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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.
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.
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.
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."
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."
@@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.
@@saeedm9772but that’s so he could say “it’s Jamie” right What really sucks is them ruining it at the end of the show with one stupid line about how he doesn’t really care for the common folk. Totally going against his entire redemption arc up to then.
@@saeedm9772 The writers didn't do that. George did that. Also, you appear to have indeed missed the point with that. Brienne called him the kingslayer constantly, over and over again, to the point of it becoming a habit. And people around Jaime constantly called him kingslayer as well, never caring one bit whether any of it was justified. But then, when she, by instinct, just yells "HELP, THE KINGSLAYER", calling for help because he fell over, presumably passing out, Jaime, out of pure frustration and fatigue for his reputation just says "Jaime, my NAME is JAIME". It's a perfect ending for a perfect speech, it perfectly summarizes his emotions and the situation he is in and the injustice of it all. He just wants someone to treat him like a human.
@@HeatherHolt I rather pretend last seasons did not happened :))) But it really throws off all the build up and great acting. It could've happened in another later scene. It feels rushed to me.
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.
@@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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
In that moment, Jaime transforms from a spoiled pretty-boy, who has had life handed to him on a sliver platter, to a genuine, blood and flesh human being, who is evokes pity and empathy.
such a great point too that often the circumstances that drive someone to say sthg/deliver a monologue (the physical suffering he's been going through) make it so satisfying and so earned - not as easy as classic " hero explains vague regrets to apprentice"
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.
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.
"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!"
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.
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.
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!
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
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.
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.
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
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.
@@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.
One thing that really helps Jaime's monologue is the emotion of the great acting. Not just how Jaime himself is obviously pained by the memory, but also Brienne's changing unspoken reaction, where she starts uninterested assuming it's just him making excuses and then her look slowly turns to horror as he describes what happened. She doesn't need to answer his question because her reaction is enough.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
@@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
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
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.
@@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
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.
Erwins speech from Attack On Titan is probably the best pre-battle scene ever. Despite many other amazing speeches, this particular one works so well for multiple reasons. Surprised it hasn't been voted more
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
15:00 My Favorite before the battle inspirational monologue is from the movie "Gettysburg", when Colonel Lawrence Chamberlain tries to convince the deserters from another regiment that he is put in charge of to join the battle and fight with him. It's really from the heart, and when it does get loftily inspirational, which it does when it talks about an army out to free other men, he then apologizes for preaching, and brings everything back down to earth in that moment. It's an incredible speech, based on real events and brilliantly delivered by Jeff daniels. So glad you included material from "Game of Thrones" I just started watching that again and am continually amazed at how good that series is. The foresight of the casting directors to put Sophie Turner and Maisie Williams, as well as several other very young actors in such critical characters into which they grew so brilliantly was incredibly insightful.
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.
- [00:48] 🎭 Good monologues serve a story purpose by sharing thoughts, revealing motivations, and inspiring action. - [01:57] 📜 Good monologues engage the story's theme, expressing its core idea or tackling major questions. - [02:59] 🗣 Good monologues create an appropriate response in the listener, ensuring believability in reactions. - [04:47] 🧠 Good monologues sound natural, considering the character's personality and situation. - [05:57] 🔮 Good monologues use poetic techniques like metaphors and repetition for added impact. - [06:38] 🤡 Bad monologues feature absurd audience reactions that undermine story credibility. - [08:55] 🎬 Bad monologues can be shoehorned in, lacking relevance and robbing scenes of potential drama. - [10:41] 💌 Bad monologues may offer uninspired rally cries, failing to inspire due to generic language and lack of emotional connection. - [13:09] 💤 Bad monologues often result in bland backstory dumps, lacking vividness and failing to create intrigue.
I agree! I thought of that one right away. But I was like, well, it’s Shakespeare. I love Shakespeare either way, but to see it performed is to see it the way it’s meant to be.
My favorite Speech in film is Kenneth Branaugh's St Crispin's Day speech in Henry V. Reading it on a book made it hard to connect with but seeing it on film, I was ready to go to war with him. It really enlightened me on how good Shakespeare's actors must have been for him to gain so much fame during his time.
From the thumbnail, I thought this was going to be another cheap shot at Star Wars, but it's actually a really good breakdown of what works and what doesn't in a monologue, thank you for that! My favourite backstory monologue is from The Night Manager, where Olivia Coleman's character explains why she's so hell bent on stopping that weapons dealer, amazing monologue by an amazing actress!
"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.
