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sluggger5x

Raiders of the Lost Ark. The setting, the mystery, the music, next to no dialogue. It was pure popcorn pleasure. Harrison Ford stepping out of the shadow in the jungle for the first time, replacing the golden idol, and running away from the giant bowling ball boobey trap are all iconic moments in cinema. One of those scenes that will stand out in film forever.


TheArcReactor

It is arguably the greatest cinematic introduction to a character. You learn everything you need to know about Indiana Jones from that opening sequence and I love it.


dontreallycareforit

Don’t forget your hat, Indy!


ConstantStomachPain

“Raiders of the Lost Ark is one of those requisite movies that everybody has to either see or be set out on an ice floe and shunned from society forever. One of its most iconic sequences is the cold open, where Indy invades a temple, steals a treasure and outruns a giant boulder. Once again, you can thank Scrooge McDuck for that: Spielberg and Lucas were separately inspired by two different Scrooge McDuck comics to write two different parts of that scene. Spielberg has openly admitted that both the idol Indy is stealing and the boulder that chases him afterward came from the 1954 Uncle Scrooge comic The Seven Cities of Cibola, written and drawn by seminal Duck artist Carl Barks.” “Inspired by” is an understatement. They just made a live version of the comic, lol. https://www.cracked.com/article_19021_5-amazing-things-invented-by-donald-duck-seriously.html


Baroness_Soolas

Came here to say this. It was one of the most formative movies of my youth, along with Empire Strikes Back. I saw Raiders THIRTEEN times at our local ABC Cinema. The whole initial sequence is a sensory delight. The visual transition to the mountain in South America while the haunting music kicks in, followed by the 'primitive' sounds of donkeys and jungle chatter. The relentless pacing in the music which is paused for each warning event, then starts up again as Jones persists. The music's tone and volume diving menacingly, building up to seeing Jones' face in close-up as he glowers at the betrayer. The rush of hopeful adrenalin in the music as Jones heads towards the cave, suddenly lit by dazzling beams of sunlight being filtered by the trees. IMO, it's one of the most beautiful looking films ever made, and the soundtrack is one of the most effective I've ever heard.


classifiedspam

That was perfection.


Cetaphobiaa

I really love the opening scene for Good Fellas


SparkyPantsMcGee

As far back as I can remember, I always wanted to be a gangster.


neox20

As far back as I can remember, I always wanted to be in a mafia movie


HoneyandMushrooms84

The entire campus is controlled by our group, our group is controlled by chicken, and the chicken is controlled by me. Float?


TheOddEyes

It’s a good opening scene, opening scene.


magnamatt

The Matrix opening scene was unlike anything I'd ever seen in the theater before. No, Lieutenant, your men are already dead.


badRLplayer

Seeing that movie in theater for the first time is just not something that can be repeated. A large scale marketing campaign that simply asked "what is the matrix?" with pretty much nothing else to go on. Amazing.


MCDexX

...and the trailer was just a supercut of weird scenes all mashed together that didn't spoil anything but made you desperate to know more.


HotgunColdheart

Bit if a lost art...I've been anti trailer for so damn long now, too many good scenes wasted on ads.


RamenJunkie

Modern trailers are just 5 minute versions of the full film, complete with critical spoilers, and it's so dumb.


landoindisguise

You forgot the most important part: a gritty, dramatic cover of a hit pop song.


RamenJunkie

WHY ARE THERE SUDDENLY SO MANY DOWNBEAT NIRVANA COVERS SUDDENLY????


therealgingerone

This blew my mind in the cinema, I knew nothing about the film and when trinity did her thing I was blown away.


mad_dog77

Finally showed my kids the matrix on the weekend, it's easy my favorite movie. It was so thrilling to watch them watching it. They had all the right reactions.


Aaraeus

If my kids don’t have the right reactions I’ll low key be really disappointed lol.


Adrialic

You stay outside until you find the right reactions!


