It sure is, but, nitpick: it’s not the opening scene.
ETA: Lawrence of Arabia is my nominee.
The opening gunfight in Silverado is, by itself, better than many entire western movies.
Great theatre? No. But it sure got everyone in the theater engaged in the movie…
“Saturday Night Fever”
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.*
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.
The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)
Skiing off the cliff: - YouTube
Information on the actual stunt-work involved here.
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.
Up
Okay, just for the sweet memories: - YouTube
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.
Glengary Glen Ross: “Coffee is for closers!”
I’ve popped in the DVD for Heat more than once to watch the initial armored car heist.
I didn’t care for the movie, overall, but the title sequence was indeed amazing.
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.
Seven Psychopaths
Star Wars… Episode IV
That star cruiser passing overhead blew me away as a kid.
No Country For Old Men.
And your post wasn’t there when I wrote mine!
And you didn’t describe it!
Dark City. I wish they had left out Keifer Sutherland’s narration entirely and just started with the guy waking up, though.
The Lion King
and
Inglourious Basterds
The opening scene with Nightcrawler in X-Men 2 was the best part of the movie.