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  • 300 goes the malicious route. "This will not be over quickly..." is used by Theron against Gorgo, then reversed by her when she gives him his comeuppance.
  • The Russian film Adventures of Masha and Vitja has a scene where the kids find a house with a woman claiming to be a good witch who "likes boys and girls very much". She invites them to have a nap in her house and when she believes they are asleep, it is revealed she is a Wicked Witch when she starts explaining how she will cook the kids because "I like boys and girls very much" For a kid-oriented film, that's terrifying.
  • In The American President, current US president Andrew Shepard makes fun of his rival running for office's catchphrase a few times throughout the film, which is "My name is Bob Rumpsen and I'm running for President!" At the film's climax, President Shepard makes a moving speech condemning Rumpsen and all his tactics, ending with the following twist: "My name is Andrew Shepard and I am the President."
  • Anger of the Dead: Before having Stephen killed, Rooker tells Alice "You ain't in Wonderland anymore.". Before sealing him in a vent with a zombie, Alice tells Rooker "You ain't in Wonderland anymore."
  • Aquaman (2018): After Orm discovers that Nuidis Vulko has betrayed him, he orders the latter imprisoned with the line, "Take him. But make sure he gets a view." At the end of the film, as Orm is arrested, Vulko tells him, "Take him. But make sure he gets a view." Orm can't help but be a bit amused at having his line thrown back in his face.
  • Babylon (2022): "You either are [a star] or you aren't" is first said by Nellie at the opening party of the film, as a defiant proclamation of her future rise to stardom. It's repeated by James at the grotesque rave he forces Manny and the Count to attend as they watch a giant consume a live rat. The mirrored circumstances emphasize that ultimately, people want spectacle, and a famous movie star is only one way this desire manifests.
  • Back to the Future:
    • Throughout the movie, various characters are constantly advising or admonishing Marty to "use your head." In the climax of the film when the DeLorean stalls, it only starts again when Marty thumps his head onto the steering wheel.
    • The film has several examples of lines said in one context repeated in another. When Doc tells Marty that the time machine runs on plutonium, Marty points out that one can't exactly find plutonium in the corner store. Later, Past!Doc Brown says almost the same line.
  • In Bad Influence, Rob Lowe's character says, "You make a very funny face when you come" to James Spader's character while watching the videotape he made of Spader having sex, much to the latter's horror. Later in the film, Spader turns this around by saying, "Has anyone ever told you you make a very funny face when you come?" while holding a knife to Lowe's throat. It's something of a Take That! for the character as well.
  • Bad Times at the Battle Royale: Before unveiling the quiz show, Emily notes that "most battle royales will have a fight to the death as the last round" before subverting those expectations with the quiz show reveal. Later, as part of the haunted ambience after Jason forced Johnson into a fight thttps://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/wysiwyg_source_editor.php?groupname=Ironic Echo&title=Live-Action Films&load=source#o the death, one of the continuously repeating and echoing lines of dialogue is that very same line.
  • Batman (1989): Jack Napier, both before and after his transformation into the Joker, often quips "You ever dance with the Devil in the pale moonlight?" to the people he kills; it's how Batman realizes that Napier is the one who killed his parents. During the climax of the film, Batman throws that very same line back at him before beating him senseless.
  • Overlaps with Jerkass Has a Point in Batman & Robin. Robin, getting tired of Batman aborting their crusade against Mr. Freeze and Poison Ivy, points out that being partners is about counting on each other as the way to win. Later on, Batman reminds Robin, who is under Poison Ivy's influence, about what he told him in an attempt to convince the latter to snap out of it and come back to his side.
  • In Batman Begins, both Bruce Wayne and Lucius Fox get Ironic Echoes in as they reveal to Earle they've taken over Wayne Enterprises.
    • "Mind your surroundings."
    • "Don't be afraid."
    • "Finders Keepers"
    • "It's not who you are underneath, it's what you do that defines you."
  • The Batman (2022): Batman tends to introduce himself with "I'm vengeance." At the climax, one of the Riddler's mooks is defeated and unmasked. When the police demand to know his name, he answers, "I'm vengeance." Batman is completely shocked and realizes the Riddler was right about his Terror Hero tactics inspiring more criminals.
  • Bedknobs and Broomsticks:
    • Just before the final climactic battle between the Nazi commando force and the local museum's assorted historical artefacts (animated by Eglantine Price's casting of the Substitutiary Locomotion spell), there's the following exchange between Oberst Heller (who's leading the force) and one of his subordinates after they catch sight of Ms. Price on her broomstick:
      Sergeant Muller: Es gibt eine Hexe! ("That's a witch!")
      Oberst Heller: Sehen Sie nicht so dumm, Muller! Es gibt keine solche Sache wie eine Hexe! ("Don't be stupid, Muller! There's no such thing as a witch!")
    • After the Nazis have get their asses kicked (literally and figuratively), the Oberst catches sight of Ms. Price again, which prompts this exchange:
      Oberst Heller: Es ist die Hexe! ("It's the witch!")
      Sergeant Muller: Ich dachte, Sie sagten, dass es keine solche Sache wie eine Hexe... ("I thought you said there was no such thing as a witch...")
  • Being There: "I understand." (Movie version only.)
  • Bicentennial Man: Dennis Mansky, the CEO of NorthAm, dismisses any sign of self-awareness in Andrew and calls him a "household appliance." Years later, when Andrew is making more in one month than Dennis does in a year, Richard is sure to bring up this conversation again.
    Sir: Not bad for a...what was it he called you?
    Andrew: "Household appliance".
    Sir: Household appliance.
    CEO: [thoroughly humiliated] Household appliance, yes.
  • Big Game has a few examples:
    • "Happy birthday, Oskari". First said absolutely honestly by Moore as Oskari's going to hunt a deer and become a man. However, the same thing is written on a note next to an already-shot deer in the refrigerator, left by Oskari's father, proving that Tapio doesn't believe in his son.
    • "You need to cock it first." Said to Moore as Morris mockingly presents him how to use a gun properly, Moore repeats it as he's about to shoot Hazar.
    • "I know the feeling" is actually an inversion — it's much more honest and less ironic when Moore says it for the second time.
  • "Do you ever think about us?" Used twice in Blade by Dr. Curtis Webb alluding to his previous relationship with Dr. Karen Jensen.
  • In Blue Thunder, Big Bad Colonel Cochrane's Catchphrase is "Catch ya later", which he uses to annoy The Hero, Frank Murphy. At the end of their climactic helicopter duel, Murphy says the line back to the (now violently deceased) Cochrane as a Bond One-Liner.
  • Early on in The Breakfast Club, Andrew shouts at Bender, "You don't even count. You could disappear forever, and it wouldn't make any difference. You might as well not even exist at this school." Later on when they start opening up to each other, Bender says "What do you care what I think, anyway? I don't even count ... right? I could disappear forever and it wouldn't make any difference. I might as well not even exist at this school, remember?"
  • From the first Bring It On, after a terrible routine at Regionals, Torrence's boyfriend tries to cheer her up by telling her "You're a great cheerleader, Tor, and you're cute as hell. But maybe you're not "captain" material." Later, after Torrence found out he cheated on her, she calmly told him "You're a great cheerleader, Aaron, and you're cute as hell. But maybe you're not "boyfriend" material."
  • In The Call, 911 Operator Jordan (Halle Berry) is twice told by the Big Bad "It's already done." when she begs him on the phone not to torture and kill the victim he just took the phone away from. At the end of the movie, Jordan and his latest kidnap victim Casey (Abigail Breslin) duct tape him to a chair in his Secret Underground Torture Dungeon When he begs them not to leave him there to die, Jordan says "It's already done" just before she slams the door on him.
  • In The Cat in the Hat, the Cat tells Sally and Conrad during the "Fun" song that "it's fun to have fun, but you gotta know how". Then, after the house is destroyed, Conrad throws this line back at the Cat, telling him that he doesn't know how to have fun — or specifically, how to stop — and telling him to Get Out!.
    • Conrad does this again to Lawrence Quinn near the end of the film. Early on, Lawrence attempts to convince Joan, Conrad's mother, to send him to military school by saying the school "is what we in the sales business call a win-win scenario." After Joan kicks Lawrence out, Conrad parrots the phrase back at him.
  • In Changing Lanes, Ben Affleck's character pulls a Type 2 of sorts near the end — following the advice, but in a way which the advice-giver didn't intend.
  • In A Christmas Carol: The Musical, Grace Smythe first sings "God Bless Us, Everyone" at her mother's funeral procession, then again (in the same tone) during the Christmas Yet to Come graveyard scene along with the other townspeople, in rejoicing over Scrooge's death.
  • A Christmas Story has a recurring line: "You'll shoot your eye out." At the end of the movie, Ralphie shoots off his new BB gun, the BB ricochets and grazes his cheek just below his eye. His first thought: "OH MY GOD, I SHOT MY EYE OUT!". In the moments that follow, he steps on and breaks his glasses, which is effectively the same thing.
  • The Christmas That Almost Wasn't: Prune, after his Heel–Face Turn, sings a much happier "Why Can't Every Day Be Christmas?" originally sung by Whipple in the department store.
  • In Collateral, Vincent tells Max an anecdote about how a man once got on the ATM in LA and died, with nobody noticing the corpse traveling around the city until much later. At the end of the film, as the same situation is happening to him, Vincent notes the irony similarity of his own fate just before he dies, and wonders whether anyone will notice.note 
  • In Color Out of Space (2020), when Nathan Gardner early in the film bemoans the lack of nearby hospitals, the local mayor sardonically responds, "Welcome to life in the Sticks." Much later, when Ward and the local sheriff come by to check on the place, Nathan, having undergone severe Sanity Slippage due to the pure hell the titular Eldritch Abomination has unleashed upon his family and his property, feebly writes off the bizarre events as "Life in the Sticks."
  • In the original film The Crow Albrect confronts Eric, saying "you move and you're dead". Based on his current situation, Eric's reply is "I'm dead and I move".
    • Inverted with T-Bird, who mocks Shelly for having a copy of paradise lost and asks if the passage "Abashed the devil stood and saw how awful goodness is" makes her horny. When Eric ties him up in his car and prepares to kill T-Bird, T-Bird realises that Eric has returned from the dead. Taking this to mean heaven and hell existing, T-Bird starts to sobbingly recite said passage as a Madness Mantra. This makes it a Unironic echo.