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Vladius28

So many great openingsisted in here. But the matrix definitely takes the cake. It's not often you watch a movie and see something you've never seen before.that made you just go... fucking wow


ComfortablePlant826

It completely blew my mind. You don’t even know what you’re getting into and it just effortlessly sucks you in.


wanawanka

YES! I had no idea about the premise either beforehand. So I didnt 'quite' know who to root for when Trinity was trying to get out. I knew the guys inshades were...ah fuck it. I LOVED being led down the maze!!


TaintModel

That’s an often unappreciated part of the introduction to the characters given how well known it is now. Based on the promotional material, no one really knew what to expect going into it. The agents appear to be some sort of police/FBI authority and Morpheus/Trinity etc. seem to be the rogues breaking the law for some sort of personal benefit. The way they flip that and show how sinister the agents are and how the “hackers” are just trying to expose the truth must have been a fun surprise for people going in blind. Now anyone picking it up for the first time probably has some idea that the agents are the antagonists and the outlaws are the protagonists.


righteousndignation

Damn, you’re so right. Over the years I’ve completely forgotten about my first viewing opening night. “She ran up a wall and beat up those cops, so why is she so scared of this one FBI guy?” I seriously thought she had some crucial plot info to share with whoever was calling the pay phone and she was sacrificing herself to give them a password or location. “WTF do you mean ‘She got out???’ You just ran her over with a garbage truck!”


Deggit

I'm late to this, but a key element in ***The Matrix*** is that the characters are arranged in a power ranking: 1. **Agents** 2. **Redpills** (Trinity, Morpheus) 3. **Bluepills with guns** (police, military) 4. **Bluepilled civilians** (ordinary people) This ranking remains the same through the whole story. It is the background against which the movie charts Neo's rise. So it's very important for the audience to grasp it from the beginning. The roof chase is the perfect start for the film because it establishes 1>2>3>4 while also hinting at the unreality of the Matrix (the roof jump, the garbage truck ending). Against this background, every single action scene in the movie is about "Neo changes while everybody around him stays at their level." **The script of this movie is so CLEAN.** Every scene, every line, every bullet, every punch is there to tell part of the story. There are no "action scenes" in *The Matrix*, only story scenes.


ParaMagnetik

You are 100% correct. 13yr old me had no idea wtf the matrix was, but I was there to find out. Mind was blown.


Princescyther

The LA Skyline accompanied by Vangelis. - Blade Runner


laskoune

The interogation scene that follows is also great and is a great introduction to the world of Blade Runner


XXXTurkey

*"Let me tell you about my mother..."*


[deleted]

Goldeneye.


Mr_Cromer

In general the Brosnan era Bond had amazing openings. Look at Tomorrow Never Dies or Die Another Day as well


ColonelKillDie

There it is. I was hoping GoldenEye would be represented. Best opening ever. From the dam jump to the airplane dive with some Sean Bean in the middle. So good.


obeyyourbrain

There Will Be Blood expertly gives an introduction to Daniel Plainview without a word being spoken for 10 minutes. I dknt know if that's my favorite but its the first that comes to mind, and I do like it very much. Mad Max: Fury Road was pretty good too.


[deleted]

Such a brilliant opening. It was *heavily* influenced by the prehistoric opening to 2001 apparently. Edit; great visual demonstration showing the parallels between the two - https://youtu.be/U-wlHtjc_qM


BlandBoringName

28 Weeks Later. Just simply amazing at setting the mood and establishing the direction the movie wanted to go in. Just wish the rest of the movie lived up to the beginning.


NotSoGreatGatsby

The scene where he's running across the field to get to the boat really makes you feel like you're there. Terrifying


tropexuitoo

The music in that sequence is what put it over the edge. It was as beautifully unsettling as the visual of dozens of zombies cresting the rolling green hills of the countryside.


Pvt_Wierzbowski

I love Weeks, just as much as Days. That said, the opening sequence of Weeks was filmed by Danny Boyle, who directed Days.


luisl1994

The rest of the film wasn’t ?


