# Films whose first 15 minutes are utterly magnificent. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 27, 2016, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-whose-first-15-minutes-are-utterly-magnificent/753258 "2016-04-27T15:39:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2016, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-whose-first-15-minutes-are-utterly-magnificent/753258/21 "2016-04-27T17:50:52Z")
The opening scene of “Way of the Gun,” while not anywhere near 15 minutes, is beautiful. But contains some very rough language, for you people who are at work. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/eQLXYu6plhg/maxresdefault.jpg ""The Way of the Gun" - Opening Scene - HD") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eQLXYu6plhg) ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2016, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-whose-first-15-minutes-are-utterly-magnificent/753258/22 "2016-04-27T17:53:58Z")
_Once Upon A Time in the West_ is my usual answer for this question. Closer to ten minutes rather than fifteen, but close enough. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2016, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-whose-first-15-minutes-are-utterly-magnificent/753258/23 "2016-04-27T18:17:03Z")
The first 15 minutes or so of 28 weeks later are the most tense and terrifying of any zombie movie, the rest of the movie sucks though. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2016, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-whose-first-15-minutes-are-utterly-magnificent/753258/24 "2016-04-27T18:25:31Z")
_Days of Heaven._ The entire film is visually magnificent. ---
**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:** [April 27, 2016, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-whose-first-15-minutes-are-utterly-magnificent/753258/25 "2016-04-27T18:29:06Z")
The first FIVE minutes of Disney’s 2000 CGI film **Dinosaur** are _Magnificent_. A recreation of a Mesozoic world, marred only by the slight cartooniness of the Iguanodon mom. everything else was superb – magnificent vistas of herds of dinosaurs, various creatures depicted in everyday life as the stolen egg migrates through the scene. the sweeping shots of the flying pterosaur. And none of the dinosaurs speak or are otherwise anthropomorphized. Of course, they couldn’t keep it up. They have to have speaking characters so they can interact. They throw in thoroughly out-of-period lemurlike mammals. The meteor crash that precipitates the action is obviously not the Chicxulub event that wiped out the dinosaurs, but some much lesser and more local event, etc. etc. But — Man! – those opening five minutes (which played as a trailer in early 2000 for the film). That was something special. Another great – the title sequence of the Orson Welles movie **Touch of Evil** , with thev time bomb in the trunk of the car going through customs. I’ll also nominate the opening of the Fred Zinneman film **Day of the Jackal** , based on the Fredrick Forsyth thriller. Ignore completely the awful remake. ---
**Author:** ![lost4life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c4cdca/32.png) [@lost4life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lost4life)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2016, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-whose-first-15-minutes-are-utterly-magnificent/753258/26 "2016-04-27T18:29:23Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > Big second for _Up_. Masterful story-telling. > > The beginning of _The Exorcist_ is a superb example of **Uh-oh-bad-shit-is-coming-down**. > > ETA: Ninja-ed on _The Exorcist_, of all things? **lost4life** , stop reading my mind. :eek: Something compelled me. ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2016, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-whose-first-15-minutes-are-utterly-magnificent/753258/27 "2016-04-27T18:43:26Z")
_Raiders of the Lost Ark_. ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2016, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-whose-first-15-minutes-are-utterly-magnificent/753258/28 "2016-04-27T18:55:59Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > Up will rip your heart out and stomp on it in the first fifteen minutes. And then…there’s actual dogfighting, with dogs, in planes. I don’t think it’s a full 15 minutes long, but the opening scene of The Lion King was amazing when it first came out. ---
**Author:** ![Doyle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doyle/32/439_2.png) [@Doyle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doyle)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2016, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-whose-first-15-minutes-are-utterly-magnificent/753258/29 "2016-04-27T19:01:17Z")
Enemy at the Gates. Stukas dive bombing Russian boats carrying ill equipped Russian soldiers across the Volga. One gun, two ammo clips for every two soldiers in a forced suicide assault on the German line. And then the shooting exploits of Vasily Zaytsev. ---
