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A good opening scene is a necessity if you want the rest of the movie to be good, for obvious reasons. You could technically win someone over after a messy opening, but it would be hard, and the only real examples are when the messiness is intentional in a way that makes sense once more of the movie has played out (think One Cut of the Dead, which has an extended opening sequence that feels amateurish, but then the rest of the movie makes clear why it felt that way, and then that whole stretch of the film works in hindsight).
So, examples of flawed openings to great movies are rare, if outright non-existent. But in the interest of trying to find some potentially unique angle regarding opening scenes, what about some that are pretty great, if not perfect? This whole intro hasn’t been very good, truth be told, but that’s spiritually in line with the topic and whatever. Some of these movies are good, if a little flawed, like their openings, and some of these movies get better after a strong – but not flawless – opening sequence.
10
‘Titanic’ (1997)
Titanic starts off low-key, but it’s got the time and space to do so, since this is a long movie, to say the least. The prologue here is therefore also pretty drawn-out, involving an exploration of the wreck of the titular ship, with a discovery within (or lack thereof) getting the explorers in touch with an elderly woman who was, more than 80 years earlier, on board the ship during its one and only voyage.
There’s an additional reason to care about the inevitable disaster, and some exposition here that helps once the main chunk of the movie’s playing out. How much time spent on the framing device here and the stuff in the present day feels a little confusing early on (and maybe James Cameron showcases a little more underwater footage than he needs to, but the man does love his underwater stuff), but this part of Titanic is eventually important… albeit not quite as memorable as either the love story or the sequences that show the disaster itself.
9
‘Dawn of the Dead’ (1978)
Of the first three zombie movies George A. Romero directed, Dawn of the Dead is the most fun, and the least bleak. There’s a somber quality to much of the relatively quiet Night of the Living Dead, while Day of the Dead is claustrophobic and also has a post-apocalyptic feel, but Dawn of the Dead is almost like a hangout movie, for a good chunk of its runtime. A slice-of-life movie about life during a zombie outbreak.
Four people hide out in a shopping mall for much of the film, which is bookended by two huge sequences: one with society going to hell and starting to collapse, and then one about the safe haven that was the mall starting to collapse. The ending is a little stronger, in terms of showcasing zombie-related carnage and mayhem, with the opening throwing you into things almost too forcefully. At least it feels that way, at first, but you can appreciate why Dawn of the Dead does that initially once the dust, to some extent, settles.
8
‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ (2015)
The best Star Wars trilogy remains the original one, and it’ll probably always be that way, but the less loved sequel trilogy does some things right, only really collapsing (like, well and truly) with The Rise of Skywalker. The Force Awakens was the first of the new/post-George Lucas Star Wars movies, and as a re-introduction to the whole franchise and its world, it’s honestly pretty good.
It was directed by J.J. Abrams, and he does have a reputation for starting things better than he ends them (though criticizing him for Lost’s ending is silly, because he wasn’t involved with that show much after season 1, and also, the Lost ending was honestly good). Anyway, The Force Awakens does a good job at making the First Order feel like a genuine threat straight away, albeit maybe too effectively, since they’re considerably less intimidating in pretty much every subsequent scene/movie. But Kylo Ren does make an impression, as does Poe, even if you could also criticize some of the humor jammed into this otherwise dark/intense opening sequence.
7
‘Uncut Gems’ (2019)
There is an opening scene to Uncut Gems which is far removed from the rest of the film, but does establish where a narrative-important black opal comes from, before getting a bit psychedelic (this doesn’t happen again until the very end). The opening also extends to the action that takes place in New York City, with the chaotic tone of the movie being established in a brutally effective way.
Put simply, Uncut Gems is a bit much when it starts, because it feels particularly loud, frantic, and incomprehensible, as opposed to the rest of the movie, which is also all those things, but in a good/thrilling way. For this kind of film, though, maybe the start of it had to feel a little like being thrown into the deep end of a pool without any flotation device. The drowning sensation, it could be argued, is just part of the overall experience.
6
‘Magnolia’ (1999)
There is an undeniable confidence to the way Magnolia begins and ends, and lots of the stuff in between those two points too, sure. The ending boldly has something big and kind of wild happen that does finally draw all the different characters together, since there’s a massive event that affects them all, but the beginning of the movie is something else entirely, since it’s a series of vignettes about coincidence, fate, and tragedy.
