Memorable quotes for
The Manchurian Candidate (2004) More at IMDbPro »

Eleanor Shaw: I will do whatever is necessary to protect America from anyone who opposes her. I can't... am I the only person in this room who's been reading these NSA reports?
Congressman Healy: I've read them.
Eleanor Shaw: All right, then. You know... you know we are on the brink of another cataclysm, probably nuclear, on our own soil.
Congresswoman Becket: Oh, Ellie, that's a bit extreme.
Eleanor Shaw: And it's not from random terrorists, but from covert alliances of disaffected nations who've all been made bold by this kind of Jordan one-worlder who believes that human beings are essentially good and that our powers are somehow, I don't know, shameful or evil and never to be used. Make no mistake. The American people are terrified. They know something's coming. They can feel it. And we can either shovel them the same old shit and call it sugar or we can arm them. We can arm them with a young, vibrant Vice President. We can give them heat, energy! Give them a war hero with heart, forged by enemy fire in the desert in the dark when American lives hung on the balance!

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Noyle: Hello, Captain. Do you remember me?

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Raymond Shaw: I served under him. He was a good man.
Eleanor Shaw: Well, that's what the neighbors always say about serial killers.

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[manipulating Raymond]
Eleanor Shaw: Sergeant Shaw.
Raymond Shaw: [Abruptly] What...?
Eleanor Shaw: Sergeant Raymond Shaw.
Raymond Shaw: Mother, I...
Eleanor Shaw: Raymond Prentiss Shaw.
Raymond Shaw: Yes.
Eleanor Shaw: Listen.

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Eleanor Shaw: Oh, God! Where are all the men anymore? My father, Tyler Prentiss, never asked, "Is this okay? Is this okay?" You know what I'm saying, Mark? He just did what needed to be done.

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Raymond Shaw: Are we friends, Ben? I wanna believe we were friends.
Ben Marco: We are connected and that's something nobody can take from us. You coulda had me locked up, but you didn't. That's proof that there's something deep inside. There's a part that they can't get to. And it's deep inside of us. And that's where the truth is.

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Eleanor Shaw: The assassin always dies, baby. It's necessary for the national healing.

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Delp: I thought you said you lost this.
Ben Marco: I bit a guy. I found another one.

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[last lines]
Noyle: [voiceover] Now, when you're rescued and returned with your patrol to command headquarters, what will be among the first of your duties that you'll undertake?
Ben Marco: I'll recommend Sergeant Shaw for the Medal of Honor, sir. He saved our lives. He terminated the enemy. Led us across the desert to safety.
Noyle: Excellent. And there were casualties?
Ben Marco: There's always casualties in war, sir.

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Ben Marco: Somebody got into our heads with with with with big steel-toe boots, cable cutters and a chainsaw and they went to town. Neurons got got got exposed and circuits got rewired. Our brain cells got obliterated, Raymond.

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Ben Marco: This isn't an election, this is a coup.

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Ben Marco: [being brainwashed over the phone] Yes, senator?
Eleanor Shaw: Is this Captain Marco?
Ben Marco: Yep.
Eleanor Shaw: Captain Bennet Marco?
Ben Marco: Yes.
Eleanor Shaw: Bennet Eziklel Marco?
Ben Marco: ...yes.
Eleanor Shaw: ...Listen.

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Senator Thomas Jordan: And you bring me rumors and conjecture.
Ben Marco: I started with nightmares. Rumors, conjectures, that's a giant leap forward.

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Ben Marco: What about my dreams?
Delp: What if all this is your dream and you are really still back in Kuwait?

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Eleanor Shaw: [to Raymond] But... but when you smile... oh darling, when you smile, that's what I live for. When you smile.
[kisses his mouth]

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