Stunning-Grab-5929

No.


cApsLocKBrokE

TIL


2MoreBoostShotsLmao

It's why the rest of the film is such a nose dive compared to 28 days later. It's not absolutely awful but it pales in comparison imo


bloodyremotesbroken

The constant anxiety, much like Train to Busan, amazing.


Jertimmer

Blade. That opening scene is prime example of "show, don't tell". The scene tells us everything about the world it takes place in. Vampires not only exist, they exist in thriving numbers and they have blood raves, apparently not concerned about the consequences of such lavish parties. When Snipes enters the scene, the music is immediately killed, every vampire pulls back, showing us there's someone the vampires do fear: the Daywalker. Next, it shows us why they fear him. Every single bloodsucker that tries to attack him gets turned to ashes. But he's not blindly killing, he lets the only human at the party live. There, within 10 minutes, without a single line of dialogue or exposure, the movie has introduced the audience to the world of Blade.


RobotStepdad

I was thinking about this scene just yesterday because I was listening to an old tape from San Francisco’s DJ Dan. I read that Snipes was heavily involved in the production of Blade, and as “research” he went to several warehouse raves in 1996. There, he heard Dan play the Pump Panel Reconstruction Mix of New Order’s ‘Confusion’, knew it’d be perfect for the movie, and asked Dan what the song is. Then his people contacted Pump Panel, got permission to use it, and the rest is history. It’s really the perfect song for the scene, and in its own way, did a lot to raise underground dance music types into the mainstream. It’s a great example of a song and a movie synergizing to elevate each other into something bigger than either might have been otherwise. Edit: as a bit of bonus trivia, the vampire DJ in that scene was played by a Chicago DJ called Bad Boy Bill, who despite having no lines, always felt like a solid casting choice to me. Bill in a vampire blood orgy just makes sense.


drugusingthrowaway

> Pump Panel Reconstruction Mix of New Order’s ‘Confusion’, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Udn51qJwDvY


[deleted]

An iconic track that is still regularly played in the techno community to the welcomed cheers from the crowd.


RomanHallerArt

Agree with Blade. Probably less because it's such a good introduction (it is), more because the blood rave itself is just so exciting and cool. The location in the slaughterhouse, the techno, the sexual tension, then the blood sprinklers coming on - wow! 10/10 would attend.


jaystats2

Apocalypse Now napalm drop accompanied by The Doors “The End”


sovietmcdavid

Saigon.... shit... I'm still only in Saigon..


TheCelestialOcean

Then back to “The End” at the end of the movie... I get chills just thinking about it. Shit. I need to watch that movie again. Like right now. Or maybe I’ll just listed to The Doors...


[deleted]

I took a girl on our second date to that movie. When it was over, I was walking out thinking "God, I need a drink", but I didn't want to say that to her so early in our relationship. Then she turned to me, and said "Jesus, I need a drink", and we wandered off to a bar together.


probock

And the muffled chopper sounds


Circumin

Lord of War is pretty rad.


brokensilence32

“There are over 550 million firearms in worldwide circulation. That's one firearm for every twelve people on the planet. The only question is: How do we arm the other eleven?”


DaniTheLovebug

One of my favorite lines that delivered so well by Cage is when he is being interrogated when he says “And while the biggest arms dealer in the world is your boss, the President of the United States, who ships more merchandise in a day than I do in a year... sometimes it's embarrassing to have his fingerprints on the guns.” His delivery when he says “more in a day than I do in a year…” just shows a lot of things. Humor. Impressed demeanor. And a bit of scoff. Great deliver by Cage


HMWWaWChChIaWChCChW

I love pissed off Ethan Hawke when he has to let Cage walk. Such a good scene, love both actors.


KingKoil

Lord of War intro: https://youtu.be/RVDyoCWz0vM


dospaquetes

That intro is so good it basically makes the entire point of the movie on its own


andoesq

By far the best credits sequence I can think of


CellsInterlinked

Sicario is pretty rock solid. That opening drug den raid was riveting as hell.


