines. After killing Takagi, Hans informs the building that their boss won’t be returning “for the rest of his life.” The line was reportedly improvised by Rickman, and his coy delivery makes it a classic.
#11: Sam Doesn’t Care
Top 10 Improvised Movie Moments Of The 90s
“The Fugitive” (1993) A classic cat and mouse thriller, “The Fugitive” stars Harrison Ford as the titular good guy and Tommy Lee Jones as his pursuer, Deputy U.S. Marshal Sam Gerard. Jones is a veteran of the screen, and he knows when something sounds good. During the storm drain scene, Kimble makes one more effort to convince the Marshal of his innocence. Sam isn’t having it and coldly responds by saying: [“I don’t care.”] Jones was reportedly supposed to say something along the lines of “So you didn’t kill your wife. Not my problem” But it seems he decided to put a little spin on it. We think he did a great job, as the new line sounds far colder and more unforgiving.
#10: “Game Over, Man! Game Over!”
Top 10 Video Game Movie Moments That Made Fans Rage Quit
“Aliens” (1986) In this iconic sequel from James Cameron, the late Bill Paxton plays Hudson, a soldier sent to investigate planet LV-426. Hudson is, let’s face it, a bit of a whiner, but his anxious personality helped make him a fan favorite. His immaturity is on full display after the dropship crashes, leaving him and the other heroes stranded on the planet. Hudson goes into full panic mode and utters one of the most iconic lines of the franchise. The what are we supposed to do now part of the dialogue was scripted, but Paxton reportedly added the famous “game over” bit himself.
#9: The “Cinderella Story”
Top 10 Movie Moments Where the Queen Bee Gets What She Deserves
“Caddyshack” (1980) Bill Murray is said to have improvised many of his most famous on-screen moments, like excitedly greeting Ned Ryerson with a hug in “Groundhog Day” and claiming that ghosts hate the piano in “Ghostbusters.” But the best has to be the “Cinderella story” from “Caddyshack.” Legend has it that Murray improvised most of his lines, receiving only vague directions from Harold Ramis. That was apparently the case with this scene, in which Murray was reportedly simply told to behave in kid-like fashion. It seems he did the rest, using a grass whip as a golf club and imagining himself at the U.S. Masters.
#8: Miracle Max
“The Princess Bride” (1987) It’s obvious that Rob Reiner and Billy Crystal had a great working relationship and that Reiner understood the genius of Crystal’s brand of comedy. The comedian briefly appeared in Reiner’s “The Princess Bride,” donning a heap of makeup to play Miracle Max. Crystal spent just three days on set, and Reiner allowed him to ad lib many of his lines. The result was total joy not just for the audience, but for the folks on set as well. Reiner even stepped away due to laughing too hard. Mandy Patinkin also claims that he potentially “cracked a rib” while trying desperately to contain his laughter.
#7: Wonka’s Introduction
Timothée Chalamet as Wonka VS Gene Wilder VS Johnny Depp
“Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory” (1971) Willy Wonka is, shall we say, a wee bit of a troll. The guy loves to have a laugh, and yes, the jokes often come at the expense of children. Wonka makes his first public appearance after years living as a recluse, and it is not what the kids were expecting. He seems frail and delicate, walking slowly with a cane and not displaying much in the way of mirth. However, he reveals with a playful somersault that it was all an act. This entire bit came to be thanks to the late Gene Wilder, as he wanted to characterize Wonka as untrustworthy and hard-to-read. In Wilder’s own words, “no one would know if I was lying or telling the truth.”
#6: The Necklace Presentation
Top 10 Unscripted Judd Apatow Movie Moments
“Pretty Woman” (1990) The titular pretty woman is Vivian Ward, a sex worker who is hired to be a social escort for Edward Lewis. At one point, Edward presents Vivian with a gorgeous and very expensive necklace. In real life, this piece of jewelry is rumored to have been quite expensive, but that’s not even the wildest part of this story. During the presentation, he playfully closes the box on her hand, causing her to laugh in surprise. This was actually an unscripted prank planned by Richard Gere and director Garry Marshall, so Julia Roberts’s reaction is real. The central pair’s chemistry is just off the charts, and this brilliant bit only added to their magnetism.
