The monologues that appear on this list are a collection of strong and memorable performances across American film. All of the monologues featured are in English. While there are numerous other monologues that could have easily also been featured on this list, special attention was given holistically so that the monologues here are representative of a wide array of movies, actors, directors, writers, and genres. This means that classic and celebrated monologues appear alongside monologues of equal merit, although perhaps less recognition. The list may have a numeric ranking, but it is also important to acknowledge how varied and exceptional each of these monologues is. The list takes into consideration the writing and performance of each monologue, but it also considers factors like cultural relevance and the larger effect that the monologue itself had on the film or within popular culture.

Additionally, movie "rants", which are a form of monologue, have their own list which can be viewed A Few Good Men (1992), and Peter Finch in Network (1976).

While this list only includes films, there is also a companion list that examines the greatest monologues in television, which can be found here.

Here are the 20 Greatest Monologues in Movie History:

20. Laurence Fishburne in The Matrix

In his famous monologue from The Matrix (1999), Morpheous offers Neo a choice between two pills - and Laurence Fishburne opens up the world of the Matrix to the viewers of the Wachowski sisters' groundbreaking film.

The Matrix is everywhere. It is all around us. Even now, in this very room.

Morpheous reveals that Neo is a slave trapped in a prison, who has been made to believe that he's free even while he is trapped in a machine. Of course, Neo chooses the "red" pill, which allows him to see the truth and escape the Matrix.

The monologue helps to showcase Fishburne's immense vocal control. As he tells Neo the truth, relating Neo's journey to Alice going down the rabbit hole, he manages to capture complex emotions: amusement at Neo's skepticism, awareness of the absurdity, and yet, a grounded, clear, and determined stance that has come from years of staring into the harsh abyss of reality. The speech captures the complexities of both Morpheous and the Matrix, and it signals a turning point for the film.

19. Angela Lansbury in The Manchurian Candidate

Dame Angela Lansbury is perhaps best known for her roles in musicals (Mame), mysteries (Murder, She Wrote), and animated films (Beauty and the Beast). However, one of Lansbury's most famous and acclaimed portrayals is that of Mrs. Eleanor Iselin, in The Manchurian Candidate (1962). Mrs. Iselin is the mother of Staff Sergeant Raymond Shaw (Laurence Harvey); Shaw has been brainwashed to obey Communist orders, and his mother is his handler. Mrs. Iselin instructs her son in a detailed monologue of his mission: "You are to shoot the presidential nominee through the head." Lansbury's character is cold, articulate, demanding - devoid of any maternal qualities. But then, she reveals that she did not know that her own son would be the agent, and that after he completes his mission, she will exact her revenge. Her delivery and performance - coupled with long, wide takes that are reminiscent of a stage play - create the portrait of a dynamic and memorable villain.

18. Salvatore Corsitta in The Godfather

In the opening moment of The Godfather (1972), Amerigo Bonasera (played by Salvatore Corsitta) utters, "I believe in America." Then, in agonizing detail, he recounts the story of his daughter getting savagely beaten by two American men. He demands, begs for vengeance from Marlon Brando's Don Corleone. As Bonasera tells Don Corleone the plight of his daughter, the camera slowly pans out on the scene. Without any pretext, the audience is transported directly into the brutal and violent world of the film.

Don Corleone, as it happens, is the godfather of Bonasera's daughter, and his assurance that Bonasera will receive justice is coupled with his menacing:

"Someday, and that day may never come, I will call upon you to do a service for me. But until that day, accept this justice as a gift on my daughter's wedding day."

It is the perfect way to introduce Don Corleone to the world.

17. The Blair Witch Project

Heather Donahue's monologue, as she clutches a camera in the dark and apologizes to her parents, is perhaps the most iconic moment of The Blair Witch Project (1999). The low-budget indie horror film would go on to influence and inspire countless horror movies and indie film producers in the years to come. Donahue's voice and close-up footage of her face was also used in the film's famed marketing campaign - her (largely improvised) words were what drew people to the theaters in droves. In the film, Donahue (who plays a character of the same name) is one of three student filmmakers who goes to investigate a local legend and disappears - the film is "pieced together" after the filmmakers' disappearance when it was "discovered" a year later. In the monologue, Donahue is alone, afraid, and scared for her life, capturing the paranoia and fear that The Blair Witch Project instilled in countless audience .

16. Viggo Mortensen in Return of the King

Some monologues are meant to rally people together, from teammates on a sports team to men about to go to war. From as early as Shakespeare's "St. Crispin's Day" speech in Henry V (performed hundreds of years later on screen by Laurence Olivier in 1944 and by Kenneth Branagh in 1989) to The Mighty Ducks (1992), monologues can be used by leaders to inspire.

