19 People Describe The Greatest Opening Sequence In A Movie That They’ve Ever Seen
If you’re in the mood to watch a new movie, you might as well watch something that captures your attention from the first frame. Here are some of the most amazing opening sequences in cinematic history:
“That opening scene is a prime example of ‘show, don’t tell.’ The scene tells us everything about the world it takes place in.
Vampires not only exist, but they exist in thriving numbers and they have blood raves, apparently not concerned about the consequences of such lavish parties.
When Snipes enters the scene, the music is immediately killed, every vampire pulls back, showing us there’s someone the vampires do fear: the Daywalker. Next, it shows us why they fear him. Every single bloodsucker that tries to attack him gets turned to ashes. But he’s not blindly killing, he lets the only human at the party live.
There, within ten minutes, without a single line of dialogue, the movie has introduced the audience to the world of Blade.” – Jertimmer
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
“The setting, the mystery, the music, next to no dialogue. It was pure popcorn pleasure. Harrison Ford stepping out of the shadows in the jungle for the first time, replacing the golden idol, and running away from the giant bowling ball booby trap are all iconic moments in cinema. One of those scenes that will stand out in film forever.” – sluggger5x
“The opening of Fellowship felt like something different to anything I’d seen before. From the grandeur of the wide shots to the visceral feel of the close shots, it truly felt epic and riveting. It still does today.” – andoesq
“Introducing us to the raptors by having glimpses of one as it eats a guy and messes up the transfer procedure, then add in that haunting music and Muldoon yelling, ‘SHOOT HER!’ Then fading into the lawyer on a raft. Huge tone shift and a great introduction to the story.” – Sithlordandsavior
“Just simply amazing at setting the mood and establishing the direction the movie wanted to go in. Just wish the rest of the movie lived up to the beginning.” – BlandBoringName
Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)
“I remember seeing it in the theater and thinking, ‘Wow, what is that?! This is unlike any superhero movie I’ve ever seen and I’m loving it.'” – howard-roark-laughed
“I love the opening of Children of Men. It gives an important piece of the story in a pretty nonchalant way (Theo sees it on the news while getting his coffee). The bomb going off after he steps out of the coffee shop was genuinely shocking to see in theaters.” – Kazuko_Kitsune
“It expertly gives an introduction to Daniel Plainview without a word being spoken for ten minutes. I don’t know if that’s my favorite but it’s the first that comes to mind, and I do like it very much.” – obeyyourbrain
“My older son went through a phase of watching this movie nearly every day when he was three and I would stop what I was doing every time just to watch the first few minutes. It’s a great film overall, but nothing matches that opening.” – everythingscatter
“I went and saw this in theater and that sequence blew us all away. At the point where the wife is in the doctor’s office crying because she can’t have kids, the music gets so quiet it almost stops. At that one silent moment, one of the kids in the theater said in a very small voice, ‘Mommy, why is she crying?’ and I think the theater collectively lost it.” – SpaceRasa
“The one-shot tour of Serenity in its opening minutes really gives wonderful insight into the cramped life of a small space freighter. The lack of cuts makes it beautifully immersive.” – Pitchfork_Wholesaler
“Everybody is talking about action movies but the answer is Contact hands down.
The first frame is a sound blast. You’re looking at Earth from low orbit and you’re just immediately in the ocean of sound waves coming from the planet. Then you slowly start to pull back, slightly accelerating, and as you pull back, you travel into the past as you run through all of the noises that we’ve produced over time, working backward. Music, speeches, sports broadcasts: everything that we have deemed important enough to make the airwaves. Then the noise slinks away as the broadcasts compete with attention, until there’s just a few, until there’s just one, until there’s none. Then you’re listening to the silence of the galaxy while you’re gifted with the visual beauty that it offers and greeted with that serenity. Then you keep pulling out even faster. Nebulas and an ocean of other galaxies pass across the screen and then fade into the background until you see the cosmic radiation of the very beginnings of the universe. Then you pull back even beyond that and you realize you’re zooming out on the iris of a child’s eye.
The filmmaker, in one shot, makes you feel so small and then reminds you that you have an entire universe inside of you where there is no edge or limit. It goes on forever. And that’s inside every person walking around that you meet every day. Endless potential depth.
Just a flawless poetic opening to a science film that crosses, unexpectedly, into philosophy. Which also is the core theme of the film.” – Joker257
“Opens with a small 4:3 black and white antique newsreel with saloon piano music and narration by Robert Mitchum. And then one of the old-timey cowboys in the newsreel shoots right at the camera and, in a smash edit, a full orchestra comes in and the entire anamorphic screen is filled with a dazzling full-color shot of bandits on horses galloping across a desert.” – Randydeluxe
“I loved how each shot told a little story, like the strip club, or the wedding. It was also super cool how the actors interacted with the actual credits themselves, instead of just superimposing them over the action.” – amygrindhaus
“Josh Brolin’s body language and expressions tell a deep and complex backstory. It tells you with more style than any scroll or narration can.” – BartenderOU812
“Took my grandfather, who fought for the British, to see it in the theater when it came out. We left the theater and he said, ‘That was the most accurate and realistic version of the beach storming I have ever seen. That was pretty much what it was like.’ His words still chill my spine to this day when I watch that movie.” – Digitalhero_x
“The opening scene was unlike anything I’d ever seen in the theater before. No, Lieutenant, your men are already dead.” – magnamatt
“Baby Driver’s opening had me hooked – the cinematography, humor, music, wordless acting, and comedic timing has been unparalleled for me.” – rice_noodle_snake
“Amazing continuous shot following a bomb. Orson Welles still had it.” – Duedsml23