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  • Business is war.

  • Have I got your attention now?

  • Welcome to WatchMojo.com,

  • and today we're counting down our picks for the top 10 business movie speeches.

  • the trouble is you don't realize that you are talking to two people.

  • I symphathyze with you. Charles Foster is a scoundrel.

  • As Charles Foster Kane, Orson Welles undergoes a striking change

  • from a hero of the workingman to a mogul pursuing power ruthlessly.

  • People would think...

  • ...what I tell them to think.

  • Knowing what we do about that transformation,

  • his most important monologue comes near the beginning of the film.

  • On the other hand, I'm th epublisher of the Enquirer.

  • It's also my pleaeure. You see,

  • He explains his split interests are the reason he's the only man

  • who can fight for the little guy.

  • His closing lines shut his opponent down completely.

  • You're right, Mr. Thatcher, I did lose a milion dollars last year.

  • I expect to lose a million dollars this year.

  • I expect to lose a million dollars next year.

  • You know, Mr. Thatcher, the rate of a milion dollars a year,

  • I'll have to close this place in 60 years.

  • Are you enjoying this?

  • It's a film that showcases the rollercoaster ride that is the drug business,

  • and the speech in question is a passing-of-the-torch between the old and new guard.

  • This monkey business is in your blood.

  • Outlining what he calls the facts of life, Eddie Temple points out how,

  • while you start at the bottom, you will slowly-but-surely move to the top.

  • Not only is this an effective speech, it also explains the title of the film.

  • Frank Lucas is quickly proving his worth as a Harlem-based drug kingpin,

  • keeping his extravagances to a minimum to stay off the cops' radar.

  • Along the way, he's learned valuable lessons about business

  • and he imparts that advice to his colleagues while sitting down for a quick bite in a diner.

  • Then he goes and caps a guy in the broad daylight.

  • Guess he's somebody.

  • For career-firer, career-loner and motivational speaker Ryan Bingham, life is a backpack

  • a motif which also serves as the theme of Bingham's lectures.

  • Explaining it so anyone can relate,

  • Bingham reveals how freeing it is to rid yourself of worldly belongings.

  • Later, the speech expands,

  • and Bingham expounds the benefits of eliminating not only possessions

  • but also people from your life.

  • Cynical? Yes, but it’s a good speech nonetheless.

  • Chris Gardner was going through the toughest times of his life,

  • struggling to stay afloat and trying to become a stockbroker despite his meager existence.

  • When his son reveals his dream of becoming a pro basketball player,

  • Gardner tells him that's an unlikely goal not worth pursuing.

  • However, upon further thought, he decides no one can tell anyone what ambitions to follow,

  • and that hard work always pays off.

  • His son ended up one of the U.S.' youngest and most prolific con artists,

  • but that doesn't mean he can’t spin a mean yarn about the importance of hard work.

  • Frank Abagnale Sr., portrayed by the peerless Christopher Walken, is honored by his rotary club,

  • so he uses the opportunity to tell a short allegory about the rewards of not giving up.

  • Looks like Junior took those words to heart.

  • The SoCal oil boom is the setting of this film, and of several notable Daniel Day-Lewis speeches.

  • But the most unforgettable is when his character, successful oil tycoon Daniel Plainview,

  • explains to his longtime nemesis that he'd outsmarted him by sucking a disputed oil well dry,

  • without his knowledge.

  • Using a simple and almost inappropriately cheerful metaphor,

  • Plainview condescends to and humiliates his foe for one final time.

  • If it seems too good to be true, it probably is:

  • that's the lesson Seth Davis learns after embarking on a career with a shady brokerage firm.

  • As one of the company's founders,

  • Ben Affleck's Jim inspires his recruits with the promise of wealth,

  • happiness and, did we mention wealth?

  • But it's not all sports cars, big houses and women;

  • Young makes clear that every call is hard work.

  • This film details '80s excess, both on and off Wall Street

  • and its most famous speech summarizes that message.

  • Spoken by Gordon Gekko to inspire a group of shareholders,

  • this monologue gets a bad rap, even thoughas Gekko claims

  • it's greed that built the U.S.:

  • Dream big and grab every opportunity that comes your way, he says.

  • And that's something that applies to everyone, not only power brokers.

  • Before we unveil our number one pick, here are a few honorable mentions:

  • Hired to motivate some lackluster salesmen,

  • Alec Baldwin grabs attention immediately

  • and proceeds with one of Hollywood's most epic speeches.

  • At seven-minutes-long, it's the longest monologue on our list:

  • it's also the most intimidating, profane, and badass,

  • as Baldwin's Blake delivers the ABCs of sales and tells his prey to go big or go home.

  • With help from some perfectly timed props,

  • he inspires these deadbeats to closeor to quit.

  • Do you agree with our list?

  • Which business movie speech makes you want make all the money?

  • My offer is this. Nothing.

  • For more greedy top 10s published every day, be sure to subscribe to WatchMojo.com.

  • Subtitles by the Amara.org community

Business is war.

