30 Great Opening Movie Sequences: "The Hangover"

Not to mention the Saul Bass image that was to play during the overture, before giving way to Manhattan.

A great intro to the film, and yet somehow they screwed it up on the BD. Hilarious.

 

FIGHT CLUB

''The first rule of fight club is you do not talk about fight club.'' This film starts out at the fear center of our nameless narrator's (Edward Norton) brain. The camera then pans all the way out, following the narrator's fear impulse out of his skull until we see his beaten and bruised face."

 

FORGETTING SARAH MARSHALL

"Sarah (Kristen Bell) arrives at her boyfriend Peter's (Jason Segel) house just as he finishes showering. She then breaks up with him as he stands there completely naked. Most awkward breakup of all time? Quite possibly."

 

GOODFELLAS

"Is that a flat tire? Nope. It's a live body in the trunk; a few more stabs and gunshots will do the trick though! ''For as far back as I can remember I wanted to be a gangster,'' says Henry Hill (Ray Liotta). Mission accomplished."

"Casino"'s opening sequence is better, actually.

 

HAIRSPRAY

"The 1988 cult classic opens with a Rachel Sweet ode to, well, hairspray, as the kids of the Corny Collins show get ready for action. Thank goodness they have their ''magic potion in a 12 ounce can'' to keep their hair styled to perfection. (I'm guessing this opening scene is probably flammable from all that hairspray.)"

 

JAWS

"Who knew four bars of music could instill such paralyzing fear? It's one of the scariest 60 seconds in cinematic history and pretty much guarantees people won't be going anywhere near the water after seeing the film."

 

As has been widely discussed, this scene would have ruined the movie if we'd seen the shark.

Instead, it establishes what the characters are up against in a terrifying way.

 

Not only was John William's music incredibly important to the opening scene, it made a huge difference to the entire movie.

Here's a good example:

A scene from Jaws without John Williams, then with his music added

Spielberg has credited with Williams with 50% of the film's success.

The Great Shark Chase - score only, no dialogue or sound effects

 

You're right. GoodFellas opens into a better movie than Casino ever manages, but that opening sequence of Casino is fantastic. Pure opera.

 

THE LION KING

"All the animals gather at Pride Rock to see Simba, the newborn cub of King Mufasa and Queen Sarabi. Simba will be the new king, because this is the Circle of Life."

This isn't *bad", but top 30?

 

That description of it doesn't even come close--when the first shot you see is the sun rising across the savannah, and hear the unmistakeable cry of African singers, that's not a sequence you'll forget. Here, too, I think the music should get half the credit.

 

Is this list "30", or "Top 30"? I thought it was just a collection of great openings without
any particular order regarding relative merit, etc.

 

Good point, though it does say 30 'Great' opening sequences...

 

The opening is undeniably iconic. It easily surpasses any other Disney production in its seamless depiction of monarchist imagery and thematically sympathetic embrace of divine right rulership. that's pretty incredible, given that Disney is itself best known for make princess and fairy tale stories. It's also apparent in the number of Inauguration parodies that floated around that included clips of the scene. Say what you will, I think it's pretty clearly burned into the minds of a whole generation as an iconic example of storytelling on an epic scale. Really, what more can a film hope for?

 

well i just can't WAIT to be kiiiiing!

boobadee boo-boo ba-doo ba-dee!

 

It is a great opening sequence, though. Nature viewed through the prism of Disney, which then gives way to that spectacular reveal of Pride Rock (even if it had already been done in Aladdin beforehand) with "Circle of Life" belted out, before it slams into the title - totally unforgettable and spectacular. It was when I saw it on the big screen, and that's the memory of it that endures.

What's even better about it is that you have this big "Circle of Life" celebratory sequence with birth and pageantry and what have you, and the first thing you see after the title is a mouse being slammed into the ground by a lion's paw, with Jeremy Irons bemoaning the fact that "Life's not fair, is it?"

 

STRANGE DAYS

"Katherine Bigelow's grungy dystopian noir is often unfairly overlooked, partly because of a shaky last act. The beginning, however, is gangbusters. In one frenetic three-minute-long extended take, she takes us through a vicious robbery gone wrong as seen through the eyes of one of the robbers. It's the perfect introduction to a world in which voyeurism is a top commodity. ?Keith Staskiewicz"

 

Yup, great, wildly ambitious opening shot.

Damn shame about everything that happens afterwards.

 

True, the film was a monumental box office crash-and-burn, but scenes of Ralph Fiennes
SQUID-banging Juliette Lewis, along with the general gritty atmosphere, make it worth watching.

Angela Bassett, as usual, gives a very good performance.

 

SUNSET BOULEVARD

[image=http://filmfanatic.org/reviews/wp-content/uploads/2007/08/Pool.JPG]

"Before American Beauty, before Desperate Housewives, this classic noir was narrated from beyond the grave. After an inventive credit sequence, in which the actors? names are projected onto the asphalt of the titular roadway, we are given the shocking and indelible image of William Holden doing a dead man's float in a backyard pool, even as the actor sarcastically tells you about it in voice-over. ?Keith Staskiewicz"

 

It's a great opening sequence - really grabbed me the first time I saw it.

 

RESERVOIR DOGS

"Quentin Tarantino opened another movie with a diner scene as Mr. Blonde, Mr. Blue, Mr. Brown, Mr. Orange, Mr. Pink, gangster Joe Cabot, and his son sit around the table eating breakfast. The men have an analytical discussion of Madonna's ''Like a Virgin'' and Mr. Pink's anti-tipping policy."

 

It's a great opening that gains a lot of impact from the way that, immediately after this hilarious, meandering opening, you're just slammed into the frenetic energy of the aftermath of the heist. I think the scene right after the opening is White and Orange in the car, isn't it, with the camera just whipsawing back and forth and Orange bleeding all over the place and screaming. It's a great, whiplash transition.

 

I loved Reservoir Dogs - it's my favorite Tarantino film (and I'm a big fan of all of his movies). This opening sequence is classic & iconic; the bs-ing at the table re: the Madonna song and the whole dialogue about tipping feels very real and almost impromptu - I can easily see this kind of conversation happening.