What are the best opening scenes in films? There are so many amazing opening scenes, which would you say are the best?
I say Boogie Nights. It’s a phenomenal opening, where we get to see all the characters that will be in the film throughout. Love it. Love the music. Love the use of Rollergirl to skate past each character. It’s wonderful.
I know it was inspired by Goodfellas, but it was done better.
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 69 | September 28, 2021 7:01 PM |
R1 that’s a great one but Boogie Nights was better
| by Anonymous | reply 2 | August 29, 2021 12:11 AM |
West Side Story
Gone With The Wind
Star Wars (the original)
Cape Fear (the original)
All the opening titles of the Broccoli Bond films
Some Like It Hot
| by Anonymous | reply 3 | August 29, 2021 12:13 AM |
Corny, I know, but the opening to "The Sound Of Music" was memorable.
| by Anonymous | reply 4 | August 29, 2021 12:13 AM |
Manhattan (skyline with "Rhapsody in Blue")
| by Anonymous | reply 5 | August 29, 2021 12:20 AM |
This.
As an astute friend once pointed out, what's brilliant about this sequence is that it's a metaphor for life ... they're all bored, trying to pass the time, and they don't realize that they're waiting for their deaths.
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 6 | August 29, 2021 12:20 AM |
"The Letter" with Bette Davis.
| by Anonymous | reply 7 | August 29, 2021 12:31 AM |
Magnolia has a great opening.
Agree with R7 about The Letter.
| by Anonymous | reply 8 | August 29, 2021 12:45 AM |
This… there’s something mesmerizing about it. Too bad the rest of the movie was a campy mess.
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 9 | August 29, 2021 12:46 AM |
The long sequence that opens Suspiria, beginning with Jessica Harper leaving the airport . . .
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 10 | August 29, 2021 12:50 AM |
Star Wars: Episode IV: A New Hope
Minus the bombastic crawling credits sequence.
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 11 | August 29, 2021 1:10 AM |
John Carpenter's Halloween, which was influenced by the aforementioned Touch of Evil.
| by Anonymous | reply 12 | August 29, 2021 1:15 AM |
When a Stranger Calls owns this thread.
| by Anonymous | reply 13 | August 29, 2021 1:16 AM |
Scream is great, but my first thought was Temple of Doom
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 14 | August 29, 2021 1:20 AM |
I’ve always like the opening scene of Contact where we zoom through the cosmos into Ellie’s eye.
| by Anonymous | reply 15 | August 29, 2021 1:55 AM |
Casino, esp. the Ginger expository sequence, ending with her throwing chips in the air.
| by Anonymous | reply 17 | August 29, 2021 2:00 AM |
The opening shot in "Goodfellas" was better. So was the one in "The Player."
But I'll take Welles' tracking shot in "Touch of Evil" over both.
Why?
Because it serves the themes, plot, characters and sense of dirty dread in an unreal place, that's why. And it is gorgeous to see, that's why.
| by Anonymous | reply 18 | August 29, 2021 2:05 AM |
I love the concept and the music behind Catch Me If You Can. Very retro, very 60s and sets the scene perfectly.
| by Anonymous | reply 19 | August 29, 2021 2:08 AM |
OP nice long single first take. Must have been a bitch to set up.
| by Anonymous | reply 21 | August 29, 2021 2:11 AM |
Mommie Dearest (morning ritual involving Faye plunging her face into a sinkful of iced water).
| by Anonymous | reply 22 | August 29, 2021 2:12 AM |
A couple of other great opening tracking shots
The Bonfire of the Vanities (although the film that follows is horrible)
Absolute Beginners
| by Anonymous | reply 24 | August 29, 2021 3:18 AM |
The scene at the Academy of Music at the beginning of "The Age of innocence" where Lawrence Lefferts sees Ellen Olenska with the Mingotts in their box at the performance of "Faust," begin the whole sequence of events.
| by Anonymous | reply 27 | August 29, 2021 3:30 AM |
R21 it’s the first scene I think of when I think of great opening scenes
| by Anonymous | reply 28 | August 29, 2021 3:31 AM |
Rear Window where you see all the neighbours in their daily routines and the pans to Jeff in wheelchair with broken leg. Then Stella comes in.
| by Anonymous | reply 30 | August 29, 2021 3:53 AM |
1978 "Superman" with the boy's voice narrating over theatre curtains opening and him thumbing through the first Superman comic then that thrilling music and credits.
I was baked off my ass on strong marijuana and when those blue credits came at me, I freaked.
| by Anonymous | reply 31 | August 29, 2021 4:16 AM |
Opening credits: Superman
Opening scene: The Letter
| by Anonymous | reply 33 | August 29, 2021 4:22 AM |
I agree. If we're going to make a distinction between best opening scene and best opening credits, "Superman: The Movie" has the best opening credits of any movie of all time.
| by Anonymous | reply 34 | August 29, 2021 4:27 AM |
The brilliantly choreographed and colorful opening sidewalk sequence of "Guys and Dolls."
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 35 | August 29, 2021 4:28 AM |
Kiss Me, Deadly 1955 opening scene and credits
| by Anonymous | reply 36 | August 29, 2021 4:48 AM |
Night of the Living Dead -- two siblings bitch at each other during a mundane trip to the cemetery, when out of the blue they're attacked by a flesh-eating "ghoul" (they were never referred to as "zombies" in the original film).1968 audiences had no idea wtf new kind of monster they were looking at
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 37 | August 29, 2021 4:50 AM |
The opening pre-credits sequence of the Daisy Ashford kidnapping and murder from the original "Murder on the Orient Express," with the upsetting underscoring and the shock flashes of tabloid headlines.