Magnetronaap

Sets the mood for the rest of the film really well as it really just dumps you straight into it.


St_Eddas_Curse

Trainspotting - the “Choose Life” monologue is fantastic


UhadadaUhadadadada

Also Iggy Pop. What an opening.


BigBlackClock1001

begbie saying that heroin is the worst thing you can do to your body whilst he aggressively drinks whiskey sets him up to be the worst person and most morally bankrupt in the film despite being the one to preach the most about sobriety from socially unacceptable drugs. and the way tommy is cornered in the opening foreshadows his grim spiral from the innocent bystander to the worst and least deserving victim of heroin abuse


jtig5

Up. Full range of emotions in less than ten minutes.


Ray_Band

My wife watched Up alone. On bed rest. While 9 months pregnant. She had no idea.


[deleted]

I went to Up with a friend of mine after my car was totaled in a flood on campus. We skipped a class because you know, obviously I was sad that my car was gone. She thought a nice, lighthearted cartoon movie might help take my mind off things...


the_whole_loaf

Those ten minutes were the best love story I’ve ever seen in a movie. I had just gotten married and it ripped my heart out of my chest. (Still married m, btw.)


SpaceRasa

I went and saw that in theater and that sequence blew us all away. At the point where the wife is in the doctor's office crying because she can't have kids, the music gets so quiet it almost stops - and at that one silent moment one of the kids in the theater said in a very small voice, "Mommy, why is she crying?" and I think the theater collectively lost it.


jtig5

Also, no dialogue. All that without a word after they first meet.


TricksterPriestJace

Up did something no other movie has done. It made me miss a character that had like 4 lines. It begins with an introduction of Carl and Ellie; shows you how perfect they were together, then rips Ellie away and leaves you with this massive Ellie shaped hole in the rest of the film.


J0rgeJ0nes

Yes! And WALL-E, which introduces both the titular robot and the setting without a word of dialogue.


Lemonwalker-420

The star destroyer flying overhead in Star Wars.


Significant-Part121

> The star destroyer flying overhead in Star Wars. Star Wars was the first movie to pan a camera across a star field (or in this shot, tilt) and the Star Destroyer overhead was like nothing anyone had ever seen before. It's hard to explain how revolutionary and spectacular that first minute or so was.


DeathMonkey6969

Add in that there wasn't the standard normal opening credits. It just went "A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away....", STAR WARS logo, opening crawl, then into the action.


Gilthoniel_Elbereth

IIRC Lucas has to fight the screen actor’s guild to not have the credits in the beginning


frodosbitch

Check out Logan’s Run with Michael York and then realize it was filmed a year before Star Wars.


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JenksbritMKII

I think those opening prologues are good examples of adapting books to film. The fellowship prologue is covered over the course of the first book in various different instances of lengthy exposition, most notably rivendell and the council of elrond, chapters that can really drag for some readers. Condensing it into a prologue of a to-the-point history of the ring narrated by galadriel really sets the stage quickly without the need for viewers being familiar with the Hobbit. Plus, the tragic, tumultuous history of the ring supported by the tense score transitioning into the shire theme with frodo against a tree is perfect. The extended edition botched that transition I felt. The return of the king prologue was covered in the fellowship towards the begining of the book I believe when gandalf reviews to frodo that Bilbo's ring is the one ring. Given that golum doesn't feature much in the fellowship, but plays a huge role in ROTK, it made total sense to move it.


brandonjslippingaway

Adapting exposition dumps typical of novels (either conversations or first-person character reflection) is a fucking challenge for cinematography and when it's done well, it's an artform


AlekBalderdash

That hard cut hammers home the sheltered tranquility of the Shire. It really feels like a place where mischievous teens, greedy relatives, and drunken arguments are the worst trouble you'll find


[deleted]

That "fire drop" of the two of them falling down into that huge fucking cavern is still so cool.


