Movies with Unforgettable Opening Scenes: The Very Best
If you want to experience the absolute pinnacle of opening scene craft, this watch list represents the very best films in hooking audiences from frame one. Sergio Leone's memorable Western opener in The Good, the Bad and the Ugly establishes his signature style instantly, while Spielberg delivers pure adventure with the Raiders temple sequence.
From Dusk Till Dawn introduces its main characters with a bang, Scream will forever scare us with Drew Barrymore's shocking phone call, and The Matrix bends reality itself with Trinity's gravity-defying escape. Tarantino's farmhouse interrogation in Inglourious Basterds creates unbearable tension through dialogue alone, Drive demonstrates that a minimalist getaway can be more thrilling than any explosive spectacle, and Blade Runner 2049 proves that sequels can match and even exceed their predecessors in visual poetry.
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The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
Three unlikely allies—a quiet loner, a ruthless hitman, and a Mexican bandit—compete and collaborate in their quest to find a buried fortune of $200,000 in gold during the American Civil War.
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Archaeologist Indiana Jones races against the Nazis to find the legendary Ark of the Covenant in this thrilling adventure classic.
From Dusk Till Dawn
Two criminal brothers on the run take a family hostage and seek refuge at a remote Mexican bar, only to discover they've stumbled into a vampire nest.
Scream
A teenage girl and her friends are stalked by a masked killer who uses horror movie tropes as part of a deadly game, one year after her mother's murder.
The Matrix
A computer hacker discovers that reality as he knows it is actually a simulated world controlled by machines, and joins a rebellion to free humanity from this digital prison.
Inglourious Basterds
In Nazi-occupied France during World War II, a group of Jewish-American soldiers known as "The Basterds" wage a brutal guerrilla campaign against the Third Reich. Their mission intersects with a French-Jewish theater owner's own plans for revenge in this alternate history war film.
Drive
A skilled Hollywood stuntman who moonlights as a getaway driver becomes entangled in a dangerous heist when he tries to help his neighbor and her family. When the job goes wrong, he must protect them from vengeful criminals while navigating the violent underworld of Los Angeles.
Blade Runner 2049
Thirty years after the original film, a new blade runner discovers a dangerous secret that could destabilize society and leads him on a quest to find the missing Rick Deckard.
Related Film Series
28 Days Later
A post-apocalyptic horror trilogy following different survivors across nearly three decades of a rage virus outbreak that devastated Britain.
A Quiet Place
A post-apocalyptic horror series about survivors navigating a world where deadly creatures hunt by sound, forcing humanity to live in complete silence.
Blade Runner
A philosophical sci-fi duology exploring humanity and artificial intelligence through the story of blade runners hunting replicants in dystopian Los Angeles.
Dollars Trilogy
Sergio Leone's iconic Western trilogy featuring Clint Eastwood as the Man with No Name.
Indiana Jones
The iconic adventure series following archaeologist Indiana Jones on his globe-trotting quests for ancient artifacts.
It
The Losers Club faces off against Pennywise, a shape-shifting entity that terrorizes the town of Derry every 27 years.
James Bond
The longest-running film franchise in cinema history, following the adventures of British secret agent 007 across six decades and six different actors.
Once Upon a Time
Sergio Leone's thematic trilogy exploring American mythology through three epic films spanning different historical periods, from the Old West to Prohibition-era New York.
Romero's Living Dead
George A. Romero's groundbreaking zombie saga, featuring classic horror films and several reboots.
Scream
A meta-horror franchise following Sidney Prescott and others as they face various Ghostface killers, known for its self-aware commentary on slasher film tropes.
The Matrix
A groundbreaking sci-fi action series exploring the nature of reality through the story of Neo, a hacker who discovers the world is a computer simulation.
Other Film Series
Ana de Armas
Cuban-born actress who transitioned from Spanish television to become a Hollywood star through acclaimed performances in Blade Runner 2049, Knives Out, and Blonde.
Michael Mann
A collection of standalone crime thrillers and character studies from the acclaimed director known for his distinctive visual style and procedural authenticity.
Noomi Rapace
Swedish actress known for intense, transformative performances across international cinema.
Sylvester Stallone
An actor, writer, and director who became one of Hollywood's biggest action stars through iconic roles as Rocky Balboa and John Rambo.
The Joker
A collection of major live-action Joker portrayals across different Batman film universes.
The Punisher
Three completely separate reboot films featuring Frank Castle's vigilante crusade, each with different actors, settings, and interpretations of the character.