What is your most memorable film opening you've seen?
October 10th 2006 22:13
Mine is the opening scene to Donnie Darko. The blend of scenery and the song Killing Moon by Echo and The Bunnymen has stayed with me since the first time I saw the film. It is a perfect, sublime introduction to an unusual, multi-layered film.
I have the director's cut version of the film which has a different opening song, INXS' Never Tear Us Apart. This is also another powerful song, but doesn't quite make it as memorable for me.
I have the director's cut version of the film which has a different opening song, INXS' Never Tear Us Apart. This is also another powerful song, but doesn't quite make it as memorable for me.
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Comment by Tracy
Movies and Life
Comment by Homer Joyce
You're welcome.
Pulp Fiction for me.
The total absurdity of the two gooey, lovey-dovey characters Pumpkin and Honey Bunny (appealed to my soh), and the undpredicability of what they did after they got their mushiness out of the way.
Coupled of course with the opening surfy instrumental Misirlou.
Somehow, I just knew I was in for a wild cinematic ride.
Homer.
Comment by Tracy
Movies and Life
Oh yes, how could I forget about Pulp Fiction, that is definitely memorable.
I loved those dance scenes, they seemed so paradoxical compared to all the violence. It showed another side of their characters. It's a very vivid, visual film for me. When I think of it, I hear the music and see them dancing. A fantastic blend of all sorts of elements.
Tracy
Comment by Homer Joyce
There's the title of your next post. Most memorable moments in film besides the opening ... But let this one run its course first ... I'm curious to read what people come up with ...
Homer ...
Comment by Tracy
Movies and Life
Thanks for the great idea, that would perfect for a follow-on post. I should pay you for these ideas!
Thanks,
Tracy
Comment by Homer Joyce
No need to pay me. There's the intangible reward of reading the posts ...
And besides, who are you trying to kid? If I could make money for my ideas, I wouldn't be blogging. If you could afford to pay me for my ideas, maybe you wouldn't be blogging? ...
I've never had my intellectual propety valued by a real estate company ... apparently they haven't moved into esoteric valuing yet. There would be too many future variable for them to cope with anyway. Plus they'd take one look at the dilapidated ruin of a house that is my body and either devalue my intellectual property, or refuse to value it ...
Homer ...
Comment by Homer Joyce
Btw ... where is everyone today?
Comment by Tracy
Movies and Life
Comment by Tracy
Movies and Life
Comment by JohnDoe
Film & TV on DVD
The opening to Luc besson's Leon: The Professional with Jean Reno sticks with me. "What are you doing on Tuesday?"
I would feel bad if I didnt mention Coppolla's The Godfather and Apocalypse Now, both are cinematic and unforgettable.
Comment by Ruth
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Comment by Bryn
Horrorphile
A see of stars, pan right, tilt down, reveal the desert planet Tattooine, a spacecraft zooms into shot from top left, baring down on the planet, followed by numerous massive laser-cannon bolts, it's the Blockade Runner, cool, but wait ... another ship comes into view, in hot pursuit, it keeps on coming, and coming, it's a mammoth Star Destroyer, it fills the screen, and continues to rail the smaller ship with laser bolts, completely dwarfing it as it closes in on its prey ....
Comment by Tracy
Movies and Life
Yes, that is a great opening to The Professional, that's quite a film.
I must confess that I haven't seen any of the Godfather films and I snoozed through Apocalypse Now...only because I was very tired, nothing to do with the quality of the film. It's one that I would like to see again, this time with my eyes open.
Tracy
Comment by Tracy
Movies and Life
I know what you mean about the trilogy...I'm not a typical fantasy film-lover either. It didn't help that I got them all mixed up, spent each three hours completely confused and as a result I can't remember any beginnings. Ah well.
Tracy
Comment by Tracy
Movies and Life
Yes, I agree. Star Wars has an excellent beginning, very cinematic and atmospheric.
Tracy
Comment by Emma
Comment by Tracy
Movies and Life
Never Tear us Apart is my favourite song by INXS as well, but yes, I particularly love The Killing Moon (well, I'm a huge Echo fan) and thought it suited the beginning of the film so well. I actually get goosebumps thinking about the music in the film, it was amazingly well-suited. I might have to listen to the soundtrack after this and reminisce about moody 80s music.
Bye
Comment by Bryn
Horrorphile
Yikes!!! Very ominous opening sequence. But I'd spoil it if I reveal it. Great horror flick too!