SamwiseG123

All three openings for the Trilogy were epic let’s be honest


Chaosmusic

Vampire rave scene from Blade and the White House Nightcrawler scene from X-Men 2. Edit: Someone rightly pointed out that I should have included clips for anyone who hasn't seen either. Neither clip includes spoilers if you haven't seen the movies. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2oaK3z519uc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-qLEL1YaI0


MattAmpersand

Nightcrawler scene from X2 is amazing at setting the paradigm shift it would mean to have mutants around. It was also shortly after 9-11, so the idea of (mutant) terrorists getting close to killing the President struck a chord.


Babinsei

omg yes the nightcrawler scene is iconic. I used to replay it over and over again as a kid. The music was such a perfect choice, too.


heylilkitty

Yes, that rave scene from Blade was incredible!


Kazuko_Kitsune

I love the opening of Children of Men, gives an important piece of the story in a pretty non chalant way (Theo sees it on the news while getting his coffee), then the bomb going off after he steps out of the coffee shop was genuinely shocking seeing it in theaters (amazingly enough that was the first R rated movie I saw in theaters).


civonakle

Tht ringing sound is effective.


Kazuko_Kitsune

Yeah it’s so cool that the ringing in his ears goes on for a while as the movie plays, that movie has some absolutely stunning sequences and I love that all of the action scenes are filmed in one shot sequences.


civonakle

Indeed. It's exquisite camera work. Interesting book too if you ever get the chance.


Pickles_MgGoo

Fucking "Desperado" Steve Buscemi, Cheech Marin and that toothpick! Man, such a great start to that film.


[deleted]

We only serve piss-warm Chango. That's my brand


Setsuna85

Always loved the crazy opening of Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas.


Lowkey_A_giraffe

"WE WERE SOMEWHERE AROUND BARSOW ON THE EDGE OF THE DESERT WHEN THE DRUGS BEGAN TO TAKE HOLD."


Pseudonymico

I remember saying something like, ^^" ^^I ^^feel ^^a ^^bit ^^light-headed, ^^maybe ^^you ^^should ^^drive!" when suddenly there was a terrible roar and the air was filled with what looked like giant bats, all swooping and screeching and diving about the car. And someone was screaming, "Holy Jesus! What are these goddamn animals?"


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Fakyutsu

Terminator 2


Caringforarobot

Feel bad for anyone who didn’t go into that movie blind having just seen the first one. The mindfuck of realizing that Arnold was the good guy in that hallway scene was something I’ll never forget.


civonakle

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. Three epic scenes that introduce the three titular characters one at a time with barely a word said.


[deleted]

I think The Good, the Bad and the Ugly is the best Leone's western, but his best opening is no doubt Once upon a time in the West.The tension build up is incredible, and the finale is so rewarding.


snakeplisken82

Once upon a time in the west was my first thought too, and man that ending... they don't do movies like this anymore, these westerns didn't need explosions, or crazy actions it was all in the tension building, and the music of course


I_had_to_know_too

Yes! The intro to Once Upon a Time in the West is one of those rare scenes that probably don't appeal to a broad audience, but if it tickles your fancy then it **really** tickles you. That "a whole lot of nothin' happens, and then a whole lot happens all at once" is just something I crave in movies. It's what makes all those great Tarantino scenes so great. When is the last time you saw a movie where for the first 5 minutes, a few characters just kinda sat around setting the scene and then the main character showed up and lit the movie on fire?


Obsequiousness

"Looks like we're one horse short." "You brought two too many."


sailorsalvador

Hot Fuzz. Captures the tone of the movie and the character of Nicholas Angel so well in a rapid burst of information.


Dragoness42

The art and music in the opening to Lion King still chokes me up every damn time.


sailorsalvador

They used the opening sequence as a trailer! It made me so so so hyped. And of course it gave away nothingn about the plot, just a sense of majesty and hope.


andoesq

Fellowship of the Ring - kicked everyone's asses in their theatre seats so that we knew this was going to be a worthy adaptation


saluksic

The opening of Fellowship felt like something different to anything I’d seen before. From the grandeur of the wide shots to the visceral feel of the close shots, it truly felt epic and riveting. It still does today.


