--- description: You know that point in a movie where it seems like all is lost? It generally arrives at the end of Act II or the... title: Forty Inspirational Speeches in Two Minutes image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7a7ad9b343103987/698a4affb21a9c6304508cb8/360_viral_speeches_1212.jpg?branch=production&width=750&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) # Forty Inspirational Speeches in Two Minutes by [Kate Pickert](/author/kate-pickert/) Dec 12, 2008 5:00 AM CUT  by [Kate Pickert](/author/kate-pickert/) Dec 12, 2008 5:00 AM CUT You know that point in a movie where it seems like all is lost? It generally arrives at the end of Act II or the beginning of Act III. Something dire has just occurred and the main characters are on the precipice of obscurity, failure or even death. You know that point? If you do, then it’s obvious what comes next — words of greatness, or at least a flood of generic colloquy delivered while a background orchestra slowly builds to a crescendo. The obligatory inspirational movie speech is a tool used so often that characters, plots, settings and even centuries are virtually interchangeable. Regardless of the circumstances, Hollywood law mandates that the following themes must always be included in an inspirational movie speech: **First, an acknowledgment that things are bad and no one seems motivated to make things better …** “Will you fight?” “No, we will run and we will live.” — Mel Gibson in _Braveheart_ “This could be the greatest night of our lives, but you’re gonna let it be the worst.” — John Belushi in _Animal House_ **Then a vigorous refusal to accept the status quo …** “We’ve come too far!” — Will Ferrell in _Old School_ “The day may come when the courage of men fails, but it is not this day.” — Viggo Mortensen in _The Lord of the Rings_ **Next, recognition that the road ahead will be long and hard …** “I’m not sayin’ it’s gonna be easy.” — Kirsten Dunst in _Bring It On_ “You’re gonna work harder than you’ve ever worked before.” — Edward James Olmos in _Stand and Deliver_ **Followed by ego-boosting assurances, possibly including some reference to an intimidating animal …** “Let no man forget how menacing we are. We are lions!” — Brad Pitt in _Troy_ “You’re like a big bear, man.” — Patrick Van Horn in _Swingers_ **Then a rousing call to action (crescendo … starts …** **_now …_** **)** “All right!” — Gene Hackman in _Hoosiers_ “Let’s fly!” — Emilio Estevez in _Mighty Ducks_ **Topped off with arms raised in a triumphant** **_V_** **with lots of clapping and cheering.** So the next time an “inspirational” speech appears on your movie screen and the surround-sound strings swell — don’t worry. They’ll make it. They’ll win. They’ll prevail. They have to. It’s Hollywood. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/archive/6909524/forty-inspirational-speeches-in-two-minutes/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/archive/6909524/forty-inspirational-speeches-in-two-minutes/"},"headline":"Forty Inspirational Speeches in Two Minutes","datePublished":"2008-12-12T05:00:00.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-22T15:47:50.616Z","description":"You know that point in a movie where it seems like all is lost? It generally arrives at the end of Act II or the...","url":"https://time.com/archive/6909524/forty-inspirational-speeches-in-two-minutes/","keywords":[],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7a7ad9b343103987/698a4affb21a9c6304508cb8/360_viral_speeches_1212.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Kate Pickert","url":"https://time.com/author/kate-pickert/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7a7ad9b343103987/698a4affb21a9c6304508cb8/360_viral_speeches_1212.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"360_viral_speeches_1212.jpg","caption":"","creditText":"","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/archive/6909524/forty-inspirational-speeches-in-two-minutes/","name":"Forty Inspirational Speeches in Two Minutes"}}]}] ```