  • In The Crow: City of Angels, Ashe Corven does this with several of the targets of his Roaring Rampage of Revenge: "You're wasting your breath, Angelito! Nobody's up there listening!" "Nothing personal, sport." and for the Big Bad himself, "Pain is my power."
  • The Dark Knight Rises: After Bane delivers a No-Holds-Barred Beatdown to Batman and proceeds to imprison him, he tells him "When it is done, and Gotham is ashes, then you have my permission to die." Later, during the film's climax, Batman is returning the favor while trying to find out where Bane's hidden the detonator for his nuke:
    WHEN YOU TELL ME WHERE THE TRIGGER IS... then you have my permission to die!
  • Fairly early in The Deaths of Ian Stone, the title character's girlfriend recites to him, "Cross my heart and hope to die/Stick a needle in your eye." (It's a children's rhyme, in case you don't know, often accompanying children's promises.) He has in fact crossed her heart, inasmuch as they were apparently lovers of some sort before he developed a sense of ethics. She can't kill him, but is more than capable of putting him through enough torment for him to "hope to die." And when the first half of that rhyme is repeated? She really does stick a needle in his eye.
  • DC Extended Universe:
    • In Man of Steel, with no other options but unwilling to give up, Colonel Hardy tries to use a knife against Faora. Impressed, Faora draws her own knife and says, "A good death is its own reward." Later, Hardy says this line back to her, right before he crashes his plane into General Zod's ship and activates the Phantom Zone portal.
    • Justice League (2017): "Do you bleed?"
    • SHAZAM! (2019): After acquiring powers Sivana repeats words his father and brother said to him decades earlier before killing them, and even brings along a Magic 8-Ball as a prop so he can echo them more effectively. While sinister, it also reveals that though he may appear much more mature than the kid superhero he's about to face, he's never grown past his own teenage traumas.
  • Demolition Man: "Is it cold in here, or is it just me?"
  • In The Devil's Advocate: While John Milton gives Kevin a job interview, Kevin asks John if they're negotiating? He answers, "Always". Later when John Milton, now revealed to be Satan, tries to convince Kevin to join his side, Kevin starts asking questions. John ask Kevin if they're negotiating? Kevin answers, "Always."
  • Divergent has Jeanine explain to Tris why Divergents must be eliminated. During this explanation, she says "I must admit, there is a certain beauty to your resistance." After using Jeanine's own brainwashing drug to force Jeanine to shut down her scheme, Tris returns the line to her.
  • In Dogma, when the demon Azrael has everyone cornered, Silent Bob is the only one willing to confront him. Confident in his abilities, he blows off everyone's worries with "Please, I'm a fucking demon!" When Silent Bob caves in his chest with the golf club, Azrael muttered "But... I'm a fucking demon..."
  • In Dr. Dolittle 2, Dolittle tries to get an endangered bear to mate in order to save a forest. The Corrupt Corporate Executive tells him that won't happen so he makes an offer noting this way he can save face, won't have to admit he was wrong, and won't look like a fool. When Dolittle gets the animals to unite against him, he proposes they set up a meeting as it's the only way to save face, he won't have to admit he was wrong, and he'll get out of the situation without looking like an idiot.
  • In Duplicity, when the head of Equikrom's espionage unit is telling his boss about the history of Ronny Patiz, he mentions that Ronny made some kind of lotion. The boss asks if it was a cream or a lotion. Toward the end of the film, when Ray and Claire are selling Ronny's formula for a hair-growth shampoo to the Swiss, they are told, "This formula is nothing but a common skin cream. Sorry, a lotion."
  • In Empire Records, Warren is being dragged out of Empire Records kicking and screaming after being arrested for shoplifting, when Lucas delivers a parting shot. "Take care of yourself, Warren. Don't let the Man get you down." At the end of the movie, Warren returns to the store and scares everyone by pretending to shoot up the place. Though the gun is real, the bullets aren't. As the situation gets resolved, Warren finds himself in the employees' good graces after dropping the whole macho routine, to the point of even being given a job there. When the cops arrive to deal with Warren, Lucas again says, "Take care of yourself. Don't let the Man get you down." The irony is that Lucas is clearly mocking Warren when he says that the first time, but he sincerely means it when he says it the second time.
  • In the beginning of Enchanted, Robert asks Giselle if "[this is] a habit of [hers], falling off things?" She replies "Well, there's usually someone there to catch me." Later, when positions are reversed, she asks him the same question, to which he replies "Only when you're there to catch me."
  • Enemy of the State: when Brill first meets Dean, he says "You're either incredibly smart or incredibly stupid" as he doesn't know why he's being followed by NSA agents. He repeats that phrase when Dean tells the agents that he has hidden the tape they're searching for somewhere else... when they don't have such a tape. (Dean is aiming for an Enemy Mine situation there)
  • Early in Equilibrium, Partridge (who feels emotion, which is illegal and chemically suppressed in the future) quotes William Yeats to Preston (who's about to kill him), including the line "Tread softly, because you tread on my dreams". At the end after Preston himself starts feeling emotion, and kills all the guards protecting DuPont, the Big Bad DuPont who is also feeling but is exploiting the law for his own benefit tells him "Be careful, Preston, you're treading on my dreams". It doesn't seem to make sense, considering DuPont didn't hear Partridge use the quote, but he likely would have read any paperwork that Preston filled out, including the quote. The Ironic Echo was likely a last-ditch attempt to throw Preston off and gain an upper hand in their duel. It fails.
  • In Ever After, when Jacqueline (the nicer of the two stepsisters) tries to give her mother a reality check by reminding her that "it's only a ball," Rodmilla replies coldly, "and you're only going for the food." Later in the film, when Rodmilla and Marguerite are receiving their comeuppance, Jacqueline finally gets some of her own back for all of her mother's belittling:
    Rodmilla: Jacqueline, darling, I'd hate to think you had anything to do with this.
    Jacqueline: Of course not, mother. I'm only here for the food.
    • Another echo from the same film, used thrice: "You have been born to privilege, and with that comes specific obligations." The first usage is in a neutral tone by the queen, in an unsuccessful effort to make Prince Henry accept his Arranged Marriage with the princess of Spain. The second is in a positive tone by Danielle, under the guise of Comtesse de Lancret, when explaining how one's title and status was not linked to who one truly was. The last is used in a negative tone by Henry himself, when he justifies his cold and public rejection of Danielle after finding out who she really was — at which point Leonardo da Vinci shoots the statement down with a scathing reply of "Horseshit!"
  • Exam: "Any questions?"
  • In Ex Machina, after the session in which Caleb tells Ava to pick something to draw because it will be interesting to see what she chooses, she tells him to say something about himself. When he asks why she doesn't pick, Ava says, "Because I'm interested to see what you'll choose."
  • In the 1989 film The Fabulous Baker Boys, real life brothers Jeff and Beau Bridges play the titular brothers, talented pianists whose lounge act is past its prime. One bar owner they're trying to get gig from says simply "we'll call you." They decide to add a singer, Michelle Pfeiffer, and that turns their fortunes around. The same bar owner now comes to them asking if they can play his joint. They tell him "We'll call you."
  • Hammed up in Fallen, as first and last line of the film: I'm going to tell you about the time I NEARLY died.
  • The Fast and the Furious:
    • Brian wagers his pink slip when he races Dominic and loses, meaning he now has to give him his car. Unfortunately, Johnny Tran and Lance shoot up the car in question, destroying it. Just before going off to be alone with Letty, Dominic tells Brian "You do know you owe me a ten-second car, right?" At the end of the movie, the police are coming for Dominic for the truck heists and Brian readily hands over the keys to his new car. When Dominic asks if he knows what he's doing, Brian replies "I owe you a ten-second car."
    • In Furious 7, the question "You thought this was gonna be a street fight?" was asked towards Dominic Toretto by the antagonist Deckard Shaw while pointing a firearm at him. Then at the climax fight, the role was reversed with the same line thrown right back at Shaw by Dom, this time with a follow up answer by Dom "You're goddamn right it is!".
    • Also in 7, mercenary Kiet locks Brian O'Conner in a bus sliding towards a cliff and says "too slow". Later Brian repeats this line when he hooks a a weight to Kiet's belt and sends him down an elevator shaft.
  • Another visual one appears in Fearless (2006). During the fateful battle between Yuanjia and Master Qin, Yuanjia throws a twisting jab that proves to be fatal to his opponent. In the match between him and Tanaka, he performs the same move but stops just short of landing it, finally succumbing to the poison in his system. This is used to show his growth from the arrogant youth he was to the enlightened man he had become.
  • In Fight Club, related to Arc Words. One example that stands out in particular is when the group leader for the Testicular Cancer support group that the Narrator visits addresses the people in the room with the phrase "I look around this room and I see a lot of...", which Tyler steals while making his "Middle Children of History" speech later on in the film.
  • Final Destination 3: When Kevin tries to offer Wendy some comfort in the aftermath of the rollercoaster disaster, she coldly dismisses him, saying that the only reason they ever hung out together at all was because they were dating each other's best friends. Wendy tells Kevin, "We don't even like each other," before walking away from him. Later on, when Wendy says that she'll be freaking out every second, hoping Kevin is okay, he teases her by asking, "Why? We don't even like each other." Wendy gives a weak laugh, and the two hug each other.
  • In A Fistful of Dollars, while the nameless Stranger is comparing weapons with Ramon, Ramon praises his rifle, to which the Stranger replies that he'd prefer his .45. Ramon replies, "When a man with a .45 meets a man with a rifle, the man with a pistol will be a dead man. That's an old Mexican Proverb...and it's true." Later on during the final showdown, the Stranger repeats those words to Ramon, and says "Let's see if that's true." The words don't hold up, thanks largely to the Stranger preparing for the fight with a metal plate in his clothes to protect him against Ramon's rifle, and Ramon is killed.
  • Happens in Fist of the North Star. At the start of the film Kenshiro, not wanting to fight his former friend and love rival Shin, says that "The North Star and the Southern Cross should never fight", only for Shin to respond "That is true... but there is no North Star" just before almost killing Ken. At the end the film the roles are reversed, with Ken simply saying Southern Cross in place of North Star. Oddly enough, by that part it seems like Shin may be serious and honestly repenting what he's done, yet Ken goes on beating him to death.
  • Forrest Gump:
    • Bubba's mother being served lunch by a white lady, using the exact same shot as the Imagine Spot of Bubba's mother's ancestors doing the same thing for their white employers.
