Ask Lemmy

I'm a sucker for "last stand" quotes. That is, those made by a character who already knows that they aren't going to survive or win out of whatever situation they're in, is resigned to the fact, but is going to try to do what they can despite that.

Star Wars: A New Hope

https://youtu.be/6H0vFP_jXN4?t=147

Red Leader is hit, with his spacecraft damaged.

LUKE: Red Leader, we're right above you.

Turn to 0-five. We'll cover for you.

GARVEN: Stay there. I just lost my starboard engine. Get set up for your attack run.

Luke looks confused, then looks down and sees the lead craft crash and explode; he looks back ahead, shaken.

Honestly...thinking about it, the more-memorable last-stand quotes that come to mind probably aren't aren't from movies, but real life.

The Battle off Samar

In one US-Japanese naval battle in World War II, due to Japan successfully executing a major decoy movement, the US left a number of escort carriers

slow, weak ships that could potentially pack a punch at a distance but were extremely vulnerable at close range

undefended and had the bulk of Japan's remaining surface naval forces, including some of the most-powerful surface warships ever built, engage them at close range, with very little warning. This was more-or-less a worst-case scenario for them. The most-powerful US surface warships present, three destroyers, were each comparable in displacement to a single turret on the battleship Yamato, which was one of the heavy combatants attacking. None of the US surface ships present had guns capable of penetrating the heavy Japanese surface warship armor. There were also a few escort destroyers, even slower, weaker, and smaller ships really intended only to defend against submarines. When engaged, the escort carriers scattered, to try to make it as hard as possible to a large proportion of them down. The destroyers were ordered to charge the immensely-more-powerful Japanese surface force

a suicidal attack

to try to slow the attack and preserve as many escort carriers as possible. One destroyer escort, the Samuel B. Roberts, had its captain also engage, and give approximately the following quote:

Over his ship's 1MC public-address circuit, he told his crew "This will be a fight against overwhelming odds from which survival cannot be expected. We will do what damage we can." Without orders and indeed against orders, he set course at full speed to follow Heermann in to attack the cruisers.

Some of the crew survived in the water afterwards, so we still have the quote.

The Battle of Galliopoli

In World War I, the Battle of Gallipoli, the very-influential Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, who later became leader of Turkey, was a commander.

The battle was an attempt by British forces

who had tremendous naval superiority

to conduct a major amphibious assault and establish a secure beachhead. In general, amphibious assaults are very risky for the attacking force; one is placed in a position where one's forces have little ability to retreat if things go poorly. The critical issue is managing to push back enemy forces and establishing a secure buffer between those forces and the vulnerable unloading and staging areas on a beach

at this time, what that meant was largely out of artillery range

to keep them from being attacked.

The Turkish forces could win a land battle, given time to bring other forces up, but the British forces had the advantage of surprise and superiority over the Turkish forces already in place. If the British forces could push back the Turkish forces, the British would get their beachhead.

Turkish forces, including those commanded by Ataturk, fought a desperate, successful attempt to hold the amphibious assault back long enough to permit reinforcements to arrive.

https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Mustafa_Kemal_Atat%C3%BCrk

Men, I am not ordering you to attack. I am ordering you to die. In the time that it takes us to die, other forces and commanders can come and take our place.

Orders to the 57th Infantry Regiment during the Gallipoli campaign (25 April 1915); as quoted in Studies in Battle Command by Combat Studies Institute, US Army Command and General Staff College, p. 89; also quoted in Turkey (2007) by Verity Campbell, p. 188

The Battle of Thermopylae

Probably one of the more-famous quotes in military history is "molon labe". A greatly-superior Persian force was invading Greece; defending Greek forces held a region which was relatively-favorable for defense by small numbers (this is where the "300 Spartans" fought a delaying action). The defenders did not have realistic hope of victory for the battle, though they ultimately won the war. As the Persian force approached, a surrender demand was issued and refused; as history records it, the Greek response was "molon labe":

The Greeks were offered their freedom, the title "Friends of the Persian People", and the opportunity to re-settle on land better than that they possessed.[60] When Leonidas refused these terms, the ambassador carried a written message by Xerxes, asking him to "Hand over your arms". Leonidas' famous response to the Persians was "Molṑn labé" (Μολὼν λαβέ – literally, "having come, take [them]", but usually translated as "come and take them").[61] With the Persian emissary returning empty-handed, battle became inevitable. Xerxes delayed for four days, waiting for the Greeks to disperse, before sending troops to attack them.

Leonidas didn't remain himself, so maybe one can't quite let that qualify as a "last stand quote".

War of the Worlds

Originally from a novel rather than a movie, and not a last stand quote, but the ending of the War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells (severe spoiler warning):