Speech of the Week #1

Hey guys, welcome to a new column here on YDKS Movies entitled Speech of the Week! For now on, every Monday I will post a new scene from a movie that features a speech of some sort being given. After all, there are a lot of famous scenes in film where characters give an influential speech of some sort. Then again, there are also a lot of scenes where characters give a speech and it just comes off cheesy and lame. In this section, you will see both kinds. That's right, people, I'm giving you the good and bad of film speeches all wrapped up in one great big package. I hope you all enjoy.

This column was partly inspired by the speech and story I am about to give you. The other day, my good friend Zach Osborn (pictured above) came over to my house. We were talking about how great the midnight show of The Dark Knight was when he told me about his first ever midnight show: Independence Day. He said that his father took him (against his mother's will) and it was the greatest theater experience of his life. He said that he was in tears as Bill Pullman gave his inspiration speech before the world unites to do battle with the alien invaders. In fact, the speech inspired Zach so much that he downloaded it off the internet and began listening to it on the bus ride to Quiz Bowl competitions. Eventually, he began to turn his teammates on to the speech and soon they all began to recite the speech on the bus before competitions.

So this Speech of the Week is for Zach. Although I don't think Independence Day is the greatest movie ever by any means (though I thought it was awesome when I was 10), Zach's story behind this speech makes it a necessary post. The guy still swears that Will Smith and Jeff Goldblum are the greatest onscreen duo in film history. I'll let you all decided. Enjoy Pullman's speech below and be sure to check in next Monday for another Speech of the Week.

And here's a full transcript of the speech for good measure:

“Good morning. Good morning. In less than an hour, aircraft from here will join others from around the world, and you will be launching the largest aerial battle in the history of mankind. Mankind, that word should have new meaning for all of us today. We can’t be consumed by our petty differences any more. We will be united in our common interest.  Perhaps it’s fate that today is the 4th of July, and you will once again be fighting for our freedom. Not from tyranny, oppression, or persecution, but from annihilation. We’re fighting for our right to live, to exist…and should we win the day, the 4th of July will no longer be known as an American holiday, but as the day when the world declared in one voice, ‘We will not go quietly into the night! We will not vanish without a fight! We’re going to live on, we’re going to survive.’ Today we celebrate our independence day!”