"... what a savings" was perfect: this line told me that once great Sci-Fi show sold its sole. The delivery oozed humiliation endured out of desperation. The bored crowd of about 20 people, and behind a vast, empty parking lot.
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.
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!
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..."
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.
oh man this is such an awesome page. I learned more from a few of your videos than I did in a whole year of Film School. Thanks for this and please keep making content
I love Roy Batty’s monologue in Bladerunner. Transcendent speech of someone who had just saved his enemy as a last act before expiring. Rutger Hauer supposedly improvised that speech. The score by Vangelis elevates it further.
I don’t know if this counts since it was an actor reciting an actual speech made by the subject of a biopic, but the opening 6 minute monologue of Patton hits so many great notes. We the viewers sit in the place of his audience: a group of young, untested soldiers about to go to war listening to the man who will lead us. It is an impassioned, confident, empowering, and appropriately vulgar address to unify us and prepare us for the challenge of a lifetime. “Now I want you to remember that no bastard ever won a war by dying for his country. He won it by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his country.”
The two rallying cries that always stick out in my mind are braveheart’s freedom speech and Return of the King’s black gate speech. I remember loving the former and being disappointed with the latter (though I love the movie(s) as a whole). I just rewatched them to see if I could figure out why. They both had a solid score, which I think is important. But yeah, I’m not sure i can to articulate why. Braveheart’s speech is pretty short and sweet. Maybe it was a rushed turnaround for the audience, but not for me when I watched it for the first time. It amped me up. Aragorn’s seems to say the right things, but I remember thinking that it didn’t do anything to lift me out of the hopelessness of the situation. Of course maybe that’s the difference. RotK didn’t have any hope and no speech was going to change it. Thanks for the video! Love watching these!
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.
Fantastic material! Today, anyone needs to be a good story teller, not just a professional writer. Us, entrepreneurs, need to tell strong, hearthwarming monologues too!
My favorite monologue of all time comes from my favorite movie of all time. V for Vendetta. These speech in the beginning third of the movie is the perfect blend of poetics, information, and visual symbolism. Fills me with chills every single time I watch it.
Thank you for doing these videos. I really am so glad you are still writing books. Thank you for this insight. I think I want to read your small town book so I'll grab that. For my favorite monologue, I must confess, it's a bit of a stretch, but an early beginning scene of Batman Begins where Ras meets Bruce Wayne in a jail cell. It's a bit of back and forth, but Ras is doing 99% of the talking. It starts with "Are you so desperate to fight criminals you would have yourself locked up and take them on one at a time?" It, of course, continues and I never grow tired of the scene as how he convinces Bruce he has the better way to solve his dilemma while subtly revealing what a monster he is at the same time but Bruce is so desperate to get his life together, he ignores it. So, yes, my favorite. Check it out if you hadn't heard it.
I love that I always agree with your examples. Sometimes I don’t really know why I don’t like certain scenes/movies. But you do a really good job at explaining it and I’m like, ah! That’s it!
Favorite monologue: "Out of doubt, out of dark, to the day's rising I came singing in the sun, sword unsheathing To hope's end I rode and to heart's breaking Now for wrath, now for ruin, and a red nightfall" Delivered by Éomer in _The Return of the King._
not to bring bridgerton into the chat, but after three seasons of build up, I really enjoyed the monologue that the secret gossip columnist delivers at the climax of it all - certain guests make the stakes very high, and the character is saying it not because it's easy or bc she's been blackmailed, but because she's finally ready to tell the truth. so that's compelling, even though she's afraid, she's finally ready to do what she thinks is right and begin to try to mend her mistakes. I thought the monologue was so well performed and great to listen to. It supported the themes of the show and it set up the action/question of how people would respond to her, and therefore (as a viewer I supported her at this point) you know the audience is rooting for certain reactions/holding breath to see how friends/family/neighbors/etc will react to the reveal. thanks for the great videos!!
I had not considered using any monologues in my manuscript before now. I guess I always likened them to the spiels of villains. But now that you've clarified what they are, and reminded us of some of the better ones, I think I will have to rewrite a couple of the scenes in my story. Doing this will make them better. So thank you very much. The writing journey is a learning curve, and though it's all uphill, there are often moments of clarity like this. It's well appreciated.
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.
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.
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.
These videos require a ton of time and effort, so please remember to like, share, and subscribe. Thanks! Also, please consider supporting the channel on Patreon: www.patreon.com/WriterBrandonMcNulty
"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
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.
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.
