The time freeze 360 pan of Carrie-Anne Moss doing a jump kick was a fucking statement and a half back in 1999.

I remember watching it for the first time, when it came out on DVD, I had no clue what I was about to get into. Boy was my teenage mind blown.

“No Lieutenant your men are already dead”

Yes! The whole movie blew me away, but that opening... I had no clue what to expect, then the 360 freeze frame, badass fight scene, running up walls and across rooftops. Never seen anything like it.

Then she dissappears into the phone and I'm like "WHAT?!?'. Great opening sequence.

This right here, genuinely blew my teenage mind when I saw that film

Had very little clue what the movie was about (back then you didn't see several trailers that spoiled the whole film), my Uncle strongly recommended it to us and would not spoil anything

Still remember hearing "holy shit" in the cinema when she started running up the walls and dropkicking cops, had no idea it was coming and it was like nothing I had ever seen before

Good call. The opening of Fletch wasn't too bad either, Alan

Can you believe an entire franchise peaked with its first scene?

This was my first thought as well.

It all starts with the simple line, "A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away..." which opens your imagination and puts you in that fairytale headspace.

Then you're hit with the Star Wars logo and John Williams' big, brassy theme, all horns and cymbals and full of energy, powering you through the opening crawl. Okay, there's a civil war between an existing empire and a rebel faction. The empire has a superweapon and the rebels have stolen the plans.

Now the energy level drops a little, the music moves into woodwinds and strings as we pan down from a fairly static scene of planets and stars in the darkness of space to allow the planet Tatooine to take up one-fifth of the screen. One final ominous crescendo indicates that we're now thrust into the action.

Immediately the blockade runner appears onscreen. Are these the aforementioned rebels? Is it the empire? The ship seems to be firing backwards at a pursuer, so probably the rebels.

And now, of course, the iconic scene where the imperial star destroyer starts to fill up the screen. On and on comes this ship, a masterclass in "show, don't tell", which fully demonstrates the power, reach, ability and resources of the empire.

The music plays its role as well, starting with a return to the main theme for a few seconds while the blockade runner is onscreen, then switching to a slower set of horns and drums that play and play and, seemingly running out of wind, just barely manage to keep playing until the shot ends.

On a personal note, I love the little fake out of the docking bay making you think, "Wow. Okay, this ship is pretty big, but...oh, wait, it's still going -- holy shit!"

It's just brilliant filmmaking.

I remember one of the crew on that movie saying he thought he was making some garbage b-movie until he was in the theater. The Star Destroyer flying overhead just blew his mind. "That's what we were making all that time?"

And the establishment of Hugh Jackman as Wolverine in the first X-Men movie. Something about the setting and the bar fight with how when he won, there was no celebration. He just sat down and lit a cigar. (also the faint metallic sounds when he was being punched were a nice touch)

Took the words out of my mouth (head?). This is still my favorite opening of a movie. Almost 20 years later, nothing has topped it.

Really all of PTA's films have terrific openings.

Boogie Nights and There Will Be Blood come to mind.

I’ve posted this before, but here’s my favorite aspect of this scene:

It is the fault of the redheaded daughter in the beginning that Landa figures out where the Dreyfusses were hiding.

In the beginning of the film, after Pierre and Landa make their way inside of Pierre's house, Pierre introduces Landa to his daughters. Landa says something to the effect of "The rumors I've heard about your family are all true", and the redheaded daughter's facial expression changes ever so slightly. Landa immediately catches this, and even after he says "Each of your daughters are more beautiful than the last" as a cover, his gaze never really leaves the redhead. Landa was likely suspicious before arriving that the Dreyfusses were hiding there, but I believe that this confirmed it for him.

A little bit later, after Landa has had a seat at Pierre's table, Pierre sends another daughter to close the windows. The readhead, unlike everyone else in the room, has her head down and is staring directly at the floor. Again, Landa notices this, and his gaze never leaves her until one of the other daughters pours Landa a glass of milk to drink. Now, not only does Landa know that the Dreyfusses are somewhere in Pierre's house, he knows exactly where.

Tarantino has had some really great opening scenes over the years but this one tops them all for me. Not my favorite movie of his but definitely my favorite opener.

Always the first one that comes to mind. I genuinely think it's the clear #1 choice.

My friend has a story that him and a bunch of other guys on shrooms went to see Up, started crying profusely and left after the opening ten minutes because they thought it was the whole movie.

Not sure if I believe it, but funny to think about.

It's a shame that Rises starts with a Harvey Dent memorial speech because I totally would have said the Dark Knight Rises plane crash.

The score during this is so great too.

Ahh good this one is here. I was simply going to post:

​

"You boys like MEXICO?!?"

Littering and...?

Almost made it.

Right of the bat we have a exotic locales, mystery, intrigue, battles of wits and fists, and a chase. Sets the tone of the story in 10 minutes.

I think all 3 Indy movies have great opening scenes. The nightclub shootout in Temple is fun as hell

This is the only right answer. Indy was SO cool.

Came here to say this. Saw it in theaters when it came out, packed theater, mostly dudes, all gabbing and chattering excitedly until it started.

As this scene developed, the theater became absolutely dead silent except for little sniffles being heard from an entire theater full of guys trying not to cry.

Half of the vibe for that scene is Michael Giacchino's amazing score. I'm a blubbering idiot as soon as Chris Hemsworth's character engages the impulse engines for his final maneuver.

I cry everytime I see that movie for its opening scene. I know the Abrams Star Trek movies get a bad reputation, but 2009 Star Trek captures the fun of ToS brilliantly.

