The opening to Star Trek: First Contact blows me away every time I see it. If you’re a fan, just seeing the sheer immensity of the Borg cube is cool enough. But what makes it really great is how a non-fan sees it. Right away they understand the hive mentality of the Borg, so we’re saved about 15 minutes worth of exposition, allowing the movie to get right to the kick ass action sequences.
Ohh. I will agree. As a part-time trekee, First Contact on a Widescreen in a dark room with a kickass stereo. Thats pretty damn good.
As well, I will 4th Contact.
Well, I don’t knwo about “heart in your throat,” but it sure as hell has one of my favorite lines (since I invariably find myself stuck in cities I’d rather not be in anymore).
“Saigon. Shit…I’m still only in Saigon” (insert Louisville or where ever…)
Several of the movies that I was going to mention area already here, but here’s one that’s new to the thread:
The Player. a several minute (six or seven) continuous camera move introducing many of the characters in the story. (Similar to the continuous camera move that introduces us to the nightclub scene in “GoodFellas”) That’s one effect that I alwasy find magical.
Patton. Okay, so Patton in real life wasn’t quite like that. But George C. Scott’s in the role of Patton is an incredible, magnificent, peak performance.
2001. The combination of the outer space viewpoint and classical music (which I love) just blows me away.
JAWS
The opening scene where the girl swims at night and gets chomped may not seem quite as terrifying today as it did when the movie first came out. At the time, before gorefests were commonplace in cinema (not that Jaws was a gorefest) and before the fear of shark attacks at the beach extended beyond phobic weirdos, such violent and horrifying deaths onscreen were not yet old hat. And it wasn’t even a graphic scene. I remember sitting in the theater all anxious for that movie to begin, only to have the holy bejesus scared out of me in the first scene. The great effect was that the viewer was already unsettled and nervous and perfectly primed for the drama and suspense to come.
I know he can get the job…but can he DO the JOB!!!
I’m not arguing that with you!
No matter where we go in life, we’re taking this luggage.
I’m not a big Keanu Reeves fan, but Speed has one of the most adrenaline pumping, edge of your seat opening sequences I’ve ever seen.
I also agree with **Starbury[b/] on Scream. Killing off a huge star in the first five minutes really sets the tone for the rest of the movie.
Preview, preview, preview!!!
A couple more:
Fight Club.
The opening sequence for Snatch.
Coolest opening music: Flash Gordon.
The Lion King
Here’s a fifth for Contact.
I was also blown away by the opening to the X-Men.
That’s the first one that came to my mind. I love that movie! I especially love the last 15-20 minutes. Awesome!
Gotta agree with MaxTheVool too.
MORTAL KOMBAT!!! It was just so cool.
The opening to **Lethal Weapon 2 ** was great too. Right into a car chase with them arguing in the wife’s station wagon.
The Flintstones: Viva Rock Vegas …'nuff said.
The Transformers movie Unicron eating Cybertron. The animation of all the little chunks of buildings and junk being thrown up into the air as Unicron’s massive claws gash the city into pieces is so funky.
“The ships! Get to the ships! It’s our only chance!!”
Ah how I love that movie…
- Tsugumo
Well most recently I would say The Way Of The Gun. How can I say how much I enjoyed seeing that chick get her ass kicked without sounding like a jerk?
No no no no no! That wasn’t Cybertron, that was Lithone! Unicron didn’t even begin to nibble on Cybertron itself until 50+ minutes into the movie.
(Okay, Unicron did gulp down Cybertron’s moons for appetizers, but that’s a different matter. And yes, I am a Transformers geek, as anyone visiting my web site will realize…)
…I don’t know why I wrote Cybertron (pretty hard for him to destroy it later if he EATS IT in the beginning, heheh). It’s been a while since I last watched it but I’m vaguely recalling Shockwave on the planet at it’s being devoured, but now that I think about it I must be confused and the scene I’m remembering is probably from when Cybertron IS attacked. Brain fart I guess, heh…
- Tsugumo (“Spare me this mockery of justice!”)
Lots of really great answers here. I’m in total agreement with Contact. I think it’s especially cool towards the end of the opening sequence where there’s total silence and nothing but stars zipping by. Reminds me how tiny I am.
Another opening I liked was ‘Elizabeth’ where they give you all you need to know about Henry VIII and the whole Catholic-Protestant divide in less than a minute. And the music just blows me away.
omg no one has mentioned vertical limit yet??? the begining to that movie i mean WOW…