Comment by Lilla
Enviro Warrior
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Movies and Life, excellent idea, so inoxerably intertwined these days. I have to add my bit and I'm going with The Lion King Part I, it took two years to make, and I'm probably only going with it becuase I'm not cool enough (or young enough ) to have seen this Donny Darko. Is he the king of Coffee Kultcha? I'll have to go and watch it now out of curiosity?
Pulp Fiction, would have been next choice, but I did like the opening scene to Matrix Reloaded, and Pay Check too. Too many good ones to remember them all, hey?
L.
Comment by Tracy
Movies and Life
This type of horror film, with the bland, respectable hero hiding in plain sight within the very society that condemns him, has been done to death (see Hitchcock's Shadow of a Doubt). But, as written by novelist Donald E. Westlake, The Stepfather has a fresh, almost humorous tone to it. Terry O'Quinn plays the title character, a Ward Cleaver type named Jerry who woos widows and divorcees, hoping to form a perfect family unit. When things don't quite turn out perfectly (when do they?) he snaps and kills everyone. His latest attempt at domestic bliss is Susan Maine (Shelley Hack) and her teenage daughter Stephanie (Jill Schoelen). Of course, Stephanie doesn't quite trust her new stepdad-to-be and her attempts to dig into his past are actually what undoes the balance. The best part comes in the form of Jerry's previous wife's brother (Stephen Shellen) who spends the entire movie tracking down the murderer and whose marginal story does not go quite the way one would expect. The same goes for a subplot involving Stephanie's shrink (Charles Lanyer). Joseph Ruben (Sleeping with the Enemy, The Forgotten) directs competently but perhaps not as playfully as the material could have used, but O'Quinn gets in a few prime moments, such as the startling one in which he forgets which persona he's currently occupying. Nevertheless, The Stepfather is still a high water mark of 1980s horror/suspense.
Interesting choice, Bryn.....
Comment by Bryn
Horrorphile
Comment by Bryn
Horrorphile
Comment by Tracy
Movies and Life
Sounds like an ominous opening....I'm pretty sure I'd have to watch it with company though...
Feel free to name as many openings as you like....even though I started this post, I can't think of any others at the moment.....
Comment by Anonymous
Sunset Boulevard
A street curb with the title credit written across it, sirens wail, camera pulls back, cop cars scream past, male voiceover explains to us that they're off to a mansion where a murder's taken place, paparazzi trying to edge past the police and paramedics, we have a view under water from the bottom of a swimming pool and we can see the dead body of man floating, the cameras going off behind him, the voice over describes the man as a bit of schmuck, and then tells us he'd better explain how the man got there ...
Fellini's 8-and-a-half
A car in a tunnel, a man inside in the car. He's feeling claustrophobic, he looks out the window and sees cars all around him, faces staring in, others making out, smking cigars. The man has to escape, he climbs out of the window and manages to get up onto the roof of the car. He glides across the car roofs and out of the tunnel into the sunshine with his arms outstretched ...
Halloween
In a prolonged Point of View shot someone approaches a large two-storey house. The person peers into the living room and sees a teenaged girl making out with her boyfriend. They do not notice the person spying on them. They leave the room and head upstairs. The person watching then moves around to the back of the house and enters in a back door. The person then stops in the kitchen and takes a large carving knife, then makes their way toward the front of the house, pausing as the boyfriend comes down the stairs and leaves the house. The person then climbs the stairs, stopping to put on a white mask left on the stairs. The person then approaches the girl's bedroom where she is combing her hair. The person moves closer and as the girl turns to face the POV the person with the knife starts stabbing her repeatedly. She dies. Quickly the person retreats and leaves out the front of the house only to have the parents of the girl confront the person, calling him by name; Michael. They whip the mask off, at which point the POV changes to an Eye of God perspective revealing that the killer is a very young boy aged around 6, holding a bloodied knife, looking up at his parents.
Blow Out
Another POV shot, this time perving at scantily-clad young women making mischief in a house. The POV then enters the house and after stalking a couple of women enters the bathroom, where another girl is showering. The POV pulls back the shower curtain, the young woman turns to face her attacker and ... makes an appallingly unconvincing scream. Cut to a cinema screening room where it is revealed the entire opening sequence has been a b-grade slasher flick, and the scream was courtesy of the sound recordist who hasn't done a good job, he's reprimanded and told to try again ...
Betty Blue
Long shot. A couple are making love sideways on a bed. Actually they're fucking. And noisely too. The camera slowly and steadily dollys in closer and closer. The sex looks pretty convincing. A male voiceover nonchanlantly says (in French) "I had only known Betty for a week, we made love every night. The forecast was for storms ..."
