Vito and Michael Corleone offer great advice in the first two Godfathers.

"Never hate your enemies - it affects your judgement."

"Never let anyone outside the family know what you are thinking."

ZULU

Zulu is an outstandingleadership movie. The learning themes are:
resourcefulness
collaboration
trust
planning
discipline

Apollo 13 is a classic study in leadership.

Consider the task at hand, the challenges they had to overcome, and the end result - they got home alive.

James Stewart in "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington."
His was the best portrayal of political leadership
produced by Hollywood to date.

I couldn't agree more with both Apollo 13 and Mr. Smith. If you learned a lot from Apollo 13, I recommend Jim Lovell's book, "Lost Moon." (Lovell was the Apollo 13 commander.)

For my part, at the risk of sounding trendy, I'm learning a few things from the character Morpheus in the Matrix films lately. He is the perfect zealot, the ultimate evangelist. (Commander Lock: Not everyone believes what you do Morpheus. Morpheus: My beliefs do not require them to. ) In the nonprofit sector, that makes for a powerful leadership combination.

Maximus in The Gladiator teaches us that the more you stay out of politics, the more you're going to get sucked in.

Hmm. Tough one; I have several favorites. These two are tops:

The Matrix: "There is no spoon."

The Razor's Edge: "...because work that has no intention, is not work. It's an empty motion."

Spike Lee's "Do the right thing"...the title says it all.

Millions of people go to see movies for some fun and relaxation. When a leader goes, he takes notes. The leader is not looking for academy award winners. He is looking for takeaway value.

Captain Bligh and Captain Bligh in Mutiny on the Bounty and The Bounty. They tell the same story but the heroes change places. The first is the old 1962 classic starring Marlon Brando. The latter was made in 1984 starring Anthony Hopkins and Mel Gibson.

In the 1962 version (as well as an even older 1935 version) Captain Bligh was clearly the villain, an incompetent self-serving you-love-to-hate-him villain of a boss. Christian, the first mate, was conscientious of the plight of the men on the ship and became the reluctant hero.

In the 1984 version, in order to successfully carry out the mission they were entrusted with, Bligh required a reasonable degree of discipline from his men. However, Christian was seduced, literally and figuratively, into compromising the mission and rebelled against Bligh.

It would be nice to know what really happened, but that is not the point here. Leaders want to see the big picture, understand the dynamics of people relationships, see how good can go bad (or look bad). If you watch both films you get the point.

Ethan Hawke's character in Training Day, with Denzel Washington, is a must see for leaders. Here we explore the slippery slope or Nash's 'Dollar Auction' game theory. We see how an Enron can happen to absolutely anyone. And by the time you discover what has happened you also know the extreme price you will have to pay to get out of it.

Leaders should see Tears of The Sun with Bruce Willis, Amos and Andrew with Nicolas Cage and Samuel L. Jackson, Hollywood Homicide with Harrison Ford and Josh Hartnett. Why? Because they need to see that great actors, actors who will be icons in cinema history, have made also made some terrible movies. Then they keep on and don't let it get them down, just as leaders must do.

maybe not specific words per se, but the story and lessons of the following movies I found provoking:
Top Gun, and
Born on the Fourth of July.
Boiled-down, it's about failing, and maybe even failing through NO fault of your own. But a failure has more than one dimension. Within the milieu and maelstrom of a failure process (they are rarely exactly singularistic events) the wise (and sometimes lucky) person will find the lesson and reason to avoid re-occurrence(s).

and in the interest of full disclousure, I own both video tapes ;p