Ramzee
says:
Good
opening scenes are always overlooked. I don’t know why, though. Everyone is
always talking about the “twist ending” but few give the opening scene the
credit it deserves.
Opening
scenes get you excited for the rest of the film, it’s the moment when your mind
gets taken out of this reality and transported into the world of the movie
you’re watching. It’s the appetiser, the overture, the hors d’oeuvre (yes,
that’s how you spell it). It’s the first date that sets the tone for the
relationship, it’s the CV that gets you called in for an interview and when a
filmmaker does it well, it is nothing short of genius.
5. Scream
The
master of nightmares, Wes Craven (RIP), starts the chilly scene with a ringing
telephone. Drew Barrymore answers and the voice that speaks next instantly
makes its mark on pop culture.
4. Mulan
Surprised
by this one? Watch this movie again and pay careful attention to this scene. A
grappling hook thrown up onto the Great Wall and slowly gets dragged to the
edge. A patrolling soldier sees it and follows it. He looks over the edge and a
hundred more come up at him as the Huns attack. Lord Of The Rings doesn’t have
anything as slick as this. Then the big bad guy, Shan-Yu, steps into the frame
and, boom, cool villain moment! Every action movie cliché in the book and you
can’t help but love every second of it.
3. Memento
Fuck
it, I’ll just say it! Interstellar was a very average sci-fi flick!
Ok,
now that I’ve gotten that out of the way, if all you Christopher Nolan groupies
are done cursing me and have wiped yourselves after masturbating to the Dark
knight trilogy, please hear me out.
Nolan is good, no doubt, but he still hasn’t
been able to beat his only real masterpiece, MEMENTO.
There
are only 2 kinds of Christopher Nolan fans, those who know that Memento is his
best film and those who haven’t seen Memento yet.
The
opening scene of this film cannot be described in any way other than genius.
The scene is in reverse order. That’s right, it runs backwards and pretty much
gives away the ending of the film but is directed so beautifully that Nolan
manipulates the audience into trying to solve a mystery where there is none.
It’s like that American game show, Jeopardy, where they give you the answer and
you have to guess the question. The opening scene of Memento is the answer and
the question you have to figure out is “Who is Sammy Jankis” and “Why is it so
important to remember him?”
2. X-men
Here’s another one that seems out of place but this
one still haunts me and sends chills down my spine every time I watch it on
e-tv (They play it a lot).
A little boy is separated from his mother in a Nazi
concentration camp and as they drag the screaming child away, you see his power
revealed as he bends the steel gates with his mind. That’s when you realise the
boy is Magneto and suddenly you have a villain who you identify with as the
victim.
I must also add that I don’t think this scene would have made the list
had it not been for the excellent acting of that boy who I have not seen in
anything else since.
His name is Brett Morris (thanks IMDB).
1. Pulp
Fiction
Just
a normal conversation between two petty criminals in a diner.
Nothing
about this scene or the conversation drives the plot in any way. Tarantino
simply starts the film like this because it is so unbelievably fucking
entertaining to listen to and sets up the characters as average Joes who just
happen to be criminals.
They’re
just a normal couple with pet names for each other, unique views on life and
trying to make it in the big bad world, just like everyone else…until they
jumped onto that table, pulled their guns and made Tarantino fans of us all.
“I
love you, Pumpkin.”
“I
love you, Honey Bunny.”
“Everybody
cool, this is a robbery.”
“Any
of you fucking pricks move and I’ll execute every motherfucking last one of
you!”
The
Jillybean says:
5. Matrix
I
mean, who could ever forget the 1st time we saw Trinity… The first
few minutes you were thinking to yourself, “okay! This chick is quite bad ass”,
but then she did that jump-in-the-air-and-pause-in-a-kung-fu-pose thing before
kicking that guy all the way across the room. I knew right there and then that
this movie was going to be legendary.
4. Godfather
“Now
you come to me and you say -- "Don Corleone give me justice." -- But
you don't ask with respect. You don't offer friendship. You don't even think to
call me Godfather. Instead, you come into my house on the day my daughter is to
be married, and you uh ask me to do murder, for money. “
Need
I say more about this brilliant movie and portrayal by Marlon Brando
3. Bad Boys
“You
damn right it’s limited! No cup holder, no backseat, just a shiny dick with two
chairs in it. I guess we the balls just dragging the f*ck along.”
From
the music to that first shot of the Porsche 911’s wheel rolling at a fast speed
and of course, Jerry Bruckheimer’s name appearing on the credits, you know you
are in for a hell of a ride.
The part that really made this opening scene one
of my favourites is the constant banter and the back & forth between Martin
Lawrence and Will Smith.
2. Dark Knight Rises
Bane:
“Or perhaps he’s wondering why someone would shoot a man before throwing him
out of a plane”
CIA
Agent: “At least you can talk. Who are you?”
Bane:
“It doesn’t matter who we are, what matters is our plan. No one cared who I was
until I put on the mask.”
Although
this opening scene starts with a snippet of Jim Gordon’s speech, it does not
really get interesting until we get a glimpse of the masked mercenary. There is
no doubt in my mind that Tom Hardy delivered a 10/10 performance as Bane and it
was his intensity that made me sit up and realise that The Dark Knight Rises was not
going to be a disappointment.
1. Desparado
“And
in walks the biggest Mexican I have ever seen, Big as shit”
Who
could ever forget the opening scene to this movie that touched all action movie
fans in a very special place. Steve Buscemi delivers the story of the
Grimm Reaper like el mariachi like no one could have possibly done. Although it
is action galore and gore everywhere (thank you Quentin Tarantino), this story
is quite riveting and it keeps the audience, both in TV land and at the bar,
hanging on Steve’s every word. This was a brilliant way to introduce the main
character and the villain that is being hunted.
The
song that followed simply just sweetened the deal.
That is all.
Special
thanks to our guest Jillybean Olwam Magona.
Follow
him on twitter @olwam_
