I'm watching Once Upon A Time In The West. It's one of my favorite movies ever.

One of the things that makes me love this movie so much is the opening scene, where Jack Elam and Woody Strode are waiting for the train. There's barely any dialogue; it's a string of interrelated environmental sounds/events and the men's (nearly) slient reactions to them.

Then Charles Bronson blows them away.

What are some of your favorite film openings?

The first 30 minutes of Cheech y Chong's "Up In Smoke" is the funniest half of an hour of a film I have ever seen. Had the movie have ended at this point it would be the funniest film ever.

Sadly, it continues for another hour or so.

Rashomon, with the torrential rain and temple gate at the beginning.

It's like the rainiest rain ever.

And:

Bad Day at Black Rock: with the train coming through the desert, like some unstoppable, inevitable thing.

definitely the helicopter-assisted tracking shot of New York City at the beginning of Hackers, right when the beat of "Halcyon + On + On" kicks in.

Le Mepris: I need to watch it again, because I forget which scene comes first. There is the scene with Coutard filming on the rail to the mournful words and music. And there is the scene of Camille and Paul in bed, the naked Bardot splitting his love into different parts of her body.

Apocalypse Now: The first five minutes are the best, though I like the rest of the film.

okay, here's one for real -- it's a bit obvious but who cares -- Touch of Evil by Orson Welles. haven't seen it several years but i remember thinking, "That's one hell of an entrance."

not my favorite, but definitely an unrivaled opening scene.

the openning of "the hunt of red october" from mrs Mc Tiernan...brillant!!

MajorEverettMiller wrote:The first 30 minutes of Cheech y Chong's "Up In Smoke" is the funniest half of an hour of a film I have ever seen. Had the movie have ended at this point it would be the funniest film ever.

Sadly, it continues for another hour or so.

Strange Brew is the same for me. Still funny moments throughout, but before there's a plot and it's Bob and Doug with that apocalypse movie they made and them driving around it's A +.

Cranius wrote:And:

Bad Day at Black Rock: with the train coming through the desert, like some unstoppable, inevitable thing.

An awesome scene in an equally awesome movie. Thanks for reminding me of it.

My own favorite minutes of film: the scene in Westward The Women where, after Indians attack the wagon-train, the women stoically recite the names of the dead, as the camera cuts between shots of the terrified survivors, and recently murdered.

I would also like to say that this film is the greatest western I've ever seen (and I'm including the ouvre of Ford, Hawkes, Leone, et. al.) and possibly the most satisfying movie ever.

I have one well-worn copy on VHS that I taped from the television. I purchased another copy from Amazon, only to find that it had been fucking colorized.

As far as I know, it is not availible on DVD.