I was just watching The Matrix again and I must say that the beginning where Trinity does her high-flying kickass thingy still puts my heart in my mouth.
So what I’d like to know is…which movie beginning do you absolutely love, no matter how many million times you’ve seen it? Doesn’t have to be an action sequence, could just be something so beautifully done it deserves an award for those first few minutes minutes alone.
James Bond - The World Is Not Enough
Great opening sequence. As are most Bond films.
Blade Runner : that gorgeous cityscape reflected in the eye.
I’ll second the beginnigs for The Matrix and most Bond films, and I’ll raise you
Star Wars
The Raiders Of The Lost Ark
Disney’s Tarzan
Saving Private Ryan
The opening sequence for T2, where the cyborg skull comes out of the flames
The opening for Terminator and T2 in general
Goodfellas
The Professional
Aliens 3 (cute little moppet from Aliens get whacked during the opening credits. You don’t see that everyday. Also, I loved the way the theme music for Fox gets morphed into the oppresive Aliens music)
Gladiator
American Pie
The Sound Of Music
Gad, there are hundreds more, but this is all I can think of right now.
Saving Private Ryan?
Do you mean the old man in the cemetary or the car driving up to the farm house?
I guess they could put your heart in you throat.
Mine are
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Close Encounters (by the time the opening segment is over you just have this WTF? feeling)
M:I 2
Raising Arizona
Chicken Run
That’s enough for now.
“Cliffhanger” changed my life–now I’m afraid of heights. I don’t think it would have the same impact another time through though.
“Much Ado About Nothing” when that sun-drenched landscape is filled with the excitement and exhuberance of those beautiful men showing up to party with the beautiful women.
Hang 'em High.
Starts with a posse riding over the hill and hanging Clint Eastwood.
As the credits begin to roll, they pan up his body. Just as they get to his face, it says, “Starring Clint Eastwood!”
I would have to say “Star Wars”. I saw it when it first came out, and it was so different from everything up to that point. The huge ship comes in overhead,and you think , “Oh my God!” and then the Warship follows, and it is bigger than anything you could have imagined.
Contact. Smart (even if they fudged the science a tad), eye-popping, and to the point.
Magnolia. More than any other recent movie, really caught me. To the strains of Aimee Mann’s cover of “One,” dynamic camera moves introduce nearly every member of a large cast, one by one.
Psycho. Saul Bass’ titles and Bernard Herrmann’s music always assure you of a good movie. In this case, the fractured text and jumpy music matched perfectly what we were about to see.
Reservoir Dogs. The jump cut, following the hilarious diner opening and too-cool credits, to Messrs. White and Orange in the car, Orange bleeding to death.
Darn, pldennison stole mine (“Contact”), but for sheer beautiful cinema, the opening shots in “Raging Bull” rank right up there…Jake Lamotta in slo-mo b/w, dancing and jabbing with his robe around his shoulders, along with the moody music. Scorcese at his best!
Heat: great robbery in the beginning, and of course, one of the best gun-fight scenes later on.
The original Terminator was fantastic, as well.
I’m almost ashamed to mention this, but the beginning of Bad Boys had me going.
I’ll second Professional and Reservoir Dogs, too.
Well, I love the opening to “To Live and Die In L.A.” with the thudding music and the cool shots of someone making money (I mean MAKING money!!) in a garage. It’s not heart-in-your-mouth or anything, but it’s pretty cool.
“The Last of The Mohicans” with Hawkeye, Chingachgook and Uncas tearing through a gorgeous forest after a deer, cool music in the background.
And another nod to “Raising Arizona.” Must the longest opening sequence ever, but sets the perfect tone for the rest of the movie.
The Right Stuff (I’ve raved about this movie on the boards before) The book opens with a rather graphic description of an aircraft crash site. I’ve spoken to people who gave up the book at that point, but that visceral danger of the test pilots was needed to raise the stakes for everything else that happens. The movie begins with Levon Helm’s voiceover describing the demon that lived in the air (the sound barrier). It shifts to mock-archival footage of the test pilots, and one who struggles with his plane until it makes a crater in the desert. Then it shifts to color for a very brief explosion and the base chaplain coming up the walkway of a small house to comfort the newest widow and orphan. From there it jumps to one of the most triumphal pieces of pilot folklore (is it still folklore if it’s true?), Yeager breaking the sound barrier with a piece of broomstick and two broken ribs. Brilliant.
Joe Versus the Volcano Starts with shift change at the most oppresive, soul-destroying factory ever imagined. The only color to be found is a small flower that’s poked up through the gravel of the parking lot, which is quickly trodden by some worker’s grey boot. It’s like Metropolis played for laughs.
Wiseass…
What can I say? considering the length of the movie, I considered the beach landing to be the opening sequence of the movie. The scene is still fresh in my mind.
I have to say that the other two movies in the Indiana Jones series had great openings as well (Temple of Doom’s was pretty cool. Best part of the movie).
I also thought the opening credits for Seven set the perfect tone for the rest of the movie.
I’d have to say that the opening scene in the original Scream left everybody in the theater with their “heart in their mouth.” I didn’t really like the rest of the movie, but the part with Drew Barrymore is one of my favorite scenes from any recent movie.
two words…
MORTAL KOMBAT!!!
(sorry for the all caps… but that’s kinda the point)
I remember that, great call. Nitpick: it wasn’t a worker’s gray boot that crushes it. The camera stays on the flower for a relatively long time, and all the dirty work boots are careful to avoid stepping on it. It’s crushed by a woman in high heels.
“I’m NOT ARGUING THAT WITH YOU!”
I’m NOT arguing that WITH you."
I’m not AR-GU-ING that with you!"
ad infinitum…
I’ll third the opener to Contact. I guess if I had to say extended movie openings, The Mask of Zorro. The grand sweep of Zorro’s entrance, the great theme music, and then Zorro’s capture kind of helps one run the emotional gamut in about 10 minutes.
What about “Apocalypse Now”?