Matt Shea
RubySoho
Morgan Bell
Cibbuano
David O'Connell
Mountain Fog
10 Fantastic Opening Credit Sequences
January 8th 2007 18:44
From Laboratory 101, a list of 10 Kickass Opening Credit Sequence, though the list is decidedly Hollywood-centric, there's still some great openings.
1) For example, who doesn't love the beginning to Snatch? Finely edited shots accompanied by stirring music. You don't know who these rascals and scoundrels are, but you know it's going to be a gritty, rough movie from Guy Ritchie.
That smooth bassline, coupled with the interconnected scenes of the different characters, defining themselves in a 3 second chop. The retro comic book titles. It warns you that a fun gangster movie is going to smack your head into the pavement.
2) The remake of Dawn of the Dead silenced all the Romero fanboys with its intense opening zombie scenes, leading right into an eerie montage of TV footage and bloodied titles, accompanied by Johnny Cash.
Of course, the big deal about the remake is that it upgraded Romero's zombies into 'fast zombies', something that worried me to no end. At least before, you could outrun the zombies and leisurely shoot them in the head. 2004 became the start of the 'Aw, hells naw!' movement.
3) What would I have added to the list? If my memory is correct, Irreversible finished the movie with opening credits, somehow adding to your sense of discomfort.
Trying as hard as possible to be backwards, Irreversible hit you with all the nasty stuff up front, then eased off... somehow, watching the idyllic end (beginning?) of the movie didn't make any of it better...
4) Trainspotting, before Snatch came along, introduced us to the film's memorable list of characters as Iggy Pop plays on. (note: the following clip is from the French version, where they've dubbed the voices over with horrible French office clerks. Dubbing is evil.)
5) On a forum, someone mentioned Once Upon A Time in the West, one of my favourite Western movies. The opening to that movie is perhaps one of the finest crafted opening sequences to a movie ever made. It still makes me want to run off into the desert to be a gunslinger.
Charles Bronson was one tough mofo, even when he was suffering from clausterphobia is The Great Escape. He only got nastier in his Death Wish days...
6) As a kid, the only thing I liked about The Pink Panther was the opening. My father would rent it, and I'd get all excited to see the cartoon... naturally, it degenerated into real actors, which disappointed me greatly. How was I supposed to know, back then, that Peter Sellers would make hilarious movies?
That's from the cartoon, though... I couldn't find the original opening from the movie...
7) From the comments, Dusk Devi reminded me that Austin Powers - Goldmember does a great dance opening spoof. I couldn't find it on YouTube, but the first Austin Powers shows us just how eccentrically bizarre Michael Myers is.
I don't think anyone would say that Austin Powers films are 'great', but they do fill that void in our collective hearts for stupid spoof comedy with pun-upon-pun.
8) From the Great Library of JohnDoe, the unforgettable suggestion that James Bond films have always had a great impact, but Thunderball was one of the first with Technicolour, I believe... but not the last to feature sensual women moving to rhythmically to slow music...
9)From Bryn, comes the unforgettable sci-fi 70s film... I couldn't find the opening scenes, but the original trailer will have to do.
Alien. One of the most terrifying sci-fi movies ever made... I was frightened as a kid, but loved it as an adult. Contrary to Kubrick's bright and sterile 2001, Alien depicted a future that was dirty, immoral and slimy; and one where we were the prey.
10) From Nathan, comes the suggestion of Raiders of the Lost Ark, Indiana Jones moving through the jungle, into that nasty temple.
It's inspired knockoffs and parodies a-plenty, but when I first saw it, my hands were damp from the tension, then adrenalized by the infamous 'outrun the giant boulder' sequence.
1) For example, who doesn't love the beginning to Snatch? Finely edited shots accompanied by stirring music. You don't know who these rascals and scoundrels are, but you know it's going to be a gritty, rough movie from Guy Ritchie.
That smooth bassline, coupled with the interconnected scenes of the different characters, defining themselves in a 3 second chop. The retro comic book titles. It warns you that a fun gangster movie is going to smack your head into the pavement.
2) The remake of Dawn of the Dead silenced all the Romero fanboys with its intense opening zombie scenes, leading right into an eerie montage of TV footage and bloodied titles, accompanied by Johnny Cash.
Of course, the big deal about the remake is that it upgraded Romero's zombies into 'fast zombies', something that worried me to no end. At least before, you could outrun the zombies and leisurely shoot them in the head. 2004 became the start of the 'Aw, hells naw!' movement.
3) What would I have added to the list? If my memory is correct, Irreversible finished the movie with opening credits, somehow adding to your sense of discomfort.
