Twitter poll going on.
Jaws seems the heavy favorite.
My sentimental choice is The Sound of Music. Iconic.
Aguirre the Wrath of God (1972)
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=l-jLqRnHYXE
Scream (1996)
The Ring (2002)
The Funhouse (1981) is another I really like. Homages both Halloween & Psycho. With posters referencing numerous Universal Monster films. Also contains nudity!
Not a fanboy here, but...
The first Star Wars opening was really, really cool...
Watching the opening minutes turned me into a superfan for life. The Star Destroyer was endless on the huge screen and the new Dolby stereo sound made the laser blasts appear to be firing across the theater.
Honorary mention: First Indiana Jones movie.
I agree with both.
We just watched Raiders again for the hundredth time and the opening scenes score and jungle sound effects are beyond compare.
Both start in the middle of the action, like old serial movies, which was a great idea.
I'll add the original West Side Story.
I love the original West Side Story, but this opening scene is better IMO
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HVEqy6K18Yo
That's a good opening, too. I've only watched the beginning and end scenes of that movie.
shareThe spaceship was cool, but I remember the excitement just from the opening "A long time ago..." and John Williams
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iXDnFYu91vY
Yes, yes, yes!!!!! I was including the opening credits! I was floored by them. Then, a ship flew across the screen with an endlessly larger one giving chase. I heard gasps around me because the Star Destroyer filled the screen for a long time. The lazer blasts' sounds came from the right side of the theater and traveled to the left side. I became a fan at that moment while silently cursing the moronic critics for not recognizing something historic and innovative.
The credits, ship and Dolby stereo sound together were shocking at the time.
I must have listened to the music for hundreds of hours because it's in the video games and I'm still not sick of it.
I think Shogun called it with 007 openers. The best is View to a Kill skiing opener. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_44MTHVlAw4
shareTHE SNOWBOARD!
Also, in Moonraker, hijacking the Space Shuttle off of the 747
And you get Duran Duran in the theme! 💯👍💯👍
shareI hated "Dracula" with Gary Oldman but the opening was pretty exciting.
shareDeath Proof (2007)
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=d_thqwQZszk
I love the old school cam on the dashboard scenes, for some reason it really built tension and the old jazzy scores certainly helped.
shareAll those 70’s genre films definitely got it right. I love the bold fonts in yellow or red that were in the beginning of this movies too.
Another good example:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ZcaIssBh0FQ&t=14s
I remembered another of my favorite openings. Barbarella (1968)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GCHvbwlGdtQ
The Warriors (1979) is still one of my favorites
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nsgtl6MF8RU
Great opening score👍
Then you get ‘In The City’ by Joe Walsh to end the story when the surviving Warriors get back home to Coney Island after punching their way across town.
There’s a lot of great music in The Warriors but what I mostly remember is beer bottles clinking together…’Warriors, come out and play!’
Make a top ten exploitation action list and The Warriors just has to have a spot in there.