Forrest Taft Quotes in On Deadly Ground (1994)

Forrest Taft: I'd like to start out by saying, thank you to all the brothers and sisters that have come here today representing this cause. I have been asked by Mr. Itok and the tribal council to speak to you and the members of the Press about the injustice that has been brought against us by some Government Officials and Big Business. How many of you out there have heard of alternative engines? Engines that can run on anything from alcohol to garbage or water. Or carburetors that can get hundreds of miles to the gallon. Or electric or magnetic engines, that can practically run forever. You don't know about them because if they were to come into use, they'd put the oil companies out of business. The concept of the internal combustion engine has been obsolete for over fifty years. But because of the Oil Cartels and corrupt government regulation, we and the rest of the world have been forced to use gasoline for over a hundred years. Big Business is primarily responsible for destroying the water we drink, the air we breathe and the food we eat. They have no care for the world they destroy, only for the money they make in the process. How many oil spills can we endure? Millions and millions of gallons of oil are now destroying the ocean and the many forms of life it supports. Among these is plankton, which supplies sixty to ninety percent of the Earth's oxygen. This supports the entire marine ecosystem which forms the basis of our planet's food supply. But the plankton is dying. I thought, well, let's go to remote state or country, anywhere on Earth. But in doing a little research I realized that these people broker toxic waste all over the world. They basically control the legislation, and, in fact, they control the Law. The Law says, "no company can be fined over $25,000 a day." For companies making $10,000,000 dollars a day by dumping lethal toxic wastes into the ocean, it's only good business to continue doing this. They influence the media so that they can control our minds. They have made it a crime to speak out for ourselves, and if we do so we're called "conspiracy nuts" and we're laughed at. We're angry because we're all being chemically and genetically damaged, and we don't even realize it. Unfortunately, this will effect our children. We go to work each day and right under our noses we see our car and the car in front of us spewing noxious poisonous gasses that are all accumulative poisons. These poisons kill us slowly, even when we see no effect. How many of us would have believed if we were told twenty years ago that on a certain day we wouldn't be able to see fifty feet in front of us. That we wouldn't be able to take a deep breath because the air would be a mass of poisonous gas. That we wouldn't be able to drink out of our faucets, that we'd have to buy water out of bottles. Our most common and God-given rights have been taken away from us. Unfortunately, the reality of our lives is so grim that nobody wants to hear it. Now, I've been asked what we can do? I think we need a responsible body of people that can actually represent us rather than Big Business. This body of people must not allow the introduction of anything into our environment that is not absolutely biodegradable or able to be chemically neutralized upon production. And finally, as long as there is profit to be made from polluting the Earth, companies and individuals will continue to do what they want. We have to force these companies to operate safely and responsibly, and with all our best interests in mind. So that when they don't, we can take back our resources and our hearts and our minds and do what's right.

Michael Jennings: Go ahead! Shoot me, go on! SHOOT ME, you fucking COWARD! You haven't got the fucking GUTS!

Forrest Taft: I wouldn't dirty my bullets.

Forrest Taft: Whoa! My long lost friend Michael!

Michael Jennings: [referring to Masu] Who's this? Is this the slope bitch you've been banging?

Forrest Taft: Nah. Not her.

Michael Jennings: Is this the one who's got you all concerned about the dirty snow? Jesus, Forrest! You and me, we bought hookers better than this for five bucks in Bangkok!

Hugh Palmer: You used to be a good man, Forrest. Now, you're nothing but a WHORE!

Forrest Taft: For 350,000 dollars I'd fuck anything once.

Forrest Taft: Well, let's see, that's natives 8, oil workers 0. Anyone else wanna play with Cupcake?

Forrest Taft: I guess it doesn't really matter since I kind of blew up all the evidence.

Forrest Taft: What does it take to change the essence of a man?

Big Mike: Hey, Cupcake, what the fuck you think you're looking at?

Forrest Taft: Nothing much at all.

Drunken Eskimo: You are about to go on a sacred journey.

[Forrest nods like he doesn't belive the Drunken Eskimo]

Drunken Eskimo: This journey will be good for all people. But you must be careful.

Forrest Taft: Right.

Forrest Taft: [about the big guy in the bar's vomit] Ew, that's disgusting. What is that? Halibut?

[Forrest has challenged Big Mike to a hand-slap game]

Big Mike: OK. I'll play your game, if you play *my* game.

Forrest Taft: I'll play your game afterwards if I'm still standing. 'Cause I might not be. 'Cause you're a tough guy, you're a man, and you've got big balls.

Big Mike: Ok. Ok.

Forrest Taft: Here we go, Mr. Big Balls.

[Forrest just won the first round and slugged Mike to the ground]

Forrest Taft: This is The Man's man. And I'm the Cupcake.

Forrest Taft: [after beating Big Mike on the hands slap game] What does it take, what does it take to change the essence of a man?

Big Mike: I need time to change... I need time.

Forrest Taft: I do too.