Fallen, with Denzel Washingon. An underrated little thriller, IMO.
I was going to say The Usual Suspects since the first scene is the end of the action on the boat. But then I realized that much of the investigative portions of the flick come later.
May begins with a glimpse of the shocking ending.
The Prestige.
Lawrence of Arabia opens with T.E. Lawrence wiping out on his motorcycle, followed by his funeral. The rest of the epic-length film is a flashbacky biopic. (I’ve only seen the first half.)
Casino.
This is a wonderful list (and I’ve seen most of these) but sadly it’s not the one stuck in my head.
The device used in Monsters and the one I’m thinking of is less of an in media res and more How We Got Here.
As I thought on it, I’m pretty sure the one I’m thinking of starts with some video camera style or night vision. Either way, the action is less than clear and a little blurry. (I really hope I didn’t just dream a film like this…)
Another film told in reverse chronological order, besides memento and Betrayal, is Gaspar Noe’s 2002 film Irreversible
How about Mission Impossible III?
If it’s the same effect I’m thinking of, it has become my biggest pet peeve in Hollywood today. I see it in probably a third to half of the movies I see. It’s an embarrassingly lazy screenwriting crutch. Take a cut of the final scene or climax and stick it at the beginning because it’s artsy! and interesting! Foreshadowing!
I think I saw it most recently in Battle: Los Angeles, but I don’t remember how it started.
The Bucket List begins with an epilogue set many years after the events of the main film.
The Terminator films pretty much all begin with scenes from the future and then go back into the “present” for the main storyline.
Enjoy,
Steven
Moulin Rouge
One of my all time favorite movies, Comrades, Almost a Love Story, fits this description. The first scene shows a fellow from mainland China arriving in Hong Kong for the first time. The move ends by replaying that same scene, only with a bit of added information that is a perfect coda to what went before.
My full-length review is on the IMDb, if anyone is interested. A wonderful movie.
Apocalypse Now opens with the bombing of Kurtz’ compound (all the napalm exploding) that Captain Willard called in, even though that’s not really obvious until the end of the film. There is a big hint: the Doors’ song The End playing at the beginning of the film.
It’s a Wonderful Life, Courage Under Fire and Head (the Monkees movie) all start near the end and do extensive flashbacks. So might The Adventures of Ford Fairlane, but it’s been a while and I could be misremembering. Little Big Man and Edward Scissorhands both open with a protagonist in a nursing home many years later (A League of Their Own opens kind of similarly), and Big Fish and Stand By Me both open with news of the protagonist’s death.
Isn’t the first scene in Kane the one where Kane dies and drops the snow globe.
A lot happens after that. The reporter interviewing people and the famous explanation of Rosebud.
The Land that Time Forgot
One Hour Photo starring Robin Williams begins with the final scene with the movie being a flashback/retelling by Williams.
The original Invasion of the Body Snatchers does also.
So does just plain “Love Story.”
Maybe Go. Definitely The Hangover.