The best opening scene in a film ever?

[Gilltthepill]

I’ve just watched the opening scene to Spike Lee’s film Do the Right Thing. It was so mesmerising at the time on the big screen and unexpected (over 30 years ago now) - Rosie Perez was great and Fight the Power was an awesome track. I put it on top volume.

Whats your favourite opening scene?

The Godfather already mentioned but Goodfellas also had that one long take beginning . Repeated in Sopranos TV show . The Deer hunter too . Seeing a theme and an age definer here now .

Came to say this. Christ that was harrowing.

Oh bloody hell I'd totally forgotten about Cliffhanger. I had a vague recollection of watching it when I was a kid and being traumatised so just googled it to check it was the one I was thinking of.... Yep... Why did I do that just before bed 😩

I love you, Honey Bunny.

That is from The Spy Who Loved Me - my favourite Bond film by a mile!

2012 Olympics, when Queen Elizabeth parachuted in. I thought it was for real. Just shows how gullible I am.

Ps we were still Great Britain then

LORD OF WAR

Opening scene of Ps, I Love You - the actual scene itself is not especially sad or anything, but having read the book when first seeing the film and putting the pieces together of who they were so what would happen I still cannot watch it without crying 🥺

Opening scene of Love Actually - I think always an apt reminder that still feels relevant more than 20 years later, even if is done in a bit of a corny way

One of my on-going peeves about MN is that the forum lists aren't laid out in a way that easily shows users what there is. But, yes, there is a forum for film and for television.

Austin Powers Goldmember... yeah baby!

Serenity.

You've got a classroom scene that gives you a load of world building of the setting, that turns out to be a hallucination that a one of the heroes is experiencing while being tortured, and then that scene turns out to be a recording which the main villain is watching.

It's 3 scenes in one, introducing you to the setting, the main plotline and the villain, all within a minute or so without getting confusing or feeling like info dumping.

The second scene is just as good, being a 4 minute long one-shot (ok, two shot with a well hidden cut), introducing the other 6 main characters and their relationships, all completely naturally and again, without info dumping.

Joss Whedon is a dickhead, but good god he was a great story teller.

Agreed! That scene was awesome. 28 Years later has a great opening, too. I love the openings of all the '28' movies. Except the most recent one, only because I haven't seen it yet.

I love the opening of Terminator 2. It's still one of my favourites. My other favourite is a bit niche- Equilibrium. I don't think many people have seen that movie.

A very underrated film.

Hangover 😂

Bloody love that 😆 🤣 😂

The Hurt Locker. I barely breathed through the opening bomb disposal sequence.

Romeo and Juliet the 90s Leo dicaprio version.

Inglorious Basterds

Saving Private Ryan is excellent

The Sixth Sense is very clever opening scene as we are told right at the beginning the twist but we make an assumption as we get pulled into the other main characters story

Yes

Thank you for that excellent anecdote! 😂😂😂 That’s genuinely brilliant.

I shall raise a Whiskey to you the next time I eat a chicken Kiev.

Was that when they were all cut in half at the same time 🤮

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away.....