Goodfellas
Three dangerous looking men are driving in a 70s cadillac. They look tired. There's banging from the boot. The men are somewhat suprised. The stop the car and check the boot. There's a bloodied man gagged and bound. One of the men pulls a large kitchen knife from his belt. He starts to repeatedly stab the man. Again and again. Another of the men pulls out his revolver. He fires several shots into the body. A male voiceover says matter-of-factly "As far back as I can remember, I always wanted to be a gangster ..."[/I
La Haine (Hate)
[I]Black screen. A monochromatic image of the world fades up. She looks serene, complex, beautiful. A voiceover (in French) says "It's a story about a guy who falls from a 50-storey building, as he falls he tries to re-assure himself by repeating 'So far, so good ... so far, so good' . A flaming molotov cocktail enters frame falling toward the image of the earth ... the voiceover continues "'It's not the fall that matters ... it's the landing" The molotov explodes, the screen bursts into flame obliterating the image of the world ...
Comment by Bryn
Horrorphile
Comment by Luke
Book Club
Old Movies
Cane Toad Warrior
One of my favourite opening scenes is the exploding car in 'Casino', oh and the opening sequences to all three Lord of the Rings films.
Comment by JohnDoe
Film & TV on DVD
I will play too and say 10 more unforgettable faves that open with style and energy- (No Order)
kathryn Bigelow's Strange Days- Hectic P.O.V as sensory images of a rape are transmited first hand. (Also see Duel)
Joe Carahan's Narc- fast and ferocious pursuit of a perp. (Also see French Connection)
Steven Spielberg's Jaws- young chrissy's midnight dip, ripped apart and that blood chilling scream. (Also see Pirhana)
terence Young's From Russia With Love- most allteh Bond openings are memorablein one way or another but this one sticks out the most for me. (Also see Spy Who Loved Me)
Don Siegel's Dirty Harry- The sniper view with Lalo Schiffrin belting away.
Sergio Leone's Once Upon A Time in The West- 3 bad men wait for a train and death.
Robert Alderich's Hush, Hush Sweet Charlotte- A party and shocking murder.
Sam Peckinpah's The Wild Bunch- maximum carnage that awes with its wretched beauty.
Nic Roeg's Dont Look Now- surreal display of loss and grief.
Hitchcock's Vertigo & Spellbound- torn between the two, both are cinematic and effecting.
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Comment by Cibbuano
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fuckin' JohnDow - I was going to say Once Upon a Time in the West.
Now what?
Um,
1) Raiders of the Lost Ark
2) Battle Royale
3) La Vie est Belle
4) Ghostbusters
5) A Clockwork Orange
So many!
Comment by Tracy
Movies and Life
What an interesting list. I like the descriptions of the scenes.
I've seen Betty Blue, Halloween (I still get scared thinking about that film) and La Haine.
I'm aiming to see Blow Out at the Italian Film Festival in the next weeks.
Great list!
Comment by Tracy
Movies and Life
Thanks for your comments. I haven't seen the Lion King and I didn't know it took two years to film, gosh.
I'd definitely recommend Donnie Darko...
Yes, there are some many films to choose from...
Comment by Tracy
Movies and Life
I hadn't thought of the opening scene to Donnie Darko being linked to Scorcese's 'The Last Temptation of Christ'. I didn't see that one, but I'd be interested in seeing it for that reason. Very interesting....
Yes, the opening scenes to the trilogy of Lord of The Rings are all memorable. But I did get lost in them though, I'm not great with watching three hour films...
Comment by Tracy
Movies and Life
Thanks for your list, this post has been fascinating. I hadn't heard of Don't Look Now so I looked it up and it sounds great:
John and Laura Baxter are living in Venice when they meet a pair of elderly sisters, one of whom claims to be psychic. She insists that she sees the spirit of the Baxters' daughter, who recently drowned. Laura is intrigued, but John resists the idea. He, however, seems to have his own psychic flashes, seeing their daughter walk the streets in her red cloak, as well as Laura and the sisters on a funeral gondola.
That's another one to add to my ever-growing list.
Yes, Jaws is another memorable film, the opening and in general. I'm still scared to go back in the water...
Comment by Tracy
Movies and Life
I haven't seen that one either, it sounds interesting. I think I'm going to have to quit work to see all these films...
Comment by Tracy
Movies and Life
That's a great list. I think the one that stands out for is Clockwork Orange....
Like you said, there are so many....I'm going to raid my collection and see if I can add something else to the list....
