10 Opening Movie Scenes That Do More Than You Realise
8. George H.W. Bush Sets Up The Dude's Entire Character - The Big Lebowski
The Big Lebowski is undoubtedly one of the most quotable movies of all time, and yet, it's easy to miss that The Dude (Jeff Bridges) scarcely has an original thought throughout the entire film, with a ton of his dialogue basically seeing him quote or paraphrase what other characters have previously said to him.
And this quirk is actually set up in the movie's very first scene, when the Dude writes a cheque for milk at the supermarket and turns to look at a TV, where George H.W. Bush delivers his famous warning to Saddam Hussein, "This will not stand, this aggression against Kuwait."
A mere 10 minutes later, when the Dude is being admonished by Mr. Lebowski (David Huddleston) himself, he replies, "This will not stand, you know. This aggression will not stand, man."
The repetition is easily missed if you're not paying total attention to the supermarket scene or aren't overly familiar with Bush's speech, but it nevertheless efficiently establishes a major facet of the Dude's character - his tendency to repeat what he's heard somebody else say.