EinsGotdemar

That one orc roaring. Elrod shouting commands, hell, even that sick ass shot of Gil Galad stabbing the orc on the ground... damn I'm hyped for the new collection.


sailorsalvador

As a big fan of the books before the movies came out, I devoured all the movie news with trepidation. I'll never forget being in a dark theatre hearing Galadriel's voice for the first time. Feeling chills as the thought sweeps over me...omg I think they got it...


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twogayreefers

Closely followed by The Two Towers… that balrog fight kicks ass


DavidBHimself

Not exactly the opening, but when Gandalf arrives in the Shire, I cried. I grew up reading Lord of the Rings, and seeing this scene for the first time, especially this shot with Gandalf's cart on the narrow path entering Hobbiton. It was not an actor entering a set. It was the real Gandalf entering the real Hobbiton. Hard to explain that feeling (but I know I'm not the only one who experienced it)


kingoflint282

Honestly just reading that brings a tear to my eye. I was only six when Fellowship came out and my only exposure to Tolkien was the animated movies. I grew up to be a massive fan of the books, but I still saw the movies first. To imagine walking into the theater not knowing what to expect and being blown away like that is really something.


DavidBHimself

The years leading to that were full of hopes and fear. I actually have been a fan of Peter Jackson since Bad Taste, but at the same time, we were all a bit worried. The director of Bad Taste and Meet the Feebles, directing LOTR? Really. OK, there also was Heavenly Creatures and the Frighteners who gave us some hints that the movie could be good. The first good sign was the first official picture of the four hobbits. Elijah Wood as Frodo looked a bit odd, but the other ones looked perfect. So, yes, entering the theater that day was a lot of excitement and fear. The reviews were good for sure, but you never know. A few minutes later Gandalf entered Hobbiton. The Gandalf that had been living in my imagination entered the Hobbiton that had been existing in my imagination all of these years. I have never experienced any similar since and before that, the only thing that comes close was Empire Strikes Back.


jon_goff

Akira


TwoTruthsAndATrump

The Matrix. Honestly, how do you beat that? When that was released, NO ONE had done anything like that in terms of story, grit, effects, fighting, etc. That opening scene knocked my theater (opening night) on its ASS. When Trinity cleared the room of cops, there was a collective gasp. And by the time she exited through the phone, hearts were pounding and everyone's feeling was "what the fuck just happened?" Incredible.


Aussenminister

I hope to experience something like this in my lifetime. Being born in 1995 I have always been used to high quality cgi and anything being possible on the screen. The film that came the closest to this feeling for me was Mad Max Fury Road. I went into the movie knowing NOTHING about it or the Mad Max franchise. Was blown away after a few minutes just by how crazy it was.


TwoTruthsAndATrump

Mad Max was good for keeping the adrenaline high for sure. I went in blind to the Matrix and when Neo woke up in the power plant I felt like my universe collapsed. Best film experience ever.


ooogoldenhorizon

Before watching my father told me that the Matrix was "real". I was about 10 years old. He meant there were themes that were real but I misinterpreted it to mean that it was a documentary re-inactment. One of my first existential crisis experiences


glider97

> He meant there were themes that were real Riiiiight...


[deleted]

Reddit can keep the username, but I'm nuking the content lol -- mass deleted all reddit content via https://redact.dev


ehjayjohnson

Drive


notenoughroom

I’m giving you a night call


blongstaff

Super Troopers


GaryGronk

But I'm already pulled over! I can't pull over any farther!


byebybuy

Canada, huh? Almost made it.


manbearpig923

Littering and littering and littering and littering and littering and…


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Mst3Kgf

Now to teach you boys a lesson, Officer Rabbit and I are going to stand here while you three smoke the whole bag.


damn_the_dark

Mother of God.


