Best Science Fiction Monologue

Repost from 5/17/13

 

In my forty-five years of life I've seen a lot of Science Fiction movies. From Armageddon to Zombieland there have been a lot of memorable scenes that stick out in my mind. For instance, I will never forget the cargo bay scene in Aliens when Sigourney Weaver's character Ripley suits up in the Cargo-loader and fights the Queen Egg-layer. Very cool. Or, when the space marines stumble onto what is left of the original colonists. Terrifyingly tingling.

Another great scene is the trench warfare in The Empire Strikes Back harkening back to the first World War in a galaxy not so far far away here on Earth. Speaking of trences, in the first Star Wars movie the Xwing attack on the Death Star. Unforgettable. I remember sitting on the edge of my theater chair giddily drinking in every moment within that battle sequence.

The Predator was another great movie. The first time we see the red eyes flash through the murky blurriness of the alien camouflage suit. Delightfully eerie. Then seeing the creature rip out the spine from the dead soldier’s body. Unsettlingly disturbing.

I also will never forget the day I went and saw John Carpenter’s version of The Thing. That movie freaked me out so bad I didn’t sleep well for over a week. When the disembodied head sprouted legs and crawled out of the room I nearly peed my pants. This movie created a paranoia that rivaled the movie Alien from three years before.

It would take days to relive all these great moments in a limitless number of wonderful films. As I thought back over the years I also recalled all of the great monologues contained within these Science Fiction movies. There was the unforgettable Khan in the second Star Trek motion picture with his “buried alive” speech that prompted Captain Kirk’s unforgettable response: “KKKHHAAAAAANNNN!”

Additionally, the opening monologue in the 2005 remake of H.G. Wells' The War of the Worlds  was incredible. It was brilliantly articulated by the phenomenal voice talents of Morgan Freeman. I had chills from that speech.

Looking back over the years there have been countless of these dialogue driven moments in numerous movies, but one sticks out in my mind above them all. Here it is in all of its poetic glory, and we as a species should take note of it’s message. Enjoy.

"I'd like to share a revelation that I've had during my time here. It came to me when I tried to classify your species. I've realized that you are not actually mammals. Every mammal on this planet instinctively develops a natural equilibrium with the surrounding environment. But you humans do not. You move to an area and you multiply and multiply until every natural resource is consumed and the only way you can survive is to spread to another area. There is another organism on this planet that follows the same pattern. Do you know what it is? A virus. Human beings are a disease, a cancer of this planet. You are a plague. And we are... the cure."
 -Agent Smith in The Matrix

Why not share some of your favorite scenes or monologues in Science Fiction over the years?