Apocalypse Now.

A forest is napalmed to the sound of 'The End' by The Doors. Helicopters fly over the burning forest while a ceiling fan is superimposed over the scene. Dark and foreboding, you just know that you are going to be in for a grim tour de force.

That's a good shout. I think Falling Down with Michael Douglas has a great intro scene, but not sure the rest of the film really matches it. But still, great opening.

Depends what you’re looking for.

My favourite start is in the original Italian Job … ‘On Days Like These’

Also offering Raiders of the Lost Arc, Live and Let Die and ET.

Inglourious Basterds.

Gladiator is fairly memorable.

Kes

Superman IV: The Quest for Peace. Not only is it the best Superman film but you can see that Joe Lucas ripped off this films intro for his Star Wars films

Pulp Fiction the opening scene and the closing scene and everything inbetween.

Tron Legacy

Another vote for "The Italian Job" Matt Munro singing "On Days Like These" got his greatest hits album on CD and played this on a driving Holiday on the Mountain roads above Turin .... Bloody Brilliant

...she caught the katy and left me a mule to ride.

Three Colours blue

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qj5-wmFqidY

the simple banality of a young family on a long overnight car journey to their country house, a stop for a young child to have a comfort break by the side of a country road, with a shot of a leaking breaking line, - a young hitchhiker by the side of early morning misty isolated country road ignored , who is then immediately cheered by succeeding at the old child's game he is playing, followed a few seconds later by the sound of a car crash and the reaction of the young hitchhiker. Almost 4 minutes with only a two word utterance for the child on the comfort break, but an incredibly powerful intro. So begins the tragedy that Juliette Binoche is left to seek freedom from if she is to find liberty - the theme of the film.
.
It is one of my all time favourite films and is exquisitely beautiful and also one of the most written about films (and trilogies) in modern cinema; Kieslowski the director is a absolute genius and the musical score is hugely powerful in the telling of the story - the of pairing composer Zbigniew Preisner together with Kieslowski is one of the greatest in cinematic history

Pulp Fiction.

'Love you Pumpkin,
'Love you too honeybunny'
'Everybody be cool, this is a robbery'
'Any of you ******* pricks move and I'll execute every mother****ing last one of you'

Cue the music

Saving Private Ryan takes some beating

Wild at Heart, David Lynch has to be one of the most violent. His films usually have good openings in a cartoony sort of way. I saw an interview with him where he talked about having images of potential starts to films before the film had even been written. He described a shot of a hand lying on the floor and as the camera pulls back you see the hand as part of a body lying on the ground in a model village and all the incongruity that goes with the conflicting scales. I don’t know whether it made it into a film. Sexy Beast, another odd, almost slapstick one.

I agree with salisbury..Saving Private Ryan has to be one of the most harrowing openings I've ever seen

Foreverly Claret wrote: ↑

Sat Jul 24, 2021 1:10 pm

I agree with salisbury..Saving Private Ryan has to be one of the most harrowing openings I've ever seen

agreed. it's just a shame the rest of it is sentimental gash.

Zulu..great intro music,film is a cracker too

The Warriors

Taxi driver.

Like some of the the above, but for me Guardians of the Galaxy where he pulls out his cassette player and booms out Come and get my Love.

Hot Fuzz.

SalisburyClaret wrote: ↑

Sat Jul 24, 2021 12:58 pm

Saving Private Ryan takes some beating

I'll second that!

Isn’t the opening to SPR about half of the film? Agree, it’s incredibly well done.

CnBtruntru wrote: ↑

Sat Jul 24, 2021 4:31 pm

Like some of the the above, but for me Guardians of the Galaxy where he pulls out his cassette player and booms out Come and get my Love.

My fav marvel film

Rita, Sue & Bob too

Die Hard 3!

Deadpool

Saving Private Ryan as mentioned above plus

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

Jaws

Sexy Beast......with 'down on the beaches' by the Stranglers.
Also "Titus" had a fantastic opening ......great film too, best on the big screen though.

You are all wrong! The best intro is this one - Monty Python and the Holy Grail https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_0fumVnzAuI

Claret Till I Die wrote: ↑

Sat Jul 24, 2021 5:19 pm

Rita, Sue & Bob too

I’ve just tried to explain Rita, Sue, and Bob too to my American wife….. complete with my take of the line “I thought I were great”

Always loved the start of The Departed.

PWBFC wrote: ↑

Sat Jul 24, 2021 11:25 am

Gladiator is fairly memorable.

On my signal unleash Hell!

How about the opening scene in Casino Royale, where JB chases the villain across a crowded Cock fight area, up a tower crane and ending up in an embassy where he finally catches his quarry and fires on a clutch of bottled gas cylinders.

Saving Private Ryan doesn’t count as the scene you’re thinking of isn’t the opening scene!

Blue Velvet.

Love the opening wedding scene and to be fair the whole lot of deer Hunter.

Apocalypse now and the Sound of Music

claret2018 wrote: ↑

Sat Jul 24, 2021 8:41 pm

Saving Private Ryan doesn’t count as the scene you’re thinking of isn’t the opening scene!

You're right. The opening scene of SPR is when an older Captain whatshisname is visiting a memorial site in Normandy with his family and the camera zooms into his eye and back out of Tom Hanks' on the boat approaching the beach. The following scene is pretty brilliant though.

Westside story.
It may not be the best but it still has very memorable opening scenes. It certainly made an impression on me first time I saw it as a kid

Terminator 2.

Brief introduction followed by the mechanical music from the first film.

Rileybobs wrote: ↑

Sat Jul 24, 2021 9:11 pm

You're right. The opening scene of SPR is when an older Captain whatshisname is visiting a memorial site in Normandy with his family and the camera zooms into his eye and back out of Tom Hanks' on the boat approaching the beach. The following scene is pretty brilliant though.

Would have been better if they’d binned off the cemetery intro and outro scenes. That D Day scene would have been a much more powerful opener. Still a great film

claret2018 wrote: ↑

Sat Jul 24, 2021 9:54 pm

Would have been better if they’d binned off the cemetery intro and outro scenes. That D Day scene would have been a much more powerful opener. Still a great film

I watched it about 6 months ago for the first time in years and couldn’t believe how well it had aged. Particularly the combat scenes.

Jason Statham selling hooky gear at the start of Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DeztSCCX6VY

Rileybobs wrote: ↑

Sat Jul 24, 2021 9:11 pm

You're right. The opening scene of SPR is when an older Captain whatshisname is visiting a memorial site in Normandy with his family and the camera zooms into his eye and back out of Tom Hanks' on the boat approaching the beach. The following scene is pretty brilliant though.

Not quite. The old bloke is Matt Damon’s character Private Ryan. Captain Miller / Tom Hanks is the grave he is at.

Midnight Cowboy....

box_of_frogs wrote: ↑

Sat Jul 24, 2021 10:23 pm

Not quite. The old bloke is Matt Damon’s character Private Ryan. Captain Miller / Tom Hanks is the grave he is at.

D’oh. Is that right? Seems a bit odd that they zoom into the old mans eyes and then out of the eyes of Tom Hanks. That Spielberg fella doesn’t know what he’s doing.

Trainspotting where they are running down Princes Street in Edinburgh to Iggy Pop is ace