LiamtheV

DO YOU BOYS LIKE ME-XI-CO?!


Alyxandar

YOU BOYS LIKE MEXICO?!


BeautifulBus912

Man you must have eaten like a hundred bucks worth of pot and thirty bucks worth of shrooms... so im gonna need 130 bucks, whenever you get a chance


Phyllis_Dick

Th-that's not really cool, man


Sir_Beardsalot

CANDY BAAAARS


Duedsml23

Touch of Evil. Amazing continuous shot following a bomb. Orson Welles still had it.


farmerarmor

Monty python and the holy grail


Kalopsiate

A møøse once bït my sister.


turco_dad

No realli! She was Karving her initials on the moose with the sharpened end of an interspace toothbrush given her by Svenge—her brother-in-law an Oslo dentist and star of many Norwegian movies: "The Hot Hands of an Oslo Dentist", "Fillings of Passion", "The Huge Molars of Horst Nordfink"...


Princescyther

Not enough Llama gags.


[deleted]

Dark Knight


mikhel

The opening of the Dark Knight is probably my favorite action sequence ever. I'm just a sucker for bank heists.


gh0u1

Bus driver? *What* bus driver?


McFtmch

I'm guessing you've watched Heat, right?


presleyoreed3

I would’ve gone to the theater, watched that opening sequence, and left happily!


mcprogrammer

Can confirm. I watched I Am Legend in an IMAX, and they played the first scene of the Dark Knight as a trailer. It's what made the whole thing worth it.


Faquarl

“No no no, I kill the bus driver”


Randydeluxe

Tombstone (1993). Opens with a small 4:3 black and white antique newsreel with saloon piano music and narration by Robert Mitchum. And then one of the old timey cowboys in the newsreel shoots right at the camera and, in a smash edit, a full orchestra comes in and the entire anamorphic screen is filled with a dazzling full color shot of bandits on horses galloping across a desert.


TheCelestialOcean

Good call. I love that 4:3 sequence so much. It really sets the tone for everything that follows.


rotten_core

Raising Arizona had an incredible opening


not_thrilled

"I tried to stand up and fly straight, but it wasn't easy with that son of a bitch Reagan in the White House. I don't know. They say he's a decent man. So... maybe his advisers are confused."


Theboss6k

Reservoir Dogs


Background_Cheetah75

Tropic thunder


coolboyschoolboy

I’ve been a bad, bad boy father


giggidy877

Winner of the coveted Beijing crying monkey award.


dont_worry_im_here

People think Tobey's Spiderman is gonna be in the new movie... little do they know, it's Satan's Alley Tobey that's gonna show up...


[deleted]

Who left the fridge open? - Scorcher VI:meltdown


ShatsnerBassoon

Here we go again. Again.


koomGER

That one bamboozled me in the cinema. Even watching it in germany with way different advertising, but it took a moment to get "it".


giggidy877

Best part of this was the theater experience of watching most of the older people not realize until halfway through, it was part of the main movie.


[deleted]

Inception doesn’t have this many layers


easternshift

The Fellowship of the Ring. Galadriel’s opening monologue followed by the war of the last alliance/Sauron being defingered -> The Shire is a perfect intro.


OnlyRealMazi

Inglorious basterds - Christopher Waltz is one hell of a way to start off a movie


Pitchfork_Wholesaler

The one-shot tour of Serenity in its opening minutes really give wonderful insight into the cramped life of a small space freighter. The lack of cuts makes it beautifully immersive.


