"Headmaster: Now this object I'm holding here is call... well some of you may have seen one before, it's called a book. You may have seen one on television."

"Dean Parker: Do you think you're the first kid to put liquor in mouthwash bottles? It was done in my day. I may have even done it myself."

"They say what happened to my boy was an accident. This people were grown ups, unlike my son, they will learn about accident."

"Great, the school gets taken over by terrorists and I'm still on pots and pans."

"Keith Coogan - Jonathan "Snuffy" Bradberry"

"I do appreciate the money that you and your associates have invested in this operation, but it is an operation. It's a military operation. And you don't know dick about that. I've been in the military for 20 years. I planned and flew over 100 missions in the Gulf. I put these boys together because they are highly trained, and they are motivated like me. This is what I do, Mr. Pritchett! And this is battle. Battle is a highly fluid situation. You plan on your contingencies, and I have. You keep your initiative, and I will. One thing you don't do is share command. It's never a good idea."

"Christian Slater — Capt. Riley Hale"

"John Travolta — Maj. Vic 'Deak' Deakins"

"Howie Long — Sgt. Kelly"

"Bob Gunton — Pritchett"

"Delroy Lindo — Colonel Max Wilkins"

"Samantha Mathis — Terry Carmichael"

"David O'Hara - Martin MacDuf"

"Julia Stiles - Bridget O'Meara"

"Simon Jones - Harry Sloan"

"Paul Ronan - Sean Phelan"

"Natascha McElhone - Megan Doherty"

"Mitchell Ryan - Deputy Chief Jim Kelly"

"George Hearn - Peter Fitzsimmons"

"Treat Williams - Billy Burke"

"Rubén Blades - Edwin Diaz"

"Margaret Colin - Sheila O'Meara"

"Brad Pitt - Francis "Frankie" McGuire/Rory Devaney"

"Harrison Ford - Sergeant Tom O'Meara"

"They come from different worlds. They fight for different causes. Now, two men from opposite sides of the law are about to go to war."

"One man trapped by destiny, and another bound by duty. They're about to discover what they're willing to fight, and to die for."

"[last lines] We never had choice... You and me."

"I understand why he's doin' what he's doin'. If I had to endure what he's endured—if I was eight years old and saw my father gunned down in front of my family—I'd be carryin' a gun too, and I wouldn't be wearin' a badge."

"It's good to have somebody around here who can pee standing up."

"Don't look for a happy ending. It's not an American story. It's an Irish one."

"You're a stupid man, Mr. Burke. You only see me standing between you and your money. You're forgetting about the thousand men standing behind me. That's a mistake."

"[Looking at a dilapidated boat] Here it is: the Irish Republican Navy."

"They say the word peace, but at the end of the day, all they want is surrender."