You know a movie is going to be good when it’s able to hook you in the first few minutes. MovieWeb put together a list of the 13 best opening scenes. Here they are, ranked:
1. “Saving Private Ryan”, 1998: American troops storm Omaha Beach during World War 2. It’s considered the most realistic depiction of a war battle in movie history.
2. “Jaws”, 1975: A woman is attacked by a great white shark. Even though you don’t see the shark, you hear her screams and John Williams’ iconic music.
3. “The Godfather”, 1972: A man asks Marlon Brando’s character for help on the day of his daughter’s wedding. Parts of the opening dialogue are still quoted, like “You come into my house on the day my daughter is to be married.”
4. “The Social Network”, 2010: It’s dialogue between Jesse Eisenberg and Rooney Mara over a few beers in a Harvard bar.
5. “Inglourious Basterds”, 2009: Another dialogue scene, but this time it’s a man being interrogated about a missing Jewish family . . . which is hiding underneath the man’s floorboards.
6. “There Will Be Blood”, 2007: There is no dialogue. But we see Daniel Day-Lewis’ character strike oil, get injured, and crawl for miles.
7. “The Matrix”, 1999: Carrie-Anne Moss as Trinity is on the run from the police.
8. “The Dark Knight”, 2008: A bunch of men in clown masks rob a bank. We later see the Joker is one of them.
9. “The Lion King”, 1994: It opens up with “The Circle of Life”. Simba is born and presented in front of all the animals in the kingdom.
10. “Drive”, 2011: A car chase where we meet Ryan Gosling’s character, who escapes the scene of a crime.
11. “Touch of Evil”, 1958: A time bomb is placed in the back of a car, and we spend a tense several minutes waiting to see when it’ll go off.
12. “Up”, 2009: Carl and Ellie’s love story from when they were kids to when they get old, and eventually, when Ellie dies, leaving Carl alone.
13. “Scream”, 1996: The shocking, early death of Drew Barrymore’s character.
