Sometimes movies take some time to ease viewers into the show, while others set the tone immediately. The movies on this list are the latter. Whether it’s a comedy like Dazed and Confused or an action movies like Raiders Of The Lost Ark, these movies don’t waste any time at the beginning.
Dazed And Confused
From the opening notes of Aerosmith’s “Walk This Way” to the ’70s muscle car cruising the parking lot, you know exactly when Dazed And Confused is set. There is no mistaking the era even before you see the characters and their costumes. While it was made in the 90s, the movie is pure 1970s.
2001: A Space Odyssey
Stanley Kubrick‘s 2001: A Space Odyssey is one of the most important movies ever made and by opening what everyone expected to be a sci-fi movie with a bunch of monkeys learning how to use tools (and more), it sets a very different kind of tone than any other sci-fi movie before it. It was unlike anything anyone had ever seen before it. Of course, it also has one of the wildest endings of all time, too.
The Dark Knight
Heath Ledger‘s Joker in The Dark Knight is one of the greatest movie villains of all time and while audiences don’t immediately know (or maybe they do) that the opening scene is Clown Prince of Crime from the back, by the end of the opening scene, we know exactly what we are getting into. One of the best comic book movies of all time opens with one of the best scenes of all time for a villain who completely steals the show.
Star Wars
From the opening blast of the classic John Williams score to the now-iconic scroll, and finally, the two massive spaceships firing lasers at each other, Star Wars easily has one of the most memorable opening scenes of any movie, ever. Audiences in 1977 were simply blown away from the moment the movie started and it immediately became the classic it is and how it has endured for decades.
Pulp Fiction
Quentin Tarantino‘s second film, Pulp Fiction, was one of the most anticipated movies of 1994 and the director immediately let audiences know he was on point with the opening scene between Tim Roth and Amanda Plummer in the diner. It’s classic Tarantino with great dialog and finally, a burst of near-violence that sucks moviegoers in at once.
Jaws
Jaws is thought of these days as one of the best movies Hollywood has ever produced. Director Steven Spielberg did an absolutely masterful job of scaring the audience by not showing the shark very much and that starts with the creepy, foreboding scene when a lone swimmer becomes the shark’s first victim.
Citizen Kane
“Rosebud” is one of the most mysterious opening lines to any movie, ever. The snow globe falling out of a dying man’s hand and breaking on the floor only adds to the mystery. That’s how Citizen Kane opens and audiences then and now are captivated from that moment until the end, when they learn what “Rosebud” means in the movie’s final scene.
Apocalypse Now
Some movies just need to have some incredible music and one iconic shot to lock you in. Apocalypse Now is one of those movies. From the foreboding sounds of The Doors’ song “The End” to the fireball or napalm that rushes across the jungle in the opening scene, director Francis Ford Coppola immediately let everyone know this was going to be a different kind of war movie.
Purple Rain
If you’re one of the most iconic musicians of your day and you decide to make a movie about a fictionalized version of yourself, you’d better open the show with a banger. That’s exactly what Prince did when he opened Purple Rain with “Let’s Go Crazy.” It’s simply a performance (and guitar solo) for the ages and sets the tone for the movie perfectly.
The Godfather
While it may not start with a bang like some of the other movies on this list, the opening scene of The Godfather sets the tone for the movie in a way nothing else could. Within minutes audiences knew exactly what kind of man Vito Corleone was and what was important to him.
Raiders Of The Lost Ark
Raiders of the Lost Ark is one of the best adventure films of all time and as such, it opens with one of the most exciting sequences in Hollywood history as our hero Indiana Jones dodges traps and a giant boulder to escape with his treasure. Though he loses it right away, of course. It’s a very worthy opening to the Indiana Jones franchise.
Boogie Nights
Director Paul Thomas Anderson knocks it out of the park with the first scene in Boogie Nights that lets you know exactly where and when the movie is happening. The long tracking shot introduced almost every character movie right away and audiences are already getting to know them by the time the shot changes. It’s brilliant.
Saving Private Ryan
In many ways, Saving Private Ryan changed how war movies are made and what audiences expect from them. The opening scene, when Tom Hanks and his platoon hit the beaches of Normandy on D-Day is one of, if not the, most intense action scenes ever put on film. It’s praised for its depiction of the battle and the visceral feel of it all is simply incredible.
Spectre
The James Bond franchise is famous for its opening, pre-credits scenes, so we had to include one on this list. There are any number of great ones you could go with, but for our money, the opening to Spectre with the tracking shot all across Mexico City and into a hotel, and out to the ledge, is pure magic. And pure Bond.
Scream
In an homage to the great Alfred Hitchcock movie Psycho, the opening scene of Scream features one of the biggest stars in the movie, Drew Barrymore, getting killed just minutes into the story. For audiences at the time, it was a completely brilliant and shocking moment as Barrymore had been marketed heavily so no one expected her to meet her demise so soon. It was something Barrymore insisted on.
Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation
When it comes to the Mission: Impossible franchise, fans can always count on an amazing opening sequence. On the one hand, it’s hard to pick one as the best, but on the other hand, c’mon, it’s the one where Tom Cruise hangs from a freaking plane! That opening to Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation is one of the most incredible stunts Cruise has done on a long, long list of stunts he’s done for those movies.
Trainspotting
Danny Boyle’s Trainspotting walks a tightrope between really cool and fun, and desperately tragic. This is all summed up in the first few seconds of the movie when audiences see a very rough-looking Renton (Ewan McGregor) running from the police and almost getting hit by a car as Iggy Pop’s “Lust For Life” accompanies the scene. It’s not only the perfect opening scene for the movie, it’s a brilliant musical moment as well.
There Will Be Blood
Paul Thomas Anderson’s There Will Be Blood is one of the examples on this list of movies that set a tone immediately, but do so not with action and pizazz but with a gentle slow build. There is virtually no dialog other than some grunts from the protagonist (Daniel Day-Lewis) as he struggles to get his oil well going. Like the rest of the movie, it’s intense, but quietly so. It’s really perfect.
The Matrix
While we don’t meet Neo right away in The Matrix, we do get a great example of how the world in the movie is going to work as we watch Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss) barely escape a group of Agents in the Matrix.
Inglourious Basterds
If you want some quiet intensity, there may be no better opening scene than Inglourious Basterds. Christoph Waltz’s character sitting and drinking milk while hunting for hidden Jews is seriously intense without anything more than some brilliant dialog by Quentin Tarantino and a glass of milk. It’s the least over-the-top moment in te movie, and yet sets the tone perfectly.
Top Gun
The flight deck of an aircraft carrier is an exciting and dangerous place to be. For Top Gun, director Tony Scott didn’t need to use any of the stars of the movie, or even any actors at all. Instead, he used actual Navy members doing their actual jobs as jet fighters took off and landed all to the soaring notes of Harold Faltermeyer’s guitar-based soundtrack. Talk about pulling you right into a movie!
Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 1
Director James Gunn has become famous for his brilliant use of music in the Guardians Of The Galaxy movies. Star-Lord’s mixtape quickly became one of the main characters of the movies, almost. That started at the very beginning of the first movie when we all first meet Star-Lord (Chris Pratt) as he dances his way through the opening scene to “Come and Get Your Love” by Redbone.
The very beginning of Stanley Kubrick’s Full Metal Jacket features young men getting their heads shaved as they join the Marines. The next few minutes are just R. Lee Emery yelling at the new inductees. It’s one of the most iconic opening scenes of any movie, much less any war movie and it’s a big part of what makes it among the best war movies ever made.
Deadpool
By now we all know just what kind of “superhero” Deadpool is. In fact, even if you weren’t familiar with the anti-hero from the comic books, it only takes about the first ten minutes of the first Deadpool movie to know exactly who he is. There really is no better introduction to a superhero movie, and that’s really saying something.
Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels
The two main characters in Lock, Stock And Two Smoking Barrels are, in some ways, very competent criminals. In other ways, they are complete disasters. The opening moments show both sides of them perfectly as they pull off their scam selling stolen jewelry for a time before they lose all their merchandise getting chased by the cops.
Jurassic Park
There was no bigger movie in the early ’90s than Jurassic Park and there was no bigger opening moment than when audiences were thrown right into the action as the game wardens and staff tried to wrangle a velociraptor into its cage. It did more than just help the movie become iconic for millions of people.
No Country For Old Men
The opening scene to No Country For Old Men immediately draws the audience into the movie and its dark, foreboding nature. After a voiceover by Tommy Lee Jones, we see an unknown character getting arrested for an unknown reason. We soon learn that the character is Anton Chigurh (Javier Bardem) and just how ruthless he is.
Gladiator
Ridley Scott may not care much for historical accuracy, but that doesn’t matter when you recreate an ancient battle as he does at the opening of Gladiator. It’s an amazing scene reminiscent of the great battle scenes in movies before CGI when it was all about practical effects and a huge number of extras.
Once Upon a Time In The West
To make a great western, you have to set a mood. Once Upon a Time In The West does this as well or better than any other Western. Viewers can feel the heat of the day and the crackling tension well before any action happens. You know it’s coming, you just don’t how or when.
Baby Driver
Take a great soundtrack, a cool moment of people wearing matching suits and sunglasses, throw in a fantastic car chase and you’re guaranteed to suck audiences in immediately. Just like they do in Baby Driver. The movie takes off at full speed right from the jump.
Reservoir Dogs
Quentin Tarantino told the whole world just who he was in the first few minutes of his first movie, Reservoir Dogs. The intense, fast-paced dialog he’s known for is present right at the very beginning as his character Mr. Orange explains the real meaning behind his favorite Madonna song. And it’s not what you think.
A Clockwork Orange
A Clockwork Orange’s opening scene definitely has audiences asking more questions than it’s ever answering, but that’s exactly what draws you in so quickly. You have to know what these guys in the funny outfits are up to and why in the world they are seemingly drinking milk in a weird bar. Later, you might regret getting those answers…