It does a phenomenal job at setting the mood for Magnolia, and letting you know you’re in for something a bit offbeat, even if it’s relentless and then you get a bit overwhelmed by the point at which various actual prominent characters are introduced, with those introductions also being relentless. It’s maximalist and messy, and it doesn’t feel like the ideal way to start a movie (even an admittedly messy/extravagant one), yet, again, that could all be the point. Ribbit.
5
‘Gangs of New York’ (2002)
It’s a Martin Scorsese gangster movie set in New York, sure, but a little different from what you might expect, since Gangs of New York goes back in time about a century and a half. There’s a fearsome gangster who runs a surprising amount of the area, and a young man who wants to kill said gangster because when he was a boy, that man killed his father.
For what it’s worth, the rest of the film (including the way it ends) is also pretty great.
So, Gangs of New York is about revenge, and then it’s also about lots of other things and general chaos, lawlessness, and violence. You get that established pretty early on, owing to the memorably brutal opening battle scene (it’s almost big enough to feel like a battle), which is stylistically a little at odds with much of the rest of the film, thanks to some jarring creative/editing decisions, but it at least makes a big impression. For what it’s worth, the rest of the film (including the way it ends) is also pretty great, and Gangs of New York feels more than a bit over-hated at times.
4
‘The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!’ (1988)
To say something like “uh there are other scenes in the first Naked Gun movie that are funnier than the opening scene” is a weird and pretty much pointless thing to say, but that’s what’s being said here. It’s more a testament to how good the rest of the movie is, though, because Frank Drebin eventually revealing himself to a meeting filled with America’s greatest enemies (purportedly, and at the time) before beating them all up is great.
It gets funnier once the rest of the movie starts, because the opening scene has pretty much nothing to do with the rest of The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!, and, generally speaking, with this kind of parody movie, the most absurd things get, the better. It’s also a good way to parody an exaggeration of the stakes you’d expect when a TV show gets a movie, as that’s what happened with the short-lived series Police Squad! being taken to the big screen with The Naked Gun movies.
3
‘Reservoir Dogs’ (1992)
This one’s an easy example. Reservoir Dogs gets off to a great start, with the dialogue being funny and clever, and various characters establishing themselves pretty well, even if they’re talking about largely inconsequential things. It’s a very confidently written and put-together scene, so Quentin Tarantino can be commended for that, as the writer/director… but then he’s also one of the actors in the scene.
And he gives himself a lot of dialogue here, and he does stick out as inferior to the other actors. Beyond the first couple of minutes of Reservoir Dogs, he’s really not in it that much, but… well, it’s not a bad first impression, since this scene is iconic. It’s just that it could’ve been a perfect first impression if there had been a slightly better actor ranting about Madonna’s “Like a Virgin” and some other things right as the film starts.
2
‘Drive’ (2011)
Since there is driving early on in Drive, the opening gets the job done by default. Oh, hey, the opening is also about someone having to do a job, and they do it well. The job involves driving. There is a guy known only as Driver, like, in the credits and everything, and he drives well, getting some criminals away from the scene of the heist they’ve just pulled off.
It’s probably the most exciting part of Drive, and there is only one other big driving-related action scene later on, so that’s potentially misleading. But if you know you’re in for something that’s more about mood and style than action and a genuinely complex story, then that’s all good. The vibes matter more, and the opening set piece establishes such vibes pretty darn well.
1
‘La La Land’ (2016)
The ambition of La La Land’s opening sequence can be admired, and there are things about it that are spectacular and unique. It takes place on a highway congested with traffic, and it does not look like the sort of thing that was easy to film, even before taking into account the fact it was done in one take (or if there are cuts, they’re undeniably well hidden).
There are lots of extras, a distinct setting, and the song itself (“Another Day of Sun”) is memorable/catchy, but there are issues with how some of it looks and bits of the choreography, or lack thereof. There’s a video here that breaks it down/critiques it quite effectively, though watching it if you’re a fan of La La Land is a bit like hearing someone tell you how a magician pulled off all their tricks (and, further, suggesting how maybe the magician could’ve done those tricks better).
https://static0.colliderimages.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/drive-2011-1.jpg?w=1600&h=900&fit=crop
https://collider.com/opening-scenes-almost-perfect/
Jeremy Urquhart
Almontather Rassoul
