"[to a news camera, outside the 1972 Republican Convention] I'm here tonight to say that this war is wrong, that this society lied to me, lied to my brothers. They've deceived the people of this country, tricked them into going 13,000 miles to fight a war against a poor, peasant people who have a proud history of resistance, who have been struggling for their own independence for 1,000 years - the Vietnamese people. I can't find the words to express, and the leadership of this government sickens me. People say that if you don't love America, then get the hell out. Well, I love America. We love the people of America very much, but when it comes to the government, it stops right there. The government is a bunch of corrupt thieves, they are rapists and robbers. And we are here to say that we don't have to take it anymore. We are here to say that we are here to tell the truth; they are killing our brothers in Vietnam! We want them to hear the truth tonight!"

"Josh Evans - Tommy Kovic"

"Kyra Sedgwick - Donna"

"Caroline Kava - Mrs. Kovic"

"Raymond J. Barry - Mr. Kovic"

"Tom Cruise - Ron Kovic"

"Charlie: [to Ron] The bitch thinks it's funny I can't move my dick!"

"Lieutenant: [to Ron] It wasn't your fault, goddamn it! They got in the goddamn way!"

"Willie: I'm serious, man, you gotta read some books. There's a revolution going on, Kovic. Brothers are gettin' it together, and if you ain't part of the solution, man, then you're part of the problem."

"Marine Sergeant: [to high school boys] Not everybody can become United States Marines. We want the best and we settle for nothing but the best because there is nothing prouder, nothing finer, nothing standing as straight as a United States Marine. Now they got the Air Force, they got the Navy, they got the Army, they got the Coast Guard - and if you want to join them, go ahead. They got plenty of room. But if you want a challenge, if you want to try something difficult, try to achieve the impossible - try 13 weeks of hell at Parris Island, South Carolina and find out if you got what it takes, find out if you really are a man, then the Marines might be what you are looking for. Tarawa... Iwo Jima... Belleau Wood...the frozen Chosin Reservoir. First to fight, we have never lost a war. We have always come when our country has called."

"[to Charlie] I had a mother; I had a father, things - things that made sense. Do you remember things that made sense? Things you could count on? Before we all got so lost? What are we gonna do, Charlie? What am I gonna do?"

"It's my leg! I want my leg, you understand? Can't you understand that? All's I'm sayin' is that I want to be treated like a human being! I fought for my country! I am a Vietnam veteran! I fought for my country!"

"People say that if you don't love America, then get the hell out. Well, I love America."

"I want a woman, Dad. I want somebody to love me. I wanna to be free again. I wanna walk in the backyard on the grass. I wanna put my bare feet in the ocean. I wanna run along the sand and feel it on my feet. I wanna stand up in the shower with the hot water streaming down my legs, in the morning... I wanna explode, Dad. I wanna get out of this fucking body I'm in. I wanna be a man again...I just wanna be a man again."

"Cara Seymour — Pat Archer"

"Desmond Dube — Dube"

"Hakeem Kae-Kazim — George Rutaganda"

"Nick Nolte — Colonel Oliver"

"Don Cheadle — Paul Rusesabagina"

"RTLM broadcast: Listen to me good people of Rwanda. Terrible news. Horrible news. Our great president is murdered by the Tutsi cockroaches. They tricked him into signing their phony peace agreement then they shot his plane from the sky. It is time to clear the great brush, good Hutus of Rwanda. We must cut the tall trees. Cut all tall trees down! Let us get to work good Hutus! Find the traitors! Let none escape!"

"[first lines, voiceover] When people ask me, good listeners, why do I hate all the Tutsi, I say, "Read our history." The Tutsi were collaborators for the Belgian colonists, they stole our Hutu land, they whipped us. Now they have come back, these Tutsi rebels. They are cockroaches. They are murderers. Rwanda is our Hutu land. We are the majority. They are a minority of traitors and invaders. We will squash this infestation. We will wipe out the RPF rebels. This is RTLM, Hutu power radio. Stay alert. Watch your neighbours."

"There will be no rescue, no intervention force. We can only save ourselves. Many of you know influential people abroad, you must call these people. You must tell them what will happen to us... say goodbye. But when you say goodbye, say it as though you are reaching through the phone and holding their hand. Let them know that if they let go of that hand, you will die. We must shame them into sending help."

"Joaquin Phoenix — Jack Daglish"

"Mary Kate Schellhardt — Barbara Lovell"

"Kathleen Quinlan — Marilyn Lovell"

"Ed Harris — Gene Kranz"

"Gary Sinise — Ken Mattingly"

"Kevin Bacon — Jack Swigert"

"Bill Paxton — Fred Haise"

"Tom Hanks — Jim Lovell"

"[passing over the moon after the lost landing] Got to tell you, I had an itch to take this baby down though. Do some prospecting. Damn, we were close."

"We're not gonna have power much longer...the ship's bleeding to death."

"I could eat the ass off a dead rhinoceros."

"Look, I don't have the measles. I'm not gonna get the measles."