Favorite Opening Scenes

I always thought the opening scene of A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE was really well done. A very no frills opening with no music or fancy shots, but a tense mood is quickly established.

Just off the top of my head... The Departed. Gimmie Shelter... Nicholson narrating... Scorsese style... great, great opening.

Once Upon a Time in the West. Classic and after sitting through it, I'm there for the long haul.

Also, the opening to M is a personal favorite but I can't explain why.

I know it's been said over and over again (and say what you want about the movie as a whole), but the first 15 minutes or so of the new Dawn of the Dead are phenomenal. Everything up to and including the opening credits.

Children of Men opens perfectly. A huge majority of the exposition is achieved naturally, without an actualy character saying anything, and it sets up the world, the tone and Clive Owen's character PERFECTLY.

Excellent choices above.
Saving Private Ryan. Not a "favorite", but damn.

Obvious choices: The Godfather, Touch of Evil, Fight Club

Not so obvious choices: Adaptation, The Royal Tenenbaums

The monologue of Charlie Kaufman and setting us up on the set of 'Malkovich' was the perfect way to set the film, and Tenenbaums because although it's a shortcut, we learn everything there is to know about these individuals to set up their individual stories. It's just a good use of the flashback opening, I think.

Miller's Crossing, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, ...

Spoiler!

Watership Down

There's not much in the way of dialogue, but what is there is golden, as is the entire sequence.


*edit- I'm an idiot.

The diner scene in Reservoir Dogs. Hilarious dialogue throughout, and a great way to open up a gangster flick.

I don't know if there's a better way to set up a character with as little dialogue as done in the first 10-15 minutes of Raiders of the Lost Ark. Perfectly done, and exciting as hell.

One vote for 28 Days Later. Completely unnerving and held me in place. The fact that there are no credits or scenes explaining what happened next only made it better.

The whole movie felt like a pre-credits sequence to me.

Star Wars, and The Two Towers are probably my favorites that haven't been listed.

The first Star Wars movie couldn't have begun more perfectly than with a spaceship battle, that fueled my imagination for years, and sort of became a benchmark of movie greatness for me.

Raiders obviously, is iconic and unforgettable.

I'm blown away to see Watership Down mentioned! Very cool. I'll have to see it again as I don't recall the opening.

I think the opening to Magnolia is really stunning. The Wild Bunch, Hard Boiled, Breaking News (not my favorite To, but I still maintain that that opening makes the street-shootout in Heat seem almost pedestrian).

T2.
Granted, a lot of the shots were very similar to the "future war" flashbacks from the first film, but now they had 10 times the budget, and actual Terminators walking around in the battle. that shit blew be away when I first saw it, and it's still pretty great, (mostly)silly gun sound effects and all. The ominous, droning music is great too.
My only complaint... do corpses in the future have bones other than skulls? There are fucking skulls everywhere.

And let's not forget the beauty of Blade Runner. From the breathtaking fly-in to the entire interview with Leon.

The first fifteen minutes of Brazil are better than most entire films.

Seconded. Good call. Miller's especially, and I'll say the opening drawl of The Stranger coupled with the inroduction of The Dude in The Big Lebowski and the first 10 minutes of Raising Arizona , which gives the entire history of H.I. and Ed, all the way up to the kidnapping plot commencing. It wasn't til I was older (I watched that film every day for about a year when I was 10) that I realised how phenomenal and unconventional that sequence is.

Say what you want about Snake Eyes, but the opening take is fantastic.

Coppola's Dracula. If only it could have held that tone throughout the film...

And I love the Wild at Heart opening.

I'll second Star Wars, Raiders, Brazil and Two Towers, and add:

-- The opening of Donner's Superman, as the kid reads from the comic book and we see the pages turning, then we pan up over the Daily Planet building and soar through space via the opening credits, and then Williams' magnificent score as we see Krypton for the first time. I don't think I've ever been so effectively drawn into a film.

-- Star Trek II, with Saavik's Kobiyashi Maru test, and nice nod to all the "Spock is going to die" rumors that ended up being true after all. Plus Kirk's debriefing afterwards is loaded with great character moments.

-- Jaws. Duh.

Some great choices so far.

I'll throw in The Way of the Gun, which starts out with some hilarious misogyny and some more nice comedic exposition. Unfortunately, the movie drifts off into a coma for a while afterward before waking up to pour gasoline in Nicky Katt's eyeballs.

I can't believe X2 hasn't already been mentioned. Singer proves that when the winds are just right (and the scale small enough), he can do fantastic action. And it really gives you a sense of just how outmatched we humans are by mutants as Nightcrawler, who has about the 22nd most intimidating superpower in the films, hands the entire Secret Service their ass.

I also love the opening to Rounders, with Damon nailing the voice-over, that terrific moody score, and a fairly unobtrusive crash course in Texas Hold Em. It's enough for me to overlook the otherwise very accurate movie's single glaring sin of Hollywoodization when it comes to poker, that being the hand that Damon gets crushed on (it's not that a hand like that doesn't ever happen, but his reaction to it).

The Return of the King is notable for opening with possibly the worst scene of the trilogy, especially since the first two installments had absolutely phenomenal, iconic, and action-packed starts.

I think ROTK's opening could help but pale in comparison to the blood and thunder of the other two films' openings, but it's effective in its own right.

I always loved the opening of Annie Hall. Just Woody telling us a joke that perfectly sets up the rest of the film.

And I surprised it took 22 posts for someone to mention Jaws.

It never tops it and it's all downhill from that point on, but The Lion King has a sensational opening. It's number one at the top of my "Peaked-At-The-Opening-Scene" list.

Dickson already took Superman from me, but I want to reiterate it. That child-narrated opening with the comic book cover is one of the greatest choices in movie history. It gives me gooseflesh every time.

The Smeagol/Gollum transformation scenes after he gets the ring is good, but the opening with Deagol goes on too long. Also, it seems like it was rushed production-wise and that Serkis wasn't quite sure how much Gollum to put into the character from the outset. It strikes me that it would've been cut if not for the desire to get Andy's real face on screen and Jackson having more or less carte blanche on running times by that point.

Brazil's indeed a fine pick.

Ringu's worth at least a mention.

Happiness of the Katakuris is somewhat inspired.

I saw the french film Them a couple of days ago. Absolutly loved the opening.

Gangs of New York. The ascension through the brewery and eventually out into the Five Points square.

Eh, kind of a generic slasher opening (but it is well done). The end is what got me. Fucking fantastic film.

The opening is the only part of The Way of the Gun I liked.

And I'll add The Big Lebowski to this list. The pre-credits scene sets up the movie (the rug is stolen), establishes the Dude, and has some hilarious dialog.

I always liked how Predator 2 just drops us right into the middle of an enormous L.A shoot out between the cops and the drug dealers, with the TV reporters filling us in on what's happening.

And Jack Burton ranting away on the C.B radio, great stuff, for BTiLC.

10 minutes into the original Scream I knew that they weren't going to reach that peak again. What I didn't know was that the series would tunnel so far underground that I expected this guy to be the killer in the third installment.

Blade. No single moment in the rest of the three films ever topped that bad-ass opening.

Boogie Nights...with the title on the club's marquee and then that first long take through the discorama is great.

All the other ones you guys have offered up are rad, with a shoutout to the underrated opening of A History of Violence and Snakeyes...which is just crap, after that first shot.

Oh, and any/all Orson Welles movies.

Oh god yes.

Similarly, Robocop2, but with like, five different sides shooting at each other.