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The idea came to me when watching N.C.'s review of Blank Check and I thought to myself, what are good ways to open a movie or good opening scenes that get the people interested right off the bat?  I find the Star Wars opening always pretty good.  The booming and exciting music and the film title exploding onto the screen.  Jaws did it pretty good with the shark slowly moving through the waters and of course the attack on the girl.

So, what are some of the best movie openings you have seen that get you excited or interested in the movie right away?

I mentioned in another thread how I can't stand House Of 1,000 Corpses but loved the intro.  

NSFW
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FgyGEkt3wfY

Pulp Fiction  :thumbup:

1989's BATMAN - the opening rooftop scene is AWESOME!!

My favorites: MIB and Azumi

Ghost Ship has a great first 5 minutes 30 seconds.  After which it goes straight down the crapper.  Um, not too safe for work.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kl-IaNSZtYE

BLUE VELVET. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nM975_Ld9S0

The super cheesy, sunset supermarket showdown at the start of Cobra (1986)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5kpZ3-FQoY

To me, one of the best movie openings is the opening to Mad Max. After watching it for the first time, I wondered if the rest of the movie was going to be as awsome.

Mathieu Kassovitz's The Crimson Rivers has a eerie beginning in which you're not quite sure what the camera is panning over. When you realize what the camera was showing, you better not be eating anything.  :buggedout: :buggedout:

I love the opening credits in THE POPE OF GREENWICH VILLAGE, with Mickey Rourke picking out some slick clothing from his closet, getting dressed, and shaving, while a very smooth Frank Sinatra sings SUMMER WIND.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZ41Xgmi53M

That's true; too bad the rest of the movie is like a homily that goes on and on and on. 

That opening made me turn it off and I've never really looked at it since.  :lookingup:  :bluesad:

If I may ask, what about it turned you off?  I think it's a brilliant montage, the way it moves from sunshine to darkness. 

Just testing to see if you're reading...  :wink:  The truth is, I got as far as DENNIS HOPPER's "Mommy" breakdown (with an oxygen mask...?)  I have probably seen all of this film, but only piecemeal and in no order.  I recently sat through a couple of parts of it.  I think DAVID LYNCH is a mixed bag for me... at times inspired,  creepy, claustrophobic, sometimes just plain unhealthy (I hated WILD AT HEART the first time I saw it, but sat through all of it then and after multiple viewings since think pretty highly of that film now).  I don't like ERASERHEAD, but I think THE ELEPHANT MAN is a masterpiece.  I know BLUE VELVET is very highly regarded... perhaps someday I'll give it another chance.  

Oh! Best movie openings... JAWS (the following youtube is the only one that actually shows the opener and hasn't yet been removed - it's a video of a videotape... but it's still there.)  :wink:  And it's still some scary sh!t.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42kvAeoFm4A

NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD grabs me with its creepy music... and by 7 minutes in, the heroine is in mortal danger. 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBc18J5cUcs

I love Deep Red's opening scene. The juxtaposition between the opening murder and the children's song gets me every time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_cEcredzho

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FUVBRrBl-yc

Can't find clips but I love the beginning scenes of Aguirre, the Wrath of God, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, Once Upon a Time in the West, Vertigo (titles included), and Blade Runner.  Oh, and Halloween has great titles and opening scene, too.  Plenty of other good ones but that's all I have in mind right now.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=awGkBWTlZPE

I'm surprised no one has mentioned RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK.  It's very iconic and much parodied with the sliding under the descending wall and grabbing the hat, etc.  I remember coming into the theater expecting nothing as a kid and seeing it and being blown away. 

 I thought the beginning of Golden Eye was great, what with the bunji jumping off the damn and then the escape by riding a motorcycle off a cliff and then free falling into the airplane. Amazing! It was one of the best Bond openings of all time!