    • "…and so they shot him" is sort of one as well, considering the famous people Forrest has met (does the man have a death god following him?).
    • A less straightforward example is when Forrest's mother had to sleep with the principal just to allow Forrest to have a regular school environment instead of a special needs environment. During the mom and the principal's … "pleasure time", The Principal is faintly heard panting from outside. When the Principal afterwards asks Forrest whether he says anything at all, Forrest's response is to mime said panting (without realizing what it meant).
  • Fried Green Tomatoes:
    Evelyn: Hey! I was waiting for that spot!
    Girl #1: Face it, lady, we're younger and faster!
    Evelyn: *rear-ends the other car six times*
    Girl #1: What are you doing?
    Girl #2: Are you crazy?
    Evelyn: Face it, girls, I'm older and I have more insurance.
  • The Funhouse Massacre: In a Flashback to when Manual Dyer set a member of his flock on fire, he says to the member's daughter, who would grow up to be Sheriff Kate, "It's just death.". These are the same words Sheriff Kate says to Eileen before she kills her.
  • Galaxy Quest zigzags on this with "By Grabthar's Hammer, by the Sons of Warvan, you shall be avenged." A quote by Dr. Lazarus from the Show Within a Show, the first time it's spoken in the film is to some fans at a convention by Lazarus' actor, Alexander Dane, who's grown bitter over the role derailing his acting career and hates saying the line. The second time it's spoken in earnest by Alexander to a dying Quellek, just before Alexander's Roaring Rampage of Revenge against Sarris' forces.
  • In The Ghost and the Darkness, Remmington says to Patterson. "You've just been hit. The getting up is up to you." Patterson later repeats it back to Remmington.
  • Ghostbusters (1984): When Ray, Egon, and Peter try to catch the Librarian Ghost, Ray's plan consists of sneaking up on her and yelling "Get her!", which of course fails since they don't have the proton packs yet. Much later, when the Ghostbustes confront Gozer, Peter says, "Go get her, Ray!"
  • Gifted: In an early scene Mary is too busy writing to say good morning to her teacher in the classic sing-song voice with the rest of the class, so has to say it by herself. Later, the morning after Bonnie and Frank got drunk and slept together, Bonnie walks around the house in just a sheet and is spotted by Mary:
    Mary: Good morning Miss Stevenson.
  • In GI Joe The Rise Of Cobra, Destro's minion Doctor Mindbender tells research subjects "This will only hurt a little. What comes next, more so" before injecting them with Destro's nanomites. At the climax of the film Cobra Commander says the same to Destro when injecting him with a new strain of nanomites.
  • In The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, after Blondie decides to abandon Tuco in the desert, but reassures Tuco that it's only about 70 miles back to town, saying "If you save your breath, I feel a man like you can manage it" before leaving Tuco screaming. Tuco not only survives this encounter, but upon finding Blondie again, forces him to travel through the desert without protection from the sun, or water, on a journey Tuco estimates to be about 100 miles. To add insult to injury, he says "What was it you told me the last time? If you save your breath I feel a man like you could manage it."
  • Lampshaded in Good Will Hunting, Robin Williams's line Sorry, I have to go see about a girl. is later used by Matt Damon, and Robin Williams's reply is "Son of a bitch, stole my line."
  • Grand Hotel (1932): "Grand Hotel... always the same. People come, people go. Nothing ever happens."
  • Guyana: Crime of the Century: The motto of Johnson's Temple is borrowed from George Santayana: "Those who don't remember the past are condemned to repeat it". At one point, Anna reminds Johnson of it during one of their intimate talks. During the movie's ending, after the murder-suicide of all the followers, the camera points at the billboard in the pavillion where the motto is written, indicating that the whole tragedy is an unfortunate example of what happens when nobody heeds it.
  • In Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle, the title characters have an encounter with racist white hoodlums who harass an Indian shopkeeper with "Thank you, come again!" Toward the end of the movie, they encounter the same characters. Harold, who has been taking crap for the entire movie, finally snaps and boldly steals their truck. As they're driving away, Kumar victoriously taunts the outraged hoodlums with this same line.
  • Harry Potter:
    • In Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, as in the book, Professor Umbridge forces Harry to copy lines using a magic pen that etches the words "I must not tell lies" into the back of his hand. He proves how well he learned his lesson when, under attack by enraged Centaurs, Umbridge begs him to tell them she means them no harm. "Sorry, Professor. I must not tell lies."
    • In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, he does it to her again when she's trying to force a Muggle-Born witch to confess to stealing her wand from someone else. As it happens, neither of these instances occurred in the books; they were added to the movies as a bit of cruel irony.
    • Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them: Early on, while Jacob is trying to look/sound impressive to Queenie while he and Newt are staying in the Goldstein Sisters' apartment, Queenie asks him if there are a lot of No-Majs like Jacob, and he replies "there are none like me". Later on, before he subjects himself to his Victory-Guided Amnesia, he tries to let Queenie go by saying there are lots of guys like him, to which she replies with the same line back at him.
    • Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald: Before storming off from Newt's house, Queenie states that Jacob considers her crazy for forcing him to marry her with a love potion. Queenie is a Legilimens, aka someone who can read minds, but since Jacob denies it, it's unclear if he thought so. Then comes the climax. Just before Queenie leaves to join the Big Bad Grindelwald (once again, because she wants to marry him), Jacob personally says that she really is crazy.
  • The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug: After The Company's first encounter with Beorn in his bear form, Dori claims that he is bewitched with the line "It's not natural, none of it." This is the same line spoken by Samwise Gamgee in the Extended Edition of The Two Towers when he and Frodo Baggins are descending a cliff in Emyn Muil.
  • Home Alone also has a visual Ironic Echo. Several times when Old Man Marley, the Misunderstood Loner with a Heart of Gold, appears to Kevin, it begins by showing only his heavy boots complete with scary music. The first few times it`s supposed to convey Kevin`s fear of him. The final time he arrives to save Kevin, it's the burglars who are supposed to be afraid.
  • Hostile Waters: "How are things in Moscow?" Meant initially as a slight to the K-219's resident KGB officer, Captain Britanov uses it again on the flight home, after he's gained respect for Pshenishny... because Pshenishny has just been on the radio with Moscow.
  • In the beginning of the short film How to Be Alone, the heroine says, "Call something harmless and watch it destroy you" about the closet that materializes her fears. After she beats the stuffing out of one of her fears, she repeats the phrase, but this time she clearly means it regarding herself.
  • In The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2, President Snow reminds Katniss about their "promise" not to lie to each other after telling her about President Coin's actions.
  • In I Can't Think Straight, the newly outed Leyla tries to convince Tala (the woman whom she's been having an affair with) to leave her fiance and come out as well so they can be together. Noticing Tala's reluctance, Leyla asks if Tala is in love with her fiancé. Tala responds with; "There are things I love about him." Later on in the film, after meeting Leyla's new girlfriend, the now-single Tala asks Leyla if she loves said new girlfriend. Leyla's response? "There are things I love about her."
  • I Could Never Be Your Woman: Rosie (Michelle Pfeiffer) comes across her daughter, Izzie (Saoirse Ronan), playing a video game. Izzie reveals it's her crush's favorite game, and she's trying to get good at it, so she'll have something in common with him. Rosie says, "Sounds like a firm basis for a relationship." Later on, Rosie's much younger date arrives at their house, and while looking around, discovers a bottle of medication, and that he takes the same kind. Izzie repeats "Sounds like a firm basis for a relationship."
  • Inception has Saito asking Cobb, who's dubious about the inception attempt, "Do you want to take a leap of faith, or become an old man filled with regret, waiting to die alone?" When Cobb has to describe limbo to Saito he says that he'll be lost so long that he'll become an old man. Saito: "Filled with regret." Cobb: "Waiting to die alone."
  • Inglourious Basterds: In the very first scene, Hans Landa makes a speech about how he is capable of thinking like a Jew:
    Hans Landa: "Where does [a German] look? He looks in the barn, he looks in the attic, he looks in the cellar, he looks everywhere he would hide. But there's so many places it would never occur to a hawk to hide. However, the reason the Führer's brought me off my Alps in Austria and placed me in French cow country today is because it does occur to me."
    • But he fails to think as an American when he surrenders to Lt. Aldo Raine:
    Hans Landa: "You'll be shot for this!"
    Lt. Aldo Raine: "Nah, I don't think so. More like chewed out. I've been chewed out before."
  • In An Innocent Man hardened prisoner Virgil rhetorically asks titular innocent man James, who's been sent to prison due to being framed by two dirty cops "How often does a con get justice?" when he tells him of his desire to clear his name. He repeats the line triumphantly at the end when the dirty cops arrive in the prison for their crimes.
  • In I Spit on Your Grave, Jennifer has taken revenge on all but one of her rapists, who begs for mercy as she closes in for the kill. Jennifer responds with the line that he gave her during their assault on her — "Suck it, bitch!"
    • The remake has a number of these to hand out, among them frequently comparing Johnny to a horse as he had done with her, and mocking Sheriff Storch about how he was an "ass man." Katie in the sequel has even more of them to hand out to her tormentors as she's taking vengeance.
  • Jack the Giant Slayer: "There's something behind me, isn't there?"
  • James Bond:
    • In GoldenEye, Alec Trevelyan, during his last mission with James Bond, declared "For England!" before being seemingly killed. Later, when he revealed himself as the villain Janus, he muttered, "For England" after knocking Bond unconscious. At the end of their final fight, when Bond has Trevelyan at his mercy, Trevelyan says, "For England, James?" Bond answers, "No. For me," before letting Trevelyan plunge to his death.
    • Also, Xenia Onatopp tries to do this to Bond with another line that's repeated twice. When they first meet during a card game in Monte Carlo, she tells him "The pleasure is all mine." Later, after she's established herself as The Dragon and tries to kill Bond, he has a fight scene with her and makes her take him to Janus. Bond asks if she had a nice evening, and she replies, "Well, once again the pleasure was all yours". The line comes a third time later in the movie when she attacks him again, and says "This time, Mr. Bond, the pleasure will be all mine." However, this being a James Bond movie, he gives her a Karmic Death.
    • In Tomorrow Never Dies, James Bond walks into his hotel room to find an assassin standing over the body of Paris Carver. He tells Bond that the news will report that the victim's body and that of an unidentified man were found in a hotel room. The assassin was right, as later a news report tells us exactly that — he just made a fatal error as to the identity of the unidentified man.