#5: The Funniest Ending in Movie History?
Top 10 Iconic Movie Moments That Happened By Accident
“Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb” (1964) Stanley Kubrick is known for his dense and complex dramas, but he also had a stellar eye for comedy. “Dr. Strangelove” is a brilliant satire of the Cold War, and by extension, humanity’s penchant for violence and destruction. Much of the movie’s genius stems from its star Peter Sellers, who improvised the bulk of his dialogue. Sellers’s greatest achievement seems to have been the movie’s famous ending, in which Dr. Strangelove randomly rises from his wheelchair and realizes that he can walk. This fantastic bit of comedy was reportedly all Sellers, and it is now regarded as one of the funniest endings in movie history. Few people could match Kubrick’s genius, but Sellers was evidently one of them.
#4: Mr. Blonde’s Dance
Top 10 Unscripted Rom Com Moments That Were Kept in the Movie
“Reservoir Dogs” (1992) Despite his cheery and rather innocent-sounding name, Mr. Blonde is anything but. He’s actually quite sadistic, and this is coming from the other criminals of the movie! Blonde’s mean streak is best exemplified in the infamous dance sequence, which sees him tormenting a police officer. According to actor Michael Madsen, the only real direction given in the script was “Mr. Blonde maniacally dances around.” It was up to him to decide what that looked like. Madsen had also reportedly never rehearsed the dance with Quentin Tarantino, so he simply made it up on the day of shooting. The rest is history.
#3: “You Can’t Handle the Truth!”
Top 10 Best Unscripted DC Movie Moments
“A Few Good Men” (1992) “You can’t handle the truth” did for courtrooms what “I’m king of the world” did for boats - it’s basically impossible not to say it while inside one. It’s an absolute zinger, and in 2005 it was rated the 29th best American movie line of all time by the American Film Institute. Not too shabby for Jack Nicholson. Yep, the movie was penned by legendary screenwriter Aaron Sorkin, but it was apparently Nicholson who came up with this particular quote. It’s believed that the line in the script read, “You already have the truth,” but that doesn’t sound as sharp. Enter Nicholson, who seemingly made a couple, shall we say, unforgettable alterations.
#2: “I Know”
Top 10 Horror Movie Moments That Were Totally Improvised
“Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back” (1980) It was the moment everyone was waiting for. Princess Leia, devastated that Han is about to be frozen, finally tells him that she loves him. And his response? Not “I love you too,” not a reassuring smile, but a cold and unflinching “I know.” In the script, Han actually does respond with the banal “I love you too.” But Harrison Ford recognized that it doesn’t really fit with the character’s snarky and unemotional personality. They reportedly shot the scene with Ford sticking to the script, “for protection.” Ford himself came up with the “I know” that ultimately gave us movie magic.
#1: Don’t Forget the Dessert
Top 20 Most Paused Movie Moments
“The Godfather” (1972) Francis Ford Coppola’s masterpiece isn’t exactly a humorous affair, but it’s not without some laughs. One of the funniest moments comes after Paulie is killed, with Clemenza telling Rocco to: [“Leave the gun. Take the cannoli.”] It’s a fantastic line that not only introduces a macabre sense of normalcy to the violence, but it plays into a previous line about Clemenza being told to pick up cannoli. It’s also delivered in a dry, comic fashion by actor Richard Castellano, which helps get across just how mundane these activities are. The line in both the script and novel is simply “Leave the gun.” A talk Castellano had with his wife, Ardell Sheridan, led to the idea of adding the cannoli bit and bringing Clemenza’s day full circle.
