How About Best/worst Beginnings?

On The Two Towers opening, I don't think that was so much a recap as it was revealing what happened to Gandalf when he fell down with the huge Balrog. We only see a few seconds of FOTR footage before he fell, and then we see him soaring down to face the Balrog again.

My Picks for Best/Worse Openings:

Best:

Forrest Gump
Almost Famous
Spider-Man
Desperado
The Sandlot
Toy Story 1
A Fish Called Wanda
Ace Ventura
Final Flight of the Osiris
As Good as it Gets
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
True Romance

Worse:
Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls
Rush Hour 2
The Fast and the Furious
3000 Miles to Graceland

ooo lets see

Best:

KillBill
Resevoir Dogs
Hulk (the origin sequence)


worst:

can't think of any right now

I like coming up with Good ones:
Raiders of the lost Ark-You know what I'm talking about.
Godfather-The wedding
Star Wars-The first one. Or fourth, whatever. A new hope.
Ring-the Japanese one, the opening scene with the two girls is extremely effective. I love it when the phone rings.
Batman-The family that is so reminiscent of the Waynes, the muggers. "I'm not gonna kill you. But I want you to tell all your friends about me."

Re: How About Best/worst Beginnings?

LOL. You know that's the dumbest fucking thing I've heard in a long time?

- Fixxxer

Re: How About Best/worst Beginnings?

Is...is that even a reason?

Re: How About Best/worst Beginnings?

this is just bad nit-picking. if you get peeved at a recap you should die.

Re: How About Best/worst Beginnings?

uhm, the last time i watched it, the rescue of the key maker happened about 1 hour and a half into the movie, or maybe later. you consider all that a beginning?

kinda funny how you consider reloaded a bad movie, but admit to loving jurassic park 3. it's one of those irrational things that make a web forum so wonderful.

a great beginning? "saving private ryan". it's always good to begin with a massive battle, especially if it's one that leaves the audience scared out of their wits. well, then "gladiator" has a pretty good beginning too, i guess.

[slowpulse]

best--

macross plus-ova version
cowboy bebop--tv show
starwars
fightclub
once upon a time in the west
Transformers the movie--Unicron will whip your planets ass and eat it

worst--
friends--tv
any news show

Re: Re: How About Best/worst Beginnings?

i dont mind recaps on TV show, but a recap on a movie is just uncalled for

--and you people dont have flame someone for no fucking reason, oh wait he said something bad about LotR, well, guesse what, he didt like that one part get the fuck over it

Best opening:
Snatch
Donnie Darko
Grosse Point Blank

Re: Re: Re: How About Best/worst Beginnings?

What recap are you talking about? The ten seconds of old FOTR footage? The fall into the abyss isn't a recap. It's new information. And it was exciting.

i agree. what recap? we only get to hear brief recaps of what went on during the balrog sequence, while the camera flies along the mountain sides, but then we are not shown more than 10 seconds of the scene itself, when gandalf is about to get snatched by the big bad demon. surely 10 seconds of recap are not too much to bear? what would have been the alternative: start the sequence with gandalf falling? great idea, so you get half the audience totally confused.

[slowpulse]

Good beginnings:
Midnight Cowboy
Klute
Return of the Living Dead
The Last Temptation of Christ
Sneakers
Goodfellas
Trainspotting
Natural Born Killers
Out of Sight
Kate & Leopold

I always thought that the beginning to Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome was fairly clever.

That aside, the really good openings are:

Star Wars (Ep. 4)
The Road Warrior ("My life fades..." all the way to Wez riding off)
Fellowship of the Ring
Star Trek II
The beginning to Tobe Hooper's The Funhouse is cute
The Wizard of Oz
Once Upon a Time in the West
Close Encounters of the Third Kind

I can't seem to think of any bad openings.

I can. Temple of Doom. I hated that song, and Willie is just an annoying...um.. witch...

Oh, I liked the beginning of Temple of Doom, must be a personal preference thing. Although at the time I thought that Indy's character was a bit off, didn't realize it was before Raiders.

Terminator 2: What a magnificent start to that film. I mean, the rest is brilliant too but that tone Cameron sets from the get-go, with the future war scenes and Linda's voiceover, followed by the orchestral version of the score hammering away and the playground on fire.

Terminator 3: In direct contrast. The score starts up and we're treated to a thrilling five minutes of credits on a black screen. Then when it does start, Conner's on a bike, living 'under the grid' (but still in the blast radius), before promptly falling off his motorbike. Yeesh.


PotA - Burton's version. It's an awkward, mismatched film, but the start with Danny Elfman's music and the deep space backdrop was pretty darn cool.