    • In Diamonds Are Forever after Shady Tree gets James Bond out of the retort to question him about the fake diamonds that he and Felix Leiter had loaded into Peter Franks's body, Bond proceeds to leave the funeral parlor as he tells him and Morton Slumber, "My condolences, gentlemen!" All the ingredients of a Bond One-Liner except a fatality are present in those three words.
  • When John Wick first meets Iosef, he rejects Iosef's offer for his car, only to be told that everything has a price. One stolen car and one dead dog later, John kicks off his Roaring Rampage of Revenge at the Red Circle club and sends Iosef off running with his tail between his legs and with firsthand knowledge of just how dangerous an enemy the little punk has just made. When he tries to call Victor (one of John's first kills at the club), John answers instead. "Victor's dead. [in Russian] Everything has a price."
  • In Jurassic Park, Hammond repeatedly tells everybody very proudly "We've spared no expense." After the park goes completely to hell and his beloved grandchildren and Dr. Grant go missing, he talks with Dr. Sattler. He tries to explain the park to her, and she points out that the park was always doomed. Hammond is clearly completely broken, and she tries to make him feel better by complimenting the ice cream, and he once again says, without any of his previous pride, "We spared no expense..."
  • Early in Kindergarten Cop, the school runs a fire drill. At this point, the main character has only recently been put in charge of his kindergarten class and has not learned to deal with them, so while all the other students are calmly performing the fire drill in an efficient and orderly manner, the kindergarteners are running around screaming and basically acting like uncontrollable monsters. Towards the climax, the villain starts a fire in the library as a distraction. We see everyone, clearly not expecting this, running around panicking and the school in chaos... except the kindergarten class, who are calmly performing the fire drill in an efficient and orderly manner.
  • In the Kamen Rider Double movie Begins Night, Shotaro calls Phillip "Akuma" (Devil) for his involvement in the creation of Gaia Memories. A little while later, when the two are trapped in the building together and need to team up to escape, Phillip asks Shotaro, "Akuma to ainori suru yuuki, aru ka na?" (Do you have the courage to ride with the Devil?)
  • A hilarious example of this is in The Karate Kid Part II, the Jerk Jock of a martial arts teacher's saying is, "Mercy is for the weak. We do not train to be merciful here. A man who faces you is the enemy. Enemies deserve no mercy." which he drills into his students with full force. In the sequel, he gets pissed off at the fact that his number one pupil lost to Mr. Miyagi's student who he thinks is a joke. So he takes it out on his pupils after he lost and starts to almost kill one of them until Mr. Miyagi tells him to stop. He doesn't listen and tries to take out Mr. Miyagi. He consequently ends up with hands full of shattered glass — Mr. Miyagi didn't even touch him, it was all his own doing. Mr. Miyagi drops him to his knees with one hand and prepares the other for a lethal blow to his throat, and in a dangerous voice repeats the line: "Mercy is for the weak. We do not train to be merciful here. A man who face you he is enemy. Enemy deserve no mercy."
    • Everyone, even his loyal pupil, believes he's going to finish the guy off. But at the last second instead of striking he honks the guy's nose and the guy passes out anyway.
      • The nose honk itself is also an echo, as Daniel does the same thing to Chozen at the end of the movie.
    • There is also the scene where Sato disowns Chozen for not helping Daniel save the teenage girl during the hurricane. "Now, to you, I am dead." Later when Sato tries to talk Chozen out of his duel to the death with Daniel, Chozen reminds Sato of what he said. "I don't hear you, Uncle. I'm dead to you, remember?"
    • When Mr. Miyagi confronts Kreese and Terry Silver in The Karate Kid Part III, Silver mocks him with exaggerated Kiai noises. After Miyagi gives him an embarrassing loss where Silver fails to land a single hit and inadvertently dumps paint all over himself, Miyagi rubs in the loss with similarly exaggerated kiai noises before leaving.
  • In Key Largo, Rocco spends most of the movie armed and dangerous, threatening to shoot the hostages on the slightest whim, taunting Frank as a coward for surviving the war. When the hurricane starts turning Rocco into a quivering mass, Frank taunts back: "You don't like it, do you Rocco, the storm? Show it your gun, why don't you? If it doesn't stop, shoot it!"
  • In Kingsman: The Secret Service, just after the church scene, Valentine is about to kill Harry. Before he does it, he suggests that Harry would find out about his plan, but retorts by saying "Well, this ain't that kind of movie.". Near the end of the movie, just as Valentine is dying, he suggests that Eggsy would make a Bond One-Liner, but Eggsy throws the same line, almost verbatim, back to him in response, to Valentine's surprising amusement.
    "Perfect."
  • A Knight's Tale has the villain repeatedly taunting the hero with the words "You have been weighed. You have been measured. You have been found wanting." Much later, after the villain gets his comeuppance, the hero's sidekicks repeat the phrase back to the villain.
    • There's also a line uttered by one of the sidekicks early on; "God love you, William." "I know, I know. No-one else will." Later, sidekick repeats the first sentence, and finishes it with "And so do I."
  • The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. While hunting Mr. Hyde, Quatermain saves Sawyer from being injured by falling masonry and tells him "Eyes open, boy. I can't protect you all the time". Near the end, Sawyer protects Quatermain from Moriarty's attack and repeats the line back to him.
  • At the beginning of Legally Blonde, Warner dumps college girlfriend Elle, saying "If I'm gonna be a senator by the time I'm thirty, I've gotta stop dicking around." At the end of the movie, when Elle is a promising law student and Warner tries to win her back, she replies, "If I'm going to be a partner in a law firm by the time I'm thirty, I need a boyfriend who isn't a total bonehead."
  • Les Misérables (2012) has a visual Ironic Echo. During "Stars", there's a significant and striking high-angle shot of Javert's feet as he walks along the edge of a building. It's supposed to make him seem confident and dominant. The exact same shot is repeated just before he commits suicide.
  • In Little Giants, the two coaches (brothers; the all-American versus the geek) put up their businesses (the geek's gas station versus the jock's car dealership) on the outcome of the game between them. At halftime, with the jock's team up, he taunts, "You'll always have a job at the full-service pumps." At the end of the game, the geek's team wins and the jock wants out. After teasing him for a second, the geek retorts, "You'll always have a job at (my new car dealership)!"
  • Little Sweetheart: Thelma gives one to Elizabeth just before she opens fire when Elizabeth tries to stop her by saying they're friends. As Elizabeth yelled at her that they're not friends earlier after Thelma threatened her with the gun, Elizabeth really should have seen that coming.
  • "A chance for Captain Faramir of Gondor to show his character" in The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers would have been a direct quote from the book. It becomes an Ironic Echo because the movie completely reverses Faramir's motivations in this scene. In the book, he overcomes the lure of the Ring and sends Frodo and Sam on their way; in the movie, he succumbs temporarily and tries to take them to Minas Tirith.
    • Also in The Two Towers, Théoden makes a comment that they (the ones at Helm's Deep) are alone. In the end, when all seems lost, Éomer shows up with reinforcements, saying that Théoden isn't alone.
  • Machete: McLaughlin says, "Welcome to America!" to a Mexican man he guns down for trying to cross the border. At the end, his own border vigilante gang mistakes him for a Mexican and guns him down while saying, "Welcome to America!"
  • In The Machinist, Trever first says "I know who you are!" repeatedly and angrily when he thinks he has worked out the identity of Ivan, and then later in a terrified tone when he actually has worked out Ivan's identity ( a sort-of personification of his guilt).
  • In Mad Max: Fury Road, the phrase "Witness me!" is introduced early on as a rallying cry for the Brainwashed and Crazy army of "War Boys" to shout before they die gloriously in battle, in the service of their God-Emperor. Late in the film, Nux, a War Boy who has turned against his army to help Furiosa and the Wives escape slavery whispers "Witness me" as he blows up himself and the rig to keep the army from following them.
  • Maleficent:
  • March Or Die: After Hastings is tortured to death by one of El Krim's men, El Krim says "One of my men became restless." After Marco shoots the man who killed Hastings, Major Foster says "One of my men became restless."
  • Marvel Cinematic Universe:
    • In Iron Man 2, Justin Hammer tells Ivan Vanko to not get too attached to things in reference to his bird. Vanko soon offers Hammer the same advice in reference to Hammer's drones.
      • At the beginning of the first film, Tony proudly proclaims that "the day weapons are no longer needed to keep the peace, I'll start making bricks and beans for baby hospitals". Later, when Tony has his epiphany, Obadiah Stane makes a similar remark, illustrating what Tony could have been if hadn't seen what his weapons were being used for.
    • A few examples in The Avengers
      • When Loki first appears, Fury tries to defuse the situation by saying "We have no quarrel with your people": Loki responds "An ant has no quarrel with a boot." When Loki is captive on the Helicarrier, Fury says that one button is all it will take to jettison the cell, Loki included, and remarks (pointing at Loki) "Ant..." (points at button) "...Boot."
      • Tony sarcastically remarking that Coulson's first name is "Agent", then later, "His name was Phil." Bonus points for it being said both times in the same room, on different days.
      • A more serious one: while ferrying Captain Rogers to the Helicarrier, Agent Coulson says that "Maybe people need 'old-fashioned'" in response to Captain America's traditional suit, but clearly referring to the ideals Captain America represents. Later, at the team's darkest moment, Fury suggests that believing in heroes might be "an old-fashioned notion."
    • In Avengers: Age of Ultron, Pietro easily thrashes Hawkeye the first time they meet thanks to his Super-Speed and mocks him with "You didn't see that coming?" Hawkeye manages to outwit him in a later encounter and parrots the line. Pietro then says the line one more time after sacrificing himself to save Hawkeye and a little boy from being gunned down.
    • Doctor Strange:
      • When the titular protagonist tries the forbidden timewarp spell, he gets berated by Mordo and defends himself by saying that they should have put the warnings before the spells. At the end when villain Kaecilius gets his wish for eternal life granted and gets dragged into the Dark Dimension, Strange comments:
        Doctor Strange: Yeah, you know, you really should have stolen the whole book because the warnings... [Beat] the warnings come after the spells.
      • "Tiny, momentary specks within an indifferent universe." The arrogant Strange calls the Ancient One this after she tries to show him the concept of magic. When he later confronts Kaecilius over the human sacrifices made for his plan to make everybody immortal, the latter responds with this, highlighting how similar the two are.
