Summary
- Val Kilmer has embodied various memorable characters, delivering skillful lines packed with personality.
- Kilmer's characters often exhibit sharp sarcasm and wit, adding depth to the dialogue.
- Kilmer's performances in films like The Doors and Kiss Kiss Bang Bang showcase his ability to bring gravitas to serious subjects while maintaining the lighter tone of the film.
Val Kilmer has acted in several highly memorable roles, where he had the opportunity to bring the scripts to life and deliver some wonderful lines of dialogue. Val Kilmer is one of the most recognizable faces in Hollywood, considering his career has seen him act in over 100 titles since 1984. Whether he is playing a superhero, an antagonistic ally, or a straight-up villain, he does a great job embodying the role.
He played Jim Morrison in the biographical movie The Doors, as well as Batman, Tom 'Iceman' Kazansky, and other significant roles throughout his career, showcasing his talents and range. With each new character, Kilmer delivered his lines with great skill. Embodying the figures he plays and crafting the way that they appear onscreen.
15 "The plaque for the alternates is down in the ladies' room."
Tom 'Iceman' Kazansky - Top Gun (1986)
In the original Top Gun movie, Val Kilmer plays an antagonistic pilot attending the Top Gun flight academy and Maverick's main competition. Tom 'Iceman' Kazansky is an arrogant, but highly talented pilot, not entirely unlike his rival, Peter 'Maverick' Mitchell, played by Tom Cruise. When Maverick first s the academy, he learns that the best pilots have their names added to a prestigious plaque in the flight school. As he ires the plaque he hopes to one day have his own name engraved on, Iceman comments that the plaque for alternates is located elsewhere, chiding his new rival.
14 "Have you ever seen Queen Elizabeth sleep?"
Danny Parker (Tom Van Allen) - The Salton Sea (2002)
The Salton Sea is a powerful film about a man struggling with drug addiction who is working with the FBI to get information on a major crime lord. As Danny discusses the target, Pooh Bear (Vincent D'Onofrio), with his best friend, Jimmy the Finn, they have a great interaction discussing his nickname. As they exchange stories about the nefarious crime lord, Jimmy says that he heard a rumor that Pooh Bear never sleeps. Further, convincing himself of this rumor, Jimmy exclaims that he has never seen the man sleep, but Danny, being the voice of reason, makes a point that Jimmy hasn't seen plenty of people sleeping with Kilmer's trademark sarcasm.
13 "No! The definition of the word idiot, which you fucking are!"
Perry van Shrike - Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005)
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang is a movie starring Van Kilmer alongside Robert Downey Jr. Kilmer plays a private investigator, Perry, employed to help the actor, Harry (Downey Jr.) improve for a role. The two form a unique relationship as they go about Perry's work. One night, on a stakeout, they get caught up in trouble with a dead body and become implicated. Harry, panicking about the events, throws Perry's gun into the lake to cover their tracks and Perry responds with the above to highlight how significant a mistake Harry has made. Kilmer plays his role spectacularly, with great chemistry between himself and Downey Jr.
12 "No, she's just resting her eyes for a minute."
Perry van Shrike - Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005)
The relationship between Perry and Harry is fraught with chaotic moments. When the pair discovers a dead girl's body in the trunk of a car, Perry pulls the body out of the trunk and Harry asks if the girl is dead. Kilmer delivers his line with sharp sarcasm as is typical of his characters, before again acknowledging how clueless his temporary partner is.
11 "Sometimes you see the world so clearly... and you know just what to do, and just when to do it."
Danny Parker (Tom Van Allen) - The Salton Sea (2002)
As Danny reflects on his life early in The Salton Sea and his relationship with drugs, he delivers the above line. Kilmer does a great job of adding weight and gravity to the dialogue for a film around a very serious subject. Danny Parker is trying to leave a life full of sorrow and regrets behind him and now works as an informant for police trying to catch a major drug dealer played by Vincent D'Onofrio. This scene helps to set the tone for the rest of the film as Kilmer ponders over his life and choices.
10 "Why in pluperfect hell would you pee on a corpse?"
Perry van Shrike - Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005)
Harry continues to cause problems in Kiss Kiss Bang Bang when the corpse he and Perry discovered, turns up in his bathroom. Harry is cluelessly peeing in the bathroom with the body a few feet behind him. After a moment, he turns his head and spots the corpse. In complete shock, he turns, mid-stream and proceeds to pee on the body accidentally. He then calls Perry for help, and understandably, Perry is confused by the whole scenario. Kilmer manages to add weight and comedy to a line that builds on the relationship between the characters and furthers the dark comedy of the film itself.
9 "The enemy's dangerous, but right now you're worse."
Tom 'Iceman' Kazansky - Top Gun (1986)
In the second half of Top Gun, as the pilots are deep into training, Maverick is becoming well-known for his reckless techniques and attitude. After returning from a test flight that could have resulted in a fatal incident, Iceman calls out Maverick about his behavior and how it puts others at risk. However, Maverick is yet to let this lesson sink in until tragedy strikes later in the film. The foreshadowing and the weight of this line is perfectly captured by Kilmer.
8 "Some of the worst mistakes of my life have been haircuts."
Jim Morrison - The Doors (1991)
In the biographical film about the American band, The Doors, and particularly their lead singer Jim Morrison, The Doors stars Kilmer as Morrison. Early in the film, after the guys have signed with a recording label and been invited onto The Ed Sullivan Show, Morrison and the band prepare for the show backstage. In a line that foreshadows the events that come shortly after, Morrison rejects a touch-up from the stylists suggesting some of his worst mistakes were haircuts. Soon after, he makes a choice that could be considered a fatal mistake, or staying true to his authentic self, depending on the viewer, and creating a symmetry with the line.
7 "One last thing, who's the better pilot, you or me?"
Tom 'Iceman' Kazansky - Top Gun: Maverick (2022)
In the sequel, Top Gun: Maverick, Val Kilmer returns as Iceman, now the iral of the U.S. Pacific Fleet. Formerly a rival to Cruise's Maverick, the pair have now come to a point of understanding and respecting one another. Iceman assigns Maverick to a training role at their former school to train a group of students, including his deceased friend's son. The pair have a solid rapport and mutual appreciation, and Iceman ends their meeting with the above line, showing how far the relationship has come, to now include gentle ribbing of one another.
6 "Their souls kind of stirring in the breeze, just leapt into mind."
Jim Morrison - The Doors (1991)
At a press conference for the band, Morrison fields a series of questions about his lyrics, his addictions, and his personal life. When one of the journalists asks how his parents died, Morrison responds with an odd, yet poetic statement about a car crash that also killed a group of Navajos. In reality, this story never happened, but it reflects the poetic way of communicating Morrison employed in lyrics and poetry, as well as in life.
