Greatest Movie Openings Of All Time

[jason-h]

I was interested in seeing what people's favorite opening sequences of all time were. Any takers?
I like the opening of the Bourne Identity and most James Bond Movies.

[MaxTheSilent]

ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST, no doubt.

It's a 12-minute film school.

[matteekay]

The ten-minute tracking shot in "Serenity" is pretty slick....

[tokenuser]

The best part of any Bond movie (even - or perhaps especially - the campy Roger Moore ones) is the opening sequence before they roll the title.

I couldn't choose a best opening sequence, but they would rank pretty high (except maybe Casino Royale - I really enjoyed the movie overall, but the opening wasn't as good as previous movies - YVMV).

[suicideflip]

The entire preopening credits sequence in the new Dawn of the Dead is amazing.

[wideawakewesley]

I love the opening to Shaun Of The Dead!

Wes

[radmax]

Are we talking about the opening credits or just the begining of a movie?

Begining of a movie:

- Halloween

- Harold and Maude

- Back to the Future (There is so much foreshadowing as it pans through Doc's home)


Great credits:

- Se7en

- Catch Me If You Can

- Fight Club (The fact that it starts out in his brain is a very nice thing to pick up on after seeing the movie's twist)

[comhcinc]

Raiders .

[kahunablair]

Raiders .

Damn you! That was the first movie that came to mind as soon as I saw the thread title. Beat me to the punch.

[masherscf]

I keep hitting the "Conan: The Barbarian" button. But, the entire act after the prologue where Thulsa Doom attacks Conan's village is done entirely without dialog. It is really one of the best examples of visual story telling I can remember.

[dannyt]

ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST, no doubt.

It's a 12-minute film school.

...FTW.

and back to the future's is awesome too. But, dude-- max is right--this movie is also a contender for best score...

dan

[stizz]

I'm on the Raiders bandwagon as well!!

Actually I really dig on all three of the Indiana Jones opening sequences.

[jason-h]

I just thought of another one. The opening of the two towers with the falling sequence with Gandalf and the Balrog! That was dope! I was totally enthralled!

[jason-h]

I keep hitting the "Conan: The Barbarian" button. But, the entire act after the prologue where Thulsa Doom attacks Conan's village is done entirely without dialog. It is really one of the best examples of visual story telling I can remember.

I Love this movie for that reason and the fact that when there is dialogue, it's not speaking to be speaking. there is always some type of storytelling or narrative in it.

[comhcinc]

i got it. Touch of Evil. count the cuts in the first 4 minutes
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0nn1VO1HIPk

[sparks]

The ten-minute tracking shot in "Serenity" is pretty slick....

Got to agree with that. Also Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas... Can't stop here... this is Bat Country

[echo1]

yeah, agreed on fear and loathing


as far as cheesy excitement, i really like the first 10 minutes or so of Episode III, that space fight is such bedlam

[jason-h]

Speaking of echo1 i will have to say the first few second of star wars with the destroyer chasing the blockade runner. that was a hot intro.

[stopikingonme]

This one just popped into my head: For credit intro I would have to say
Napoleon Dynamite. Each plate of food with an actors name on it was specific to their character:
http://www.choiceblogger.com/image/napoleon-food.jpg

[radmax]

This one just popped into my head: For credit intro I would have to say
Napoleon Dynamite. Each plate of food with an actors name on it was specific to their character:
http://www.choiceblogger.com/image/napoleon-food.jpg

i totally agree...i didn't know a thing aobut htis movie when i first saw it in theater, but when i saw these credits i knew i would love it.

[ali_pinto]

i got it. Touch of Evil. count the cuts in the first 4 minutes
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0nn1VO1HIPk


Dude, I love that you mentioned that scene. Possibly one of my favorite scenes ever. Also, being that I'm a huge Altman fan... The Player. And of course, no list about opening scenes would be complete without The Goonies.

[radmax]

Dude, I love that you mentioned that scene. Possibly one of my favorite scenes ever. Also, being that I'm a huge Altman fan... The Player. And of course, no list about opening scenes would be complete without The Goonies.


You are right..that was an amazing opening. I am going to have to see that movie now.

Nice call with Goonies btw.

[bradschl]

My vote goes to Sexy Beast.

Great music and a beautiful freeze frame for the title. There's also the random boulder flying over his head into the pool.

Now that I'm thinking about it, the intro doesn't fit the mood of the movie at all, but it still grabbed me quickly.

Not the greatest movie, but I enjoy it. Great exciting performance by Ben Kingsley

[jaxom92]

The one with Touch of Evil was great. The long shots kept up the tension the whole way through as you saw various people next to the car, especially the leads.

A similar style was in Children of Men, which was awesome.

[seanc]

i got it. Touch of Evil. count the cuts in the first 4 minutes

Definately, a classic.

[gm_wil]

I was going to kick a dead horse and say STAR WARS . . . because it is a pretty impressive opening scene with the attack on the corellian corvette . . .

. . . but a year after that when I was 6, a movie opening that gave me goose bumps and still does, is SUPERMAN . . . but that's more for the music . . . (and could be the number one single movie theme song because i still get goose bumps when i hear the horns blaring the song) . . . but the roar of the blue letters zooming into focus was pretty impressive for just words . . . but is that the kind of "opening" this thread is looking for? If it's an actual opening scene . . .

How about a top 3 . . . er, 4?