      • A conversation between Mordo and Strange is mirrored later in Infinity War.
        Strange: Even if there's another way?
        Mordo: There is no other way!
        Strange: You lack imagination!
      • Later, during Avengers: Infinity War, Strange sacrificed the Time Stone to ensure Tony's survival, leading to half the universe erased.
        Strange: Tony. There was no other way.
    • In Avengers: Infinity War, moments after Thanos empowers himself with the final Infinity Stone, Thor throws Stormbreaker into his chest, mortally wounding him. However, Thanos survives, and tells Thor "You should have gone for the head," before snapping his fingers and using the stones to wipe out half of all life across the universe. In Avengers: Endgame, the survivors of his attack immediately attack the planet he resides on, where he reveals that he destroyed the stones after he was finished. Thor then immediately and angrily beheads him with Stormbreaker.
      Rocket Raccoon: Thor? What did you do?
      Thor: [with broken realization] ...I went for the head.
    • Also in Infinity War, the ending shows Thanos sitting on the porch of his hut, looking at a peaceful sunrise with a gentle smile on his face. In Endgame, the climax ends with a past version of Thanos sitting down in a ruinous battlefield, overwhelmed with despair and disbelief due to Tony having used the Stones to fingersnap him, and all of his army out of existence. Thanos is the last to go, thus able to accept his failure like his then-future self did his victory. Both scenes even have identical camera pans.
    • Spider-Man: No Way Home: As Otto Octavius finds himself imprisoned in one of Doctor Strange's magic cells, he mockingly asks, "What is this, a birthday party?" But then, as he's flabbergasted the first time he sees the sorcerer actually performing magic, Doc Ock asks how he did that, and Strange retorts, "Lots of birthday parties."
  • The Matrix trilogy:
    • Agent Smith always uses "It is inevitable" or variations of the phrase. Later, when Neo surrenders to Smith in order to effectively defeat him (long story short, Neo has to merge with Smith to eliminate him while connected to the source), Neo says "You were right, Smith. You were right all along. It was inevitable."
    • Something the Oracle said to Neo:
      Oracle: You became the one because you chose to.
    • In The Matrix Revolutions after Smith's "Why Mr. Anderson" speech
      Smith: ...why, Mr. Anderson, do you persist?!
      Neo: Because I choose to.
  • Max Keeble's Big Move does three variations: First is when Principal Jindrake tells Keeble that he "excourages" horseplay and slacking off. Keeble later uses that exact word when realizing that the manner he decided to take care of the bullies was not the right way to do so. The second is where Keeble tells Jindrake that his suspicions of Jindrake being a criminal were actually "ground-full" and then telling him to look it up when he protested the word. Jindrake did the same thing earlier in the film with the Excourage part. The third and last part is between Jenna and Megan: During their first meeting, Jenna explains to Megan that Megan is actually sitting in her seat, complete with "Can't You Read the Sign?" on the chair, and then telling her to "shoo-shoo!" Megan then tells Jenna those exact same words when Max explains that he's seeing someone (Megan) when refusing Jenna's invitation.
  • Miss Congeniality uses the second situation. "It is not a beauty pageant. It is a scholarship program!"
    • Also, before her transformation, Sandra Bullock's character Gracie answers a question with "Yeah." Candice Bergen's character Kathy Morningside (the director of the pageant) corrects her, saying "Yes." At the end of the movie, when Gracie is pushing Morningside in the car, the ex-pageant winner says "Yeah, yeah." Gracie corrects her, echoing "Yes" before shutting the door in the shocked woman's face.
  • Mission: Impossible (1996): "Good morning, Mr. Phelps." Kittridge's usual mission greeting turns into an acknowledgement about who the IMF mole really is once he turns on the watch provided by Ethan.
  • In The Monster Squad, bullies routinely pick on Horace by calling him 'Fat Kid', to which he ineffectually protests that "My name is Horace!" Then, after he's blown away the Creature From The Black Lagoon with a shotgun in front of those same bullies, who are cowering in fear behind a window:
    Bully: Hey, Fat Kid! Good job!
    Horace: My name... is Horace. [Dramatic Gun Cock]
  • In the 1952 version of Moulin Rouge!, Jane Avril excitedly bids farewell to Toulouse-Lautrec in the first scene with the line, "There's the most divine creature waiting for me..." She says this again to say goodbye to him at the end, when he lies dying and hallucinates that the Moulin's dancers have returned.
  • In Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie, Tom Servo reveals he has an Interocitor and when Mike blows it off at first, Tom replies "Doesn't everybody?" When their attempt to use it to escape fails and Dr. Forrester appears on the screen, he says "Auntie Em! Auntie Em! Surprise! Like who doesn't have an Interocitor?"
  • My Amnesia Girl: When Apollo asks Irene how she is after he and his friends see her again and he walks up to her in a grocery store, she asks "Who are you?" in an attempt to avoid him. Near the end, when Irene visits Apollo in a hospital after he gets in a car crash, he asks her the same question ("Who are you?") when she fakes her amnesia. Irene assumes he's joking until he asks his father and his friends "Who are you guys", showing that he isn't lying and he actually has amnesia.
  • "Someone stole that man's face" from Mystery Team. Originally said to convey disgust at an image by one character; later said to describe what the characters did to the Big Bad. Played very much for laughs.
  • In National Treasure, Agent Sadusky tells Ben twice, "Someone's got to go to prison, Ben." The first time is during an interrogation concerning the theft of the Declaration of Independence; the second time, someone does go to prison... after Ben leads Sadusky to the someone in question.
  • The Night Flier: At the start, Dees tells Katherine to "never believe what you publish — never publish what you believe". She repeats his words back to him when she goes along with the Frame-Up and identifies Dees as the Night Flier.
  • Early on in No Kidding, Catherine tells David that the figure of authority in any family is the male. When she tries to get him to stop punishing the children after they steal the car, he repeats this to her and reminds her that she was the one who said it.
  • Oblivion (2013) : Between Mission Control and Victoria, Jack's partner.
    Mission Control: Are you an effective team?
    Victoria: We are an effective team.
    (When Victoria betrays Jack)
    Mission Control: Are you still an effective team?
    Victoria: We are not an effective team.
  • One Night in October: When Michelle is tied up by Freddie and Jason in her garage, Freddie says "This isn't a "you ask" kinda thing, this is a "you talk" kinda thing.". Before killing Freddie, we get this line from Michelle.
    Michelle: This isn't a "you ask" kinda thing, this is a "you die" kinda thing.
  • Oppenheimer has one for Strauss. Strauss reveals that he set up Oppenheimer's security clearance hearing as a Kangaroo Court where Oppenheimer cannot adequately defend himself, as technically he is not being tried for anything, merely being denied something. Years later, during Strauss's own confirmation hearing for the position of Secretary of Commerce, he cannot defend himself from David Hill's testimony about how he persecuted Oppenheimer for petty reasons, as technically he is not being tried for anything, merely being denied something.
    Not convicting, just denying.
  • There's a single red shoe in the wreckage of Tokyo in Pacific Rim. It turns out to be Mako's. The next time we see a single distinctive shoe, it's one of Hannibal Chau's gold-plated wing tips in the wreckage of Hong Kong. The Stinger reveals Hannibal survived and is quite pissed off at having lost one of his fancy shoes.
  • Played straight twice in The Patriot (2000):
    • Cornwallis calls Martin and his militia "a bunch of farmers with pitchforks." After Benjamin Martin's Batman Gambit, Tavington tells him, "Quite impressive for a farmer with a pitchfork, wouldn't you say?"
    • Capt. Wilkins, a Loyalist, answered Tavington's question on why he should trust a man who "betray his neighbors" with "Those neighbors of mine who stand against England deserve to die a traitor's death." Later on, Tavington orders Capt. Wilkins to burn his said neighbors at the stake inside a church. Wilkins hesitates at first because he finds that act dishonorable, but Tavington reminds him about what he told him earlier to make him to do it anyway:
  • In The Philadelphia Story, Dexter tells Tracy:
    Dexter: The fact is you'll never be a first-class human being or a first-class woman, until you've learned to have some regard for human frailty.
    • Later, Tracy unwittingly echoes the line to Mike.
    Tracy: The truth is you'll never, you can't be, a first-rate writer or a first-rate human being, until you've learned to have some small regard for human frai--
    • Also, Tracy says the following when talking about class politics:
    Tracy: Upper and lower my eye; I'll take the lower, thanks.
    • Ironically, Dexter uses the same expression when defending the upper classes to George.
    George: You and your whole rotten class!
    Dexter: Oh class my eye!
  • "Kill guns are for pussies" in Pig Hunt. Originally said by Ricky to Ben as a derogatory comment on Ben bringing a handgun hunting, as such weapons are only useful for finishing off wounded prey and a real man should do that with his hands. Later repeated by Ben to one of Ricky's clan when he was a bout to shoot him, but changes his mind and impales him with a makeshift harpoon instead.
  • Pirates of the Caribbean:
    • Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl:
      • At the beginning of the film, Elizabeth lets out a shocked "You're a pirate," when she finds the "pirate medallion" around Will's neck. At the end, she proudly says "he's a pirate" to correct her father when he laments that she's falling in love with a blacksmith.
      • There is off course Jack Sparrow's catchphrase, "You will always remember this as the day you almost caught Captain Jack Sparrow!" After Jack is knocked out by the blacksmith, Norrington delights in turning it against him.
        Norrington: Well, I'm sure you will remember this as the day that Captain Jack Sparrow almost escaped.
      • How about this one?
        Norrington: You are without doubt the worst pirate I've ever heard of.
        ''[later...]
        Groves: He must be the best pirate I've ever seen!
        Norrington: So it would seem.
      • Subverted by Barbossa.
        Barbossa: [after Elizabeth tells him to leave] I am disinclined to acquiesce to your request.
        [later in the movie, when he sends Ragetti to request that she join Barbossa for dinner]
        Elizabeth: You may tell your Captain that I am disinclined to acquiesce to his request.
        Ragetti: He said you'd say that.
      • There's also this gem...
        Elizabeth: [after failing to convince to the other pirates to go back with her for Jack] Bloody pirates.
        [a little later on...]
        Ragetti: [seeing the Black Pearl sailing off] Is it supposed to be doing that?
        Pintel: They're stealing our ship!
        Ragetti: Bloody pirates!
      • "They're more like guidelines anyway!"
