what's the best opening scene in a film?

[satantangofan]

List your favourite opening scenes. My top 5:

Satantango (12 minutes of sheer, unadulterated cows)
Aguirre Wrath of God
Apocalypse Now
Once Upon a Time in the West
Raging Bull

[PTAhole]

Once Upon a Time in the West, definately.

[blackmoses]

2001: A Space Odyssey is my favorite but ill have to think about a top 5.

[criterionmaster]

Magnolia has a great opening. And Suspiria has one of the best opening to a horror film EVER!

[captainofbeef]

Dirty Harry, Reservoir Dogs, and 8 1/2

[satantangofan]

Everything mentioned so far is great. What about A Clockwork Orange, Goodfellas, Dawn of the Dead (78) & Blade Runner?

[kiddo]

I very much agree with you, satantangofan.

My favorites (they may be obious, but that doesn`t stop them from being great):

- A Clockwork Orange
- Apocalypse Now!
- C`era una volta il West
- Aguirre, Der Zorn Gottes
- Sunset Boulevard
- Touch of Evil
- 2001: A Space Odyssey
- The Wild Bunch
- Det Sjunde Inseglet
- Underground

[satantangofan]

Hey Kiddo. Your'e a true soulmate.
What about Persona?

[kiddo]

Haven`t seen it yet, but I will check it out soon.

[mixed]

Err Hmm well....

Vertigo anyone?
Oldboy
Notorious
The testament of Dr Mabuse. A fine opening, the silence and then broken by the explosion, its very good.

[glassman]

Citizen Kane
A Clockwork Orange
Manhattan
8 1/2
Hiroshima Mon Amour

[mixed]

Yeah Kane is good! I thought of another that I love: Happiness. Perfect, hilariously cruel.

[cineaste25]

I really like the openings of Elephant, Lawrence of Arabia, The Matrix, Nine Lives, Lost in Translation etc.

[satantangofan]

I forgot about Un Chien Andalou. The opening scenes are quite terrifying. God knows what they must have thought in the 20's???

[dontdigonswine]

The Untouchables, Sin City, and Roxanne (my favorite beginning for a comedy)

[evilsamurai]

Lots of them. I would choose Apocalypse Now if I had to choose one. A film that had an excellent beginning but declined from there on is "Bram Stoker's Dracula". It is almost like Coppola's career, making masterpieces early on like "The Godfather Iand II" and "Apocalypse Now" but then going on to make crap like "Jack."

[kiddo]

Great pick there. The Doors with "The end" and those fantastic "helicopter-sounds" along with the beautiful shot of the jungle - and then into Captain Willards worn out apartment. Wonderful.

And welcome to the forum, btw! Hope to have some good discussions...

[nonfiction]

Wings of Desire (which is basically 3/4ths of the whole movie)
2001: A Space Odyssey
Eureka
8½
Once Upon a Time in the West
All About Lily Chou-Chou
Suzhou River
Last Life in the Universe
Eli, Eli, Lema, Sabachthani?
Millennium Mambo
Apocalypse Now

[unknownrebel]

Werckmeitser harmonies
Once upon a time in the West
Aguirre: Wrath of God

[ie]

I probably listed some of my favorites on another forum, so here. Here's a list of movies that I've seen that had pretty good openings:


7th Street
Amelie
Au hasard Balthazar
Cool Hand Luke
Cowboy Bebop: Knockin' on Heaven's Door (the series as well )
Fargo
Grave of the Fireflies
Hero (Yīng Xióng)
Last Samurai, The
Léon the Professional
Memento
Nói albínói
Ong-bak
Original Child Bomb
Raging Bull
Roundhay Garden Scene
Royal Tenenbaums, The
Shawshank Redemption, The
Sword of Doom
Un Chien Andalou
Yojimbo



To some degree, I don't like it when movies that have intros that start right in the thick of things, like American Beauty. It doesn't negate the movie, but you know, all movies deserve an awesome opener.

[ie]

I might also include La Jetee on my original list.

[kiddo]

nonfiction said:

8½

Oh yeah! That is just pure movie magic; the penetrating silence, the mysterious shots, the total confusion of it all.