View Full Version : Best opening scene?
Sonicmint
17-02-2002, 08:20
What do you think is the best opening scene from any movie?
I can't think of many, but what does pop tomind is Swordfish where Travolta is discussing 'the state of Hollywood', and the Matrixesque explosion. Wow!
The ironic thing about Swordfish is that it had a brilliant opening scene and a thoroughly **** ending!
Armageddon....the first 10 or so minutes....forget about the rest. ;)
Sonicmint
17-02-2002, 08:44
..... I thought of another...... Contact.
The space thing - very impressive.
What about the first half hour of Saving Private Ryan - absolutely brilliant.
George vader
17-02-2002, 08:54
The first 10 minutes of Goodfellas , oh and the following 129 minutes!!!
CrazyHorse
17-02-2002, 09:10
Raiders of the Lost Ark has one of the best opening sequences ever, IMHO! Perfectly sets up the character of Indy and his exploits.
Matrix_1888
17-02-2002, 09:11
for me its T2, that future war scene is amazing.
:)
Here are a Few
Hardboiled
The Way of the Gun
Jurassic Park
Hard Eight
Star Wars
I usually love the begining of a movie its just when 90% of them end in a dark warehouse somewhere.
Colin
Stone Cold
17-02-2002, 09:20
Blade's opening scene is quality...vampires in an underground nightclub, the 'Day Walker' arrives and kicks ass.:clap:
Davester
17-02-2002, 10:40
The world is not enough.
Kevin Harper
17-02-2002, 10:46
ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST - Nothing much happens for 10 minutes !!
Touch of Evil
Toy Story 2
Goldfinger - the originator of the mini-adventure
charlie angel
17-02-2002, 11:03
Opening shot of Touch Of Evil
Tea House scene in Hard Boiled
The retrospective flashback of Fight Club -
Starting the film at the end... That swoop down the skyscraper and into the undergound carpark...
Rollo Tomassi
17-02-2002, 11:38
Raging Bull
Snake Eyes
Magnolia
Once Upon a Time in the West
Contact (very impressive, yes)
Memento
Dressed to Kill - one of the most outrageous openings I can think of.
Written on the Wind - glamorous melodrama and kitsch at its most sublime
The Naked Kiss - sleazily violent and viciously feminine
Mulholland Drive - ...what the hell was all that about?
EchoLeader
17-02-2002, 13:59
I think its the Wild Bunch that had that really good start, can't remember that much though, long time since I've seen it.
It's been a few years since I last watched it but I seem to remember Mad Max 2 has a decent opening scence.
I've always liked the start of Apocylpse Now.
davey1970
17-02-2002, 16:03
not a big chase scene or anything, but i love the start of Lost Highway - just the road and Bowie's "deranged" playing.
fantastic.
i'd also have to agree with the opening scene from Blade, first time i seen it in the cinema with my mates we were in aww!
It's also the first film i bought on dvd (R1) and that was even before i had a dvd player!
Citysmith
17-02-2002, 16:37
Have to agree with Grumpy, Apocylpse Now is an awesome start to any film. One of my other faves is Flatliners, I thought that the start was a classic, may have to purchase that on DVD.
Jaws - no doubt about it. Saving Private Ryan is a very close second and Scream is also worth a mention.
Ridcully
17-02-2002, 16:45
Matrix with Trinity. OK we are now used to the wrap around photos but even so still think its pretty good.
Another vote for Blade
Toy Story 2, especially good when playing guess the film that the sound effect came from
Most Bond intros
BigHairyScotsman
17-02-2002, 17:05
:D:D:D Barb Wire :p :p :p
scaramanga
17-02-2002, 18:30
I always enjoy pumping up the volume on Gladiator, Saving Private Ryan and Blade :) Also i think Austin Powers Deserves a mention, flippin bobbies! :clap: Oh and most of the bonds !!!
AndyWilson
17-02-2002, 19:37
The opening scene of Crimes of Passion is the only one I've ever seen that's made people live the cinema before the opening titles!!
TheGrinningReaper
17-02-2002, 19:42
The Matrix, The world is not enough or saving private ryan would be my choices even though there is probably loads more that i can't remember:D
I like the two Bruce Willis offerings
Die hard with a vengeance - Street shot summer in the city music playing and then BAM!!! shop front explodes.
And
The Last Boy Scout American football in the rain and the guy puls out the gun and shoots 3 or 4 guys then himself..CLASSIC!
Shame about the entirety of those films though but for opening sequences those two stick in my mind for some reason!
The Lion King.
Fair brought a lump to me throat.
