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Greatest opening shots...

post #1 of 26
10/23/07 at 3:02am
Thread Starter 
The search didn't yield any results for opening shots, just opening scenes, credits, etc.

So what are the best opening shots to a film ever?
This may lead to a draft. I'm not sure if it's worth it, I'll see how many responses there are.

Two easy ones to start off...

Star Wars. I was just a lump in my mother's belly when this came out in theaters, but I cannot imagine how amazing that star destroyer flying overhead was back then.

Boogie Nights. Paul Thomas Anderson might have been "ripping off" Scorsese with this awesome tracking shot, but it is fantastic, and it manages to introduce most of the major characters in one fell swoop.
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post #2 of 26
10/23/07 at 3:22am
I'll get this one out of the way right now.

Blade Runner

Just astonishing in how it completely captures an environment and presents us with a world in chaos, it's pretty much hell on earth.
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post #3 of 26
10/23/07 at 3:25am
I second Star Wars, and I love that each movie starts with a variation of that famous opening shot

Also "Once upon a time in the west" has a great opening sequence.
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post #4 of 26
10/23/07 at 3:30am
Thread Starter 
I agree with both of you, those are amazing, but I mean a single shot. No cuts.
I should have been more specific.
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post #5 of 26
10/23/07 at 3:31am
Roger Ebert's editor Jim Emerson has been running an ongoing series of entries on great opening shots on his blog, which isn't half bad. It's been going on for over a year now, so there are a crapload of entries, but still worth a look.
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post #6 of 26
10/23/07 at 4:18am
Touch of Evil

Layer Cake
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post #7 of 26
10/23/07 at 6:30am
I'd say Fight Club, but that is also the credit sequence...

Hot Fuzz is pretty stellar with the shot of Pegg walking purposefully toward the camera.
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post #8 of 26
10/23/07 at 7:57am
The Player immediately springs to mind, although it's a rather obvious choice.

I'll throw in The Russian Ark as well even if it is a cheat to include it.
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post #9 of 26
10/23/07 at 8:13am
Did anyone else pick up a satire/homage to Point Blank in that opening shot of Hot Fuzz?
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post #10 of 26
10/23/07 at 9:01am
Close Encounters of the Third Kind, with the black screen and the eerily rising music, then the loud chord and the suddenly blinding light and we're in the sandstorm and have no idea what the hell is going on.
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post #11 of 26
10/23/07 at 9:52am
'Gladiator'. There's something very calm and soothing about the walk through the wheat. I've always liked how it's a counterpoint to the next 10 minutes or so of the film.
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post #12 of 26
10/23/07 at 11:48am
JAWS: I feel like every fourth post of mine here lately is about JAWS, but the opening shot is uncanny in the way it sets up the shark, which is essential to the effectiveness of the attack on Chrissie Watkins.

CHILDREN OF MEN: Just the first (naturally) in a long line of brilliant shots in the film. But besides the craftsmanship of the opening, it sets up Owen's character, his disaffectedness, perfectly.

STANGE DAYS: The POV chase. Where oh where did Kathryn Bigelow go? Nevermind the fact that she's female, she's just a brilliant fucking director.
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post #13 of 26
10/23/07 at 12:02pm
MILLERS CROSSING - Stunning and subdued.

DAY OF THE DEAD - Opening scene is the best thing about the film.

HEART OF GLASS - Just because I love Herzog and Nietzsche, two great tastes that taste great together.
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post #14 of 26
10/23/07 at 12:48pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jonathan Banks is my hero
CHILDREN OF MEN: Just the first (naturally) in a long line of brilliant shots in the film. But besides the craftsmanship of the opening, it sets up Owen's character, his disaffectedness, perfectly.
Seconded.
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post #15 of 26
10/23/07 at 12:49pm
HALLOWEEN - Carpenter and Cundey are geniuses.

I second Boogie Nights.
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post #16 of 26
10/23/07 at 12:58pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dross
HALLOWEEN - Carpenter and Cundey are geniuses.
Jesus, how did I forget that?
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post #17 of 26
10/23/07 at 1:51pm
I know it's been mentioned, but Touch of Evil is really amazing.
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post #18 of 26
10/23/07 at 2:21pm
Snake Eyes. DePalma. Almost 15 minutes of non-stop*, sheer genius with the always underappreciated help of



HEEEEEEEEREEEEEEEEEEEEEE'S KE-VINNNNNNNNNN!


* Well, three long, CGI-ed together tracking shots, but who's counting?
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post #19 of 26
10/23/07 at 2:47pm
Untouchables gets my vote, starts with great bird's eye view composition then swoops down on Capone for his speech to the reporters.
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post #20 of 26
10/23/07 at 4:54pm
Contact. Awe-inspiring right off the bat.
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post #21 of 26
10/23/07 at 7:46pm
Working Girl. That big, wide opening shot of the city, coming in closer to the Statue of Liberty and WTC, and then focusing in tighter and tighter onto the Staten Island Ferry, packed with commuters, closer still to the inside seating area, till we see Joan Cusack holding a cupcake with a candle in it and singing "Happy Birthday" to Melanie Griffith.

And what I love is how the opening shot does a complete 180 with the closing shot, which is Melanie Griffith in her office, talking on the phone to Joan Cusack, and the shot getting further away, to the building she's in, that zooming out to the rest of the lower Manhattan, and then further back out onto the whole skyline of NYC, right where we started. Gets me every time.
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post #22 of 26
10/23/07 at 7:50pm
The Paramount logo's clever use in the opening shot of RAIDERS. A great homage that gives you a taste of the serialized fun you're in for.

Goddamn that's a great movie.
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post #23 of 26
10/23/07 at 8:03pm
The opening shot of JACKIE BROWN is pretty great. We watch Pam Grier as she's on the way to her next flight, "Across 110th Street" on the soundtrack. Without any words, Tarantino tells us everything we need to know about her and the life she's had. Perfect.

It also mirrors the great last shot, but that's a different thread...
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post #24 of 26
10/23/07 at 9:13pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jonathan Banks is my hero
The Paramount logo's clever use in the opening shot of RAIDERS. A great homage that gives you a taste of the serialized fun you're in for.
I love how they do that at the beginning of all three. I can only assume Spielberg will do it again for the new one.
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post #25 of 26
10/24/07 at 9:34pm
The opening shot of 'For a few dollars more' is pretty damn cool. You don't know if it's Clint or not but I'm assuming it is, you hear him whistling then he loads up his rifle, shoots and a figure in the distance falls off his horse.

The opening shot in 'Breaking News' it's like Johhnie To saw 'Touch of Evil' and thought 'shit, I can top that', shame the rest of the film couldn't live up to it's opening.
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post #26 of 26
10/24/07 at 10:18pm
I absolutely love the opening shot of A Clockwork Orange.
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