Perhaps the best example of this "genre" of monologue is Aragorn (played by Viggo Mortensen) during the final battle of The Return of the King (2003) at the Gates of Mordor. Aragorn has grown over the course of The Lord of the Rings trilogy, and this speech does not only look to the ensuing battle, but also at the journey that has led him to this point. He encourages his men, saying:

"A day may come when the courage of men fails, when we forsake our friends and break all bonds of fellowship, but it is not this day. A hour of wolves and shattered shields, when the age of men comes crashing down, but it is not this day!"

It is hard to imagine the skeptical and closed off Strider uttering these words, but Aragorn has embraced his destiny and role as king. He is prepared to die for his friends, his kingdom, and his mission.

15. Faye Dunaway in Mommie Dearest

The wire hanger monologue from the cult-classic Mommie Dearest (1981) is famous for its absurdity. The film got mixed reviews, but the monologue is the highlight of Faye Dunaway's performance as Joan Crawford. The film is a biography film that portrays Crawford as an abusive adoptive mother to her two children; the script was based on the memoir of Crawford's adopted daughter. In the scene, Crawford discovers a wirehanger, which she claims will damage the clothes, in her daughter's closet. She takes the use of the wire hanger very personally, saying that she is delibarately being sabotaged and undermined by her young children. Dunaway's over-the-top performance in the scene is a feat to behold: she screams and rants, she throws clothes, and she beats her daughter. It's clear why this is the moment from the film that audiences - she's deranged, she's horrifying, and she is a thing of nightmares.

14. Rosamund Pike in Gone Girl

Rosamund Pike plays the titular "girl", Amy, in Gone Girl (2014), who disappears under mysterious circumstances which make it seem as though her husband murdered her. In a chilling voiceover, Amy reveals that she isn't dead, but instead has gone into hiding. While the audience watches her escape and transformation into a different person, Amy explains how she had actively tried to embody the paradoxical male desire of the "cool girl" - a woman who is effortlessly attractive, interested in sports and other "masculine" hobbies, and who is never demanding or judgmental. After years of trying to please her husband, Amy realized that he didn't know her at all, and decided to take matters into her own hands. At the end of her reflection, she says coldly, as if to justify why she framed her husband for her murder:

Can you imagine, finally showing your true self to your soulmate, and having him not like you?

13. Robin Williams in Good Will Hunting

Over the course of his career, Robin Williams has performed a number of incredible monologues. From Good Will Hunting (1997), Williams has a number of inspirational and hilarious monologues as Sean Macguire, a therapist who has been asked to help a troubled mathematical genius Will Hunting after Will has a run in with the police.

At first, Will is cocky, refusing to open up to Sean, and asserting his intelligence. Sean fires back with a monologue telling Will that he knows nothing about life:

You don’t know about real loss, because that only occurs when you love something more than you love yourself. I doubt you’ve ever dared to love anybody that much. I look at you; I don’t see an intelligent, confident man; I see a cocky, scared shitless kid.

Sean puts Will in his place, and this risky play actually convinces Will to start opening up to Sean. Sean doesn't beg Will, he doesn't push him, he simply says, "Your move, chief."

12. Charlize Theron in Monster

Charlize Theron's portrayal of real-life serial killer Aileen Wuornos in Monster (2003) won her critical acclaim and ultimately an Oscar for Best Actress. One of the most moving parts of the film is a monologue when Aileen reflects on her life, and re when she was a young and hopeful little girl. She describes herself, waiting for a movie scout to discover her like Marilyn Monroe and to take her away from her life, seeing her as a diamond in the rough. Unfortunately, the audience already knows that is not how Aileen's life turned out; instead, she has become a prostitute, who eventually turns to murdering her clients. In the final line, Aileen says:

Yeah. I lived that way for a long long time. In my head, dreaming like that. It was nice. And one day, it just stopped.

Reality took its toll on the young girl, and she gave up.

11. Jaws

Steven Spielberg's Jaws (1975) helped to bring about the rise of the blockbuster, but one of the films' quietest moments is also its most powerful. Robert Shaw plays the shark hunter Quint, whose hatred of sharks is as obsessive as Ahab's hatred of Moby Dick. In his captivating monologue about being aboard the USS Indianapolis, Quint details to Roy Scheider's Martin Brody and Richard Dreyfuss's Matt Hooper the story of how the ship was sunk by the Japanese in World War II. He then tells them about a number of shark attacks that killed men, including Quint's friends, before his very eyes over the four days leading to his rescue. Interestingly, actor Robert Shaw actually helped to write the monologue, contributing along with two screenwriters to craft the horrifying story. The result is an absolutely riveting long-take monologue that many fans cite as the best part of the entire film.