The opening scene of any film is an important aspect that will let you know if you're in good hands. It is up to the filmmaker to grab you from the beginning, so you know you are about to experience a well-made movie. Depending on the genre, there are many ways to carry out an opening scene. You can make it exciting and action-packed right from the get-go or use dialogue to establish your characters from the start. There are several ways to open a film, but no matter what, it is essential that the opening scene is captivating to the audience.
Aaron Sorkin showed us in The Social Network that you can create an opening scene strictly through dialogue. It takes a good writer to make the dialogue as exciting as the action, but Sorkin does it easily. Films such as The Lion King and West Side Story use music and visuals to grab the audience's attention, while a horror film may show a murder or some violence to kick off the film. No matter what genre, a good filmmaker will know how to start a film, so the audience knows they are about to be on a satisfying cinematic ride. Here are the greatest opening movie scenes, ranked.
Updated April 22, 2023: To keep the article fresh and relevant by adding more entries, this article has been updated by Danilo Raúl.
20 Casino (1995)
Martin Scorsese's Casino has one of the most impactful openings ever. It all begins with Sam "Ace" Rothstein (played by Robert De Niro), who's sharing an inner monologue discussing love and trust as he walks to his car. When he flips the key, the car explodes in the parking lot, and we see him fall into the darkness against the shining lights of Las Vegas at the tune of Matthau's Passion, performed by The Chicago Symphony Orchestra.
The camera immediately pans over the Las Vegas Strip, and we get to see the glitz and glamour of the casinos shine against the backdrop of the city's dark underbelly. It's a gritty reminder we are about to see a story about greed, corruption, and betrayal.
19 Batman (1989)
The opening scene of Tim Burton's Batman carries a lot of tension-building in just a few minutes. The film begins with the camera panning over Gotham City's skyline while a low-tuned portion of a song by Prince plays in the background. A family is lost adrift in Gotham's concrete jungle, and they turn wrong into a deserted alley. A beggar asks for a dollar, but he's setting the family for a robbery. A gunman hits the father and strips him of his belongings. While the muggers share the loot, they comment on the existence of Batman just to be surprised from above by the caped crusader. It's a scary first appearance that would set the gothic, dark tone of the film.
18 A History of Violence (2005)
The opening scene of A History of Violence works like a slow burn to unsuspecting filmgoers by setting up the film's themes of identity and violence. Tom Stall, as played by Viggo Mortensen, is the cook and server of a diner. He welcomes two gentlemen with less than noble intentions. Tom deals with them calmly and quickly when they reveal themselves as robbers.
The robbers don't seem willing to defuse the situation, so Tom dispatches both criminals fast and hard, demonstrating experience with firearms and tactical training. It's an impactful scene, full of Cronenberg's trademarks, such as gore and violence. It also establishes the mystery around Tom's past and the tension that drives the rest of the film.
17 Scream (1996)
Scream wanted to be a different scary movie from the start. And it shows from its opening scene, as Casey Becker (Drew Barrymore) receives a taunting call asking her about scary movies. What at the start looks like a prank, gets weirder and scarier, as the caller keeps getting more and more sinister, personal, and menacing, until the blonde and her boyfriend get killed in gruesome ways.
Craven’s direction, Williamson's self-referential script, and the killing of the character performed by the most famous actress in the cast showed that Scream was a different kind of scary movie. The franchise has had many killings since then, but you never forget your first. Special kudos to Barrymore for asking to be Casey, as Kevin Williamson told Vulture: “I really just want to play the opening scene. That’s my favorite part of the movie.”
16 Up (2009)
Motion Pictures
Up’s opening scene tells a complete story in a few minutes—Carl and Ellie’s story. It’s a love story, full of tenderness and a sad ending. Boy meets girl, they fall in love, get married, learn they can’t have children, grow old together while planning to travel to the dream destination, and then she gets ill and dies before they can.
It’s charming, romantic, cute, sad, and it’s devastating. In seven minutes, Up shows us a story that could’ve been a whole movie (and a good one) to give us context for one of the two protagonists in the movie.
15 Touch of Evil (1958)
A bomb is placed in a car near the Mexican-American border. The audience is the only ones who know. We follow the car with the bomb and how close it is to our leads, Mike and Susan Vargas (Charlton Heston and Janet Leigh). It follows an incredible tracking shot, while creating tension with its tick-tock-tick-tock until it explodes, without hurting our heroes.
Orson Welles was a pioneer, and the tracking shot in the opening scene of Touch of Evil is just another example. Back then, tracking shots were very uncommon. Both as a cinematic idea and a mechanical one, as they had to create some new tools, so the camera could follow the shot Welles had in mind.
14 Drive (2011)
Nicolas Winding Refn's thrilling crime drama, Drive, starts the film off on the right note with an epic car chase. We meet our main character known as The Driver (Ryan Gosling) calmly waiting for two thieves who have just carried out a robbery. The clock is ticking, and when they arrive, The Driver escapes the scene of the crime, while avoiding the police with his masterful driving. It is an adrenaline-pumping scene that perfectly establishes the tone and the main character of the film.
13 The Lion King (1994)
Disney's The Lion King opens up in epic fashion as we soar through the African land witnessing the many creatures of the animal kingdom. It is a vibrant, colorful scene featuring some of the best Disney animations ever. At the same time, Circle Of Life is a brilliant song that creates feelings of excitement. We meet the king of the jungle, Mufasa, and his son Simba is shown off to the animal kingdom right before we see the opening title card. With this start, it was obvious that The Lion King would become one of the best Disney movies.
