Hijack–did you ever see her in a Tales from the Crypt episode? They used that meekness to perfection there!
This is the one I thought of immediately on seeing the thread title. Even today, that tracking shot is impressive.
“Lost in Translation.” Scarlett J in those orange panties.
Oh, sorry…thought this was the “Nicest Ass Opening Scenes” thread.
I haven’t seen it, but I’m going to soon now. If you have any others, please do share. 
X-Men 1 where Magneto pulls the gates off of Auschwitz.
X-Men 2 where Nightcrawler has a knife to the throat of the President.
The Way of the Gun an overall shitty wannabe Tarantino movie with a fucking hilarious opening scene.
SPOILER ALERT???
Son of a bitch! The Swordfish opener was ruined with that bullet time shit in the end!
You know that scene towards the end of Saving Private Ryan where some redshirt equivalent (forgive me if he actually had a name) runs up to the tank to apply a sticky grenade but it blows up before he even gets it applied? That’s how the Swordfish opener should have gone.
Running the hostage away, build some tension then bam! Immediately blow her and SWAT guy up and have to continue with whatever plan they have, no time for mourning.
The scene was doing so well until that point. 
The other disappointment was Way of the Gun’s opener. The two guys were sitting on the car are supposed to be the bad asses. The most bad ass people (in movies at least) are the quiet ones.
See also: Wyatt Earp vs. Billy Bob Thornton in Tombstone. BBT is one the weak one, who has to run his mouth to assert his “authority”. Then Earp shows him how a true bad ass handles that situation.
Ike Clanton’s the same way. Lots of talk and even more pussiness.
In conclusion, grrrr at Swordfish and Way of the Gun.
Hard Boiled has always done it for me.
I guess I’ll add the opening scene to **The Transporter **to this list. You know, with the bank robbers.
Oooh… can’t forget about The Killer either. I looove Chow Yun Fat movies. 
Frank Drebin kicking ass in The Naked Gun.
The opening scene to The Watchmen is an epic hand-to-hand battle in which someone’s apartment in a high-rise gets seriously fucked up, before
One of the parties involved gets thrown through a bulletproof glass window and goes plummeting to the ground below
And the opening credits, whilst not bad-ass, are still excellent in their own right.
Also, the opening to The Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film For Theatres is pretty badass, too. And pretty catchy, too. ;)
Huh?
You run yer mouth sorta reckless.
Wyatt Earp fights Johnny Tyler,the Madcap(tho a fight between Wyatt and BBT might have been fun), I would hardly call this an opening scene.
Misrepresent this movie again and I’ll blow you up that wildcat’s ass!
It’s like I’m sitting here reading threads with my brother’s kids or something.
Misunderstand what I say and we’re going to actually have trouble. None of your child’s play boy, so be prepared.
(Didn’t mean to imply EarpVS.Tyler* was the opening scene. Just used it as an example of the more quiet person being the bad ass, as it should be.)
*Tyler being played by BBt, so you really do need stop your child’s play. I’ll give you a pass of boys just being boys, but when you come back, you come back as a man.
Got it?
You gonna do something, or just stand there and read?
Menace II Society. [NSFW, language and violence].
This scene just throws you into the movie.
SSG Schwartz
N.B. I haven’t checked the thread for updates before posting this.
The opening (high elevation etc.) chase of the reimagined Casino Royale certainly has to be considered bad ass.
It’s not the opening scene of the movie, though.
Christine had a great opening scene* (the '50s Detroit auto assembly plant) which unfortunately was the best thing in the movie. It went steadily downhill after that.
*I would have ended it on a more subtle note as a harbinger of things to come, but that director was not into subtlety in any form.
Without question my candidate for best opening would be The Killers, the 1964 version with Lee Marvin.
The movie opens with Lee Marvin and Clu Gulager, both wearing shades and looking as mean as rattlesnakes, entering a School For The Blind. They go into the office where the blind middle-aged lady receptionist welcomes them with a smile and asks how she can help them.
They then proceed to beat the blind woman to a pulp until she tells them where their target is! Really, it has to be seen to be believed. (Great movie, as was the earlier version starring Burt Lancaster.)
Trainspotting has a great opening. “Choose life.”
I’ll second the opening scene and credits from Watchmen, which would have been a far better received movie if not for the cult worship of the graphic novel and the constant blue penis overshadowing.