The movie opening-credit sequence has become a lost art; so many movies today, especially action blockbusters, are content to plunge directly into the action and wait until the end to show you who made the film. Now, Screengrab has compiled a list, complete with YouTube clips, of the 12 best opening-credit sequences ever. It’s a good selection of these mini-movies that expertly sets the tone for the feature that follows. A lot of credit buffs’ favorites are here, including the ones for Scorsese’s Raging Bull, Peckinpah’s The Wild Bunch, and David Fincher’s Seven and Panic Room. Of course, you can’t talk about film credits without mentioning the genre’s master, Saul Bass, who revolutionized the opening credit sequence in the 1950s with his jazzy, fragmented-animation segments for such movies as The Man With the Golden Arm and Anatomy of a Murder. (Which gives me an excuse to embed this clip, which has been making the rounds this week, of what the Star Wars credits would have looked like had Bass designed them.)
Your turn, PopWatchers: What’s your favorite opening-credit sequence in a movie? Bonus points for providing clip URLs where your fellow readers can watch.
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The one that most immediately comes to mind is Fight Club. Absolutely jarring, it perfectly set the tone for the movie.
Also, the rest of the movie was kinda lame, and I can’t remember if this was a true opening-credits sequence, but I thought the opening of the movie Contact (1997, with Jodie Foster) was fantastic.
In recent memory, Casino Royale comes to mind (except for that awful song…) and the Catch me if you can cartoon!!
The best I’ve ever seen is the opening sequence from Lord of War. Amazing!
Thank You For Not Smoking.
If you’ve never seen “The Kingdom” (Jamie Foxx, Jennifer Garner), rent it just for the opening credits. Cool graphics, innovative credits, and a solid history lesson all in one. Seriously, I finally understood the Middle East oil crisis better after these 3 minutes than anything from CNN or the newspaper.
Next installment: best CLOSING credits, like how adorable is that song Ewan McGregor and Renee Zellweger sing at the end of “Down with Love”?
Mrs. Taylor is right about “The Kingdom”. In my opinion, the opening credits are actually better than the movie.
As for one of my favorites that didn’t make the list: how could they not include the opening credits to “Casino”?!
Their list included Goldfinger, which I think is a great choice but I think that any of the James Bond movies could have a place on the list. They always get me geared up for the film and are very iconic.
Also, very good calls by Catherine and LJ on “Catch me…” and “Lord of War”, respectively. Two of my faves from the last 10 years.
I agree with Lauren on Fight Club.
Then there’s Men in Black. Cool stuff.
“Dog Day Afternoon”, hands down. And the song, Elton John’s “Amoreena,” is haunting.
to Mrs. Taylor: THAK YOU! I love love love Down with Love, have thought that the closing credits SHOULD have been the opening credits. They are awesome and contain no spoilers. I have to nominate the original Halloween http://youtube.com/watch?v=vhcPs-cS1No as well as Grease – it perfectly encaptures the 70s-view-of-the-50s of the fim. http://youtube.com/watch?v=vXGcPYD-R-Y
The Austin Powers credits. Man, Mike Meyer’s new film is going to get a huge penalty for high-sticking.
I just love the original superman movie with Christopher Reeve and I actually loved the opening sequence of the most recent Superman movie with Brandon Routh. The John Williams music is so amazing and the space visuals in both movies are mesmerizing.
I can’t believe the list did not include (and no one else has mentioned) CHARIOTS OF FIRE. The beach, the surf, the mist, the runners, and oh yeah, that classic score by Vangelis!
I’m a fan of the Dawn of the Dead remake with the Johnny Cash song.
I would say James Bond does the best credits sequences. “Goldeneye” is one of my favorites, with all kinds of former Soviet images being taken down by scantilly clad hotties. The Tina Turner theme song is a thunderous bonus. Couldn’t find the sequence, so the Goldeneye video’s attached:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1054842102298885371&q=%22Goldeneye%22&pr=goog-sl
Four Rooms also had a great credits sequence, with an animated Tim Roth escaping various plots while Combustible Edison scats along.
http://www.gofish.com/player.gfp?gfid=30-1160653
But by far my favorite has got to be the fast paced credits sequence that opens “The Warriors”:
http://video.yahoo.com/watch/87811/1525632
Snatch. The Rundown.
Tune In Tomorrow (They were spoken as part of a radio broadcast in a movie about 1950’s radio.)
I absolutely LOVED the opening credits for “Catch Me if You Can.” It was so much fun to watch and it completely matched the tone of the movie. It was light and the animation was great. I hearkened back to the ’50s opening creadits. A++
Cece, completely agree with Catch Me if You Can – that’s what I immediately thought of when I saw the headline of this Popwatch. I am a big fan of delayed credits, like when the movie starts with a scene that gets up immersed in the story, but then the credits begin. Examples: Lion, Witch & Wardrobe, Leaving Las Vegas, Dead Poets Society.
As for Bond, the recent Casino Royale credits were BADASS.
Maybe it shows I’m a bit cheesy, but I like the opening credits to “My best friends wedding” with those girls dancing and singing to Dusty Springfield’s song. Very cute.
Superman The Movie: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1qHDWdGPomw
I’m with Danny — The first thing that popped into my head was the remake “Dawn of the Dead” remake. Love it!
I’m a big fan of the ‘My Best Friend’s Wedding’ opening number, too. It’s a beautiful example of irony, with the bride clearly in on the joke, and it makes me laugh every time.
An unfortunately compressed version (to fit the small screen) can be found at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJ-MVAzdUK4
I loved Catch Me If You Can, but my personal favorite has to be the opening sequence of Monsters, Inc. (Check it out here: youtube.com/watch?v=hff329Wi0P0). Awesome animation with fantastic scoring by Randy Newman.
Superman Returns is pretty awesome too:
What about Napoleon Dynamite? All the names written on the food, and chapstick?!
I second the credits to “Monsters, Inc.” So startlingly suave for what looked like a fuzzy-plush-kiddie movie. which of course, like all the other pixar movies, it was not.
It’s not a good movie but the credits sequence for the remake of The Hills Have Eyes was great. Colorful clips of a happy 1950’s housewife playing with all of her new, fashionable kitchen appliances intercut with images of mushroom clouds. The song playing over the images creates a very chilling sequence. Also good is the beginning of Death Proof…not a true credit sequence independent of the movie, but it is filmed to be a scence in and of itself and it does tell it’s own story.
Wow! A lot of these are high-brow. The first thing I thought of was the intro to Austin Powers 2, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVNCVDlANTs. Shows where I rank as a movie connoisseur.
I know this isn’t a movie intro per se, but I have always been partial to the HBO Band of Brothers intro. The haunting music plays in stark contrast to the gritty scenes of war. The overall effect is to make you fall in love with these guys and really become invested in their fates. The men are steely and quietly determined, joyous, heartbroken, and moved by their brotherhood – and so am I! That the intro segues directly into commentary by the actual survivors is a bonus. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFsB4IuvP7o