Trying as hard as possible to be backwards, Irreversible hit you with all the nasty stuff up front, then eased off... somehow, watching the idyllic end (beginning?) of the movie didn't make any of it better...
4) Trainspotting, before Snatch came along, introduced us to the film's memorable list of characters as Iggy Pop plays on. (note: the following clip is from the French version, where they've dubbed the voices over with horrible French office clerks. Dubbing is evil.)
5) On a forum, someone mentioned Once Upon A Time in the West, one of my favourite Western movies. The opening to that movie is perhaps one of the finest crafted opening sequences to a movie ever made. It still makes me want to run off into the desert to be a gunslinger.
Charles Bronson was one tough mofo, even when he was suffering from clausterphobia is The Great Escape. He only got nastier in his Death Wish days...
6) As a kid, the only thing I liked about The Pink Panther was the opening. My father would rent it, and I'd get all excited to see the cartoon... naturally, it degenerated into real actors, which disappointed me greatly. How was I supposed to know, back then, that Peter Sellers would make hilarious movies?
That's from the cartoon, though... I couldn't find the original opening from the movie...
7) From the comments, Dusk Devi reminded me that Austin Powers - Goldmember does a great dance opening spoof. I couldn't find it on YouTube, but the first Austin Powers shows us just how eccentrically bizarre Michael Myers is.
I don't think anyone would say that Austin Powers films are 'great', but they do fill that void in our collective hearts for stupid spoof comedy with pun-upon-pun.
8) From the Great Library of JohnDoe, the unforgettable suggestion that James Bond films have always had a great impact, but Thunderball was one of the first with Technicolour, I believe... but not the last to feature sensual women moving to rhythmically to slow music...
9)From Bryn, comes the unforgettable sci-fi 70s film... I couldn't find the opening scenes, but the original trailer will have to do.
Alien. One of the most terrifying sci-fi movies ever made... I was frightened as a kid, but loved it as an adult. Contrary to Kubrick's bright and sterile 2001, Alien depicted a future that was dirty, immoral and slimy; and one where we were the prey.
10) From Nathan, comes the suggestion of Raiders of the Lost Ark, Indiana Jones moving through the jungle, into that nasty temple.
It's inspired knockoffs and parodies a-plenty, but when I first saw it, my hands were damp from the tension, then adrenalized by the infamous 'outrun the giant boulder' sequence.
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Comment by JohnDoe
Film & TV on DVD
a few other great opening credits off the top of my head-
Thunderball-though most Bonds have impressive opening credits
Vertigo-Again Hitchcock had lots of cool opening credits
The Dirty Dozen-Robert Alderich always added flair to his credits (See also Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte and Kiss me Deadly)
Star Wars
Sin City
Dirty Harry
Napolean Dynamite
Comment by Cibbuano
Hunt Famous
Orble Post of the Day
Fat Cult
Techbreak
For me, it's tough to remember the opening credits of a movie.
The Bond intros are incredible. I got thrills as a kid...
Comment by JohnDoe
Film & TV on DVD
Technically Star Wars is just an opening crawl so I will replace it with the opening credits of Lord of War which shows the lifecycle of a bullett.
Comment by DuskDevi
Rugby World Cup 2007
'Contact' is my favourite.
'Star Wars'....sigh...technically no but aesthetically YES.
All the Bond movies (and as maligned as it was, I liked the opening credits of 'Die Another Day'.)
Indiana Jones
Betty Blue
Barbarella
...and (oh cripes this is bad) the 'Austin Powers; Goldmember' dance sequence...well...it was fun!
DuskDevi
Comment by Cibbuano
Hunt Famous
Orble Post of the Day
Fat Cult
Techbreak
Betty Blue... isn't that the erotic French movie?
Comment by Adrian
Philosophy Blog
Comment by Cibbuano
Hunt Famous
Orble Post of the Day
Fat Cult
Techbreak
Comment by DuskDevi
Rugby World Cup 2007
Oxymoron Cibby!
Comment by Cibbuano
Hunt Famous
Orble Post of the Day
Fat Cult
Techbreak
Right back at you, DuskDevi!
Comment by DuskDevi
Rugby World Cup 2007
Comment by Cibbuano
Hunt Famous
Orble Post of the Day
Fat Cult
Techbreak
er... <sound of Cibby being caught between a rock and a hard place>
Well, I don't play in the tight five, if that's any consolation to the hordes of women longing to feel the satisfaction that only Cibby can give.
Comment by DuskDevi
Rugby World Cup 2007
"caught between a ruck and a hard phase"
You have a chocolate factory?