12 The Dark Knight (2008)
Christopher Nolan is a master of his craft and created one of the best opening scenes of any superhero film in The Dark Knight. The heist, carried out by a gang of men in clown masks, is riveting and suspenseful. Throughout the heist, many of the characters discuss their mysterious boss named Joker, creating a great build-up for the movie's villain. By the end, we learn that Joker is one of the men working the heist, and we are shown the brilliance of the criminal mastermind.
11 The Matrix (1999)
The opening scene from The Matrix is iconic and shows us some of the coolest stunts ever on-screen. Trinity (Carrie-Ann Moss) is on the run from the police, but we find out that she can actually defy gravity as she runs up walls and jumps from building to building. The stunt choreography is brilliant and intense, and the entire scene perfectly sets the movie's tone. It was life-changing, as only the best films ever could be, creating a new cinematic language still being used today.
10 There Will Be Blood (2007)
The opening scene from Paul Thomas Anderson's There Will Be Blood is a perfect example of how to set up a character. What is even more amazing is that Anderson sets up Daniel Plainview (Daniel Day-Lewis in one of his best performances ever) with no dialogue. We watch as Plainview strikes oil, but is injured while doing so, forcing him to crawl miles through the desert to retrieve his money. It perfectly shows you how ruthless Plainview is, and that he would do anything it takes for success.
9 Inglourious Basterds (2009)
Quentin Tarantino's epic WWII film Inglourious Basterds gives us a great example of using dialogue to set up a movie and establish an antagonist. The scene is mostly the dialogue between Hans Landa (Christoph Waltz) and Perrier LaPadite (Denis Menochet) as Landa interrogates him about a missing Jewish family. We soon find out that the family is underneath LaPadite's floorboards creating sheer suspense. Landa is a terrifying character who is brilliant at interrogation. It is a solid, well-acted scene and some of the best dialogue ever written.
8 The Social Network (2007)
Aaron Sorkin proved once again that he is a master of dialogue with the screenplay for The Social Network. The film starts with Mark (Jesse Eisenberg) and Erica (Rooney Mara) having beers in a Harvard bar. The scene rises in intensity as the conversation continues, showing us that a good writer can make an exciting scene with just two characters talking. The two actors' performances are top-notch and the conflict written into the scene keeps you on the edge of your seat. As Fincher told TimeOut: “The first scene in a movie should teach the audience how to watch it.” And this one does it spectacularly.
7 The Godfather (1972)
The opening of The Godfather shows us a man desperately asking Don Corleone (Marlon Brando) for help on the day of Corleone’s daughter's wedding. It is an iconic scene featuring one of Brando's greatest performances of all time. The use of light and shadow creates a beautiful sequence, and the dialogue is so iconic that many of the lines are still quoted to this day. It is the perfect introduction to Don Corleone and the story of The Godfather.
6 Zack Snyder's Justice League (2021)
The opening scene of Zack Snyder's Justice League picks up where Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice left off. Superman being killed off by Doomsday's bone protrusions make him scream to levels that resonate across the planet. It's a decisive, impactful moment that gets expanded on in the first five minutes of the film. The aftermath of this death cry was the activation of all Motherboxes as they all begin to call out to Steppenwolf, who arrives on Earth with an army of Parademons to take over the unprotected planet. The scene is excellent for setting up the importance of Superman as a force for good and how his death and absence affect the planet.
5 Gravity (2013)
Another masterpiece by Alfonso Cuarón, Gravity, begins with an extended shot of Earth from space. As the camera moves closer, we hear a string of transmissions between astronauts working outside a spacecraft. With no warning, debris from a Russian satellite destroys their shuttle, and Dr. Ryan Stone (played by Sandra Bullock) is sent spinning into space as Matt Kowalski (George Clooney) tries to get a hold of her. The scene quickly establishes the high stakes at risk and the sense of isolation that will plague Bullock for most of the movie's duration.
4 Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)
Avengers: Age of Ultron needs more recognition for being the only film in the series to have the team working as a single unit. It also has an absolute banger opening, with all six original Avengers making short work of a HYDRA battalion in Eastern Europe. The scene is choreographed as a thrilling action set piece showcasing the powers of each Avenger. It's a significant lead to the movie's central conflict, as Tony Stark is made to deal with the mental hubris that leads him to create the villainous Ultron, who James Spader masterfully plays.
3 Vertigo (1958)
One of the many masterpieces by Alfred Hitchcock, Vertigo opens with a fast-paced rooftop chase as detective John "Scottie" Ferguson (played by James Stewart) is chasing a criminal across the San Francisco skyline with a policeman. The scene establishes Scottie's fear of heights and foreshadows the plot's central mystery.
The scene also showcases Alfred Hitchcock's technical virtuosity. He uses inventive camera angles, matte paintings, and editing to create a sense of depth and desperation in the viewer for the falling policeman and the stunned Ferguson. For 1958 standards, it's a highly impactful opening playing on a common fear for most audiences.
2 Jaws (1975)
Steven Spielberg created an opening scene in Jaws that made several people afraid to swim in the ocean. The scene follows a doomed young woman and her boyfriend as they get ready to jump into the ocean on a Summer night. Only the young woman gets in, and a great white shark attacks her. Although we don't see the shark, the music and her screams as she's being eaten alive make it one of the most terrifying opening scenes ever.
1 Saving Private Ryan (1998)
The opening scene of Saving Private Ryan is quite possibly the most realistic depiction of a war battle in cinematic history. We watch American troops storm Omaha Beach during the Normandy invasion leading to a blood-filled battle that can be hard to watch sometimes. The sound and violent images of war shows are intense and make you feel like you are watching the battle. Spielberg completely recreated the battle and gave us the most iconic opening scene in film history, in one of the best World War II movies ever made.