ShortList is supported by you, our amazing readers. When you click through the links on our site and make a purchase we may earn a commission. Learn more

The best movie taglines of all time

There's magic in those lines.

The best movie taglines of all time
Marc Chacksfield
08 April 2022

If we had to sell ourselves in just one sentence, well, we'd probably struggle to come up with something snappy enough to make you remember us - unlike these best movie taglines.

That's the problem which faces movie marketers on a daily basis. Aside from creating a visually compelling poster, they also need to attach a tagline that'll stick in the memories of the notoriously forgetful general public.

So we're clapping our real (and digital) hands at these 40 movies which managed to spin some smart words out of thin air and impress us hard-to-impress film buffs.

The best movie taglines

The best movie taglines

1. Alien

"In space no one can hear you scream"

207
22
Thanks for voting
The best movie taglines

2. The Shawshank Redemption

"Fear can hold you prisoner. Hope can set you free"

111
34
Thanks for voting
The best movie taglines

3. Jaws 2

"Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water"

102
35
Thanks for voting
The best movie taglines

4. Platoon

"The first casualty of war is innocence"

66
18
Thanks for voting
The best movie taglines

5. The Social Network

"You don't get to 500 million friends without making a few enemies"

66
20
Thanks for voting
The best movie taglines

6. Taxi Driver

"On every street in every city, there's a nobody who dreams of being a somebody"

63
18
Thanks for voting
The best movie taglines

7. The 40-Year-Old Virgin

"The longer you wait, the harder it gets"

73
33
Thanks for voting
The best movie taglines

8. The Truman Show

"On the air. Unaware"

49
15
Thanks for voting
The best movie taglines

9. The Thing

"Man is the warmest place to hide"

45
19
Thanks for voting
The best movie taglines

10. The Fly

"Be afraid. Be very afraid"

57
31
Thanks for voting
The best movie taglines

11. A Nightmare On Elm Street

"If Nancy doesn't wake up screaming, she won't wake up at all"

42
18
Thanks for voting
The best movie taglines

12. Chicken Run

"Escape or die frying"

40
17
Thanks for voting
The best movie taglines

13. Tommy Boy

"If at first you don't succeed, lower your standards"

48
25
Thanks for voting
The best movie taglines

14. Ferris Bueller's Day Off

"One man's struggle to take it easy"

39
17
Thanks for voting
The best movie taglines

15. Alien Vs Predator

"Whoever wins...we lose"

39
17
Thanks for voting
The best movie taglines

16. 12 Monkeys

"The future is history"

37
16
Thanks for voting
The best movie taglines

17. Napoleon Dynamite

"He's out to prove he's got nothing to prove"

34
16
Thanks for voting
The best movie taglines

18. Psycho

"Check in. Unpack. Relax. Take A Shower"

37
20
Thanks for voting
The best movie taglines

19. I Am Legend

"The last man on earth is not alone"

34
17
Thanks for voting
The best movie taglines

20. Predator 2

"He's in town with a few days to kill"

40
25
Thanks for voting
The best movie taglines

21. Superman

"You'll believe a man can fly"

38
24
Thanks for voting
The best movie taglines

22. Quiz Show

"Fifty million people watching and no one saw a thing"

26
12
Thanks for voting
The best movie taglines

23. Contagion

"Nothing spreads like fear"

25
13
Thanks for voting
The best movie taglines

24. Scott Pilgrim Vs The World

"An epic of epic epicness"

38
28
Thanks for voting
The best movie taglines

25. The Royal Tenenbaums

"Family isn't a word. It's a sentence"

30
21
Thanks for voting
The best movie taglines

26. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre

"Who will survive and what will be left of them?"

27
18
Thanks for voting
The best movie taglines

27. Bonnie & Clyde

"They're young...they're in love...and they kill people"

21
13
Thanks for voting
The best movie taglines

28. Greedy

"Where there's a will, there's a relative"

25
18
Thanks for voting
The best movie taglines

29. Lost In Translation

"Everyone wants to be found"

22
16
Thanks for voting
The best movie taglines

30. True Lies

"When he said I do, he never said what he did"

26
22
Thanks for voting
The best movie taglines

31. Deliverance

"This is the weekend they didn't play golf"

19
19
Thanks for voting
The best movie taglines

32. The Graduate

"This is Benjamin. He's a little worried about his future"

13
15
Thanks for voting
The best movie taglines

33. Gattaca

"There is no gene for the human spirit"

14
17
Thanks for voting
The best movie taglines

34. Swingers

"Cocktails first. Questions later"

14
17
Thanks for voting
The best movie taglines

35. High Noon

"The story of a man who was too proud to run"

12
16
Thanks for voting
The best movie taglines

36. Brokeback Mountain

"Love is a force of nature"

14
18
Thanks for voting
The best movie taglines

37. The Godfather Part III

"All the power on earth can't change destiny"

12
16
Thanks for voting
The best movie taglines

38. American Beauty

"...look closer"

15
19
Thanks for voting
The best movie taglines

39. Bram Stoker's Dracula

"Love never dies"

15
22
Thanks for voting
The best movie taglines

40. Zodiac

"There's more than one way to lose your life to a killer"

81
147
Thanks for voting

The best final lines in movies, ranked.

SOMETHING MISSING FROM OUR SHORTLIST?

Tell us about it, and if enough people agree we'll add it in.