Comment by Cibbuano
Hunt Famous
Orble Post of the Day
Fat Cult
Techbreak
I do, in fact. I've hidden five golden tickets to come and visit my factory, but I've placed them all down the front of my pants in a desperate attempt to get a little action.
As of yet, none of the tickets have been 'claimed', though errant hands in the ruck caused a bit of alarm.
Comment by DuskDevi
Rugby World Cup 2007
So that's why he's named Willy Wonka....the Wonka may have been a typo (unclaimed tickets...)
Cibby...those errant hands...were they French?
Ze French players always have zair eyes on the ball... occasionally their teeth.
Comment by DuskDevi
Rugby World Cup 2007
Zey go totally 'OT in the SCRUM.
Comment by Trina
Hiphop
Confessions of a Serial Dancer
Competitions
Clubbing
Hey I got the cds Cibby thanks!
Comment by Luke
Old Movies
Cane Toad Warrior
Comment by Nina
Comment by Stanley
Comment by Luke
Old Movies
Cane Toad Warrior
Check out my canetoadwarrior blog Cibby, I know you appreciate bizarre Bollywood-flavoured videos...
Comment by MacGreekos
As for opening credits, the thank you for smoking ones, are pretty damn good ( http://shadowplaystudio.com/smoking.html ) and I think would complement well an old text of yours on the thrills of smoking
Comment by Cibbuano
Hunt Famous
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Fat Cult
Techbreak
Trina, no problem!
Luke, Casino is fantastic, naturally. There's only 8 because I'm workin' on the other 2!
Stan, I don't know that one. Got a link?
Greekos, it's been a ong time! I'll take a look at Thank You For Smoking...
Comment by Tracy
Movies and Life
I loved the beginning of Donnie Darko with the Echo and the Bunnymen song playing. And Pulp Fiction, Trainspotting....
Tracy
Comment by Cibbuano
Hunt Famous
Orble Post of the Day
Fat Cult
Techbreak
Donnie Darko? I don't remember the opening...
Comment by Bryn
Horrorphile
Delicatessen ...
Alien ...
... apparently Once Upon a Time in the West has the longest credit sequence in movie history (15 minutes)
Comment by Cibbuano
Hunt Famous
Orble Post of the Day
Fat Cult
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Comment by MacGreekos
Ciffy, how's life down there?
Comment by Cibbuano
Hunt Famous
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Fat Cult
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Comment by Tracy
Movies and Life
I wrote a bit about it on my blog a while ago, I love that beginning.
Comment by postmoderncritic
Postmodern Critic
Relativity Watch
Padsoc
Comment by Francis
Passionate Apathy
Casino Royale (1967 version) tried valiantly to warn us how full of itself the movie was, but alas, no one payed heed...
How about the credits in Superman flying out of the screen and strafing the audience?
Comment by Cibbuano
Hunt Famous
Orble Post of the Day
Fat Cult
Techbreak
PM, yeah the Fight club opening is pretty good, especially as it opens to the gun in the mouth...
francis, Superman? It's a memorable opening, for sure...
Comment by Sports Insider
Comment by Tracy
Movies and Life
La Haine's beginning with the image of the world and the saying is memorable...
No probs about doing a similar post, I think they are never the same as time has passed, new films are out plus we're all different writers and people with different perspectives and ideas....Plus I have a memory like a goldfish....
Byee
Comment by postmoderncritic
Postmodern Critic
Relativity Watch
Padsoc
Comment by Nathan P. Mahney
NerdBlog
The Comic Nerd
And of course, Transformers: The Movie. Because it has the best Everything.
Comment by Tracy
Movies and Life
Thanks for the finding the opening to DD. I just watched it, I love it. Now I'm listening to Echo and the Bunnymen, it'll be my Friday CD.
I know what you mean about the INXS song, I really like it and thought it was apt, but I just prefer Echo and the Bunnymen. But probably the words suit the film more than Echo...hmm, I sound contradictory, but it's Friday and that's what happens..to me anyhoo,
Cib, hope you enjoy the clip,
Tracy
Comment by Bryn
Horrorphile
Actually Raiders has a very clever and cool sequence, where right at the beginning where the Paramount mountain logo dissolves into an image of a mountain which looks almost identical, then we pan down to reveal Indiana and others trekking through the jungle ...
Comment by Lilla
From The Home Front
Enviro Warrior
Dream Herald
Esoteric Bookshop
..better late than never?
I love Once Upon The Time In The West ... wow : thanks for that fix!
...to add another cent, I loved the Raiders opening sequence too...
Lilla
ps Thunderball is no longer available ...
Comment by Nathan P. Mahney
NerdBlog
The Comic Nerd
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