The world has finally acknowledged what we have known here at Muscle & Fitness for many years. “I’ll be back,” that immortal utterance from our Executive Editor Arnold Schwarzenegger in Terminator, has been voted Best Movie Catchphrase Ever in a poll commissioned by LOVEiFILM.
But, do you know that if Arnold had his way, he never would have used the phrase? He tells George Stephanopoulos in the clip below that he argued to change the line. “I could not pronounce really well the ‘I’ll,’ so I kept saying to Jim Cameron, ‘Maybe be I should just say, ‘I will be back,’ because it sounds more like a machine. He says, ‘No, no no, I don’t tell you how to act, don’t tell me how to write,'” he explained. Arnold went on to say that he lost that fight, and the rest, as they say, is movie history.
The Terminator line beat out some serious competition to win. Arnold’s iconic character might not have been as big a hit with the ladies as James Bond (who came second) or he might not have always had a dainty song to soothe any ill like Mary Poppins (who came in third) but what he did have was a vocal calling card that has been ingrained in the minds of movie fans over the globe. So you can keep you shaken not stirred Vodka Martini, James, and Mary, we don’t need a spoonful of sugar to help anything go down, we’ve got all we need in those famous three words.
Here is a little “I’ll be back” special:
Here, Arnold chats about the famous line in the aforementioned interview with George Stephanopoulos:
Here are the full results from the LOVEiFILM poll:
1 – “I’ll be back” (Terminator, 1985) 2 – “Bond. James Bond” (Dr No. 1962) 3 – “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious” (Mary Poppins, 1964) 4 – “Who you gonna call?” (Ghostbusters, 1984) 5 – “Elementary, my dear Watson” (The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, 1939) 6 – “Heeeere’s Johnny!” (The Shining, 1980) 7 – “Run Forrest, run!” (Forrest Gump, 1994) 8 – “You talking to me?” (Taxi Driver, 1976) 9 – “Goooood morning Vietnam” (Good Morning, Vietnam, 1988) 10 – “I love the smell of napalm in the morning” (Apocalypse Now, 1979)
