Beginnings:
Touch of Evil. Must be seen to be believed.
Star Wars (original) It’s cliche by now, but it was spectacular, and the same kind of opening for the rest made crowds go wild.
Endings:
Casablanca. A couple of endings, one after another, and all time classics. “You know Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.”
Maltese Falcon. “What’s that?” “The stuff dreams are made of.” i.e.: disguised gold that is really lead.
I agree with so many that have been posted, but I am going to put one out there that is a little obscure.
Electra Glide in Blue … with Robert Blake
Great ending. The movie is OK, but that ending…wow!!
Another I might suggest, Bambi vs. Godzilla or is it Bambi Meets Godzilla…I’m not sure whether to think the opening right after the opening credits is better or the ending right before the closing credits.
Heh. I rented that about a year ago, and thought you were going to plug the opening. My memory is that it got off to great start with some art shots and then slid down from there.
The ending, I can’t recall… unless it was an Easy Rider type thing (sudden motorcycle violence.)
But hey! Speaking of movies that start great and can’t sustain: Black Beauty. Great opening with almost no dialog and a ship wreck.
Another great ending: Dario Argento’s Phenomena. In the last fifteen minutes or so, Jennifer Connelly’s poor character plunges into a pit of maggots and soggy decaying bodies, manages to escape, is chased out onto a lake by a psychotic deformed child, calls upon psychokinetic powers and has thousands of insects murderously swarm down on the child, escapes the lake (which by now is ablaze with the flames from the punctured gasoline tank of her motorboat), and is nearly rescued by a friend - who is then suddenly decapitated (with a shovel) by the kid’s similarly psychotic mother, who in turn is dispatched by a helpful chimpanzee wielding a straight-razor. Roll credits as Jennifer and the simian contemplate the sordid happenings they’ve just witnessed. It should be obvious what kind of movie this is, but I once watched it with a roomful of friends who were all screaming in dismay and glee for the entirety of that ending sequence.
Beginning:
+1 on Saving Private Ryan.
+1 Star Wars
Ending
The Last Samurai (Tom Cruise one)
The ending that always makes me tear up is the scene of the little boy in Life is Beautiful.
Beginning: Manos: The Hands of Fate.
(ducks and runs)
“They picked up Shirley Bassey hitchhiking.”
I thought the beginning of John Carpenter’s The Thing, with the husky in the snow being chased by the Norwegian helicopter, was a great way to set up the story.
For ending, I’m going to go with True Grit:
“You’re too old and fat to be jumping horses”
(Removes hat in salute:) “Well, come see a fat old man sometime!” (Spurs horse, jumps fence, and rides away)
I’m surprised that nobody has mentioned The Wild Bunch, the beginning lulls you into relaxing, but little things start to niggle and events turn into a full fledged (but stylishly filmed IMO) bloodbath.
Also another vote for Ryan.
Ending: Full Metal Jacket
“I am in a world of shit, yes-- but I am alive, and I am not afraid.”
Beginning : The Big Lebowsky cause sometimes, there’s a man.
Ending : Ran.
We could start a “Best ending after the ending” thread.
Ferris was the first “fun snippet after the credits” that I remember seeing. Breaks the fourth wall big time, and fits perfectly, given Ferris’s character.
Maybe not the best ever but i always liked the ending of Snatch.
Beginning: Top Gun
Both: Terminator 1. We all know exactly what happened in the beginning and the ending - they’re iconic.
Beginning ***and ***ending:
Close Encounters of the Third Kind.
The original version, not that shit “inside the ship” crap ending.