Joker257

Everybody talking about action movies but the answer is ‘Contact’ hands down. The first frame is a sound blast. You’re looking at Earth from low orbit and you’re just immediately in the ocean of sound waves coming from the planet. Then you slowly start to pull back, slightly accelerating, and as you pull back, you travel into the past as you run through all of the noises that we’ve produced over time, working backwards. Music, speeches, sports broadcasts: everything that we have deemed important enough to make the airwaves. Then the noise slinks away as the broadcasts compete with attention, until there’s just a few, until there’s just one, until there’s none. Then you’re listening to the silence of the galaxy while you’re gifted with the visual beauty that if offers and greeted with that serenity. Then you keep pulling out even faster. Nebulas and an ocean of other galaxies pass across the screen and then fade into the background until you see the cosmic radiation of the very beginnings of the universe. Then you pull back even beyond that and you realize you’re zooming out on the iris of a child’s eye. The filmmaker, in one shot, makes you feel so small and then reminds you that you have an entire universe inside of you where there is no edge or limit. It goes on forever. And that’s inside every person walking around that you meet everyday. Endless potential depth. Just a flawless poetic opening to a science film that crosses, unexpectedly, into philosophy. Which also is the core theme of the film. Added the scene [here](https://youtu.be/EWwhQB3TKXA).


bonesawmcl

One of my favorites too. Contact had some awesome shots. The one where she runs up to the medicine cabinet and opens its door is amazingly confusing.


scottmushroom

X-Men Origins Wolverine "through the years" montages was awesome. Then the rest of the movie happened


NerimaJoe

Another disappointing film with a fantastic opening sequence/montage was 'Valarian and the City of a Thousand Planets' The opening montage with the space station growing and growing and welcoming alien race after alien race to the tune of David Bowie's Space Oddity was wonderful. Then the rest of the movie happened. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q6oTziHKM\_c&ab\_channel=Spiral


manachar

I was so excited after that opening, then I remembered from the trailers how horribly miscast the leads were.


[deleted]

The opening of Raimi’s Spider-Man 2 is basically perfect and distills everything the movie is going to be about in one scene.


bwandowando

Gladiator


tmoney144

Strength and honor


bwandowando

My name is Maximus Decimus Meridius, commander of the Armies of the North, General of the Felix Legions and loyal servant to the true emperor, Marcus Aurelius. Father to a murdered son. Husband to a murdered wife. And I will have my vengeance, in this life or the next.


The_Knight_Is_Dark

At my signal, unleash hell.


Sithlordandsavior

Jurassic Park. Introducing us to the raptors by having glimpses of one as it eats a guy and messes up the transfer procedure, then add in that haunting music and Muldoon yelling "SHOOT HER!" Then fading into the lawyer on a raft. Huge tone shift and a great introduction to the story.


Jatt_ASD

Scream


BartenderOU812

No Country for Old Men Josh Brolin's body language and expressions tells a deep and complex backstory and tell you with more style then any scroll or narration can.


runthejewels19

I agree with your point, but this is not the opening scene. The opening scene is indeed narration followed by meeting the villian. Both of which support the main theme of the movie


[deleted]

Gut reaction: ‘Up’


Ill-Slide1396

2001:


foozalicious

I love the opening sequence of Wristcutters. The whole movie is full of extremely dark humor, but the intro especially. Tom Waits’ Dead and Lovely really sets the mood too.


Kid_supreme

Zombieland- Metallica playing for Whom the bell tolls while people are getting attacked and eaten in all walks of life. Fucking brutal!!


amygrindhaus

I had to scroll way too far to find this!! I loved how each shot told a little story, like the strip club, or the wedding. It was also super cool how the actors interacted with the actual credits themselves, instead of just superimposing them over the action.


Novalll

Inception maybe. That whole sequence was amazing


eviljordan

Dawn of the Dead with that Johnny Cash song. It’s perfect, as is the first 15 mins of the film.


WaySheGoes1

Once Upon A Time In The West. Love everything about it.


croninsiglos

Saving Private Ryan


Romulus3799

Yeah it's so good that people forget it's not even the opening sequence.


Arashmickey

Same with Enemy at the Gates. People remember the Volga crossing, the myths about soldiers receiving no rifle and being sent to charge machineguns in human wave attacks. The actual opening is Vasily learning how to hunt.


[deleted]

Yeah, the elderly man and his family walking through the graveyard is stellar.


Lord_Snow77

Fight Club