Blade Runner . . . the horizon and cityscape of technology with the primitive fireballs blooming from industrial smokestacks . . . and then throwing in a couple of hovercars flying by . . . and then switching to the giant buildings with blinking lights . . . just sets the "grit of old" against the "world of the new" . . . old technology that really sets the mood for the whole movie . . . showing us flying cars but keeping us grounded at the same time by showing the "lived in" feel of it all . . . and then the shot of the eye seeing what we are seeing . . . great images . . .

Silverado . . . if that opening doesn't make you want to see the rest of the movie, then you definately have a prejudice against westerns and a predisposition to not like it no matter what . . .

Matrix . . . the only movie I've seen that actually made me blurt something outloud without even knowing it . . . when trinity jumps up and we see the slow pan around her for the first time to the hum of the kick ass sound, I literally dropped my jaw and damn near shouted - "Holy Shit!"

Rocketeer . . . the music again . . . who doesn't hear that music and instantly get thrown into that "wonderous, anything is possible" type of thinking you used to have when you were a kid, when your eyes got bigger because what you were experiencing was so fundamentally amazing and probably for the first time because it hadn't been done over and over . . . one of the few scores that brings ya back to that . . . because so many times today we want that feeling but have to settle for only being "reminded" of it . . . one of disney's best in my opinion.

(If you have not seen Rocketeer, I'd advise it. When you do, don't watch it as a future director, actor, stuntman, pilot, or critic . . . watch it as a kid. The same kid who grabbed a comic off the wire wrack and dropped a couple dimes ya got for collecting cans to pay for it . . . flipping through the pages while laying on a park bench with empty bazooka gum wrappers flapping in the breeze before they end up fluttering across the pages . . . )

[rickweasel]

I was going to kick a dead horse and say STAR WARS . . . because it is a pretty impressive opening scene with the attack on the corellian corvette . . .

. . . but a year after that when I was 6, a movie opening that gave me goose bumps and still does, is SUPERMAN . . . but that's more for the music . . . (and could be the number one single movie theme song because i still get goose bumps when i hear the horns blaring the song) . . . but the roar of the blue letters zooming into focus was pretty impressive for just words . . . but is that the kind of "opening" this thread is looking for? If it's an actual opening scene . . .

How about a top 3 . . . er, 4?

Blade Runner . . . the horizon and cityscape of technology with the primitive fireballs blooming from industrial smokestacks . . . and then throwing in a couple of hovercars flying by . . . and then switching to the giant buildings with blinking lights . . . just sets the "grit of old" against the "world of the new" . . . old technology that really sets the mood for the whole movie . . . showing us flying cars but keeping us grounded at the same time by showing the "lived in" feel of it all . . . and then the shot of the eye seeing what we are seeing . . . great images . . .

Silverado . . . if that opening doesn't make you want to see the rest of the movie, then you definately have a prejudice against westerns and a predisposition to not like it no matter what . . .

Matrix . . . the only movie I've seen that actually made me blurt something outloud without even knowing it . . . when trinity jumps up and we see the slow pan around her for the first time to the hum of the kick ass sound, I literally dropped my jaw and damn near shouted - "Holy Shit!"

Rocketeer . . . the music again . . . who doesn't hear that music and instantly get thrown into that "wonderous, anything is possible" type of thinking you used to have when you were a kid, when your eyes got bigger because what you were experiencing was so fundamentally amazing and probably for the first time because it hadn't been done over and over . . . one of the few scores that brings ya back to that . . . because so many times today we want that feeling but have to settle for only being "reminded" of it . . . one of disney's best in my opinion.

(If you have not seen Rocketeer, I'd advise it. When you do, don't watch it as a future director, actor, stuntman, pilot, or critic . . . watch it as a kid. The same kid who grabbed a comic off the wire wrack and dropped a couple dimes ya got for collecting cans to pay for it . . . flipping through the pages while laying on a park bench with empty bazooka gum wrappers flapping in the breeze before they end up fluttering across the pages . . . )

oohhh yeah Rocketeer.. AWESOME!! i remember being a kid and watching it. i LOVED that movie. My ex girlfriend told me that the score for it or shall i say some of the songs, are exactly the same as in titanic? is that true??? i dont really remember all to well. i just loved the movie.

[jason-h]

I totally agree with Silverado. I love that movie. i also have to say that now that i think about it. the opening to Blade was pretty dope!

[timmacyjr]

I totally agree with Silverado. I love that movie. i also have to say that now that i think about it. the opening to Blade was pretty dope!


Blade started off so well and maintained what it had captured through the whole movie.(too bad the other ones were garbage.)

but my favorite opening of all time has to be from "The Boondock Saints"

http://youtube.com/watch?v=AAm8Th82ElE

the opening credits after this, with the "Rosie" scene is hilarious and equally great.

[senoj1]

Back to the Future. Not only my favorite movie but yes favorite opening.

[rmarkmatthews]

I like the comic book/curtain opening to Superman.

[mikeyj10]

I think the best pre-credit sequence is on a TV show, not a movie. I think the pre-credit sequence to the very first episode of "The Wire" is the best bar none. It essentially sets the tone for the whole show.


I'll go out into left field for the best opening credits and say "Panic Room" just the way the credits contrast against NYC is really cool.

[magunwarrior]

If it hasn't been mentioned already, my vote goes to Saving Private Ryan, also one of my favorite movies of all time.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-ZaMsYL1Uo