Jaime’s monologue to this day makes me angry that he never won an Emmy. It was outstanding
Would've been perfect seen only if writers didn't made him dirty by Brient call him KingSlayer right after.
@@saeedm9772but that’s so he could say “it’s Jamie” right
What really sucks is them ruining it at the end of the show with one stupid line about how he doesn’t really care for the common folk. Totally going against his entire redemption arc up to then.
@@saeedm9772 The writers didn't do that. George did that.
Also, you appear to have indeed missed the point with that.
Brienne called him the kingslayer constantly, over and over again, to the point of it becoming a habit. And people around Jaime constantly called him kingslayer as well, never caring one bit whether any of it was justified.
But then, when she, by instinct, just yells "HELP, THE KINGSLAYER", calling for help because he fell over, presumably passing out, Jaime, out of pure frustration and fatigue for his reputation just says "Jaime, my NAME is JAIME".
It's a perfect ending for a perfect speech, it perfectly summarizes his emotions and the situation he is in and the injustice of it all. He just wants someone to treat him like a human.
@@HeatherHolt I rather pretend last seasons did not happened :)))
But it really throws off all the build up and great acting. It could've happened in another later scene. It feels rushed to me.
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.
Unironically instead of doing anything else you should be watching good will hunting. I consider it in the top 5 greatest movies of all time
"I'm not going to be her brother, and here's why" 🤣🤣 Really looking forward to the new book, Brandon!
Haha thanks for the kind words!
I already read your comment before that moment in the video came up. And I still laughed hard when I heard the line. 😂
"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.
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.
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
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!
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!
It’s the best part of the movie, and it was never in the book!
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
In my opinion the dialogue in Andor is by far the best Star Wars has ever had. It positively sparkled.
The best written and acted Star Wars show/movie. Can't wait for more.
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
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.
In that moment, Jaime transforms from a spoiled pretty-boy, who has had life handed to him on a sliver platter, to a genuine, blood and flesh human being, who is evokes pity and empathy.
such a great point too that often the circumstances that drive someone to say sthg/deliver a monologue (the physical suffering he's been going through) make it so satisfying and so earned - not as easy as classic " hero explains vague regrets to apprentice"
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.
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
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.
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!"
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.
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...
I just pretend the series ended when Arya boarded that ship for Braavos.
@@danielc3321good call
Mike's "no half measures" monologue to Walter in Breaking Bad. An absolute masterpiece.
This. When he almost breaks down talking about that crime scene.... bruh why is that show so good
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!
So many excellent lines in Firefly! One could write an entire 'good writing' series based just off those episodes.
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!
🥺
I'm sorry, man. I hope you're alright
I am so sorry that happened to you. And her. I hope you have many happy memories together.
"You want me on that wall! You NEED me on that wall!"
That monologue still gives me chills when I watch that movie.
Colonel Jessup :) The tension of that scene is brilliant
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! 😂
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.
that monologue from Independence Day from the president before the final battle is my favorite.
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.
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
“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
Two monologues I've always enjoyed were: Choose Life from Trainspotting and Dr. Evil backstory monologue during family therapy.
LOL
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
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.
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.
“I’m in a bad vs good mood!” Great line definitely should include that in future bad vs good videos.
One thing that really helps Jaime's monologue is the emotion of the great acting. Not just how Jaime himself is obviously pained by the memory, but also Brienne's changing unspoken reaction, where she starts uninterested assuming it's just him making excuses and then her look slowly turns to horror as he describes what happened. She doesn't need to answer his question because her reaction is enough.
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.
Definitely Rocky’s “That’s how winning is done!” speech in Rocky Balboa. I can’t believe it was omitted from this video.
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.
Brandon is dropping these fast, penetrating breakdowns then ending the vid with no pomp. Mark of master.
Tyrions “I wish I did” monologue is one of the most relatable speeches I’ve ever heard. I like it so much and glad you used it as an example
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 ❤
The president’s speech in Independence Day is one I thought of also.
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.
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
I think the best warfield monologue is Aragorn’s speech before the Black Gate battle. So much inspiring and poetic.
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
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!!!!!
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.
Here for Andor representation: Skarsgaard and Andy Serkis, incredible. Andor’s mother also has some amazing lines and monologue at the end
Erwins speech from Attack On Titan is probably the best pre-battle scene ever. Despite many other amazing speeches, this particular one works so well for multiple reasons. Surprised it hasn't been voted more
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
My favorite will always be Atticus Finch's closing arguments from To Kill a Mockingbird
15:00 My Favorite before the battle inspirational monologue is from the movie "Gettysburg", when Colonel Lawrence Chamberlain tries to convince the deserters from another regiment that he is put in charge of to join the battle and fight with him. It's really from the heart, and when it does get loftily inspirational, which it does when it talks about an army out to free other men, he then apologizes for preaching, and brings everything back down to earth in that moment. It's an incredible speech, based on real events and brilliantly delivered by Jeff daniels.