I really liked the opening of Episode 1, all the way until they got to Naboo. It met the hype (to me, at least) for the 16 years of wait. Then the rest of the movie continued, but that's another story (the Jedi fight at the end was insanely good...my two favorite parts of the movie).

Re: Re: Re: How About Best/worst Beginnings?

Oh, grow up. Anyone who can watch that intro and not start geeking out is a soulless meatbag.

Best:

Star Wars: A New Hope
Fellowship of the Ring
Blade
Braveheart (I shall tell you...of William Wallace)
Cliffhanger
Clue
The Hunt for Red October
Conan the Barbarian
Copycat
Dances With Wolves
The Fifth Element
Ghost Ship
Ghostbusters
Gladiator
Halloween
Lethal Weapon 2
No Escape
Primal Fear
Red Dawn
Spaceballs
X-Files: Fight the Future

Most good movies have good beginnings that grip you.

One that really stands out, though, for me is Saving Private Ryan

The Beach invasion was just... amazing, and watching it on the Big Screen was a moving film experience unlike just about any I've ever had.

Re: How About Best/worst Beginnings?

no reason? get the fuck over it? it's a chat forum, man. I disagreed with the opinion and the immature way in which the original poster expressed it. I refer to the original post:
The extremely MINOR recap which only followed about 90 seconds of Fellowship footage went with Gandalf's path that we did not know of (unless you read the books of course). So in order to show my level of disagreement I chose to mimmick the original text that I found rather absurd.

I thought it was witty of me, so I typed it and posted it. get the fuck over that. meow

Worst that hits me right off the bat is Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.

John Ron Ruell paints a picture of Smeag and Deag (Inch-Me and Pinch-Me?) as rubes/bumpkins - not disgusting, dirty fuckin' re-res - but that's what's on display here.

Also in the offing is the worst dry-shot underwater antics I've ever seen. Compare the flat, bland Deagol being pulled through the water by a carp(!) to Sam drowning at the end of Fellowship...realize that both of these were instances of blue screen-as-water tank endeavors...and then try to tell me with a straight face that there has been no drop-off in the quality of the CGI in the films. It's night and day - and all the more glaring in the face of WETA's wonderful work.

Serkis as Gollum is an amazing thing. Serkis as Smeagol was pretty neat, and an admirable way for Peter Jackson to get his unsung actor some really excellent face time.

Jackson's decision to make Serkis handle his line readings in Gollum voice was a major mistake.

As was the reliance on the really-not-good facial appliance and suit he wears to signal his transformation. Normally - I'm a staunch advocate/defender of practical creatures over digital creations unless absolutely needed - but here, it would have been better to handle this with digital work.

Oddly enough it's CG Gollum who looks real - sallow...almost translucent - and Serkis in rubber-suit who looks like a toy.

This flashback redeems itself only as it ends - with the amazing digital sleight-of-hand that shows us Gollum's eyes for the first time.

When I think about what went missing in this film (most notably Aragorn gazing into the Palantir - set up as Gimli, Gandalf, Aragorn, and Leggy discuss storming the Black Gates, obviously), and that this opening was a solid five minutes that could have NOT existed...?

Well, it's a major gripe I have with a sadly flawed film...

Best's gotta' be Kill Bill.

I mean, aside from the SHAWSCOPE logo...and the "Feature Presentation" banner that magnificent fucking bastard swiped from the Y&W Drive In in Gary, Indiana...

Knowing how the film began hardened me against it - but I was grinning like an undertaker as the fuckcakes who were laughing like they were birthed from the mind of Mike Judge as Uma's panting filled the room...

...let out a nauseated groan/sigh as the initial visual hit. They didn't get what they thought there were gonna' get - and I can only assume that their testicals crawled up somwhere behind their lower intestines as they came face to fought face with the dying Bride. Classic.

Best openings

The Crimson Rivers
Raiders Of The Lost Ark
Star Wars
The Assignment
Desperado
Dances With Wolves
Amelie
Saving Private Ryan
Jaws
Blade
Tombstone

Worst

Temple Of Doom
Attack Of The Clones

em...can't think of any more right now.

One o' the best: Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country. I've never seen a crowd jump like that.

One o' the worst: Dark City. Keifer Sutherland's voiceover gives the whole thing away.

Best:

Muppet Christmas Carol-Charles Dickens, Gonzo the Great, and "Scrooge." Good stuff.
Magnolia
Blade II
Silverado
The Fellowship of the Ring

BEST
----------

Dawn Of The Dead
Kill Bill
Donnie Darko
Return Of The King
Battle Royale
Gozu (that dog is a takuza spy) hahaha

Worst
-----------

House Of The Dead


i cant name anymore because HOuse Of The Dead is the worst film EVER MADE

And the winner goes to........