Boink! :cool:
defo has to be blade for me :D 1st scenes are just wow! i couldnt keep still while watching it :)
MarcusUK
17-02-2002, 22:34
I quite like the opening to lock stock with bacon selling from the suitcase. Always makes me laugh
For as long as I can remember, Ive always wanted to be a gangster...........
Any of the Star Wars films (shame Phantom went downhill from that point on).
American Beauty - shock the audience in the first 5 minutes, always a good idea.
Raider of the Lost Ark.
Blade.
Many greats mentioned - some not
Reservoir Dogs
Goldeneye
Iron Monkey
Got another 2
Shrek - very funny
Trainspotting - choose life
<b>The Wild Bunch</b> is the obvious choice, but a couple of other Peckinpah openings spring to mind. The mock-pastoral opening of <b>Bring me The Head Of Alfredo Garcia</b> is great as is the restored beginning of <b>Pat Garrett And Billy The Kid</b> which changes the tone of the whole film.
Scorsese is great at openings too. <b>Goodfellas</b> has been mentioned, but the beginning of <b>The Age Of Innocence</b> is superb, setting up all the major characters and themes in one five minute scene. <b>Mean Streets</b> is also glorious with the faked home-movie footage and Ronnie Spector's transcendant voice.
As for De Palma, <b>Carrie</b> is exceptional, a girls' shower room shot with the slo-mo soft-focus masturbatory fantasising of a teenager's wet dream. <b>DTK</b> has been mentioned and I adore the bravado of the self-parodying opening to <b>Blow Out</b>.
I could go on... Boorman's <b>Point Blank</b>, establishing that the film is going to owe more to Borges than Spillane, the incredibly and troublingly erotic beginning to Cronenberg's <b>Crash</b>, Kubrick's helicopter shot opening <b>The Shining</b>, the sheer comic nerve of the first scene in <b>Jaws</b>, Milius's energetic homage to adventure fiction in <b>The Wind and The Lion</b>... and so on...
Am I right in thinking Scott liked the Shining opening so much he used some cut footage for the end to Bladerunner?
davey1970
19-02-2002, 21:55
mmm,
wasn't it that the directors cut didnt have that ending but the "happy ever after" ending just shoved this in at the end?
might be wrong.
You may well be right but surely Scott himself chose the footage.
davey1970
19-02-2002, 22:04
just what i was thinking mate while i ate my tea lol.
and at the start of the shining it is damn good.
d
Rope is another great opening scene - I think it was one of the longest opening takes ever (around 9 mins?). Snakeyes has it beaten for time I think.
Bladerunner itself is a brilliant opening the cityscape shot.
Idle Child
19-02-2002, 22:08
those that immediately spring to mind are:
From Dusk Till Dawn : the gas station dialogue between ranger and benny that sucks you in, then the following shoot-out, and of course the blisful imagery of Tarantino and Clooney walking away from an exploding gas station without much a care in the world... ultimately, infinately COOOOOOOOL and then we're into the opening credits...
Reservoir Dogs: we start again with interesting dialogue around the restuarant/diner table. Great speech about waitresses/tipping, madonna - entertaining stuff.. the dolly shot along the wall with the dogs - Little Green Bag, and then BAM! Orange's been shot.. compelling viewing.
Desperado: Steve Bushemi's story about the mariachi. Cool, fun and entertaining..
Romeo + Juliet: The gas station banter between the capulet's and montegues.. Tabalt sliding to the floor pulling out those fantastically cratfed guns.. yet another example of cool and dynamic camera angles..
Snatch: Not supremely spectacular, BUT i found the idea of Rabi's turning over a diamond retailer hilarious - those revolving camera angles make me roar with laughter - who else could make rabi's cool but guy richie? ....
The Godfather: The "i believe in America" speech. In a nut shell what gangsters are all about, encapsulates respect for familty, friends and the code. Brando's right to give the undertaker a telling off.. the good for nothing free rider..
i'm sure there are others.. canea think now.
family man
20-02-2002, 07:55
Gladiator
Blade Runner
Matrix
Blade
to name but a few.
All bloody classics!
Saving Private Ryan
The Godfather
Mark Orme
20-02-2002, 16:05
SPR, Fight Club and The World is not Enough. My other favourite Bond beginning would be Tomorrow Never Dies.
