“With a dry, cool wit like that, I could be an action hero!” That Simpsons line would appear to be the mantra for many of the tough guys (and gals) in this montage of great quips said before dispatching an enemy. Burger Fiction has assembled lines said by a character before felling a foe, many of which have become part of the pop-culture cache. Most of them come from the action heyday of the ’80s and ’90s, with a few outliers in the 21st century. But the recognizable usual suspects are here: Schwarzenegger, Stallone, Norris, Willis, and other Planet Hollywood outcasts all show up to spew pithy quotes before ending the life of some poor sap who crossed their paths.
While the one-liner has become a groan-inducing cliche, it survives in films like Transformers, Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Part 2, and Iron Man 3. And it’s impressive just how many one-liners 1987’s The Running Man delivers as Schwarzenegger kills multiple musclebound antagonists. This supercut proves that adding insult to injury is an art form, one that’s usually helped by possessing a dry, cool wit and heavy artillery.