"When the World Trade towers fell on September 11, 2001, there was one refrain I heard over and over again, a common response that was both automatic and indicting: “It looked like something out of a Michael Bay movie.” More specifically, the explosions and citywide carnage resembled Armageddon, the Bay-directed action vehicle that had come out four summers prior and contained scenes of epic metropolitan mayhem that were still something of a cinematic novelty at the time. We pray that nothing on the scale of 9/11 will ever happen again, but if something actually did, we’d now have a sickening number of summer movies to compare it to. This weekend’s Man of Steel is only the latest film this year to exploit familiar 9/11 imagery in ways that are far more extreme and blatant than anything we’ve seen on the big screen before, as though Hollywood feels the need to out-9/11 itself. It’s lazy, it’s cheap, it’s deadening, and it needs to stop."

"I address you tonight not as the President of the United States, not as the leader of a country, but as a citizen of humanity. We are faced with the very gravest of challenges. The Bible calls this day "Armageddon"; the end of all things. And yet, for the first time in the history of the planet, a species has the technology to prevent its own extinction. All of you praying with us need to know that everything that can be done to prevent this disaster is being called into service. The human thirst for excellence, knowledge. Every step up the ladder of science, every adventurous reach into space, all of our combined modern technologies and imaginations, even the wars that we've fought have provided us the tools to wage this terrible battle. Through all the chaos that is our history, through all of the wrongs and the discord, through all of the pain and suffering, through all of our times, there is one thing that has nourished our souls, and elevated our species above its origins, and that is our courage. Dreams of an entire planet are focused tonight on those 14 brave souls traveling into the heavens. And may we all, citizens the world over, see these events through. Godspeed, and good luck to you."

"[briefing Harry and Grace Stamper on the situation] When the rogue comet went through the asteroid belt, it sent shrapnel right for us. For the next 11 days, the Earth's in a shooting gallery. Even if the asteroid itself hits the water, it's still hitting land, it'll flashboil millions of gallons of seawater and slam into the ocean bedrock. Now if it's a Pacific Ocean impact, which we think it will be, it will create a tidal wave about three miles high, travelling a thousand miles an hour, covering California and washing up in Denver. Japan is gone, Australia is wiped out. Half of the Earth's population will be incinerated by the heat blast, the rest will freeze to death in a nuclear winter."

"[addressing staff on the NASA flight center network after the space shuttle Atlantis is destroyed] Okay, I want three groups. One: internal malfunction; get the log tape and start working back; maybe it's a glitch. Two: I want NORAD, Space Command and the 50th Tactical comparing all the space junk you tracked in every orbit. I want you to check, re-check and then do it all over again. Number three: wild cards, anything and everything alright? Now, Big Russ, I want you to get on the phone and wake up 11,000 people. Walt, get 'em going."

"[last words as he activates the manual detonator] We win, Gracie!"

"[After Freedoms Armadillo is destroyed] Get a hold of Truman, and prepare the world for bad news."

"[After informing his crew on the current situation] The United States government just asked us to save the world... Anybody want to say 'no'?"

"Play it. Live it. Kill for it."

"Play Or Be Played"

"I want to put the game on pause. The game can be paused, can't it? I mean, all games can be paused, right?"

"Allegra, what if we're not in the game anymore?"

"You have to play the game to find out why you're playing the game."

"[after killing Ted] Have I won? Have I won the game? Have I won?"

"Oscar Hsu — Chinese Waiter"

"Jude Law — Ted Pikul"

"Jennifer Jason Leigh — Allegra Geller"

"Where does reality stop. And the game begin?"

"This is not a game."

"Journey to a world where robots dream and desire"

"David is 11 years old. He weighs 60 pounds. He is 4 feet, 6 inches tall. He has brown hair. His love is real. But he is not."

"Narrator: That was the everlasting moment he had been waiting for. And the moment had passed, for Monica was sound asleep. More than merely asleep. Should he shake her, she would never rouse. So David went to sleep, too. And for the first time in his life, he went to that place, where dreams are born."

"Junky Mecha: Would you be so kind and shut down my pain receivers?"

"Lord Johnson-Johnson: [Showing David off to the Flesh Fair crowd] Ladies and gentlemen! Boys and girls and children of all ages! What will they think of next? See here! A bitty-bot, a tinker-toy, a living doll. Of course, we all know why they made them. To steal your hearts, to replace your children. This is the latest iteration in a series of insults to human dignity, and in their grand scheme to phase out all of God's little children. Meet the next generation of child, designed to do just that. [crowd stares silently] Do not be fooled by the artistry of this creation. No doubt there was talent in the crafting of this simulator. Yet with the very first strike, you will see the big lie come apart before your very eyes! [as David pleads to be spared] Built like a boy to disarm us! See how they try to imitate our emotions now! Whatever performance this sim puts on, remember: we are only demolishing artificiality! Let he who is without sim cast the firs stone. [crowd pelts him with rocks and garbage]"

"The greatest single human gift - the ability to chase down our dreams."

"Teddy: We run now."

"Teddy: I am not a toy!"

"Narrator: Those were the years when the icecaps melted due to the greenhouse gases and the oceans had risen and drowned so many cities along all the shorelines of the world. Amsterdam, Venice, New York forever lost. Millions of people were displaced. Climate became chaotic. Hundreds of millions of people starved in poorer countries. Elsewhere a high degree of prosperity survived when most governments in the developed world introduced legal sanctions to license pregnancies. Which was why robots, who were never hungry and did not consume resources beyond those of their first manufacture were so essential an economic link in the chain mail society."

"[to David] I do love you, you know. [whispers] I have always loved you."

"I can't accept this! There is no substitute for your own child!"

"Starving minds, welcome to Dr. Know! Where fast food for thought is served up 24 hours a day, in 40,000 locations nationwide. Ask Dr. Know — there's nothing I don't."

"Come away O human child To the waters and the wild With a fairy hand in hand For the world's more full of weeping Than you can understand."

"You are a real boy. At least as real as I've ever made one."