The first ones that I thought of though were Die Hard with a Vengence and Grosse Point Blank, with the cyclist shooting. Both good examples of use of music.
latterDVD
20-02-2002, 20:44
Blade
Star Wars - first film i remember seeing
Raiders
Tomb Raider - I like the game
Bad Boys
Die Hard with a Vengence
and
Barbarella:nuts:
JoelCairo
22-10-2010, 10:30
Written on the Wind - glamorous melodrama and kitsch at its most sublime
Yes, I agree. That opening shot of Robert Stack driving recklessly with a bottle in his hand is immediately gripping and sets the scene brilliantly.
There is a little-known sub-section of films with a great opening shot or sequence: namely films where the only good sequence is the beginning and where the rest of the movie is pretty bad. Off the top of my head I can recall three examples of this.
Nocturne: a deservedly forgotten movie starring George Raft has an opening shot of a poised and languid sophisticate sitting at a piano pouring elegant scorn on a woman whose ankles we see at the edge of the screen. He sneers at her at great length and then there is a gun shot and the man slumps dead on the piano keys. The rest of the movie is boring junk. Mind you, I'd love to see it again!
DOA: a man walks into a police station and says he wants to report a murder. The cop asks who has been murdered. The man replies that he himself is the victim. What follows is a third-rate, thick-ear crime story of minimal interest. I was surprised when this movie was remade.
The Emperor Waltz: the only Billy Wilder film I don't like has a good opening sequence of a man trying to break into a big house. After that, total yawnsville! I've seen this film only once when it was part of a Billy Wilder season at the NFT. Until then I had always wondered why the film was so rarely shown. After sitting through it, I knew why!
There are probably quite a few other films where only the opening sequence is any good. Any suggestions?
Beowulf1970
22-10-2010, 10:42
Austin Powers : Goldmember (The Celebrity Austin bit)
..
I'll get my coat on the way out ;)
SIMON ADEBISI
22-10-2010, 10:46
The Last Boy Scout
"Aint life a bitch?"
The Naked Gun! :lol:
Psycho :nuts:
Out for Justice
22-10-2010, 10:59
Tomorrow Never Dies.
why does the plane blow when he fires the ejector seat into it?
einstein
22-10-2010, 11:59
Up and Back to the Future for me
Johnny Vodka
22-10-2010, 12:23
Suspiria. Probably the best use of music in a film... ever. You can switch off after the opening murders, though, coz it's **** after that (and I've given it plenty of chances).
Robert S
22-10-2010, 12:37
Great thread revival.
The aforementioned The Shining opening is too good not for me to repeat.
And...
Akira's near-silent Tokyo blast.
La Dolce Vita - hanging Jaysus.
Irreversible’s rumbling backwards credit roll.
Day of the Dead's wall arms.
A Clockwork Orange - extreme close up (whoooaaaaa) of Alex zooming out to reveal the Korova milkbar.
Vertigo - Saul Bass minimal retro credit sequence.
Bad Taste - "I think this is a job for real men!!!"
Children of Men - arm?
The Seventh Seal - I wanna play chess on the beach la la la la laaa la
Johnny Vodka
22-10-2010, 13:18
28 Weeks Later. We thought we were going to watch a run of the mill action/horror flick, but the opening scene makes it clear you're in for a rough ride.
Mr Blobby
22-10-2010, 13:45
why does the plane blow when he fires the ejector seat into it?
It was about to be hit by a missile which is why Bond had to eject.
Johnny Vodka
22-10-2010, 13:52
Wild at Heart with its rough head bashing and loud music. :D
Island Swing
22-10-2010, 14:28
Lost in Translation.
Dat ass.
Difficult to do better than The Wild Bunch's opening ten minutes.
Robert S
22-10-2010, 15:45
Takashi Miike is responsible for some memorable opening sequences. Ichi The Killer's sheer unhinged kineticism is jaw dropping (and difficult), and both Dead or Alive and Shinjuku Triad Society begin bloody audaciously.
My favourite of all is the imaginative stop-motion opening of The Happiness of the Katakuris. Very funny and charming!
I don't think I've seen better than Apocalypse Now or The Wild Bunch.
Robert S
22-10-2010, 16:11
Suspiria's opening is up there. Argento's peak.
Apostate
22-10-2010, 21:39
"Do you make up these questions, Mr. Holden? Or do they write 'em down for you?"
The Dark Knight
Scream
Goldeneye
Bad Boys :D
magnum30796
22-10-2010, 21:53
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DanWilde1966
22-10-2010, 22:01
Citizen Kane
The Seventh Seal - chess
Wild Strawberries - dream sequence
Rear Window - letting the camera set the scene
Saturday Night Fever (Travolta eating pizza and strutting)
Leon - stunning opening
Deliverance - "Duelling Banjos"
Apocalypse Now - napalm!
