“I tell her… I love her. The silencer makes a whisper of the gunshot. I hold her close until she’s gone. I’ll never know what she’s running from. I’ll cash her check in the morning.”
I didn’t really care for the rest, but thats a kickass start.
Wild At Heart, where Nicolas Cage kills a guy by repeatedly smashing his head against the floor and wall at the very beginning of the movie, in rather graphic detail. Good God, that was the most memorable intro I’ve ever seen.
I came in to mention A Touch of Evil though it has been mentioned already, I see.
I remember Seven (or is that Se7en) having a good opening.
I also recall I absolutely shat myself the first time I saw the opening credits of the John Frankenheimer film, Seconds. Titles by Saul Bass to some evil music by Jerry Goldsmith = cool!
And speaking of Nicolas Cage, the opening to 1973’s Wicker Man (NOT the one with Cage) also comes to mind as being a good one. The movie begins with Howe’s seaplane flying over the mysterious fields of Summerisle, accompanied by Magnet’s Corn Rigs. Really sets the tone for the movie and captures the atmosphere.
Reuben Mamoulian’s Dr. Jeckyll and Mister Hyde starts with a POV shot of Henry Jeckyll playing the organ. You look down from where his head should be at his hands playing. In one long, unbroken shot, you turn to see his butler/valet (who called him), get up from the piano, track out through the hall, look directly into the mirror (not one of those off-to-an-angle shots, but looking directly in) to see, for the first time, the face of Jeckyll, receive a coat from the butler, turn away from the mirror to see the butler waiting at the front door, go past him as he bows, and out to the waiting carriage.
All done in one unbroken shot. It must’ve taken a hell of a long time to set up and choreograph. The scenes with the mirror were obviously done by having an opening with no mirror in it, with a duplicate room beyond (as they did in an unfortunatelty ct scene in Terminator 2), but they either had to have a double for the butler, or he had to sprint around to be at the door in time when Jeckyll/camera turned to him. A very well-done shot in a film filled with beautifully set-up shots.
It’s news to me but this source reveals the sequence is animated. That explains a lot. There may be more details on a jstor page in the shape of an interview with Bellow, but it costs $12.00 to find out.
I believe that was put in to give Serkis a shot at an Oscar. He should have had an Oscar for his performance in The Two Towers but there wasn’t a suitable category.
See #2
The opening scene isn’t that. There is the old couple in the cemetary and the man finds a particular grave. That’s the opening scene.
The fact that he is wearing a AIRBORNE patch shows that he isn’t a ‘Ranger’ so you realize that he is Ryan and it spoils the movie.
The Godfather
I believe in America. America made my fortune.
The opening scene from The Conversation is pretty good.
The opening of of Apocalypse Now with Martin Sheen losing his mind.
Fargo
The long shot of Lundegaard driving down the snowy road with that music in the background is a beautiful thing.
I’ll third Touch of Evil and Once Upon a Time in the West.
I’ll add Gangs of New York. Neason tells his son “the blood stays on the blade”, and then they march through the underground lair, and out through the church doors picking up “soldiers” with all their different weapons while the genre-defying drum and flute music plays.
As folks may or may not know. . .Touch of Evil had a theatrical release. The movie has been re-edited according to extensive notes that Orson Welles made. The original release apparently had credits rolling over the scene, and a steady-level soundtrack. Not a soundtrack that reflected the surroundings. Too lazy to find a cite that would have all the details.
Every promotional video and image I’ve ever seen from the broadway version of The Lion King has given me the impression that the ENTIRE show is just an extended version of Circle of Life.
I certainly remember LoTR: TTT where the camera flips over and swoops down into the abyss; and shortly afterwards where you see a long shot of a cave, and then this tiny flame appears that give some perspective to this massive underground cavern (or maybe that’s later).
Harold and Maude has a wonderful beginning. Visually, music-wise, and action-wise.
I’m glad you mentioned this one. It was a wonderful opening because it was so simple. The sheer force of George C. Scott’s personality was mesmerizing, and that opening monologue spoke pages about Patton as a man.
Wait, huh? I haven’t seen the movie, but the cat on the YouTube clip is most definitely a real cat. There are lots of cuts in it, so there’s no need to get the cat to walk for 200 yards and then have a fight - it’s more like walking 10 feet, stop the camera, catch the cat, put him back on the stage, film 10 more feet, and cut it all together in the editing room.
Could they have meant “animated” as in “lively”? 'Cause it weren’t no drawing, nohow.
“It had just been a shitty week all week long.”
Maverick, after being left to hang in the desert.
Although the film is hogwash, the opening of Oliver Stone’s JFK is very captivating. Narration by Martin Sheen, MTV-style clips of JFK’s life, all leading up to the assassination. You can see it here.
I’ve never seen it with that as the beginning. There’s a good ten-fifteen minutes of Howe being an arrogant prick in Scotland before he flies to Summerisle in the version I saw.
Few things are more fun than watching that flick with a bunch of pagans in a basement – and cheering for the islanders. 
The Thing. Dog running across the arctic terrain, helicopter bearing down, high powered rifle, grenade and “Captain” shooting him in the head with a pistol as the heli explodes.
“First goddamn week of winter.”
Just… dang.