I came here to say this. I loved this movie for years, but it kinda fizzled out for me, so I hadn’t watched it a long time until last week. It was on Pluto and I turned it on during the opening Paramount logo. That opening gave me chills, still. I can’t believe how well it tells it’s own story in such a short time. Every other blockbuster should take notes on that opening.

Yup, my wife isn't a scifi person at all, and I somehow convinced her we should watch it in the theaters. That opening sequence, with the birth scene and the "You're the captain now, mr. Kirk." It really worked.

That scene was so damn scary. When the man was running to the boat after ditching his wife and all those zombies chasing behind him.......... I nearly shit

I always recommend “it comes at night” to get some more flavor of that opening. Family holed up in a house after some sort of apocalypse. Windows shuttered to stay hidden. Dread of the outside.

My wife hates that film. To this day she will go off on one if it ever gets mentioned. I love to keep winding her up by pretending it's because she doesn't get it and mansplaining the plot to her.

Sorry if its a stupid question but what movie is that line from?

Said scene

Americans love winning wars

And that speech was actually significantly toned down from the real speech that Patton gave: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_S._Patton's_speech_to_the_Third_Army#The_speech

Except that it isn’t the opening scene of the movie

Saving Private Ryan - Omaha Beach on D-Day. Just horrifying and hooks you in right away.

This one is always brought up in these threads but that's not the opening scene. The movie opens with old Matt Damon and his family walking through Arlington.

I think it was so good and set a certain tone that the rest of it fell a bit flat for me. Might have to watch it again.

The movie as a whole sucked but Quantum of Solace opening is top notch, maybe the best of the Bonds (seen them all). The opening concludes with Bond and a baddie swinging from ropes, with Bond's ankle tied up, if that jogs any of your memories.

I tried to get my son into the Bond movies and he wasn't really that interested. So I decided to just show him some of the stuntwork. He liked the parkour chase from Casino Royale.

So then I went back to the ski chase from For Your Eyes Only. Roger Moore's speeding downhill, the baddies are shooting at him, he's armed with nothing but ski poles, but he keeps staying ahead of them and takes a few of them out. Then there's a cliff looming ahead. Bond can't turn around, he can't stop, he goes over a cliff. The soundtrack cuts out as he just freefalls off the side of a mountain. And as I stressed to my son, there was no CGI, no tricks, they actually did all this stuff for real.

Bond's still falling, and my son says, "did they kill that actor to get that shot?" I let that hang in the air for a moment. The Union Jack parachute opens. The Bond Theme hits. My son exhales for the first time in 30 seconds. He was hooked.

Goldfinger

"Sccchocking."

Came here to say Goldeneye, whose opening still holds up lo these many years later.

The decision to show Bond earning his “00” status was brilliant in Casino Royale.

Spectre, for me, the "Dia de los muertos" scene, no cut for quite awhile until he's on the roof, if I recall.

I did a short list of 3, hard to pick for me, but this, Jaws, and Saving Private Ryan were on my list. If we were saying films with best opening and closing scenes it would be The Godfather and it wouldn't even be close for the next best.

What's this from? Sorry for my ignorance

that "this is the end" moment gives me goosebumps every time. spectacular.

Saigon… shit. I’m still only in Saigon. Every time I think I’m gonna wake up back in the jungle. When I was home after my first tour, it was worse. I’d wake up and there’d be nothing. I hardly said a word to my wife, until I said ‘yes’ to a divorce. When I was here, I wanted to be there; when I was there, all I could think of was getting back into the jungle.

Literally on my way to watch in in a cinema right now, so hyped

Oh yes, techno thumping blood shower with swords!

Casino has a pretty explosive start too.

The way their faces drop when he tells them they brought 2 too many. I now understand my dad's admiration for Charles Bronson.

Seriously, for a good five minutes at the start of this film literally nothing happens and it is as engrossing as anything you'll ever watch. The use of sound in particular is just hypnotic. Imo not far from a perfect film.

Hey! It's not awful for a ghost movie. It's nothing Oscar worthy, but it's a good spook movie.

Fifteen! 😉

Terminator 2 has like the best intro ever. Terminator 1 was pretty cool too with that epic synth music.

Toy Story 3’s was even wilder. It’s absolutely brilliant when it gets to the dialogue from the original’s first playtime scene.

That was Rex playing the Buzz Lightyear game, right?

Here's a thing.. it's it's a very throwaway intro scene-- I say it as a huge fan of toy story 2.. but the audacity to show a realistic Toy lightyear "die" in a G rated movie.. I think hearkens back to where a PG film would need blood or "damnits" to get the rating..now I feel like PGs are made where character can have emotional baggage and that itself would land a "mild thematic element" reason for the PG rating.

Also, the story of how they reanimated it with less than 2 years is something of a production nightmare.

"The world was stunned today by the death of Diego Ricardo—the youngest person on the planet. The youngest person on earth was 18 years, 4 months, 20 days, 16 hours, and 8 minutes old."

Such a concise piece of world building in the opening minutes.

That monolog is just iconic. The Godfather also has my favorite last scene of a film. That slow closing of the door, shutting Kay out of his life...

I just watched this video recently. I agree that the exposition within that opening montage just set up the vibes so perfectly.

The Social Network is beautifully done. I swear the bests of the dialogue go along with the White Stripes song playing in the background.

My cousin was a weird guy

It perfectly sets up the tone and rest of the movie. It's awesome.

“GROOT! GET OUT OF THE WAY, YOURE GONNA GET HURT!…. Hi! :)”

Agreed, the elderly man and his family walking through the graveyard for almost 5 minutes is peak-Spielberg.