There are some actors who sneak their way into being icons, never demanding your attention, but when you stop to think about them, you realize just how many moments in movie history are owed to their work. Bill Paxton's movie quotes are some of the most memorable, even though your buds in high school or college probably didn't spout them off every five seconds like some iconic comedy lines you have tattooed on the inside of your brain. In light of Paxton's unexpected passing on the morning of Feb. 26 due to surgery complications, it seems fitting to look back on some of the moment in which the actor made some of pop culture's most beloved films the classics that they are.
From Big Love's Bill Henricksen, to Brock Lovett, to Bill Harding from Twister and Fred Haise in Apollo 13, and heck, even Paxton has been a huge part of some of the biggest marks in pop culture history. Paxton will be greatly missed by his friends, fellow actors, children, family, and fans. But thanks to these moments below, the man will never be forgotten.
1. The One Quote To Rule Them All, From Aliens, Obviously: "Game over, man!"
Paxton's iconic line from Aliens is the one quote that you probably have heard a million times. (My father just so happens to be the world's greatest quoter of this Paxton classic.) And in a film that was filled with iconic moments, to walk away having made one single line as famous as this one is, is something to be massively proud of.
2. Literally Every Time Brock Lovett Explained What Happened To The Ship In Titanic
I could just sit here and quote all the Brock scenes from Titanic, but first off, I can't deliver them like Paxton did, and secondly, you should just watch the movie at that point. So, I'll settle on my top three favorites:
- Brock's description of why the Titanic sank: "26 years of experience working against him. He figures anything big enough to sink the ship they're gonna see in time to turn. The ship's too big with too small a rudder. It doesn't corner worth a damn. Everything he knows is wrong."
- Brock's words for just how deep in the ocean they are: "These windows are nine inches thick, and if they go, it's sayonara in two micro-seconds."
- And the ship herself (it gets me too, Brock): "Seeing her coming out of the darkness like a ghost ship, it still gets me every time."
3. That Apollo 13 Quote
When Fred Haise is hungry, he's, well, really freaking hungry. "I could eat the *ss out of a dead rhinoceros." I mean, there you have it.
4. When Things Get Real In Twister
I still remember the shiver down my spine I first felt when Paxton delivered this simple, but terrifying line in the '90s cult classic:
Dusty: Jo, Bill, it's coming! It's headed right for us!
Bill: It's already here.
Chilling and perfect for the over the top action movie.
5. The Old News Adage In Nightcrawler
In this 2014 film, Paxton took on the role of the old guard of guys capturing news footage themselves and selling it to TV news programs that Jake Gyllenhaal's Leo Bloom is trying to break into. And when Paxton's Joe Loder delivers the age old line "If it bleeds, it leads," the well known phrase took on a new life.
No matter what kind of film Paxton stepped into, his presence was always memorable.