      • Also, the usage of the word "parley", and all involving Pintel. First, Elizabeth uses parley to spare her life when Pintel threatens her. Then, Jack tries it later on his old partners, to no avail...
        Pintel: Damn to the depths whatever man what thought of parley!
        Jack: That would be the French.
      • Later, Barbossa's crew having captured Jack's crew, Pintel warns them against invoking parley. Finally, when the curse is lifted, the pirates are held at gunpoint, as Pintel nervously tries to invoke parley.
    • Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
      • During the Mêlée à Trois between Jack, Will and Norrington over the key to the chest, Norrington, after gaining the upper hand, says, "By your leave, Mr. Turner." Shortly thereafter, Will gets the upper hand again, and fires back, "By your leave, Mr. Norrington!"
    • Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End:
      • Elizabeth uses the line 'It was my burden to bear' to justify not telling Will about feeding Jack to the kraken. Will uses the same line when it's revealed he led Sao Feng to the Pearl.
      • Barbosa claims the Brethren Court should rely on "the sweat of our brows, and the strength of our backs" when he wants to rely on Calypso to save them. After her betrayal, Elizabeth uses the same words to rally both Barbosa and the pirates to fight on their own.
      • Several times, the phrase 'it's just good business' is used to justify characters betraying one another. The final use is by Cutler Beckett, when he realises he's going to die after the crew of the Dutchman turn on him and accepts his fate.
      • "The Dutchman must have a captain."
      • One is even twisted into a Brick Joke when Pintel asks "Why is all but the rum gone?" , only to be told by Gibbs that the rum was gone.
      • Another one worth mentioning is Mr. Mercer's introductory line, "Evening, Guv'nor." A common British colloquialism, when uttered with a Deadpan Snarker, stoic pride, that masks a Slasher Smile, is made even more ironic at the fact that he just caught Governor Swann attempting to flee Port Royal in the middle of the night.
      • "Parley?"
      • When they first meet, Jack cuts a deal that Elizabeth finds underhanded and horrifying, especially as how it works to her personal detriment. She protests, to receive only "PIRATE!" Elizabeth cuts a deal that Jack doesn't approve of. He protests, to receive only "KING!"
  • There are two in Pitch Black.
    • Imam offers to pray with Riddick, but Riddick explains that he has nothing but loathing for God. Iman says that even though the circumstances are grim, He is with them nonetheless. Later, when it starts raining which will make the flares protecting them from the aliens go out, Riddick cynically remarks "So where the hell's your God now?" And even later, when Riddick goes back with Fry to save Jack and Imam, Iman states "There is my God, Mr. Riddick."
    • The scenes at the skiff. Riddick tries to convince Carolyn to abandon Imam and Jack. Once she forces him to go back for them and they've returned to the skiff, it's Imam and Jack who quietly urge Carolyn to leave the fallen-behind Riddick.
  • In Prince of Persia Sheik Amar and Dastan's brief discussion regarding Seso and his amazing knife throwing abilities. The first time was played for laughs, the second... not so much.
    Sheik Amar: Have I told you about the Ngbaka?
    Prince Dastan: Yes, you have.
  • The Princess Bride:
    Buttercup: Promise to return him to his ship!
    Humperdinck: I swear it will be done.
    Humperdinck: (quiet aside to Count Rugen) Once we're out of sight, take him back to Florin and throw him in the Pit of Despair.
    Count Rugen: I swear it will be done.
  • Pulp Fiction: In the 3rd scene of the movie, Marcellus Wallace is convincing Butch to throw his boxing match and says this:
    Marcellus Wallace: The night of the fight, you may feel a slight sting. That's pride fuckin' with you
    • And then later, when Butch has Marcellus on the ground, punching him in the face repeatedly after not throwing the fight, says this to him:
    Butch: You feel that sting, big boy, huh? That's pride FUCKIN' with you!!
  • Queen of the Damned. During a conversation Lestat and Marius have midway through the film, Lestat notes that vampires don't settle old scores, they harbor them. Later in the movie Akasha tells Lestat that she has to settle an old score before confronting the other Ancients.
  • In the Schwarzenegger movie Raw Deal (1986), Kaminsky was forced to resign from the FBI after beating the shit out of a guy who had murdered a little girl. The district attorney's words to Kaminsky were "Resign or be prosecuted." Near the end of the movie, after Kaminsky has taken out the mob boss villain and his men, he finds the district attorney, who it turns out was on the boss's payroll. Kaminsky leaves behind a pistol, telling him to "resign or be prosecuted." As Kaminsky leaves, a single gunshot is heard as the attorney chooses to "resign."
  • Real Genius: Chris convinces Mitch to get revenge on Kent by telling him "It's a moral imperative." Later, Mitch tells him the same thing when convincing him to pass Hathaway's test.
  • RENT: "I'll cover you" shows up twice. The first time, it's part of a Duet Bonding and an extended metaphor about a pair of lovers looking out for each other. The second time, it's part of a eulogy.
  • During the climax of Return to Oz the Nome King gives Dorothy a chance to rescue the Scarecrow by taking part in a potentially lethal game, and offers the sofa-bodied Gump the chance to take the first turn:
    The Nome King: Why doesn't the sofa go first?
    (after the Gump loses...)
    The Nome King: Next... Pumpkinhead!
    • Later, when Dorothy starts winning...
    The Nome King: STOP!!!
    Dorothy: But we haven't finished guessing yet! You promised that if we guessed correctly—
    The Nome King: I'M TIRED OF GAMES. I'M TIRED OF ALL OF YOU! WHY DOESN'T THE SOFA GO... FIRST?
    (he reaches down and tears the Gump's body off, consuming it whole)
    The Nome King: NEXT... PUMPKINHEAD!
  • In Rita, Sue, and Bob Too there is this dialogue during the confrontation between Bob, Michelle, Sue, Rita, and Sue's parents:
    Sue's mother: What about your dirty bastard of a husband? [Bob]
    Michelle: My husband is not a dirty bastard. It's your daughter [Sue] and her so-called mate.
    • A few lines later:
    Sue: It's all your fault. If you had sex with him, he wouldn't have to go elsewhere.
    Michelle: (to Bob) Well! Is that what you've been saying? You dirty bastard!
  • While not a straight example, in the classic Road House (1989), in one scene, Small-Town Tyrant Brad Wesley has his goons destroy a car dealers lot as punishment for the dealer thinking about standing up to him and reminds him "This is my town. Don't you forget it." Near the end of the movie, after Dalton assaults Wesley's compound, Wesley is shot by several denizens who's property he destroyed: Frank Tilghman, the owner of the Double Deuce bar then says "This is our town. Don't you forget it," before firing the shot that kills him.
  • Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves: Robin intervenes when Guy of Gisbourne has chased a young boy up a tree. Guy tells Robin to butt out, as they are on the Sheriff’s land. Robin (who doesn’t know yet that the Sheriff has murdered his father and seized the family lands) retorts that they are actually on HIS land, therefore the tree and everything in it belong to him.
    Guy: [annoyed] Might I have the pleasure of your name, before I have you run through?
    Robin: [smugly] I’m Robin of Locksley.
    Guy: Well, well...Locksley. Welcome home. [to his men] Kill him!
    [Robin proceeds to singlehandedly wipe out Guy’s men and ends up holding Guy at swordpoint on the ground.]
    Robin: Now, sir...if you will be so kind as to tell me YOUR name, before I run YOU through...
    Robin ultimately lets him go, telling him he’s seen enough blood spilled to last two lifetimes, and to tell the Sheriff what happens when his troops pick on small children.
  • The Roommate: A rare example that doesn't work. When Rebecca and Sara are in the former's hometown, Sara sees the girl that Rebecca used to stalk approach them after saying hi and say "We were never friends." Sara later repeats the line during the climax when she fatally stabs Rebecca with the box cutter. The line doesn't work because while Rebecca didn't have an actual friendship with the other girl, she did develop some sort of genuine dynamic with Sara that could have been a friendship had things gone differently. Thus, it was inappropriate for Sara to claim with that line that she never cared for her or had something like that with her just to ironically echo the line. Would have been more appropriate if she'd instead said "We're not friends anymore," but that would not have been this trope.
  • The Running Man. Killian is involved in multiple examples.
    • When Killian first meets the captive Richards he says "Hello, cutie-pie. One of us is in deep trouble." When Richards escapes and confronts Killian, he repeats the line back to him.
    • Killian talks about last year's winners: "there they are, and at this very moment they're basking in the beautiful Maui sun, their debt to society paid in full", while doctored video of them doing just that played. When the transmission is hijacked, the line is repeated, showing their real fate: dead and decayed in the game arena.
    • Killian tells his bodyguard Sven to eject Captain Freedom. When Sven doesn't immediately act, Killian says "What's the matter, steroids make you deaf? GET HIM OUT!". Later on, when Killian expects Sven to save him from Richards, Sven says "Well, I guess I've got to score some steroids" and walks away, leaving him to Richards' mercy.
  • Run Fatboy Run: Hank Azaria's character is piloting an R/C boat. When his girlfriend's son asks if he can try, he says, "No, but you can watch me do it." At the end, when Azaria is in the hospital, the kid adjusts the bed until he is nearly crushed. "Can I control the bed?" "No, but you can watch me do it."
  • In Rush, Niki Lauda tries to get the race at Nürburgring canceled because rain has made the track even more dangerous than it already is, but James Hunt sways the other drivers — during the race, Lauda crashes and nearly dies, and his face is disfigured with severe burns. The final race at Fuji is also marked by a rainstorm. This time, Hunt is the one who tries to call for a cancellation even though it would mean that Lauda would win by default. (That race went on too, but Lauda withdrew due to the conditions.)
  • In Sabrina, David and Linus have this exchange after the newspaper shares a story about David and Elizabeth becoming engaged:
    David: Did you plant this?
    Linus: Me?! I thought it was common knowledge about you and Elizabeth Tyson.
    • Later, news gets out of Linus and Sabrina fleeing to Paris together, causing him and David to have this exchange:
    Linus: Did you plant this?
    David: Me? I thought it was common knowledge about you and Sabrina.
  • Scarface: In introducing him to the world of crime, Frank tells Tony that Nacho Contreras is a "Chazzer", a Yiddish word for "pig" which describes someone who doesn't fly straight. Tony ended up telling Frank of this when the latter has the Diaz brothers shoot him in the Babylon Club.
    Tony: You know what a Chazzer is, Frank? That's a pig that don't fly straight.