So glad you included material from "Game of Thrones" I just started watching that again and am continually amazed at how good that series is. The foresight of the casting directors to put Sophie Turner and Maisie Williams, as well as several other very young actors in such critical characters into which they grew so brilliantly was incredibly insightful.
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.
Man that Robin Williams monologue though. Guy was such an amazing actor
14:52 Surprised you didn't use the Theoden's "Death!" speech.
You just taught me more about this subject than my previous combined knowledge.
My favorite monologue?
Auggie Wren’s Christmas story in “Smoke “.
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.
- [00:48] 🎭 Good monologues serve a story purpose by sharing thoughts, revealing motivations, and inspiring action.
- [01:57] 📜 Good monologues engage the story's theme, expressing its core idea or tackling major questions.
- [02:59] 🗣 Good monologues create an appropriate response in the listener, ensuring believability in reactions.
- [04:47] 🧠 Good monologues sound natural, considering the character's personality and situation.
- [05:57] 🔮 Good monologues use poetic techniques like metaphors and repetition for added impact.
- [06:38] 🤡 Bad monologues feature absurd audience reactions that undermine story credibility.
- [08:55] 🎬 Bad monologues can be shoehorned in, lacking relevance and robbing scenes of potential drama.
- [10:41] 💌 Bad monologues may offer uninspired rally cries, failing to inspire due to generic language and lack of emotional connection.
- [13:09] 💤 Bad monologues often result in bland backstory dumps, lacking vividness and failing to create intrigue.
Kenneth Brannaugh's St. Crispin Day speech in Henry V was pretty rock'n'roll. First time I'd ever seen a Shakespeare production. The dude can write!
I agree! I thought of that one right away. But I was like, well, it’s Shakespeare. I love Shakespeare either way, but to see it performed is to see it the way it’s meant to be.
My favorite Speech in film is Kenneth Branaugh's St Crispin's Day speech in Henry V. Reading it on a book made it hard to connect with but seeing it on film, I was ready to go to war with him.
It really enlightened me on how good Shakespeare's actors must have been for him to gain so much fame during his time.
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
The heath ledger joke is actually brilliant
Great video, Brandon. Good luck on your new book.
Thanks!
From the thumbnail, I thought this was going to be another cheap shot at Star Wars, but it's actually a really good breakdown of what works and what doesn't in a monologue, thank you for that!
My favourite backstory monologue is from The Night Manager, where Olivia Coleman's character explains why she's so hell bent on stopping that weapons dealer, amazing monologue by an amazing actress!
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....
"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.
"... what a savings" was perfect: this line told me that once great Sci-Fi show sold its sole. The delivery oozed humiliation endured out of desperation. The bored crowd of about 20 people, and behind a vast, empty parking lot.
Hans Landa's (played by Christoph Waltz) speech at the beginning of Inglorious Basterds was one of my favorites.
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.
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
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..."
To me that was one of the best episodes ever. Not just Better Call Saul but of all TV.
You can tell this guy is an authority because his channel has the word writer in it. What great writing!
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.
That’s a good show, but Pruitt’s sermons are my favorite monologues in that show
oh man this is such an awesome page. I learned more from a few of your videos than I did in a whole year of Film School. Thanks for this and please keep making content
Robin Williams as Mr. Keating in “Dead Poets’ Society”. He had several winners during that movie
I love Roy Batty’s monologue in Bladerunner. Transcendent speech of someone who had just saved his enemy as a last act before expiring. Rutger Hauer supposedly improvised that speech. The score by Vangelis elevates it further.
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.
Wihle I love LOTR and there are so many good speeches, Erwins final charge is probably the greatest pre-battle speech
I don’t know if this counts since it was an actor reciting an actual speech made by the subject of a biopic, but the opening 6 minute monologue of Patton hits so many great notes.
We the viewers sit in the place of his audience: a group of young, untested soldiers about to go to war listening to the man who will lead us. It is an impassioned, confident, empowering, and appropriately vulgar address to unify us and prepare us for the challenge of a lifetime.
“Now I want you to remember that no bastard ever won a war by dying for his country. He won it by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his country.”
