First impressions are important, and the same is doubly true for a movie the audience is paying to watch. The beginning of a film has to perfectly convey a film’s genre, introduce the important characters and plot elements and, above all, keep the audience interested.
One way several films achieve this is by beginning with an action sequence. A well-executed fight scene or chase is a surefire way to grab the audience’s attention and keep it long enough for the film’s plot to truly begin. With so many films taking this approach, there are some that stand out above the others in their sheer quality as opening sequences.
10 Avengers: Infinity War Has Thanos Decimate Asgard And Crush The Hulk
Before the release of Avengers: Infinity War, Thanos had become something of a joke in the eyes of Marvel Cinematic Universe fans. This was primarily because he waited several films before declaring “I’ll do it myself” to begin his quest for the Infinity Stones. By the end of the very first scene of Infinity War, he wasn’t a joke anymore.
The scene opens on a distress signal from Statesman, before showing the Children of Thanos striding through a massacre. Over the next few minutes, Thanos coolly defeats Thor, kills Loki and Heimdall, and defeats the Hulk in a brutal one-on-one fight. A series of gripping scenes that fully establish the threat of Thanos, the opening to the film left audiences stunned.
9 X-Men Origins: Wolverine Disappoints After A History-Spanning Credits Sequence
After a short prelude on Wolverine’s childhood, X-Men Origins: Wolverine cuts to an engaging credits sequence, showing a montage of Logan and his brother, Victor, fighting through America’s wars. Cutting brilliantly between shots of them in the Civil War, First and Second World Wars, and Vietnam, the film establishes a hundred years of story and establishes the film’s central relationship.
The consensus is that the rest of the film fails to live up to the promise of its opening sequence. After three minutes of excellently-shot action, the rest of the movie involves a somewhat boring and confusing plot, with many unpopular story choices made. Viewers found themselves wishing they could watch a feature-length version of the opening sequence instead.
8 Baby Driver Opens On A Brilliantly-Shot Car Chase
Baby Driver establishes its premise, humor, and central gimmick in its first minutes. The opening scene depicts a bank robbery, but rather than focus on the crime itself, the shot stays on getaway driver Baby as he lip-syncs along to a song. When the rest of the crew return, Baby drives them away.
What follows is several minutes of a car chase with widely-praised cinematography, stunt driving, and direction. Although not Baby Driver’s best action sequence, it is a solid one that immediately showcases the movie’s tone.
7 No Time To Die Opens On An Ambush
No Time to Die, Daniel Craig’s final effort as James Bond, appears to open sedately, with Bond visiting Matera alongside his girlfriend, Madeleine Swann. However, when Bond visits the grave of old flame Vesper Lynd, a SPECTRE bomb explodes, and assassins come out of the woodwork.
The remainder of the scene is one of the longest chases ever seen in a Bond movie and the longest pre-credits sequence of any of them. It features a motorcycle chase — complete with an impressive jump — a car battle, and some emotional drama as Bond believes Madeleine to have betrayed him. Fans describe it as a strong opening that sets up a strong film.
6 The Fellowship Of The Ring Opens On A Climactic Battle
The Lord of the Rings trilogy makes no bones about its sheer scale within its opening moments. After showing the forging of the Rings of Power, the movie shows an epic battle along the slopes of Mount Doom with thousands on either side.
As well as introducing the key concepts of Middle-Earth, Sauron, the line of Isildur, the Rings of Power, the scene is agreed to simply be a delight to watch. With its scale, it could more than suffice for the climax of any other film, but a grand battle is simply the opening for the Lord of the Rings saga.
5 The Dark Knight’s Robbery Is Vicious And Clever
Rather than open on its titular character, The Dark Knight instead begins with a minutes-long bank robbery carried out by a group of criminals dressed as clowns. The scene is held up as a standout of the well-regarded series for a number of reasons.
Aside from simply being well-shot with engaging action, the scene also perfectly establishes the Joker as a cunning and dangerous villain. With a perfectly set up plan, the clowns gun each other down one by one until the Joker is the last one standing. With this scene, the film sets up Batman’s greatest foe yet.
4 Raiders Of The Lost Ark Provides An Iconic Moment Early On
Rather than use dialogue or exposition, much of the opening of Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark establishes the film’s tone, characters, and premise with action alone. Focusing on Indiana Jones recovering a golden idol, the scene establishes him as brave, capable, and clever as he bypasses traps, solves puzzles, and outruns the idol’s guardians.
In particular, the lengthy opening contains the well-known moment of Jones running away from a large boulder rolling after him. Even after creating the series’ best-known image, the opening also introduces the film’s villain by having Belloq take the idol after everything Jones has done to recover it.
3 Blade Opens Strong And Bloody
Before the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the Blade films were typically agreed to be some of the best cinema to have come out of Marvel comics. Even before cementing Wesley Snipes’ suitability for the role, the film opens strong with its now-iconic rave scene.
After vampires douse human ravers with blood and attack them, the film’s titular Daywalker appears on the scene brandishing a shotgun. The resulting action scene is visceral, well-choreographed, and even funny, setting the audience up perfectly for the sort of film Blade is.
2 Deadpool Cements Itself As Its Own Entity
There is no doubting that the X-Men films have their fair share of well-produced action, with plenty of creative and entertaining fight scenes. However, the franchise isn’t well-known for brutal melee fights or gun battles. Deadpool’s opening minutes show that it is an entity unto itself as it pulls both of them off perfectly.
Showing Deadpool attacking a convoy, the film opens on a fight scene that is funny, brutal, irreverent, and full of establishing character moments. Both in terms of its quality as an action sequence and its relevance to the film, the opening minutes of Deadpool are beloved by fans.
1 Saving Private Ryan’s Omaha Beach Sequence Has Never Been Topped
Saving Private Ryan remains one of the most well-received and widely-watched war movies in the history of cinema. Although its main plot focuses on a relatively smaller mission to retrieve a single soldier from the front lines, its opening sequence depicts one of the most brutal battles of the entire Second World War.
After an establishing shot of Ryan as an old man, the movie cuts to the very first landings at Omaha Beach on D-Day, with terrified soldiers charging straight into gunfire. The scene depicts war as something terrible and horrifying, but also very human, never losing sight of the individuals within the epic assault. It creates a haunting-yet-awesome image that stays with audiences long after the sequence is over.
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