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-   -   Movies with breathtaking opening seconds... (https://www.dvinfo.net/forum/totem-poll-totally-off-topic-everything-media/28102-movies-breathtaking-opening-seconds.html)

Roger Moore June 26th, 2004 01:13 AM

Movies with breathtaking opening seconds...
 
Opening shots that stick with me.

Lost in Translation:
-----------------------
The curvaceous hips of a woman lying on a bed (music by My Bloody Valentine), fade to black and airport sounds, VO: "Welcome to New Tokyo Airport", then fade in: Bill Murray sleeping in a moving cab, opening his eyes...amazing.

Also, since this movie takes place in Japan I want to believe the image of the woman's hips is an inspired reworking of the famous "Views of Mount Fuji" by Hokusai.

Manhattan:
--------------
b&w montage of NYC panoramas. words by Woody Allen, music by George Gershwin


and combining the big with the small...

Bladerunner:
----------------
CU on the eyeball and reflected in it the panorama of LA in the future, music by Vangelis

Rob Lohman June 26th, 2004 04:39 AM

Star Trek: First Contact
The beginning borg sequence

Armageddon
Meteor shower sequence

Taxi 1
Scooter sequence

and... ofcourse

The Matrix!
Trinity goes nuts

there are loads more... I'm trying to think of a few opening
scenes that aren't so focussed on action, but my mind doesn't
want to co-operate at the moment. I'll add another post when
I think of those.

I thought the opening of O Brother Where Art Though was
pretty neat. Not spectacular, though.

Robert Knecht Schmidt June 26th, 2004 05:50 AM

It's funny, I wouldn't have thought of any of those films. These do come to mind--

The rolling rock of Raiders of the Lost Ark--
The pursuit of E.T. by myterious men--
The mall chase that happens a few minutes in to The Blues Brothers--
The exploding amp of Back to the Future--"Rock and Roll!"--
The unplanned-for monstrous transformation of the meek library apparition in Ghostbusters--
The dream opening of Total Recall--

What these all share--besides being surprising and thus captivatingly entertaining--is that they're illogisms--and therefore symbolic--that aren't consciously processed, but instead analogically inform us on some deeper level about the characters we're meeting and their predicaments.

Boyd Ostroff June 26th, 2004 09:08 AM

<<<-- Originally posted by Robert Knecht Schmidt :
The mall chase that happens a few minutes in to The Blues Brothers -->>>

That's one of my favorite action sequences too, but it happens pretty far into the movie....

One of my favorites: the huge imperial star cruiser that passes overhead at the beginning of the original Star Wars, and the ensuing capture of the rebel ship.

Christopher C. Murphy June 26th, 2004 09:38 AM

Best opening scenes not mentioned yet:

Jaws

Saving Private Ryan

JFK (it's powerful to me because of what ends up happening throughout the movie - the beginning becomes tragic at the end)

More to come when I think of them..

Bonus scene non-opening scene - which SHOULD have been the opening scene. If this scene was the opener I bet it would be considered the #1 opening scene:

Can anyone tell me a better scene than Robert De Niro in the Deer Hunter playing Russian roulette?

I mean, he's there...he is truly there. He's taking slaps in the face, he's not acting...the guy is pulling the trigger on himself. Everytime I watch that I think about how most "actors" act, but a few select live the scene wholeheartly to the point where you're like "wow".

Murph

Randy Reyes June 26th, 2004 01:46 PM

Opening title sequence to Memento. :] Great opening to a great movie that says so much about the narrative already.

Alex Taylor June 26th, 2004 01:55 PM

I'm surprised nobody's mentioned Citizen Kane yet! "Rosebud..."

Opening credits to Se7en are a work of art.

And, of course, the opening montage in Apocalypse Now. I love that first shot, with the helicopters flying every which way, followed by the silent explosion...

Nicholi Brossia June 26th, 2004 02:13 PM

I'm going to have to go with Super Troopers. After viewing the "First 8 Minutes" on iFilm, I was completely hooked.

Jami Jokinen June 27th, 2004 09:19 AM

"Snow falling on cedars".

The dim light in a thick mist followed by the most beautiful imagery during the first minutes creates the mystery that is to be solved before the end.

Leon Ortiz-Gil June 27th, 2004 08:22 PM

La Femme Nikita...

2001....the ape sequence

The Right Stuff

Star Wars

48 hours.

Thats all I could think of now.

Marco Leavitt June 27th, 2004 09:08 PM

Surprised no-one's mentioned this -- Touch of Evil.

Also:
The Godfather -- "I believe in America."
Goodfellas
On the Town
Harper
You Only Live Twice
Saturday Night Fever
Shaft

John Hudson June 29th, 2004 02:11 PM

I agree with all of Mr. Murphys (always do) and Mr. Schmidt as well. How about:

The Road Warrior -

Welcome to the wasteland.

Escape From New York -

Plane crashing into New York! (I don't mean that in a bad way :/)

Star Wars -

Can't deny the opening sequence as we see for the first time Star Destroyers and Stormtroopers pouring into the hallways of the Rebel ship and a firefight ensues! Then R2D2 and C3PO hurry through the melee!

Halloween -

Scary real.

Poltergeist -

They're heere.......

Saturday Night Fever -

Come on! The BeeGee's 'hook' and Travolta walking through Brooklyn? Great!

Dylan Couper June 29th, 2004 06:38 PM

DAWN OF THE DEAD 2004
IMHO the scariest first 5 minutes of a movie ever, EVER.

Otherwise, it's hard to argue against Raiders Of The Lost Arc.


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