# Best opening scenes in movies **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 29, 2015, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-scenes-in-movies/723810 "2015-06-29T20:19:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2015, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-scenes-in-movies/723810/21 "2015-06-29T21:20:06Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > 1. Saving Private Ryan > The D-Day scene is phenomenal It sure is, but, nitpick: it’s not the opening scene. ETA: _Lawrence of Arabia_ is my nominee. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2015, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-scenes-in-movies/723810/22 "2015-06-29T21:26:00Z")
The opening gunfight in Silverado is, by itself, better than many entire western movies. ---
**Author:** ![stillownedbysetters](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/41988e/32.png) [@stillownedbysetters](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stillownedbysetters)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2015, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-scenes-in-movies/723810/23 "2015-06-29T21:26:41Z")
Great theatre? No. But it sure got everyone in the theater engaged in the movie… “Saturday Night Fever” ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2015, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-scenes-in-movies/723810/24 "2015-06-29T21:36:17Z")
_ **Once upon a Time in the West** _, especially if you’re watching the German version: \*Haben Sie ein Pferd für mich? Nein. Wir haben nür drei. Ein zu wenig! Nein. Zwei zu viel.\* ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2015, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-scenes-in-movies/723810/25 "2015-06-29T21:50:03Z")
_Blade Runner_ is up there. (Through maybe “Let me tell you about my mother…”, but minus the stupid crawl.) And it’s kind of narrow appeal, but the title sequence for _Watchmen_ is a special case. ---
**Author:** ![standingwave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@standingwave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/standingwave)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2015, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-scenes-in-movies/723810/26 "2015-06-29T21:59:39Z")
**The Spy Who Loved Me** (1977) Skiing off the cliff: [- YouTube](https://youtu.be/_kyQauA2udc) Information on the actual stunt-work involved [here](http://thebondbulletin.blogspot.com/2013/01/stuntman-rick-sylvesters-personal.html). ---
**Author:** ![dataguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/eada6e/32.png) [@dataguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dataguy)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2015, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-scenes-in-movies/723810/27 "2015-06-29T22:01:04Z")
_Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid_ The gunplay after the confrontation at the poker table: “Sundance, how good are you?” Sometime I just watch this part then shut it off. ---
**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2015, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-scenes-in-movies/723810/28 "2015-06-29T22:06:46Z")
Up ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2015, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-scenes-in-movies/723810/29 "2015-06-29T22:15:29Z")
Okay, just for the sweet memories: [- YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPbymWrqXGc) ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2015, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-scenes-in-movies/723810/30 "2015-06-29T22:25:57Z")
> [@Knorf](#): > > It sure is, but, nitpick: it’s not the opening scene. I know it starts in the cemetery but the movement into the eyes then out to see Tom Hanks I would consider both to be combined into the “opening scene” but that’s me. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2015, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-scenes-in-movies/723810/31 "2015-06-29T22:29:59Z")
Glengary Glen Ross: “Coffee is for closers!” ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2015, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-scenes-in-movies/723810/32 "2015-06-29T23:36:34Z")
I’ve popped in the DVD for Heat more than once to watch the initial armored car heist. > [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > the title sequence for _Watchmen_ is a special case. I didn’t care for the movie, overall, but the title sequence was indeed amazing. ---
**Author:** ![dracoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2015, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-scenes-in-movies/723810/33 "2015-06-29T23:47:14Z")
In trying to think about this one, it’s interesting: the only opening scenes I can remember with certainty are for the first three Star Wars movies. And I really like how each of them begins. It’s a way of both establishing scale and bringing the audience into the movie that I find very compelling. It’s pretty much a tie between Star Wars and Return of the Jedi. For everything else, I think I’d wind up making mistakes like the “Saving Private Ryan” mistake earlier in the thread, where I remember an early scene that was not the actual opening scene. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2015, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-scenes-in-movies/723810/34 "2015-06-30T00:18:00Z")
[Lord of War Intro - The Journey of the bullet](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8LUEiKs2UAo) [Fellowship of the Ring - prologue](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qj139dE7tFI) ---
**Author:** ![Tinker\_Grey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tinker_grey/32/8136_2.png) [@Tinker\_Grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tinker_Grey)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2015, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-scenes-in-movies/723810/35 "2015-06-30T00:21:29Z")
Seven Psychopaths ---
**Author:** ![crypto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b3f665/32.png) [@crypto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crypto)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2015, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-scenes-in-movies/723810/36 "2015-06-30T00:28:46Z")
**Star Wars** … Episode IV That star cruiser passing overhead blew me away as a kid. **No Country For Old Men**. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2015, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-scenes-in-movies/723810/37 "2015-06-30T00:31:56Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > I know! And your post wasn’t there when I wrote mine! And you didn’t describe it! ---
**Author:** ![Patch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a183cd/32.png) [@Patch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patch)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2015, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-scenes-in-movies/723810/38 "2015-06-30T00:33:07Z")
Dark City. I wish they had left out Keifer Sutherland’s narration entirely and just started with the guy waking up, though. ---
**Author:** ![MindsEye\_Watering](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mindseye_watering/32/3619_2.png) [@MindsEye\_Watering](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MindsEye_Watering)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2015, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-scenes-in-movies/723810/39 "2015-06-30T00:52:15Z")
**The Lion King** and **Inglourious Basterds** ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2015, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-scenes-in-movies/723810/40 "2015-06-30T01:03:58Z")
The opening scene with Nightcrawler in **X-Men 2** was the best part of the movie. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-scenes-in-movies/723810.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-scenes-in-movies/723810.md?page=3)