Subtitles and vocabulary

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B2 US WatchMojo speech monologue film hard work gardner

Top 10 Business Movie Speeches

  • 34 2
    ricky posted on 2014/09/10
Video vocabulary

Keywords

life

US /laɪf/

UK /laɪf/

  • noun
  • All the living things e.g. animals, plants, humans
  • Period of time things live, from birth to death
work

US /wɚk/

UK /wɜ:k/

  • noun
  • The product of some artistic or literary endeavor
  • Everything created by an author, artist, musician
  • Activity you do in order to make money
  • Place of employment
  • Final product or result of a some labor or effort
  • verb
  • To bring into a specific state of success
  • To be functioning properly, e.g. a car
  • To do your job in your company or workplace
  • To make an effort to do something
  • To operate a machine or device
  • adjective
  • Activity completed in order to make money
pursue

US /pɚˈsu/

UK /pə'sju:/

  • other
  • To continue to investigate or discuss something.
  • To follow someone or something, usually to catch them.
  • To try to achieve something over a period of time.
  • To try to achieve something over a period of time.
  • verb
  • To follow and try to catch, or to reach a goal
  • To try to achieve or get something over time
career

US /kəˈrɪr/

UK /kə'rɪə(r)/

  • noun
  • Particular occupation in professional life
  • The course of a person's life, especially in a particular pursuit or profession.
  • An occupation undertaken for a significant period of a person's life and with opportunities for progress.
  • An occupation undertaken for a significant period of a person's life and with opportunities for progress.
  • The general course or progression of one's working life or one's professional achievements.
  • A profession or occupation, especially one offering advancement or social prestige.
  • adjective
  • Relating to someone's job
  • Relating to a job or profession that someone does for a long period.
  • Relating to a job or profession that someone does for a long time.
  • other
  • To move rapidly or without control
  • To cause to move rapidly; to promote the development or progress of.
  • other
  • To advance or make progress rapidly
  • To follow a profession as a life's work
  • To move swiftly and in an uncontrolled way in a specified direction.
  • To move swiftly and in an uncontrolled way in a specified direction.
  • To advance in a profession or occupation.
  • To move swiftly and often uncontrollably in a specified direction.
  • verb
  • To move forward very fast and without control
reveal

US /rɪˈvil/

UK /rɪ'vi:l/

  • verb
  • To show something that was hidden before
hard

US /hɑː(r)d/

UK /hɑ:d/

  • adjective
  • Difficult to do; difficult to understand
  • (Of facts) not able to be misunderstood; clear
  • (Of alcohol) strong
  • Involving or requiring lots of work, effort, care
  • Being full of pain, trouble, and problems
  • Strong
  • (Of edge) clear; sharp
  • Difficult to bend, break or cut; solid
  • adverb
  • With lots of force, power, or impact
business

US /ˈbɪznɪs/

UK /ˈbɪznəs/

  • noun
  • A company formed for making profit
  • A task or matter; an affair.
  • A company or firm.
  • The set of rules and processes that govern how data is handled in a software system.
  • A task or duty.
  • Matter that has to be dealt with; task; situation
  • Activity of working to make a profit
  • A matter or issue to be dealt with
  • A person's regular occupation, profession, or trade
  • A person's reason or purpose for doing something.
  • Right or justification for doing something.
  • A task or errand
  • other
  • A particular activity or pursuit.
  • A matter or affair; something that concerns someone.
  • A field of study concerned with commerce and management.
  • The state of being busy; busyness.
  • Commercial activity; the exchange of goods or services for profit.
  • A person's duty, role, or responsibility.
  • A particular sector of commerce or industry.
  • A person's regular occupation, profession, or trade.
  • A specific task or purpose.
  • Minor actions and movements of actors on a stage.
  • Small actions and movements on stage that make the scene more realistic.
  • Small actions performed by actors on stage
  • The volume of trade or commercial activity.
  • adverb
  • Seriously; with determination.
  • Engaged in work or commercial activity.
  • adjective
  • Proceeding in the normal way.
  • other
  • A specific commercial enterprise or establishment.
film

US /fɪlm/

UK /fɪlm/

  • noun
  • Thin layer that covers something
  • Movie
  • verb
  • To record moving action with a camera
explain

US /ɪkˈsplen/

UK /ɪk'spleɪn/

  • verb
  • To make clear or easy to understand by describing
  • other
  • To be the reason for or cause of something.
  • To make something clear or easy to understand
  • To give a reason for something.
  • To make something clear or easy to understand by describing it in more detail or revealing relevant facts.
  • other
  • To give the meaning of something
inspire

US /ɪnˈspaɪr/

UK /ɪn'spaɪə(r)/

  • verb
  • To draw (air, etc.) into the lungs.
  • To give someone an idea to do or make something
  • To fill (someone) with the urge or ability to do or feel something, especially to do something creative.
  • To make someone feel a certain emotion
  • other
  • To breathe in
  • To encourage or impel someone to do something
  • To fill (someone) with the urge or ability to do or feel something, especially to do something creative.