15 Greatest Ending Lines In Film History

There are few things more important to a movie than a good closing line. Being the last thing audiences hear from the characters, that final piece of dialogue has the ability to end an already great film even stronger than expected, and is often one of the main things people recall about the movie in question.

Closing lines have been used in various different ways over the years, sometimes as a lovely sign-off to a beloved character who's gone through a monumental journey, other times as an ambiguous farewell that leaves much of the film and its ending open to interpretation.

Whether they're blindingly funny, mysterious, introspective or characterised by terrifying implications, the following movie lines are simply the greatest cinema has had to offer over its long and inspired history.

Before we dig into them, though, a few honorary mentions are worth shouting out: Fight Club, There Will Be Blood, The Apartment, Memento, Iron Man, E.T, The Wizard of Oz and more all feature some stunning closing lines, but weren't quite strong enough to secure a place on this list.

With that out the way - and a warning about major spoilers - here are the 15 greatest closing movie lines of all time.

The final moments of David Fincher's masterful psychological thriller Seven are some of the most nerve-wracking in cinema, as the villainous John Doe enacts the closing part of his twisted plan by forcing Detective David Mills to kill him.

From the horrifying reveal that Doe has murdered Mills' wife to his cries of "What's in the box?!", the movie ends with a soul-crushing thud. Evil wins, lives are ruined, and there's no hope for anyone, the ending seems to say, and this message is driven home with a blunt closing line courtesy of Morgan Freeman's Detective Somerset:

"Ernest Hemmingway once wrote, 'The world is a fine place, and worth fighting for.' I agree with the second part."

Ultimately, Somerset knows the world is ugly and overflowing with evil men, but he believes nonetheless that it's still worth something. Seven is a nasty film, and honestly this ending is more optimistic than expected, but even so its implications will stay with you for a very long time.