favorite part of any movie - first ten minutes...

[kid a]

except, maybe, BAttlefield Earth

What are some GREAT opening minutes??

[qnr]

1. The first 10 minutes of Quest For Fire really sets things up well n/t

[_testify_]

2. Saving Private Ryan

Braveheart
Casino
Friday
Ghostbusters

[Broken_Hero]

19. I agree with SPR,

Braveheart, and Ghostbusters...fantastic beginings...another mention, I would throw up would be Blazing Saddles, Pulp Fiction, Kill Bill vol. I...

on edit:spelling

[ohiosmith]

3. Raiders of the Lost Ark

[_testify_]

4. ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooh

Good call! :thumbsup:

[elfrangel]

7. I love that movie!

:headbang: :thumbsup:

[billyskank]

5. The first ten minutes of Trainspotting

Set a very different tone - light hearted and comical - to the rest of film, which is somewhat dark with only a little comedy.

[livetohike]

6. Contact - especially the opening shot

I love that movie :-).

[begin_within]

23. Great movie - that opening alone is worth the whole price of admission.

I don't know why that movie was ignored by most of the awards for that year. I thought it was far better than "Titanic," while "Titanic" won 11 Oscars, Contact won zero, and only one nomination (for sound). Should have won for cinematography, though it was also the same year as "Kundun," which was also deserving of an Oscar for cinematography. But "Titanic" flattened them all when it came time for the voting.

[livetohike]

24. It seems like Sci-Fi movies, while favorites with the public

don't do well at the Oscars. I read the book "Contact" after seeing the movie. It was a great story line and was handled well in the movie, I thought.

Absolutely beautiful cinematography, that's for sure :-).

[Bossy Monkey]

8. "Raising Arizona" n/t

[MrCoffee]

10. i second that emotion

good call.

[SeattleGirl]

9. "Chicago"

Especially the back and forth between Zeta Jones singing in the club, and Zellweger and her boyfriend.

[tigereye]

11. Harold and Maude

[malmapus]

12. Gladiator

That battle where the Romans sub-due the Germanic tribes. Still love that quote Crowe said about "if you find yourself in the field of tall grass, do not fear because you are already dead and in Elyssia(sp?)."

[taterguy]

13. Uh, Dick, can I borrow your bass?

Tom Smothers reaction to Pete Townsend smashing his guitar in the opening of The Kids Are Alright.

[Lautremont]

14. Touch of Evil,

and of course The Player.

[Taverner]

15. Cheech and Chong "Up in Smoke"

Only to be seconded by "Super Troopers"

Crying laughing in both

[Drum]

16. Any Bond movie.

Seemed like a convention with them, didn't it? Long explosive first scene, followed by those slinky opening credits.

My fave would be in the opening minutes of "GoldenEye" where Pierce Brosnan rides a motorcycle off a cliff and then free-falls into an airplane which he uses to make his escape. Pretty exhilarating stuff.

Next fave would be a spoof on the Bond Movie Opening Scene convention: The beginning of one of the Austin Powers movies (2nd or 3rd?) Very very funny.

:)

[Mz Pip]

17. Star Wars

That giant battleship just blew me away. It was a long time ago in a galaxy far far away but I still remember it. :smoke:

Mz Pip
:dem:

[datasuspect]

18. harvey keitel - "bad lieutenant"

drops kids off at catholic school after telling them to stop being "pussies" and slams a few lines up his nose in the midst of morning school drop off activity.

in an unmarked police unit.

[idgiehkt]

20. Survivors,

where Robin williams get's fired by a parrot and then accidently blows up a gas station.

[Monkey see Monkey Do]

21. Dead or Alive

The Miike Takashi one that is, not the upcoming video game adaptation. Here's the first five in all their NSFW (nudity, violence & insane drug use) glory:
http://video.google.co.uk/videoplay?docid=2101280494280913131

Also The Player with its awesome self-referential & setting up the entire film tracking shot. (& here YouTube delivers! - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANWY6w-S4JQ )

[begin_within]

22. I did a poll on this exact topic here a couple of months ago. Here it is:

My personal choice would be a tie between "Au Hasard, Balthazar," showing the kids playing with, feeding and baptizing their pet donkey, and the opening scene of "Contact," which starts at the Earth and moves backwards through the universe and backwards in time. But the opening shot of "Touch of Evil" is considered one of the greatest. Here is the list I compiled of movies with great opening scenes or shots:

Aguirre, The Wrath of God
Alive
Apocalypse Now
Au Hasard, Balthazar
Blue Velvet
Broken Blossoms
Cliffhanger
Contact
Diva
Eraserhead
Goldfinger
Goldmember
Ice Age
Jaws
Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back
Magnolia
Memento
Monsters, Inc.
Much Ado About Nothing
Once Upon A Time In The West
Patton
Raging Bull
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Rebel Without A Cause
Reservoir Dogs
Saving Private Ryan
Star Wars
Super Troopers
Suspiria
Swordfish
The Butterfly Effect
The Incredible Shrinking Woman
The Killers
The Matrix
The Searchers
The Sound of Music
Tomorrow Never Dies
Top Gun
Touch of Evil
Trainspotting
Un Chien Andalou
X2
1941
2001: A Space Odyssey