Best Opening Title Sequence in Movie history

[Goonie]

One of the more recent ones I like:
YouTube - Official Tron Legacy Intro
The fly-thru downtown Vancouver and the Daft Punk music blaring on IMAX speakers - awesome.:cool

 

[Propazoid]

Watchmen

-Robb

 

[Alan Cross]

I had forgotten about Casino Royale, what a great opening. Great choice. I LOVE the song by Chris Cornell too, love it!:thumbsup

Yeah, big thumbs up to Chris Cornell! I didn't think I'd ever hear another James Bond song that would would remind me why I loved this franchise as a teenager. But "You Know My Name", in my opinion, is a terrific song. The music is infectious, and the lyrics get to the core of the James Bond character: the pleasure/pain of competition, the celebration of the romantic possibilities of being a man in a dangerous world... and the animation/graphics in the opening sequence are just ***king cool.


Alan

 

[MrFoxxZero]

I'm not saying it was one of the best ever, but I don't thi nk anyone put it up on here.

X-Men 2, Nightcrawler's Attack on the White House

So effing cool, maybe not making cinema history but very cool nonetheless...

 

[mothmonty]

already mentioned but Zombieland has the best opening ever (IMO). You can't go wrong with "For Whom the Bell Tolls"

 

[Hitogiri]

Desperado is classic!

"And in walks the BIGGEST MEXICAN I have ever seen...."

 

[Jannix Quinn]

Rocky III

 

[Bernardicus]

The Pink Panther
...what other title sequence got its own TV series?

 

[lonerthx]

This is a new one that's fun.

SUPER - 'Opening Credits' - JoBlo Video

 

[Son of Skywalker]

Besides the given Star Wars, Superman etc...

For older - Once upon a time in the west, Vertigo, North by Northwest

Newer - Watchmen & Lord of War

 

[SeanB13]

Hands down, my favorite would be Natural Born Killers.

I really like the opening sequence to Contact, as well.

 

[rodneyfaile]

Temple of Doom

 

[FIREWIRE]

Best start - Blade is pretty awesome. with public domain

Best End - fight club. when the buildings fall and the pixies start playing

 

[Jeyl]

TOP GUN

Ok, this opening is so epic that the studio actually fired the director for shooting it the way it appears. Thankfully, they re-hired him... three times...

 

[brandomack]

I always enjoyed the opening to Meet the Parents

"show me an man, who's tender and kind, and I will show you a loser..."

"look at that boy, sitting on the moon"

 

[superDrool]

I liked that, but honestly, I think the remake of "Dawn of the Dead" was better. It started off so normal, with only a hint or two of trouble, and then came down to the world falling apart and people being a threat to each other more than the undead were initially. Then followed up with the title sequence with more scenes of chaos and the world falling apart with a song by the Man in Black, "When the Man Comes around..."

The Thing, Conan the Barbarian, Superman, Zombieland, Star Wars, and X-Men 1-2, Flash Gordon, Seven, ANY animated sequences are all great examples, but this one for a deep seeded reason, will resonate as memorable for my lifetime. Zack Snyder's choice for the opening title song, was dead on, pun sort of intended.

You guys are definitely mixing up "opening sequence" with "title sequence."
The Superman title sequence has the titles SOARING at you with the WHOOSH. The title sequence of a movie is just that, the TITLE of the movie and the credits presented in a creative way. The James Bond movies have some of the most famous title sequences of all time.

What a lot of you are describing are PRE-TITLE sequences. To use James Bond, again, as an example, the remake of Casino Royale has a great pre-titles sequence with Bond cornering a villain and flashing back to how he killed the villain's partner in a brutal mens room fight to the death.

Then Bond shoots the guy and you begin the TITLE sequence with the cool animation of men falling... shattering as they hit the ground... the theme song playing, while the names of the actors flash across the screen.

Hope that description helps.

Very valid, but not sure it matters at this point.


Still...Keaton was a better Batman/Wayne than Clooney or Kilmer = true statement.

 

[Samhain2000]

Zombie Land

 

[samwise]

hmmm would have to make a top five i reckon:

1) Pulp fiction, love the dialogue in the opening scene especially from Tim Roth. "one minute your eating a denver omelette the next someones sticking a gun in your face"

2) Dark knight , the whole bank robbery sequence is genius and the reveal of the jokers face is so edgy.

3) Superman , mainly for the music which makes the hairs on my neck stand up

4) Jaws, again for the music and the mystical nature of it coupled with not being able to see anything and it all being mysterious

5) Casino Royale, love the chase at the start its a great sequence and brilliant the way it involves the crane and the suspense is killer.

 

[Supa troop]

i actually thought the opening sequence in Meet Joe Black is pretty cool

After Brad Pitt sits in the breakfast shop chatting to the Dr they leave to go their seperate ways, you think as they are walking away from each other one of them will run back but then BAM Brad pitt gets totalled by a Truck or something .............. i really wasnt expecting that from an opening scene of a Chick Flick

 

[DARTH SABER]

Just watched the Dawn of the Dead remake recently, and I think it has one of the best title sequences I've seen in awhile.
Aside from the openning prologue, which manages to build tension and hook the audience in a span of 10 minutes, the title sequence with the news footage and Johnny Cash's "when the man comes around" was just perfect.
The line in the song "the hairs on your arms will stand up" is an understatement.


I also thought Watchmen was good, but but flawed...however the openning scene with the slow-mo fight scene while Nat King Cole's "unforgettable" playing in the background was great.
Snyder may not have a stellar record with films but he knows how to choose unlikely songs that seem to work for scenes.