* "The first casualty of war is innocence." (Platoon)
* "With great power comes great responsibility." (Spiderman)
* "Revenge is a dish best served cold." (Kill Bill)
* "Get ready to root for the bad guy." (Payback)
* "If Nancy doesn't wake up screaming, she won't wake up at all." (Nightmare on Elm St.)
* "Being the adventures of a young man whose principal interests are rape, ultra-violence and Beethoven." (A Clockwork Orange)
* "If you can't be famous... Be infamous." (Chicago)
* "His whole life was a million-to-one shot." (Rocky)
* "His triumph changed the world forever." (Gandhi)
* "This time he's fighting for his life." (First Blood)
* "He's having the worst day of his life... over, and over..." (Groundhog Day)
* "It was the Deltas against the rules... the rules lost!" (Animal House)
* "There's everything you've ever known about adventure, and then there's The Abyss." (The Abyss)
* "The snobs against the slobs." (Caddyshack)
* "Every man dies. Not every man really lives." (Braveheart)
* "If adventure has a name... It must be Indiana Jones." (Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom)
* "Get in. Get out. Get even." (The Italian Job)
* "Just because they serve you doesn't mean they like you." (Clerks)
* "Somewhere, somehow, someone's going to pay." (Commando)
[Feel the alliteration? Can you use similar repetitive word sounds?]
* "The truth is out there." (The X-Files)
* "There are degrees of truth." (Basic)
* "Lie. Cheat. Steal. Rinse. Repeat." (Matchstick Men)
* "Four friends made a mistake that changed their lives forever." (Sleepers)
"When friendship runs deeper than blood." (Sleepers)
* "Fifty million people watched, but no one saw a thing." (Quiz Show)
* "When he said 'I do,' he never said what he did." (True Lies)
* "Fear can hold you prisoner. Hope can set you free." (Shawshank Redemption)
* "Seen from a distance, it's perfect." (Life as a House)
* "Not that it matters, but most of it is true." (Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid)
* "Their only crime was curiosity." (Hackers)
* "His story will touch you, even though he can't." (Edward Scissorhands)
* "There's a good reason some talent remains undiscovered." (Waiting for Guffman)
* "Everybody loved him... Everybody disappeared." (Jerry Maguire)
* "He was never in time for his classes... He wasn't in time for his dinner... Then one day he wasn't in his time at all." (Back to the Future)
[Do you feel the power of the "3-peat"? Is there a phrase you could repeat occasionally throughout your opening?]
* "Don't answer the phone. Don't open the door. Don't try to escape." (Scream)
* "No one stays at the top forever." (Casino)
* "It's a hot summer. Ned Racine is waiting for something special to happen. And when it does... He won't be ready for the consequences." (Body Heat)
* "Freedom is not given. It is our right at birth. But there are some moments when it must be taken." (Amistad)
* "United by hate, divided by truth." (American History X)
* "An outrageous story of greed, lust and vanity in America." (Bonfire of the Vanities)
* "In the heat of passion two things can happen. The second is murder." (The Postman Always Rings Twice)
* "Every dream has a price." (Wall St.)
* "It's not who he is underneath but what he does that defines him." (Batman Begins)
* "He didn't come looking for trouble, but trouble came looking for him." (El Mariachi)
* "He's out to prove he's got nothing to prove." (Napoleon Dynamite)
Here are some more taglines pulled from lawyer movies:
* "The truth can be adjusted." (Michael Clayton)
* "Justice has its price." (A Civil Action)
* "Sooner or later a man who wears two faces forgets which one is real." (Primal Fear)
* "There have been many courtroom dramas that have glorified The Great American Legal System. This is not one of them." (My Cousin Vinny)
* "Power can be murder to resist." (The Firm)
"They made him an offer he should have refused." (The Firm)
* "A district attorney out for a conviction. A new lawyer out of her league. A young boy who knew too much." (The Client)
* "No one would take on his case... until one man was willing to take on the system." (Philadelphia)
* "In the heart of the nation's capital, in a courthouse of the U.S. government, one man will stop at nothing to keep his honor, and one will stop at nothing to find the truth." (A Few Good Men)
* "This man needs the best lawyer in town. But the problem is... he is the best lawyer in town." (...And Justice for All)
* "Sometimes it's dangerous to presume." (Presumed Innocent)
"Some people would kill for love." (Presumed Innocent)
* "The story of what four men did to a girl... And what the town did to them!" (Town Without Pity)
* "Some people will do anything for money." (The Fortune Cookie)
"Some people will do anything for $249,000.92." (The Fortune Cookie)
[The first phrase is a common theme that all of your jurors have heard before, but the second phrase is more specific. Does it feel more powerful hearing the actual number?]
* "Nothing matters more than winning. Not even what you believe in." (The Candidate)
* "There are two sides of this mystery. Murder...And Passion." (Jagged Edge)
* "An act of love, or an act of murder?" (Body of Evidence)
"This is the murder weapon. Her name is Rebecca." (Body of Evidence)
* "They locked him up. They crushed his spirit. But they couldn't hide the truth." (Murder in the First)
* "You may not like what he does, but are you prepared to give up his right to do it?" (People vs. Larry Flynt)
* "In a world of lies, nothing is more dangerous than the Truth." (Shadow of Doubt)
* "The first scream was for help. The second is for justice." (The Accused)
* "Suppose you picked up this morning's newspaper and your life was a front page headline... And everything they said was accurate... But none of it was true." (Absence of Malice)
[This is obviously an improper Golden Rule argument, but you could re-write it to focus the attention on your client]
* "On the other side of drinks, dinner and a one night stand, lies a terrifying love story." (Fatal Attraction)
* "Trials are too important to be decided by juries." (The Runaway Jury)
[PLEASE don't use this one in court!!!]