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 38 | August 29, 2021 4:55 AM |
*Sorry: Daisy Armstrong, not Daisy Ashford.
| by Anonymous | reply 39 | August 29, 2021 4:55 AM |
I love the opening to [italic]Silverado[/italic].
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 40 | August 29, 2021 4:57 AM |
I always liked the opening sequence to “Birdcage.”
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 41 | August 29, 2021 5:04 AM |
The only thing I like about "Dreamgirls" is the opening at the Apollo Theater where the Stepp Sisters sing "I'm looking for Something, Baby."
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 42 | August 29, 2021 5:09 AM |
Working Girl: that music, the Manhattan skyline, then the zoom right into the Staten Island ferry. Grabbed your attention and told you from the get-go this was going to be a great film.
| by Anonymous | reply 45 | August 29, 2021 6:12 AM |
A friend made me watch this, I don’t think I even saw the whole film, but Vertical Limit opens with a frightening rush of adrenaline and the peak beauty of Chris O’Donnell hanging by a rope off a mountain about to go splat with his family, and not all of them are going to make it.
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 46 | August 29, 2021 6:48 AM |
The Phantom of the Opera
The Bridge on the River Kwai. One of the most brilliant opening scenes ever filmed, setting up the film's entire theme, the cultural/psychological conflict between East and West, Hayakawa and Guinness. Lean was masterful.
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 47 | August 29, 2021 8:06 AM |
Opening scene of The Social Network.
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 48 | August 29, 2021 1:57 PM |
I was immediately pulled in by the opening sequence from the original LOTR film.
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 50 | September 8, 2021 11:22 PM |
Mommie Dearest was so effective because Joan’s face wasn’t shown until after the opening credits. Everyone was wondering if Dunaway could pull off the Crawford look
She nailed it, although movie quickly goes downhill.
| by Anonymous | reply 52 | September 9, 2021 5:08 PM |
The opening scene of “Fargo”. Everything was white...the sky, the ground, the snow blowing horizontally across the highway, and even the air filled with falling snow. Unbelievably cold and bleak. I spent four miserable years living in North Dakota, and that’s exactly how I remember it.
| by Anonymous | reply 53 | September 9, 2021 5:15 PM |
The opening for "Austin Powers in Goldmember" was a cute pastiche of classic movie musical dance numbers.
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 54 | September 9, 2021 6:23 PM |
Great thread. For best opening credits, I nominate the original Thomas Crown Affair.
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 55 | September 9, 2021 7:16 PM |
Alive
*Not counting the superfluous intro by John Malkovich
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 56 | September 10, 2021 8:56 AM |
Couldn't find it on line, but "Basic Instinct" has a great opening scene (though I didn't really like the movie).
| by Anonymous | reply 57 | September 10, 2021 2:42 PM |
I see the Bond films have been mentioned. I like all of them up to Casino Royale, but this one is the best imo.
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 58 | September 13, 2021 5:50 AM |
Classic one from the 80's when the idea of a man selling himself got shock and awe from the audience because men were not yet thought of that way by the general public.
I play this song at least once every time I visit PS.
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 59 | September 13, 2021 6:55 AM |
2001 A Space Odyssey, with the monolith, the Republicans, the bones and the Also Sprach Zarathustra.
| by Anonymous | reply 60 | September 13, 2021 7:06 AM |
The ones that stand out for me are:
Cliffhanger - When Sly Stallone can't save Janine Turner's character and she goes falling to her death.
Up - because they managed to compress an utterly depressing story into the first few minutes of the film and then they begin their actual story
Jackie Brown - Pam Grier going to work as the film begins was simple but I just love that shot of her on the moving walkway as the names of the stars of the film flash next to her.
Airplane - Sure, you're getting an intro to the people that will be in the film as passengers but the White Zone vs Red Zone argument is hilarious in the background. You think the sound is just a normal part of everyday airport life then the pair of people start arguing.
"Listen Betty, don't start up with your white zone shit again."
"Oh really, Vernon? Why pretend, we both know perfectly well what this is about. You want me to have an abortion!"
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 61 | September 13, 2021 7:24 AM |
Gladiator - with that amazing Hans Zimmer music and you see the signet ring brushing the tops of the grain stalks and then pans out to Maximus. Then we are fighting in Germania in Winter.
| by Anonymous | reply 62 | September 13, 2021 7:39 PM |
There's a 1930 movie, I think "Loose Ankles", which starts off with a close-up of something and then the camera keeps backing up until you find out that it was Edward J. Nugent's nipple, while he's in the bath tub. One of the more unusual movie openings that I've seen!
| by Anonymous | reply 63 | September 13, 2021 8:41 PM |
Whew, r46! That was a doozy! Now I have to watch the entire movie!
| by Anonymous | reply 64 | September 13, 2021 11:00 PM |
The opening scene in Ghost Ship is so completely fucking over-the-top gory and glorious and every thing wonderful from a horror movie.
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 65 | September 28, 2021 6:23 PM |
HA! I posted immediately when I read the title! Of course it is mentioned several times already (as it should be!:)
| by Anonymous | reply 68 | September 28, 2021 6:42 PM |
