FANFLASH: The Best Opening Scenes in Film

By Jordan Tunney
April 6, 2009

When the lights dim down and the curtain draws back, I always get excited for the start of a movie. No matter what genre or cast, there’s just something about the start of a movie that gives me that feeling like climbing up the first steep part on a roller coaster. And so, I decided to share with you my top 5 favorite opening scenes.

5. Casino Royale – Everyone was wondering how Daniel Craig was going to do as James Bond. When the movie opened to black and white I didn’t know how they were going to introduce the new Bond to the world. We see James sitting in a British intelligence officer’s office, waiting for him to arrive. We get a back and forth between the two explaining that the intelligence officer is “bent”, and that M should have sent a 00 agent. Between their banter we see James killing a contact of the officer, and then Bond kills the officer. Lastly, the credits begin with the franchise staple, the turn and shoot. Brilliant way to bring Bond back to life.

4. Raiders of the Lost Ark - Whenever anyone thinks about Indiana Jones, they will almost always picture him walking up to the golden idol with bag of sand in his grip. The rolling rock has become a pop culture icon, most memorably for me is “The Simpsons” version with Homer falling down the stairs like the boulder. Alfred Molina, later to portray Doc Ock in “Spiderman 2″ gets Indy to throw him the idol, then walks away to leave Jones to die. But he gets a spike trap through the face, so I guess that’s karma. Ending the scene Indy sits in the plane with a snake around his feet. He hates snakes, and we’ll never forget it.

3. Ghostbusters - The old librarian walking around the basement level of the New York Public Library is a classic scene. Books floating behind her index cards shooting out of holders, and all sorts of eerie sounds and music. Ghostbusters is part sci-fi, part comedy, and one of the best blends of both. The opening sets the stage for some paranormal activity that relies on both visual and special effects, and still gives me chills.

2. X-Men 2 – Nightcrawler taking out Secret Service agents in the White House. Enough said.

1. Back to the Future - ticking clocks and a garage serving as a bedroom/laboratory open one of my favorite movies of all time. Marty arrives to play his guitar and blows out the sound system. It has resounded with me ever since I was a kid, especially Marty skateboarding to school while “Power of Love” rocks out the opening to my favorite trilogy.