The music that plays at the beginning of Music & Lyrics is hilarious. My favorite part is the very unenthusiastic dancing of the drummer in the background.
Seconded GI Joe: The Movie. The first time I saw that I actually had to take a break before continuing.
I was going to mention that. When I saw it in the theater and the credits started I was kinda stunned for a moment. Oh yeah, we haven’t seen the credits yet. Great start to one of the finest movies ever filmed.
I came in here to add Seven, so instead I’ll go with the vignettes of the daily grind offered at the beginning of Clerks and Office Space.
Most of mine are already taken…
Monsters, Inc.
Mallrats, especially on the subsequent viewings
The Great Race, similar to the Superman ones, but funny.
Edward Scissorhands
and on TV:
Star Trek: Voyager
I liked the opening sequence of the 2004 Dawn of the Dead. Kind of encapsulates what is going on all over the world at the time. All to some Johnny Cash, which was just about the perfect pick, imo.
Think I’ll watch it again when the boss leaves…
Airplane!
I’ve always been kinda partial to the opening credits for Bullitt: a mini-movie that shows why Johnny Ross ends up lighting out for San Fran, with a great Lalo Schifrin score.
Two Star Trek series for me: Voyager and DS9 have the best theme music. Whoever came up with that lameass song for the intro to Enterprise should be beaten severely about the head and shoulders.
Movies: Bridge on the River Kwai. Col. Bogey’s march, don’t ya know!
That’s the one I came in to mention. Those credits really set a tone.
Gotta mention Fincher’s other great opening credit: Fight Club. Set to the rhythms of the Dust Bros., as we pull away from neurons firing in “jack’s” brain, and all the way out of a sweat gland between his eyes, down the barrel of the gun that’s stuffed in his mouth. Pure adrenalin.
ETA: Fight Club opening
The opening credits of the HBO series Rome, with their animated Roman graffiti and statuary.
Raising Arizona…
Somebody has beaten me to Airplane!, but I have to warn you, it will be meaningless unless you have seen and remember the the original Jaws.
Most of my favorites have already been mentioned: the creepiness of Dexter (which makes ordinary tasks like making breakfast and getting dressed for work look sinister and scary), the nightmarish bleakness of Seven, the intensity of Fight Club, and the total breakdown of civilization set to Johnny Cash’s “The Man Comes Around” in Dawn of the Dead '04.
But the most awe-inspiring opening sequence for me, along with a few others here, has to be G.I. Joe: The Movie.