Patton - No one can beat the speech

Honorable mention:

Raising Arizona - The entire introduction was hilarious. The musical score won't leave your head for days

Rushmore - The theater effect

Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery - The musical sequence was inspired, too bad the sequels couldn't measure up

The Good, The Bad & The Ugly - The reverse order of introducing the principles was great

Gallipoli - Perfectly tied in with the last scene

Saving Private Ryan - I liked Thin Red Line better, but the first 10 of SPR was incredible

Best-

Back to the Future (and II and III, for that matter. I think the recaps really work for these films, and for all its flaws, the opening credits scene from III in Doc's mansion has always been a favorite of mine, just a relaxing part of a hectic series)

X2 (naturally, one of the best opening action sequences of all time)

Scream (just awesome)

Halloween (the classic, how can you beat it? chilling)

Can't really think of "bad" ones.

Excellent choice! Awesome indeed. Scary, funny and cool.

It would only be a flame if it wasn't true

The fall thru Moria is fanfuckingtastic!

My votes are for

Saving Private Ryan
Battle Royale
Ichi the Killer (The Title)
Jaws
Armagedon (NY's destruction)
ST:Generations (Wine Bottle)
ST:First Contact (Borg battle)
The Two Towers (Fall thru Moria)
Airplane (Terminal)
True Lies
Blade
Fist of Legend
Final Destination 2

Early Prediction- Episode III

Best movie opening ever = Manhattan

"Get that fuckin' idiot off the air!"

Glad to see someone mention Star Trek VI.

Other cool openings:

Temple of Doom- sets the movie up perfectly, "anything goes!"
Superman: The Movie
Alien
The Naked Gun
Episode 1 & 2
Terminator
Hard-Boiled
Face/Off
Night of the Creeps
Re-Animator
From Beyond


Lame Openings:

Batman & Robin
Batman Forever
Superman III
Wyatt Earp- Is a great movie if you skip the early years of Earp.

"I'm talking about friendship. I'm talking about character. Im talking about... Hell, Leo, I ain't embarassed to use the word. I'm talking about ethics."

Miller's crossing has one of the greatest openings ever. The scene ends, and we go to the dream sequence, the hat in the woods, and Carter Burwell's fantastic music. Love that.

That introduction was disgusting! But it was hilarious at the same time.

Has anyone mentioned Carpenter's The Thing yet?

Great beginning, beautiful and ominous -- that lone cute dog running across the vast white Antarctic landscape, the helicopter in close pursuit...

The rest of the movie ain't bad either.

The best opening of all time has got to be Sam Fuller's The Naked Kiss. When the first thing you see is a bald chick beating the shit out of some guy with a high-heeled shoe while some crazy Charlie Parker-type bebop blares on the soundtrack, you know you're gonna watch the rest. Or how about the original DOA:

Guy: I want to report a murder.
Cop: Who's the victim?
Guy: ME!!!!!!

I've seen the scene, but I didn't know that was the beginning of The Naked Kiss.

Man, that's some fucked up shit!

Trying to come up with some nobody's mentioned yet...

The Fog John Houseman tellign the story around a campfire on the beach. Brilliant.

Texas Chainsaw Massacre (original) Graveyard. John Larroquette voice over. Photo flashes.

Night of the Living Dead Graveyard.

Citizen Kane

I surprised more of you do not say Jaws. As it got one of the best death seen of all times in the opening of the movie.

Awesome intro, mediocre movie.

Swordfish.

My favorite openings would be:
Hackers... Halycon by Orbit is a great song
Gladiator... good opening battle
Ping Pong Club... just hilarious japanese shenanigans
Top Gun
Donnie Darko
X2... nightcrawler kicks ass
Blade... bloodbath techno scene
Saving Private Ryan

I'm still fond of Stallone's voice-over in Cobra.

...

The first 5 minutes of Bloodsport. (Just saw it)

The best and worst opening is "Saving Private Ryan".
Best because it's the most effective portrayal of war I've ever seen in film. It's also a ballsy way to open a movie.
Worst because it's too good. It makes the rest of the film pale by comparison.

Other "best" openings:
The Godfather- "I love America..."
Star Wars- Big ship and it just gets better from there.
Pulp Fiction- "Any of you dickheads move and I'll kill every last motherfucking one of you!" Cue music!

Yeah! Great opening.

You not like the rest of the flick? Care to elaborate?