Yeah first time I saw that movie younger ... aw man

I never had the "blown away" experience when I saw this for the first time.  By the time I saw it in the theater, it had already been out for about a year (it was actually in its SECOND run at the theater where I saw it . . . it played there for several months, went away for awhile, and then came back for another run).  I had seen so many clips of it on TV and heard so many people talk about it that it was pretty stale and anti-climactic when I finally got to see it.  I've always regretted not seeing it sooner . . . I probably would have had a much better experience.  I'm such an idiot.

I loved the opening to Batman Returns. The music, the design, the darkness of it. Throwing a baby into the sewer !!! I was sold right away and it still remains my favourite film ever !

The first 15 mins of Judge Dredd is the only part that seems like the comic.

I thought the opening of Gremlins 2 was great with the arguing WB cartoon cheracters and really set the whole goofyness tone of the film.

Pan's Labrynth's opening was just dark and magical and drew me in.

I've always loved the beginning to Back To The Future where Marty heads to Doc's place before school only to find out he's late for school.  The whole skateboarding scene that follows rules. 

In 1998, I went to see SAVING PRIVATE RYAN the day after it opened.  The beginning sequence - the modern day cemetery, followed by the assault on Omaha beach reduced me to tears and made me feel like someone had kicked me in the stomach at the same time. 

It is perhaps the most effective opening to any war movie ever made.

Not a great movie by any means, but I've always had a soft spot for the opening of Hideous!

Basically, it's two guys working at a water treatment plant, pulling garbage out of the intake grate. They start talking about the weirdest stuff they've ever found. Then they pull something hideous out of it. It's just so wonderfully grounded. It's like an episode of Dirty Jobs that morphs into a b-movie.

I really like the opening to Return of Swamp Thing. It's the best thing about the movie...too bad it's kinda downhill from there.

I just watched it but Scream (1996) has one of the best openings I've ever seen.

SPOILER


I love how Drew Barrymore was killed right off despite being a big star.

Good one.  It's so good, in fact, that the rest of the movie can't ever make it to that level again, though the final battle comes close. 

I like the VERTIGO opening too, a film I've grown to love.  For Pilgerman: 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7sznnL0NZ0

Soylent Green (1973)'s opening showing the advance of industry and how it has affected the world still packs a punch.

a film i saw recently with a great opening sequence is 'milano calibro 9'. a tale of betrayal and retribution, with awesome 70s italian prog rock and the glimpse of a breast (possibly NSFW), all crammed into the first 5 minutes.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hXd74Vk8n-0
i love the gangster who is so tough he'll even start a fight with a pigeon.

The start of this flick is very cool...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9VpVQ1sMfk&feature=related

Definitely agree with Star Wars. The booming theme, the crawl, and then special effects on a level never before seen. And that scene of the star destroyer sailing overhead, in spite of having become a sci-fi cliche, is still very effective. I'd put it up against today's special effects any day.

Saving Private Ryan was equally revolutionary as battle scenes go. That blew me away. I had the mixed blessing of seeing it with a couple of friends who had each served a couple of tours in the Balkans. On the one hand, they gave me a better appreciation of the realism, but their military gallows humour had me giggling at inappropriate times.

One that has not been mentioned yet is Jurassic Park. Very effective scene, with Muldoon and the nervous park employees, and the transfer of the unseen raptors going horribly awry.

THE THING opening ropes you right into the story.

That one's definitely up there (and my favorite Bond song too).  I also love The Spy Who Loved Me's opening in all its '70s glory.

Jack really hit the nail on the head with Ghost Ship.  It's like the intro came from a completely different movie.  The House on Haunted Hill (remake) was another one pretty much blew all its scary in the first 10 minutes (although HoHH was at least kind of fun and campy).

Favorite opening credits: 
Watchmen
Se7en
Zombieland
The Royal Tenenbaums
Napoleon Dynamite
Gentlemen Broncos (another one where the opening was the best part)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZN4YC_0sjoc

From The Executioner.

From what I gather, the movie is all downhill from there.  But Jesus, what a great opening, as ridiculous as it is.

That scene rocks. I especially enjoy the way they seem to keep surprising people who are going about their business in spite of all the gunfire.

One that really sets the mood is the opening of The Shining.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iw23KM3-Ry8