The two rallying cries that always stick out in my mind are braveheart’s freedom speech and Return of the King’s black gate speech. I remember loving the former and being disappointed with the latter (though I love the movie(s) as a whole). I just rewatched them to see if I could figure out why. They both had a solid score, which I think is important. But yeah, I’m not sure i can to articulate why. Braveheart’s speech is pretty short and sweet. Maybe it was a rushed turnaround for the audience, but not for me when I watched it for the first time. It amped me up. Aragorn’s seems to say the right things, but I remember thinking that it didn’t do anything to lift me out of the hopelessness of the situation. Of course maybe that’s the difference. RotK didn’t have any hope and no speech was going to change it.
Thanks for the video! Love watching these!
YES! I considered covering Braveheart in today's video but I'm a huge sucker for Al Pacino's locker room speech
That Any Given Sunday monologue gives me chills every single time. Amazing. Thank you for another phenomenally helpful video, Brandon!
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.
Fantastic material! Today, anyone needs to be a good story teller, not just a professional writer. Us, entrepreneurs, need to tell strong, hearthwarming monologues too!
My favorite monologue of all time comes from my favorite movie of all time. V for Vendetta. These speech in the beginning third of the movie is the perfect blend of poetics, information, and visual symbolism. Fills me with chills every single time I watch it.
Ohhhh good call. Have you read the graphic novel? Probably my favorite work by Alan Moore.
@@WriterBrandonMcNulty I watch the movie every November 5th! It's a holiday in my house, I love the graphic novel as well ❤️
Thank you for doing these videos. I really am so glad you are still writing books. Thank you for this insight. I think I want to read your small town book so I'll grab that.
For my favorite monologue, I must confess, it's a bit of a stretch, but an early beginning scene of Batman Begins where Ras meets Bruce Wayne in a jail cell. It's a bit of back and forth, but Ras is doing 99% of the talking. It starts with "Are you so desperate to fight criminals you would have yourself locked up and take them on one at a time?" It, of course, continues and I never grow tired of the scene as how he convinces Bruce he has the better way to solve his dilemma while subtly revealing what a monster he is at the same time but Bruce is so desperate to get his life together, he ignores it. So, yes, my favorite. Check it out if you hadn't heard it.
I'm currently writing an antagonist who does a LOT of monologing... this should be helpful
Nice. Best of luck with you story!
Sam wise Gamgee's monologue at the end of The Two Towers still evokes tears from my eyes.
"...and that is how an RBMK reactor explodes"
chills!
I love that I always agree with your examples. Sometimes I don’t really know why I don’t like certain scenes/movies. But you do a really good job at explaining it and I’m like, ah! That’s it!
Glad to hear it! That said, there's nothing wrong with disagreeing, especially within something as subjective as storytelling
"Okay...so I'm not gonna be her brother". Got me laughing hard 14:08
Haha thanks for watching!
Favorite monologue:
"Out of doubt, out of dark, to the day's rising
I came singing in the sun, sword unsheathing
To hope's end I rode and to heart's breaking
Now for wrath, now for ruin, and a red nightfall"
Delivered by Éomer in _The Return of the King._
St. Crispin's Day speech from Henry V, possibly the greatest monologue. chills every time
This speech being performed in the film "Renaissance Man" is a beautiful scene.
@@slimmccoy8863 definitely a great rendition. Kenneth Branagh's in the 1989 version of Henry V is among my favorite monologues in any film.
@@slimmccoy8863 Agreed. Branagh's is too playful for me. In RM it destroys me.
not to bring bridgerton into the chat, but after three seasons of build up, I really enjoyed the monologue that the secret gossip columnist delivers at the climax of it all - certain guests make the stakes very high, and the character is saying it not because it's easy or bc she's been blackmailed, but because she's finally ready to tell the truth. so that's compelling, even though she's afraid, she's finally ready to do what she thinks is right and begin to try to mend her mistakes. I thought the monologue was so well performed and great to listen to. It supported the themes of the show and it set up the action/question of how people would respond to her, and therefore (as a viewer I supported her at this point) you know the audience is rooting for certain reactions/holding breath to see how friends/family/neighbors/etc will react to the reveal.
thanks for the great videos!!
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!
I had not considered using any monologues in my manuscript before now. I guess I always likened them to the spiels of villains. But now that you've clarified what they are, and reminded us of some of the better ones, I think I will have to rewrite a couple of the scenes in my story. Doing this will make them better. So thank you very much.
The writing journey is a learning curve, and though it's all uphill, there are often moments of clarity like this. It's well appreciated.
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.
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.
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.