# Great openings in film. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 25, 2007, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-openings-in-film/409357 "2007-06-25T17:49:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![robardin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/43a26b/32.png) [@robardin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robardin)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2007, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-openings-in-film/409357/81 "2007-06-26T22:23:44Z")
Not exactly the opening scene (which is a silent depiction of the destruction of Tokyo inside of a huge, expanding bubble), but the [opening biker gang fight](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7joa2hvHWM) sequence immediately following it in the classic anime movie **Akira**. The graphics and the soundtrack complement each other terrifically. It’s still one of my favorite film sequences to use to calibrate or show off a home theater setup. Another animated (but not anime) movie with a completely enveloping opening scene is Disney’s **The Lion King**. I’ll second the immediate excitement I felt in hearing and seeing the beginning of **Pulp Fiction**. I’d also second **Star Wars** but honestly, by the time I saw it I’d heard so much about it from my (6- and 7-year old) friends that it wasn’t so much on the film’s own qualities but based on “the buzz”. (Not that I don’t love the movies to this day, but it’s not really fair to compare.) And I know I’ll maybe be in the distinct minority here, but Baz Luhrmann’s **Moulin Rouge!** gripped me from the get-go. On the classic movie side, there’s **Sunset Boulevard** , with its opening scene of a body floating in a swimming pool with a voiceover from the dead man’s perspective. And – how can we be forgetting the opening 20 minutes of **Saving Private Ryan** , showing the storming of the beaches of Normandy on D-Day? ---
**Author:** ![Dunawake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/85f322/32.png) [@Dunawake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunawake)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2007, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-openings-in-film/409357/82 "2007-06-26T23:01:05Z")
I’m surprised nobody has mentioned it yet, but the slam-bang introduction to all the colorful characters in **Snatch** to the tune of Klint’s _Diamond_ is one of my favorite openings of all time. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2007, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-openings-in-film/409357/83 "2007-06-26T23:02:25Z")
I always love the way **Crooklyn** opens. For three minutes, we watch kids, none of them main characters, playing every imaginable game out in the street. All ages. Not a single adult in sight. ---
**Author:** ![Valgard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/7feea3/32.png) [@Valgard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Valgard)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2007, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-openings-in-film/409357/84 "2007-06-26T23:27:39Z")
Jackie Chan’s **Police Force** opens with a car chase through a village on a hillside in Hong Kong. Not through the streets, it’s cars chasing each other through the houses themselves, filmed with few cuts in wide shots. I saw **Bad Santa** with a friend before anyone had really heard much about it so we didn’t know what to expect. The opening shot of Billy Bob Thornton in a bar on Christmas eve is hilarious - you’re thinking “My god, this must be a joke. They certainly can’t make an entire movie like this. It’ll tone down after this scene.” Then the title of the movie appears as Santa vomits drunkenly in an alley and within minutes you realize “Oh yes they can indeed make an entire movie this way”. Theater full of patrons laughed themselves sore all movie long. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2007, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-openings-in-film/409357/85 "2007-06-27T00:30:39Z")
Speaking of the original summer blockbuster, the opening scene of **Jaws** certainly gets your attention. ---
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2007, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-openings-in-film/409357/86 "2007-06-27T03:13:45Z")
I wasn’t crazy about _Silverado_, but it had a great opening scene. Back in 1988, I took a date to see _Who Framed Roger Rabbit?_ I had already seen it once (with a different girl), but she had somehow not heard a thing about it. Had no idea what the basic idea of the movie was. So when we see the opening cartoon, she was completely taken by surprise when the director shouts “Cut!” and Roger walks out into a live-action studio. Even if you know about it, it’s still a great opening, but I wish I could have experienced it the way she did. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2007, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-openings-in-film/409357/87 "2007-06-27T13:07:36Z")
[QUOTE=FriarTed] Bright ORANGE SCREEN! Synthesizer twangs out “Music for the Funeral of Queen Mary” Close-up of a man’s eyes, one of them with an underlying false eyelash, and the rim of a black bowler hat cocked across his forehead. Camera pans back to show us Alex and his three droogs surrounded by the porceline neon-haired female moloko dispenses in the Korova Milkbar. **A Clockwork Orange** … real 'orrorshow! [/QUOTE] Oh yes, with him looking up at you. I am not sure if this one counts, as it is not an opening, but perhaps as an _establishing_ shot - Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, as they come up over the hill upon their arrival for the Quidditch Cup. Nothing, nothing, nothing - and then the whole wizarding world opens up in front of them. “I love magic.” Perfect! Or the opening shot in Memento - [spoiler]which is the last shot of the movie. “Now then - where was I?”[/spoiler] Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2007, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-openings-in-film/409357/88 "2007-06-27T13:20:00Z")
There are times when I don’t enough time to sit down and watch even a half hour episode of something on the TV, I’ll plump instead for the opening to Mad Max, ten odd frenetic minutes of car chase. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2007, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-openings-in-film/409357/89 "2007-06-27T14:08:23Z")
[QUOTE=Pushkin] There are times when I don’t enough time to sit down and watch even a half hour episode of something on the TV, I’ll plump instead for the opening to Mad Max, ten odd frenetic minutes of car chase. [/QUOTE] I’ve seen that entire movie about 2 times. I’ve seen the first 10 minutes about 20 times. ---