Comment by Luke
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Comment by Tracy
Movies and Life
Comment by Tracy
Movies and Life
Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter..and Spring- a beautiful and peaceful film with a meditative feel. The opening scene is of a set of gates opening showing the pivotal hut. The opening of the gate seems to signify a couple of things to me, the opening of a fresh experience and the viewer sees the hut as a whole surrounded by water. It is beautiful.
Metropolis - Metropolis - The film begins with a dark, cloudy, black and white set of readings explaining the main premise of the film. An atmosphere and momentous film.
Comment by JohnDoe
Film & TV on DVD
Comment by Tracy
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Metropolis is timeless and teaches me to use other senses, not just sound.
I find Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter..and Spring inspirational. It always reminds me to slow down and make time for the things in life I find important.
Comment by Bryn
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Comment by Tracy
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Comment by Tracy
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Comment by JohnDoe
Film & TV on DVD
Blow Out stars John travolta as a sound guy who records what he shouldnt.
Im with Byrn, its a great film and I think Travolta's best
Comment by Tracy
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Comment by Luke
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Comment by Tracy
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Comment by Luke
Book Club
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some people find it slow though.
Comment by JohnDoe
Film & TV on DVD
I rank the Francis Ford Coppolla's The Conversation right alongside his two other masterworks The Godfather and Apocalypse Now.
Another good one in that vein is Sidney Lumet's The Anderson Tapes starring Sean Connery and a very young Christopher Walken
Comment by Luke
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Comment by Aaron
Great site you got here. I'm new to the community. And I'm just checking out all the other blogs, especially the entertainment ones. I just got a domain blog, and so I'm just seeing what other people are writing about.
I'll be back often.
Aaron.
Comment by The Voices in my Head
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Voices~
Comment by Tracy
Movies and Life
Thanks for your comments and for dropping in. There are definitely a lot of interesting blogs on Orbol.
That's true about watching someone get stabbed repeatedly to get you in the immediate mood of the film. It definitely does tell you something about the nature of the film. Of course, there are films where the beginning is not completely indicative of the mood of the film... but maybe that's another post...
Have fun exploring Orbol..it can be quite addictive....
Tracy
Comment by Tracy
Movies and Life
Nice to hear from you. I've only ever seen a middle excerpt of Chicago, but I imagine the beginning is quite resplendent and contagious?
Tracy
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Comment by Tracy
Movies and Life
Thanks for your comments. I have to admit that I haven't seen any of the films you mentioned....hopefully one day.
Tracy
Comment by Tracy
Movies and Life
Thanks for your comment. I hadn't seen nor heard of Once Upon a Time in the West until you and JohnDoe mentioned it, so I looked it up:
The film features long scenes in which there is very little dialogue and not much happens, broken by brief and sudden violence. Leone was more interested in the rituals preceding violence than with the violence itself. The dry, unsentimental tone of the film is consistent with the arid semi-desert in which the story unfolds, and imbues it with a feeling of realism which contrasts with the elaborately choreographed gunplay.
Leone said that his last three films, Once Upon a Time in the West, A Fistful of Dynamite and Once Upon A Time In America, were a trilogy based on "the three periods that touched America". The films are sometimes referred to as the "Revolution" trilogy.
I don't tend to watch many Westerns nowadays, but this sounds like a compelling film to see. I like seeing films with little dialogue allowing emphasis to certain scenes.
Tracy
Comment by Tracy
Movies and Life
Thanks for dropping in. I saw the beginning of Cliffhanger on a plane and yes it was very suspenseful....
Tracy
Comment by DuskDevi
Rucks and Rolls
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Definitely 'Star Wars: A New Hope'...it was '77, I still remember how riveted to the screen I was. Still am, a thousand viewing times later.
'Contact'...radiowaves travelling out to space and silence.
'Octopussy'...murderous twins chasing a clown. Obviously they had a phobia.
'Indiana Jones; The Last Crusade'; River Phoenix is the young Indiana...sorry...Junior. How he gets his whip, his hat and his fear of snakes.
My choices aren't intellectual but, to me, they're undeniably unforgettable.
Comment by kryzb
Leonie's establishing shot in The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly has to be one of the best ever.
(Tarantino paid homage to this in the establishing shot of Kill Bill.)
kryz
Comment by Tracy
Movies and Life
I only vaguely remember the beginning scene to The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly as I saw it umpteen years ago. From what I remember there's lots of shooting?
Tracy
Comment by Morgan Bell
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Comment by Tracy
Movies and Life
That scene really set the pace of the film didn't it? Gosh, I would be too slow for a job there...
Byeee