Get Carter: pre-credits sequence and the journey up north on the train
Texas Chainsaw Massacre ('74): flashbulbs, horrifying opening credits, hot sun and roadkill
Eraserhead - the Man on the Planet
Hiroshima Mon Amour - opening ten minute montage
Withnail & I - "I" having a panic attack while King Curtess's final live performance plays
The Man Who Fell to Earth - Thomas Jerome Newton arrives on Earth
Night of the Living Dead - "They're coming to get you Barbara!"
Car Wash
Dirty Harry - Scorpio's first kill, followed by those iconic opening credits
Inglourious Basterds - Jews under the floorboards
The Sacrifice - opening ten minute take featuring a man, a child and a tree
Antichrist - sex juxtaposed with the death of a child, in slow-mo black and white
DarioMann
23-10-2010, 08:57
Full Circle/The Haunting of Julia
Phenomena
The Stendhal Syndrome
Sleepless
Ali
The Keep
Thief
Christine
Jaws
Gladiator
Blade Runner
Matrix
Blade
to name but a few.
All bloody classics!
Those plus T2 and Star Wars are great opening sequences.
The most recent best opener for me has to be Bolt. First played that in HD with DTS surround cranked up literally blew me away. Absolutely outstanding! I am surprised they never actually released that part as a seperate kids program.
DanWilde1966
07-12-2010, 19:24
Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Spielberg is mighty at openings.
Spooksta
09-12-2010, 21:06
The Treky in me loves
Star Trek: The Undiscovered Country
Star Trek: Generations
and the latest Star Trek
:thumbs:
bruce-leroy
10-12-2010, 02:55
As a homage to John Woo's movies, the opening that introduces Chow Yun Fat's killer in Replacement Killers is pure style over substance.
Similarly, the opening to Ninja Assassin, where a fearful old man recounts the myth of the black pyjama clad assassins, before a group of Yakuzas meets an extremely grisly demise really kicks ass.
How about the opening to Kick-ass?
The opening scene to GoldenEye is for me one of the best ever James Bond pre-credit missions, where he does THAT bungee jump.
danielsesay
10-12-2010, 03:22
Up and Back to the Future for meWatching BTTF again on the big screen and seeing the opening sequence again was superb. Also, I challenge anyone not to watch the opening scenes in Up and not get a lump in your throat.
The most recent best opener for me has to be Bolt. First played that in HD with DTS surround cranked up literally blew me away. Absolutely outstanding! I am surprised they never actually released that part as a seperate kids program.I watched in the cinema and it blew me away too! Fantastic opening. :clap:
Raigmore
10-12-2010, 05:15
Raiders of the Lost Ark has one of the best opening sequences ever, IMHO! Perfectly sets up the character of Indy and his exploits.
+1 :thumbs:. I love that "rolling boulder trap" thingy.
Jaws for me, a real master class at suspense, terror, and even a bit of humor in the beach/nude swimming scene. As impressive as this 10mins is all this is the young Spielberg then manages to keep this up for the whole film:notworthy
Silent Voice
10-12-2010, 07:31
A lot of the James Bond films have excellent opening scenes.:)
stompontheplebs
10-12-2010, 10:39
Well I have nothing to add that hasn't already been mentioned but will chime in anyway;
Love the intros to both 28 Weeks Later & Dawn of the Dead (remake). But the best opening scenes of all time would have to be either Apocalypse Now or Once Upon A Time In The West :)
Raigmore
10-12-2010, 11:40
A lot of the James Bond films have excellent opening scenes.:)
Agreed. You Only Live Twice tops the list.
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Inglourious ********
The Spy Who Loved Me
Dune
Contact
The Sting
Cool Hand Luke is a good one - Luke under the influence cutting the heads off parking meters...funny, playful and a nice intro to the character's intentions for the rest of the film.
mango1902
10-12-2010, 22:09
A lot of good ones have already been mentioned, but I don't think these have been:
Lord of War
GoldenEye
The Two Towers
Rear Window
The Dark Knight
The Hudsucker Proxy
Millers Crossing - Incredible Music, coupled with the shot of a hat floating on the wind into the distance - how the hell did the get the hat to catch the wind, but none of the leaves. Frankly, its delicious:thumbs:!
Something a bit more recent, but I thought The Social Network's opening was really great.
Kind of threw you into the type of film you were going to be watching and set the Zuckerberg character up with some wonderful overlapping dialogue.
Fred2002
12-12-2010, 22:27
I have always been fond of the opening of Die Hard with a Vengence. Nicely settling in, everyday early morning scenes of New York, great song and then all of a sudden BANG!!!
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