Most Bad Ass Opening Scenes to a Movie

[RickJay]

@mswas

Watchmen was received just fine. The critics hated it because it was a comic book that actually tried to tackle serious issues. But it made a bundle at the box office.

Did the critics actually hate “Watchmen” for being a comic book adaptation that tried to be serious? Or do you think maybe because it was the lousy script?

Go ahead and read the reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, which encompass pretty much the entirety of North American print review. The negative comments are almost all in the vein of “It was a great comic badly adapted” and “bad writing.”

[Kingspades]

@scabpicker

Well, it’s kind of stretching the idea of a scene (it covers at least 8-14 months of time, but is all narrated by a single monologue), the opening sequence to Raising Arizona is my idea of the perfect set up to a story. If you haven’t seen it, this is just the first minute or so of the sequence. It goes on for another 10 minutes before you get the title of the movie.

This is the first movie I thought of. Eight minutes of comedic delight.

*“My fai-ants left me.”

“An’ when they was no meat we ate fowl. An’ when they was no fowl we ate crawdad. An’ when they was no crawdad to be foun’, we ate sand.”

“You’re not just tellin’ us what we wanna hear?”
“No Sir, no way.”
“'Cause we just wanna hear the truth.”
“Well then I guess I am tellin’ you what you wanna hear.”
“Boy, didn’t we just tell you not to do that?”
“Yessir.”
“Okay then.”*

@Robot_Arm

The year is 1988. Animation is dead. Oh, sure, Disney is still cranking out stuff like Oliver & Company, and Saturday mornings are ruled by folks who make Hanna and Barbera look like Rembrandt, but the last great cartoons in the anarchic, Warner Brothers style have been in reruns for a generation.

Then we go in to a dark theater and watch this.

Who Framed Roger Rabbit

In the first four minutes are flying knives, bulging eyes, dizzying perspectives, vacuums, ovens, and various threats to a bunny’s existence. Then the director yells “cut!” and walks onto the set. Totally brilliant.

And this is the other one. I love opening scenes that spend so long setting up the “rules,” just to break them all at the very end.

[The_Falling_Reverend]

I’m going to have to second “Trainspotting”.

The screen is blank and all you hear is running footsteps, then, BLAM! Lust For Life by Iggy comes on full blast with the gang running down the street being chased by cops, Ewan Mcgregor’s voice over and then him getting hit by the car, plus the shot of him hitting the floor/soccer pitch is fantastic.

[DaddyTimesTwo]

I haven’t watched it for years, but I remember that the opening rescue sequence of Cliffhanger had me totally tense and on the edge of my seat for a good ten minutes or so. I don’t remember the rest of the movie. At all.

[Poysyn]

The opening scene for Wanted was pretty good, but I can’t find it right now.

[ivylass]

I’m going to nominate the opening scene of Star Trek: The Undiscovered Country. Music playing over the opening credits, then BOOM!

Followed by one of the most chilling lines in the series…“Sir, I can confirm the location of Praxis, but…I cannot confirm the existence of Praxis.”

[cmyk]

I have to go with these, most of which have already been mentioned:

Contact

LOTR: The Two Towers

Fight Club

Star Wars

Does Se7en count? Or is that just opening credits?