**Author:** ![Dante\_G](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/977dab/32.png) [@Dante\_G](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dante_G)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2016, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-whose-first-15-minutes-are-utterly-magnificent/753258/30 "2016-04-27T19:05:12Z")
Always loved the opening to Tarantino’s _From Dusk til Dawn._ ---
**Author:** ![Wargamer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/df705f/32.png) [@Wargamer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wargamer)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2016, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-whose-first-15-minutes-are-utterly-magnificent/753258/31 "2016-04-27T19:24:07Z")
Speaking of opening sequences from Disney films that were used as a trailer - you have to count the opening of _The Lion King_, as a classic example of a WOW! moment. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2016, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-whose-first-15-minutes-are-utterly-magnificent/753258/32 "2016-04-27T19:24:31Z")
Phantom of the Opera had a very visually appealing opening 15 minutes. ---
**Author:** ![SaharaTea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@SaharaTea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SaharaTea)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2016, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-whose-first-15-minutes-are-utterly-magnificent/753258/33 "2016-04-27T19:26:38Z")
**Scream**. So unexpected and shocking. The beginning of **Inglourious Basterds** is probably my favorite scene from any Tarantino film. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2016, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-whose-first-15-minutes-are-utterly-magnificent/753258/34 "2016-04-27T19:50:40Z")
The opening cartoon of [_Who Framed Roger Rabbit?_](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQe0OWZvwWo) ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2016, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-whose-first-15-minutes-are-utterly-magnificent/753258/35 "2016-04-27T20:09:33Z")
Agree with the two cites for _Lion King_, and there were some other good examples. Another one, though again it doesn’t qualify for a full 15 minutes, was the opening credits of _Life of Pi_. Exquisitely filmed visuals and a beautiful soundtrack. ---
**Author:** ![epbrown01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7ba0ec/32.png) [@epbrown01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/epbrown01)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2016, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-whose-first-15-minutes-are-utterly-magnificent/753258/36 "2016-04-27T20:11:14Z")
**Pulp Fiction**. “I’m sorry, did I break your concentration? You’re finished? Then allow me to retort. What does Marcellus Wallace look like?” Everything up to that, from the diner scene to Jules and Vincent discussing foot massage technique, tells you this is going to be an odd film driven by dialogue. ---
**Author:** ![Soul\_Brother\_Number\_Two](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/soul_brother_number_two/32/3515_2.png) [@Soul\_Brother\_Number\_Two](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soul_Brother_Number_Two)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2016, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-whose-first-15-minutes-are-utterly-magnificent/753258/37 "2016-04-27T20:14:12Z")
Citizen Kane ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2016, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-whose-first-15-minutes-are-utterly-magnificent/753258/38 "2016-04-27T20:20:44Z")
The long LONG pan shot that opens Gravity. It shows right then and there that Cuaron is trying something unique this time. ---
**Author:** ![standingwave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@standingwave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/standingwave)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2016, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-whose-first-15-minutes-are-utterly-magnificent/753258/39 "2016-04-27T20:36:08Z")
It’s only three minutes but it’s an awesome three minutes… [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/EWwhQB3TKXA/maxresdefault.jpg "Contact - Opening Scene (HD)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWwhQB3TKXA) Pulling away from Earth as the radio signals get older and older until there’s nothing because humans hadn’t yet invented radio. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2016, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-whose-first-15-minutes-are-utterly-magnificent/753258/40 "2016-04-27T20:43:36Z")
It’s really hard to determine whether the openings I remember are actually around 15 minutes. Two not mentioned: Baz Luhrmann’s _Moulin Rouge_. I think the frenetic first ~19-21 minutes are quite interesting. Then it lulls. The _Firefly_ movie _Serenity_ had a nice opening. Really nice action, snappy dialogue, etc. Then after they crash landed … umm, did somebody stop writing this thing? An entirely different movie from then on. And not in a good way. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-whose-first-15-minutes-are-utterly-magnificent/753258.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-whose-first-15-minutes-are-utterly-magnificent/753258.md?page=3)