You Can't Handle the Truth! - A Few Good Men (7/8) Movie CLIP (1992) HD

MovieclipsCited 4× on HN, 2017–2026

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other · general · evergreen · 2017–2026 on HN

The courtroom scene from A Few Good Men in which Col. Jessep, played by Jack Nicholson, shouts 'You can't handle the truth' at Tom Cruise's character.

Used as a reference or joke about authority figures who think they are above the law, and occasionally about sympathy for the military.

Film & TV clips #afewgoodmen #moviescene #jacknicholson #tomcruise

4 comments from Hacker News

@rayiner2026-06 · in “Why I'm Forced to Say Farewell: Google Management Has Lost Its Moral Compass”

It's because Americans and many Europeans under the shield of the U.S. military and have never in their lives felt a moment of fear about external threats.[1] They never have to meaningfully confront the central fact of their existence: that they enjoy a vastly disproportionate share of the world's bounty in a way that would be impossible without overwhelming military power. I suspect people living in say Ukraine don't talk like this. [1] As I get older, I'm more sympathetic to Colonel Jessup: ▶ this video .

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@user39393822023-03 · in “Secret Service, ICE break the law over and over with fake cell tower spying”

I can only imagine the people running these organizations share the perspective of Jack Nicholson in A Few Good Men ▶ this video They believe they are the law, not that they're subservient to it.

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@octopoc2021-03 · in “Microsoft wins $21.9B contract with U.S. Army to supply AR headsets”

To be clear this is a reference to this scene: ▶ this video edit: it's a scene where this exact conversation is playing out.

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@topload2017-03 · in “The Night Watch (2013) [pdf]”

Thanks! For those who didn't get the joke, I want to point you to this moment of decision in A Few Good Men. (spoiler alert) - ▶ this video

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