Great Credit Sequences: "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo"

If any of you have ever seen any silent movies, credit sequences started out like stage programmes. There was the title of the movie, and then a card which said "The Cast". Sometimes there was the forerunner of the "Star Wars" plot crawl. And that was it.

It got a little more inventive in the 30's.

In the late 40's and 50's, you began to get a short portion of the movie before the credits.

Saul Bass became to be famous for designing inventive credit sequences. Nowadays, anything goes. Sometimes the credit sequence is a damn sight better than the movie, and this is often because somebody else actually directs it.

This thread is for discussion of terrific credit sequences. If you want to nominate any for discussion, fine. But please don't do lists of your favorites.

First up: One of my favorites: "Monty Python and the Holy Grail." It starts out with dead solemn music and credits on a dead solemn background. Slowly the credits change, apparently because they are being invaded by a drunken Swedish moose-breeder and a drunken Peruvian llama-herder, making the most amazingly dumb, lame, funny jokes in Swedish and Peruvian. The effect is always funny, and I have seen this movie more times than I care to mention.

Discussed in this thread:

Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Vertigo
The Pink Panther
Napoleon Dynamite
The Lady Eve
Catch Me If You Can
There's Something About Mary
Gone With the Wind
Superman: the Movie
Double Indemnity
Amelie
Touch of Evil
Lemony Snicket
Harry Potter & POA
Austin Powers, IM of M.
Rocky V
The Naked Gun
Airplane
Shaun of the Dead
The Lost Boys
Anatomy of a Murder
Ed Wood
Shrek
Once Upon a Time in the West
The Wild Bunch
North by Northwest
Charade
Panic Room
Casino
Gone in 60 Seconds
Intolerable Cruelty
Cat Ballou
Shadow of a Vampire
The Sunshine Boys
Kiss Me Deadly
Fargo
The Manchurian Candidate
It's a Mad, Mad, Mad World
Exodus
My Best Friend's Wedding

 

Definitely agree with "Monty Python" as one of the great credit sequences. Two thumbs up to the guys for recognizing the audience basically has to sit through 2-3 minutes of names on the screen.

"those responsible for sacking the people who have been sacked, have been sacked."

I think what makes the sequence even more funny is the way the film ends with the policeman knocking the camera down, followed by a couple seconds of black, then the credits. It just sort of lends itself to the random comedy of the film.

BTW, I love the "additional" opening scene on the SE DVD with 2-3 minutes of an old black and white film ("The Happy Dentist" or something) before you hear the projection guy hacking up some phlegm and muttering "Oh, Monty Python.." and starting the film proper.

Oh, and I nominate the Bond films' credit sequences. They could have a discussion thread all their own.

 

I love the moose jokes. The Monty Python people are insane.

I also like the end credit sequence for Lord of the Rings: Return of the King.

 

I nominate the credits for Napoleon Dynamite. The words were all written on food, and items.

 

I always laugh when the credits in Holy Grail changes to the red-yellow flashing screen.

 

MPHG film credits were great without a doubt,undeniably the most funny

 

Next up: Animated Credit sequences for live action movies. One of the most famous is "The Pink Panther", which has terrific music and an animated pink panther---later there were a whole series of cartoons from this character alone.

But I've seen one as early as 1941, on "The Lady Eve", which features witty credits with a top-hated animated snake.

 

The End Credit Sequence in Lemony Snicket is great.

 

Vertigo.

 

Haven't seen the Lemony Snicket movie, can you describe the end credits?

Vertigo is indeed very good. A Sal Bass production, I think.

The Conan one also sounds good.

 

Haven't seen the Lemony Snicket movie, can you describe the end credits?
I am not good at describing things like that. Just rent it.

 

The end credit sequence for Lemony Snicket reminded me of the Smashing Pumpkins' music video for "Tonight Tonight" if that helps.

If we're still on "animated opening sequences for live action movies" then I'd say Catch Me If You Can definitely deserves mention. It's sleek, fun, and really sets up the "one step ahead of the law" pace of the film.

 

My favorite opening credit sequence is in Signs. It felt like the opening credits for an old-time Hitchcock film. In theaters, it actually made people jump. lol

 

Credit sequence discussion wouldn't be complete without Superman: The Movie.

 

The end credits for There's Something About Mary always make me smile. After around two hours of brutality, political incorrectness, deception, lies and cruelty, the whole cast gets together and reminds us it's all in fun by singing "Build Me Up, Buttercup."

Now that's the way to end a movie. Just reminds you not to take any of seriously. Just a movie, man.

 

Credit sequence discussion wouldn't be complete without Superman: The Movie.

A neat-looking sequence for it's time, but it lasts too long. The music saves it though.

 

I actually liked the credit sequence for 'Superman 2'. Nice way to summarize what happened previously while listening to that glorious theme by John Williams. Something similar was done in 'Spider-Man 2', with paintings by Alex Ross (did I get the name right?) showing slected parts of the previous movie (alas, the theme music is nowhere near as good as Superman).

Are there any other credit sequences like that in sequels, ones that summarize the previous movie for the audience?

 

Spiderman 2 is the first one that comes to mind.

 

The Pink Panther films ruled.

 

They were going to release a "Pink Panther" remake starring Steve Martin and Kevin Kline in August, but have now delayed it until 2006. Reportedly preview audiences hated it.

The credit sequence in "Catch Me If You Can" is very good, I agree. It is animated, though in a very simple, if witty, style. Enjoyed the movie, too.

 

The "Catch" sequence is a great title sequence that really sets the mood for the film. It works so well with the music & they really captured the 60s feel they were after. Years ago I attended a session where the creators talked about the credit sequence. It was a French team that specializes in nostalgia pieces.

Speaking of French teams the opening credits for Delicatessen were ones I really enjoyed. Althought its been a while since I saw the film.

Lethal Weapon 4 also had an ending sequence I liked a lot. It had pictures of the entire cast & crew from the film alongside their names. I don't ever remember seeing that before. I think it was a nice gift to everyone who put in all the time & effort in a film.

 

"Gone With The Wind" (1939) had an animated credit sequence: The title, in giant, scene-filling letters, on an angle to suggest gale-force winds (I guess), went slowly from right to left of the screen.

David Selznick held a sneak preview of the movie in a suburban theatre in California. The theatre owner, when he learned the movie to be shown, pleaded with him to allow him to call his wife and tell her to come to the screening. He was allowed to do so, but told not to tell her why. And the audience didn't know what movie they were seeing, either.

When the giant letters started to drift across the screen, the entire audience leaped to their feet and cheered; Selznick's wife burst into tears.

 

In that great episode of Mystery Science Theatre 3000 where they showed Bloodlust, there's a great line. The credit sequence for Bloodlust consists of a blank screen with, for some reason, an alien head and a big hand. About thirty seconds into it, Mike says, "This ISN'T the very good Saul Bass title sequence."

And Gone With the Wind is awesome. It's just massive and epic and powerful . . . coupled with Steiner's incredible score . . . when those letters start across . . . wow. Just wow.

 

How about the Bond films? I think "The Living Daylights" has a great title credit sequence with martini glasses and guns.

Batman (1989) is also great with the Batman Logo Reveal at the end.