**Author:** ![HelloKitty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ecccb3/32.png) [@HelloKitty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HelloKitty)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2007, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-openings-in-film/409357/90 "2007-06-27T14:12:20Z")
My favorite opening scene ever is from Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, of course. When the movie first came out we were all wondering about Spock’s death, you know…so the Kobiashi Maru sequence had us all on the edge of our seats…who is this female Vulcan in command? Uh, oh, here come the Klingons…oh no!! Not Bones too! Not Uhura! Spock is already dead this early!!! Then we hear Kirk’s voice and his ultra cool entrance as he walks onto the simulation deck…whew, maybe Spock’s not gonna die after all. What a ride we were in for after that excellent opening!!! ---
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2007, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-openings-in-film/409357/91 "2007-06-27T14:15:26Z")
The problem with the opening to **Saving Private Ryan** is that it’s not the Normandy invasion. It’s that stupid cemetery scene that Spielberg uses to frame the movie. Clint also did it in **Letters From Iwo Jima**. That’s a pretty corny cliche. . .made even worse that when I see directors like Clint or Spielberg do it, all I can think is, “that’s the Titanic opening.” (yeah, I’m sure it was done before Titanic, but like it or not, that’s probably the most well-knwon incarnation of it) ---
**Author:** ![Judith\_Prietht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b19c9b/32.png) [@Judith\_Prietht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Judith_Prietht)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2007, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-openings-in-film/409357/92 "2007-06-27T14:29:58Z")
One of my favorites is **Army of Darkness** , with Ash and the Oldsmobile falling out of the sky and crashing to the ground. ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2007, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-openings-in-film/409357/93 "2007-06-27T14:33:33Z")
[QUOTE=HelloKitty] My favorite opening scene ever is from Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, of course [/QUOTE] While the rest of the film goes on and on and on, I did like (as a Trekkie) the opening to the Motion Picture. The introduction to the new Klingons, against a huge unknown entity, with that orchestral score and a pretty good sense of scale from the new Klingon vessels, all went together pretty well. That’s where the footage of the Klingon cruisers for the opening of The Wrath of Khan came from wasn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2007, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-openings-in-film/409357/94 "2007-06-27T14:36:09Z")
The 2004 version of _Dawn of the Dead_ isn’t the masterpiece that the original was, but the first ten minutes, through the opening credits, are just great. ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2007, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-openings-in-film/409357/95 "2007-06-27T15:29:36Z")
[QUOTE=Evil Captor] The opening scene for Disney’s “The Black Hole” was for a tremendous, powerful, imaginative movie that captured the awe and wonder of of the universe … after that, it’s turtles all the way down. [/QUOTE] Nice, _Brief History_ of the opening. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![cactus\_waltz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@cactus\_waltz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cactus_waltz)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2007, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-openings-in-film/409357/96 "2007-06-27T16:55:47Z")
[QUOTE=robardin] Not exactly the opening scene (which is a silent depiction of the destruction of Tokyo inside of a huge, expanding bubble), but the [opening biker gang fight](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7joa2hvHWM) sequence immediately following it in the classic anime movie **Akira**. The graphics and the soundtrack complement each other terrifically. It’s still one of my favorite film sequences to use to calibrate or show off a home theater setup. [/QUOTE] That soundtrack really is powerful. Though I believed the movie started with Kaneda and his gang getting disciplined at their school, but maybe that was the aftermath of the motorcycle ride. ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2007, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-openings-in-film/409357/97 "2007-06-27T17:13:25Z")
The remake of **Dawn of the Dead** : fantastically gory opening sequence, a car crash, and then the opening credits with Johnny Cash’s “When the man comes around” playing ominously. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2007, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-openings-in-film/409357/98 "2007-06-27T17:20:56Z")
[QUOTE=HelloKitty] My favorite opening scene ever is from Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, of course. When the movie first came out we were all wondering about Spock’s death, you know…so the Kobiashi Maru sequence had us all on the edge of our seats…who is this female Vulcan in command? Uh, oh, here come the Klingons…oh no!! Not Bones too! Not Uhura! Spock is already dead this early!!! Then we hear Kirk’s voice and his ultra cool entrance as he walks onto the simulation deck…whew, maybe Spock’s not gonna die after all. What a ride we were in for after that excellent opening!!! [/QUOTE] I like _Undiscovered Country_. Opening credits over a star screen, then suddenly… **BOOM**! Cut to Sulu enjoying a cup of tea, then _Excelsior_ being tossed about like a paper boat, and probably one of the most chilling lines ever from Star Trek: “Sir, I can confirm the location of Praxus, but…I cannot confirm the existence of Praxus.” ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2007, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-openings-in-film/409357/99 "2007-06-27T17:23:03Z")
Got to put my vote in for the beginning of _Fight Club_, where we experience a trippy zoom out of Ed Norton’s body to the barrel of a gun plunged into his mouth (WTF??!!) I also liked the opening sequence to _True Lies_…Arnold pulls off a very James Bond like espionage mission. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2007, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-openings-in-film/409357/100 "2007-06-27T17:32:50Z")
How about the cheesy start to _Romancing the Stone_? My boyfriend and I almost walked out of the theatre, then we see Kathleen Turner sobbing at her typewriter (this was a few years ago) and we go, “Ohhhhhhh…got it.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-openings-in-film/409357.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-openings-in-film/409357.md?page=6)