  • In Searching for Bobby Fischer, Jonathan beats an experienced player at chess and says "Trick or treat" (maybe a reference to Jonathan's own age?). When Josh beats Jonathan at the championship, Josh repeats the phrase.
  • Played with in the film adaptation of The Secret Garden; when Mary's name is called at the station in London, the children start singing the nursery rhyme "Mary Mary Quite Contrary". Later on in the film, Dickon starts singing it and Mary remarks that the children used to sing it at her on the boat from India. She then happily sings the rest of the song with Dickon.
  • The Secret Life of Walter Mitty: "Put it on a plaque. Hang it at your next job". It's first said by Ted to the eponymous character as he is firing him for failing to find the missing negative 25. This line is repeated by Walter to Ted after he finally located the negative 25 and is giving him a "The Reason You Suck" Speech for his mistreatment of Life magazine workers.
  • Serenity: Wash's initial "I am a leaf on the wind — watch me soar!" is delivered as a wacky catchphrase as he struggles to even get the ship to land. Later, he repeats the same phrase in a state of zen calm as he pulls off a stunning display of virtuoso piloting through the massive Reaver battle. And then says it again after a successful crash landing, only to be killed by the Reavers before he finishes.
  • Serial Killing 4 Dummys: "Good throw. Bad catch." First said by Drill Sergeant Nasty Mr. Grimaldi during Gym Class Hell when Casey wears a dodge ball to the face. Repeated during the climax by Mr. Grimaldi when Casey throws a circular saw blade that buries itself in his skull.
  • A Series of Unfortunate Events: Olaf arrives to save the Baudelaire orphans from being eaten from the Lachrymose Leeches. The phrase he uses to welcome the orphans is the same as the one he uses in their first meeting.
    Count Olaf: Hello, hello, hello. I missed you guys.
  • In the Sex and the City movie, Steve admits that he cheated on Miranda and they fight, with him trying desperately to apologize and saying it was a one-time lapse of judgment, etc., while she says that now she can't trust him ever again. Near the end of the movie, Miranda admits that her slip of the tongue might have cost Carrie her marriage and Carrie winds up using almost the exact same lines as Miranda did to chew her out for it.
  • Shaft: Vic tells Shaft to "Close it yourself, shitty!" referring to the door of his apartment, echoing (non-ironically) the woman Shaft has just slept with. In the final scene, Shaft echoes the line, this time referring to "closing the case."
  • Shaun of the Dead plays this into the ground, including (but not limited to):
    • "You've got red on you."
    • "I'm sorry." "You haven't got anything to be sorry about..." "No. I'm sorry."
      • "I'll stop doing 'em when you stop laughing." "I'm not laughing."
    • "He's not my Dad."
    • "It's on random!"
    • "Big Al says so."
    • "Dogs can look up!"
    • "Oh, leave 'im alone!"
    • A non-verbal example; the two scenes in which Shaun walks from his house to the shop, which are filmed exactly the same. The first time, pre-Zombie Apocalypse, everything's normal. The second time, post-Zombie Apocalypse, the street is trashed and the living dead are wandering around. Shaun's equally oblivious to what's going on both times.
    • When Shaun is lamenting in the pub after breaking up with Liz, all of Ed's statements about what to do are the entire rest of the movie.
  • In The Shawshank Redemption, the warden talks to Andy about his Bible, telling him that "salvation lies within." At the end of the movie, Andy leaves the warden the Bible (which is shown to have concealed the rock hammer Andy used to dig his escape tunnel) with a note saying that the warden was right, salvation lay within.
  • In She's All That, when Taylor dumps Zack for Brock, she says "You didn't think I'd leave for college still dating you, did you? Oh, you did? That's sweet." Later, when Brock dumps her, he uses almost the exact same line.
  • In the introductory exposition sequence of Singin' in the Rain, Don Lockwood insists that his development as an actor was about "Dignity, always dignity."... he was a stuntman and a vaudeville tapdancer, then made a career as a male lead for cheesy romance flicks. Later, Kathy Selden introduces herself as an actress in a "more dignified" profession than Don's. She's a stripper.
  • In Smiles of a Summer Night, Count Malcolm says to the Countess after seeing Fredrik at Desirée's: "My wife may cheat on me, but if anyone touches my mistress, I become a tiger!". Later, after hearing that Fredrik is with the Countess, the Count proclaims to Desirée: "One can dally with my mistress, but touch my wife and I become a tiger!"
  • In The Smurfs, Gargamel constantly asks his cat Azrael, "Are you dead?", when something befalls him. Near the end of the movie, Azrael meows out this question mockingly at his master when Gargamel is hit by a bus.
  • In Snakes on a Plane, the phrase, "Do what I say, and you'll live," is used twice. The first time, it is spoken by Samuel L. Jackson's character, advising a witness who is in mortal danger. The second time comes at the end, by the witness himself, advising Jackson on how to really enjoy life.
  • In The Social Network, the first scene has a woman accuse Mark of being an asshole. The movie ends with another woman reassuring Mark he isn't an asshole but he's trying hard to be.
  • Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (2022): "Dis is how I roll." First said by Robotnik to Knuckles when Knuckles calls it dishonorable for Robotnik to ditch Stone for the trip to Siberia, Knuckles says it back to him during the Final Battle when Robotnik calls him disloyal for siding with Sonic and Tails.
  • Spaceballs: After getting the combination for the Druidian airshield (12345):
    Dark Helmet: That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard! It's the kind of thing an idiot would have on his luggage!
    • Then President Skroob walks in and they relay the combination to him:
    President Skroob: That's amazing! I have the same combination on my luggage!
  • Space Jam has the Nerdlucks going to a Knicks-Suns game where they overhear a fan telling his wife that Charles Barkley, then of the Suns, is "killing" them. After one of them steals his talent, Barkley starts to look like he's sleepwalking on the court and his teammate Danny Ainge can be heard saying, "C'mon man, you're killing us!"
    • In Space Jam: A New Legacy, Al-G Rhythm loves throwing these:
      • After Lebron James refused his offer to be part of the Warner 3000 movies saying he wants to focus on his game, Al-G responds by challenging him to a game of basketball and throws his line back at him.
        Al-G Rhythm: You said you wanted to "focus on your game". Well, now you can "focus on this game".
      • Lebron is admonished by his son Dom for not "letting [him] do [him]". Later, Al-G tosses the very same phrase at Dom (preceded by an admonishment that his father was right about him) when he makes it clear just how unhappy he is at Dom for abandoning the Goon Squad.
  • The Specialist: In the beginning of the film taking place in 1984, Ned says this to Ray during their CIA mission:
    Ned: Here's a tip: No fail-safe.
    • Fast forward to 1994, Ray says the same exact thing to Ned near the end of the movie when Ned steps on a bomb causing the booby-trapped warehouse to blow up.
    Ray: Here's a tip: No fail-safe.
    Ned: Pressure pads?
  • Both Spider-Man origin movies added this to Peter's backstory:
    • In Spider-Man, Peter is ripped off by his wrestling promoter, and when he protests that he needs the money the promoter sneers back, "I missed the part where that's my problem". Immediately after this, the promoter is robbed at gunpoint, and when he furiously asks Peter why he let the robber escape with his money, Peter just repeats his own words back to him. Though this soon backfires on Peter.
    • This gets a Call-Back in The Amazing Spider-Man. Peter is trying to buy a chocolate milk, but is short two cents, and the clerk refuses to let him use two from the overflowing take-a-penny stand, saying "not my policy." Shortly after, the thief who later ends up shooting Uncle Ben steals the chocolate milk and throws it to Peter, and when reprimanded by the clerk, Peter retorts with, "not my policy." We all know where this ends up going...
  • Star Trek
    • In the Star Trek (2009), McCoy says to Kirk at their introduction, "I may throw up on you", referring to his air sickness. Later, when he injects Kirk with a vaccine that makes him nauseous, Kirk repeats this line back.
      • Earlier, Kirk referred to another cadet as "Cupcake". Later in the movie, when trying to escape from the security, the same cadet appeared to prevent Kirk from escaping, calling him "Cupcake".
    • And in Star Trek: First Contact, Data echoes the Borg's "Resistance Is Futile".
    • In Star Trek: The Motion Picture, Decker and Kirk have the following exchange:
    Decker: Moving into that cloud, at this time, is an unwarranted gamble.
    Kirk: How do you define unwarranted?
    • And then later, after Ilia has been zapped by the probe:
    Decker: This is how I define unwarranted!
  • Strictly Ballroom has "a life lived in fear" bounced around several times between Fran and Scott, with a final game-changing echo from Doug.
  • In Striking Distance, Jimmy Detillo says this to Nick Detillo after killing him when it's revealed that Jimmy is wearing a bulletproof vest:
    Jimmy Detillo: Who's the best cop now, huh? Who's the best cop now?
    • And said again by Tom Hardy before shocking him in the mouth with his tazer gun in the river:
    Tom Hardy: Who's the best cop now?
  • Super Mario Bros: Koopa bids farewell to Toad just before the latter gets de-evolved into a Goomba with "See ya later, alligator." Mario throws those words back at Koopa in the climax when he and Luigi de-evolve him into primordial sludge.
  • In Tim Burton's film version of Sweeney Todd, Mrs. Lovett tells Todd that "life is for the alive" when trying to get him to stop obsessing over his actually not-quite-dead wife and instead think about the possibility of their future together. Later, Todd sings the line back at Lovett before killing her by throwing her into an oven. Interestingly, this trope isn't in effect in the stage musical where only the later occurrence of the line happens; the earlier exchange was added for the film.
  • Sympathy for Lady Vengeance has Lee Geum-ja being told, "Stop crying, bitch, it brings bad luck." by another inmate upon her incarceration. Geum-ja repeats this back to the same inmate, who was dying of kidney failure, when she gives her one of her kidneys.
  • Early on in Taxi Driver, Travis amusingly tells Betsy he wants to get a sign that says he's going to get "organizized." When we finally do see the sign on his wall after Betsy has dumped him, and after he's well on his way to descending into madness, suffice to say the joke is...a lot less funny.
  • Teen Beach Movie: McKenzie (aka Mack) has "I'm Mack!" The first time she says it, she's uninterested; the second time in the end, she's happy and joyful.
  • In The Ten Commandments, Pharaoh says "So let it be written, so let it be done" when enacting his divine will. After the tenth plague, where his son was killed along with all the first born of Egypt, Pharaoh finally tells Moses to take his people and leave. As Moses walks away, he says "So let it be written...".
  • Titanic (1997) offers up a very dark one. Earlier in the film, the White Star Line's chairman J. Bruce Ismay told Edward Smith, the captain of the Titanic, that the ship's maiden voyage "must make headlines" and pushed for him to speed up the ship. After hitting the iceberg, Smith is told that the Titanic has just one or two hours before she sinks, that she has 2,200 people on board, and that there are not enough lifeboats for everyone. He just looks to Ismay and tells him the following:
    Smith: Well, I believe you may get your headlines, Mr. Ismay.
  • Total Recall (1990): After Douglas Quaid is captured by Cohagaan and is forced have his brain altered, he reminds the lead scientist to tell Quaid there's a party later. Richter, then ask the scientist if he'll remember his past after the operation. The scientist says no, which leads Richter to punch Quaid in the mouth — saying "See you at the Party". Quaid escapes and later fights Richter in an elevator. Quaid gets the upper-hand and as Richter falls off the elevator armless, Quaid repeats the same line, "See you at the party, Richter!"
  • Trading Places: While hiding in the bathroom, Billy Ray Valentine overhears the Duke Brothers' plans to corner the frozen concentrate orange juice market and also learns that they manipulating both him and Louis Winthorpe as part of a one dollar bet. After tracking down Winthorpe and explaining everything, they set their differences to take down the Dukes down, turning their plan against them to send them into bankruptcy, and they throw their line about a one dollar bet back at them.
  • Training Day: "You wanna go to jail, or do you wanna go home?"
  • In Trainspotting, Renton's "choose life" speech sarcastically lists all of the 'benefits' of sobriety, only to end with him questioning why he needs it when he's got heroin. At the end having cheated his mates and stolen thousands of pounds from them, he once again lists the same benefits of sobriety, but this time is fully sincere about living that life.
  • Trick 'r Treat: Steven Wilkins wishes Mr. Kreeg a Happy Halloween, and the only answer he gets is "Screw you!" Later, Steven sees Kreeg through the window, banging on the glass and calling for help (it's not until the end of the movie that we find out why he needed it). Steven is uninterested in helping him. "Screw you."
  • In The Truman Show, every morning Truman greets his neighbor with the phrase "Good morning, and in case I don't see ya, good afternoon, good evening, and good night!" He says the same thing before walking out the door in the sky dome at the end of the movie and entering the real world for the first time.
  • Early on in Twice Round the Daffodils, Bob tells John that six men stuck in a room for months on end are bound to get on each other's nerves and that the more civilised you are, the less you show it. Much later in the film, Bob snaps at the other patients for prying into his crush on Nurse Catty, so John parrots these words back to him with a grin on his face.
  • In Underworld: Awakening, Dr. Jacob Lane sprays Eve with sleeping gas while threatening to vivisect her. As she struggles to stay awake, he says, "It's worse if you try to fight it. Trust me." When Eve eventually tears his throat out, she repeats the line as he slowly dies.
  • In Ushpizin, there is "Like that?" "Only like that." Said first when the main character is telling his wife that he only wants to be with her. Later, when she tells him that she's leaving so that he can find a wife who will give him children.
  • Venom (2018): Eddie and Venom pull this twice.
    • At the beginning of the SWAT team fight, the order is given:
      Team leader: Mask!
      Other members: Copy!
      Eddie: Alright, have it your own way. Mask!
      Venom: (Hulking Out) Copy!
    • The Big Bad tells Eddie "Have a nice life" after his goons escort Eddie out of the building, and then Eddie's boss says it to him while firing him. Then Eddie/Venom throws it back in the now symbiote-possessed Big Bad's face moments before blowing up his spaceship.
  • Vile: "I love this song". First said by Diane before gassing and kidnapping the protagonists, and then by Nick, after kidnapping Diane.
  • Early in Wall Street, Gordon advises against getting emotional about stock. Later in the movie, Bud repeats this back to Gordon.
  • We Were Soldiers, and Sgt. Savage's greeting to Sergeant Major Plumley: "It's a beautiful morning, Sergeant Major!" (It's met with a less than friendly response.) Towards the end of the film, after Sergeant Savage has Spent the last day and night pinned down behind enemy lines struggling to keep the men in his platoon alive, Sergeant Major Plumley looks at him and says "It's a beautiful morning, Sergeant Savage."
  • What Dreams May Come: Christopher tends to say the phrase, "Sometimes when you win, you lose," to somebody close to him when circumstances don't work out how they should (such as when he and his wife Annie decide to part ways after their children's deaths). However, after he has successfully travelled to Hell, located Annie, and redeemed her by not abandoning her in her time of need as he did in life, she walks up to him with a smile on her face and echoes, "Sometimes, when you lose... You win."
  • A variant in the Korean horror film White: The Melody of the Curse. While Eun-joo is still a member of the Pink Dolls, the other members mock her for being a former backup dancer. Cut to after she thinks she's safe and is a famous solo idol and they're trying to get back into the scene after recovering from her injuries. They come to talk to her about maybe getting back together. And Eun-joo tells them...that she could find them spots as her backup dancers if they'd like.
  • Wolves: Early on, when Cayden discusses the incident at the football game with his girlfriend Lisa, she blows the whole thing off with a "Life is complicated." Cayden echoes the sentiment later, when Wild Joe admits to killing Cayden's parents but assumes Cayden won't kill him because that would be cold-blooded murder. He's sadly mistaken.
    Cayden: Well, sometimes life can be... complicated. [Beat] And you ATE my fucking PARENTS!
  • The World's End:
    • The pub names all echo the events of the film: they bump into Sam, Oliver's sister (The Old Familiar), Gary is banned forever at the Famous Cock, Andy discovers Gary's lie and the whole gang get cross with him while they fight with the robot teenagers (The Cross Hands), they decide to stick to Gary's plan of continuing the crawl to avoid suspicion (The Good Companion), discover that not all of the townspeople are robots (The Trusty Servant), they bump into Sam again and fight the twins (Two-Headed Dog), get seduced by robot schoolgirls (The Mermaid), then they discover the Network's plan (The Beehive). Gary then decides to continue the crawl by himself (The King's Head), Steven punches through The Hole in the Wall, and human technology is destroyed at The World's End.
    • The flashbacks of their first stab at the Golden Mile are redone, almost shot for shot.
    • Gary and The Network quote Primal Scream word for word at the film's climax, just as it was stated during the film's intro.
    "We wanna be free, to do what we wanna do!"
    • A few lines crop up in different contexts, like "you're never wrong" and "selective memory"
    • At the end of the original attempt at the Golden Mile, Gary sat in a field & watched the the dawning of a new day with Andrew & Steven, knowing would ever be the same as it was when they were at school. After the second attempt, the three of them are joined by Sam & wind up in the same field, watching the destruction of Newton Haven & the dawn of a new age for mankind.
    • After their first encounter with the blanks, Oliver asks "WTF Gary? WTF?" To which Gary asks "What the fuck does WTF mean?!" Later on when Andy caves Oliver's head in, revealing Oliver to be a blank, Oliver asks Andy "What the fuck?" And Gary shouts out "WTF?!"
  • X-Men Film Series:
    • X-Men: Professor X asks Magneto "Why do you come here?", referring to the Mutant Registration Act hearings; Magneto replies "Why do you ask questions to which you already know the answer?" The roles are reversed at the end when Erik is in prison and Charles comes to visit him.
    • A few deleted scenes eliminated one regarding Toad and Storm. Toad was initially supposed to have something of a Catchphrase where he would say "You know what happens to a toad when it... (insert scenario here)," the infamous line where Storm zaps him and says "Know what happens to a toad when it's struck by lightning? Same as everything else," was meant to be this trope, instead ending up as a bizarre non-sequitur.
    • X2: X-Men United: Magneto sarcastically comments: "Wolverine, whoever goes into the dam needs to be able to operate the spillway mechanism. What do you intend to do? Scratch it with your claws?" Later on, that's exactly what he does (well, a bit more than scratch) to save all the protagonists from being drowned by the flood approaching down the spillway — smash a fist full of claw into the mechanism.
    • X-Men: The Last Stand: "Best defense is a good offense," as well as Wolverine throwing Magneto's us vs. them rhetoric right back in his face when he gets hit with the mutant cure.
    • X-Men: First Class:
      • "First, I'm going to count to three. Then, you're/I'm going to move the coin."
      • "Mutant and proud."
      • "Just following orders."
    • X-Men: Days of Future Past:
      • Wolverine's initial attempts to recruit Charles to help him ends with Charles recognizing Logan and telling him to "go fuck yourself."
      • Wolverine attempts to connect with Magneto by telling him, "You're like me. You're a survivor." Later, Magneto impales Wolverine with rebar and contemptuously says, "So much for being a survivor." before hurling him into a river.
    • X-Men: Apocalypse: When Professor X uses Cerebro to locate Magneto, Apocalypse takes the opportunity to take control of Charles; later, after Apocalypse has tried his Grand Theft Me ritual on Xavier, Charles takes the opportunity to get inside Apocalypse's head to pull him into a Battle in the Center of the Mind, as a result of the two of them having a Psychic Link.
      Apocalypse / Charles Xavier: Thank you for letting me in.
    • Logan: Pierce tells Caliban to "beware the light", right before exposing the latter to sunlight, burning him. Later on, Caliban says these exact words to Pierce while captive (also doubles as a Pre-Mortem One-Liner), before setting off two grenades in the hopes of pulling a Taking You with Me on Pierce, even if Pierce survives and Caliban doesn't in the end. It's even more brilliant when one realises that Caliban's version does have significance: he is referring to the light and flames that will be emitted by the grenades' activation.
  • Yentl has two: "Nothing's impossible!", first uttered to the titular character by her study partner Avigdor after he asks her/him to marry his ex-fiancée, later uttered by her when Avigdor almost leaves town after she refuses the favor. The other is "God will understand. I'm not so sure about the neighbors," first said by Yentl's father when asked why he is closing the windows if God will understand that his teaching her Talmudic law, which was forbidden to women at the time, is not with ill intent. It is said again by her to Avigdor's ex-fiancée (now her legal wife) in the same context.
  • The following exchange happens twice in Zombies! Zombies! Zombies!: first when the girls leave the strip club after their shift, and then again when they leave the club after the zombies are destroyed:
    Dallas: Rough first night?
    Harley: Not as much fun as I'd hoped.
    Dakota: Fun?!


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