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A great trip down memory lane.

Perfect for a Friday.

Will probably spent all weekend reflecting :-)

What an incredible compilation – just perfect for a fiday! Thank you!

Thanks for this nice article !
I really love the intro of Lord of War, even the music is so nicely choosen !

P.S: the embed of Fight Club has been disabled :/

Nice idea for creating topic… Good work!!

i’ll go with Alien, American Psycho, Catch Me If You Can & Eurotrip… I also have few thoughts in mind & i’ll keep them for my own use.. LOL

Thankz anyways.
DKumar M.
http://www.instantshift.com

Nice list, similar to the ones on Art of the Title Sequence, most of which are available in HD and all are much higher quality that youtube!

Go to this site for more opening credits: http://www.artofthetitle.com/

On a related tangent, the closing sequences of 300 and Ratatouille are epic. Great list though! I was pleasantly surprised to see more than just recent films.

Forgot Lemony Snicket’s : A Series of Unfortunate Events. (probably not spelled right)

What about “To Kill A Mockingbird”? It’s a beautiful and haunting sequence that perfectly captures the wonders, and fears, of childhood.

Awesome post!

Absolutely never a completely list without The Kingdom.

http://www.artofthetitle.com/media/film/2007/kingdom.mov

Dexter isn’t a movie but Tv series but i think it has amazing opening. Lord of war is pretty awesome.

One of my favorites is “Grand Prix”, a black screen with the sound of a Ferrari V12 cranking over, catching on a few cylinders, then the throttle is cracked a few times as the camera slowly pulls back and the subtle gray flecks congeal into wisps of smoke and the circular edges of the exhaust pipe slowly come into view…of course, when it came out I was building and racing formula cars, which may have influenced my perceptions!

What a great way to start my Friday.

Thanks for the post, and the blast down memory lane…..

And the Halloween one totally deserves a spot, glad you put it up!

Awesome! :D

How isthe kite runner not on this list?

Great post, however I feel that there is one opening sequence that should be listed. Stranger Than Fiction is an amazing open sequence that has to be up there with the greats.

No mention of Wes Andersen. Rushmore, Royal Tenenbaums, Bottle Rocket.

The Island Of Dr Moreau should be on that list:

info: http://www.artofthetitle.com/2008/04/10/the-island-of-dr-moreau-1996/

video: http://www.artofthetitle.com/media/film/1996/moreau.mov

Echoing: #13

There are other really amazing closing sequences as well, my votes go to WALL-E and A Series of Unfortunate Events. I’m sure there are many others that I can’t recall.

At least two of these, Se7en and Fight Club, were done by Imaginary Forces. They’ve done a LOT of cool and memorable title sequences over the years. http://www.imaginaryforces.com/

And there’s a lot of fine opening work in anime, too. Satoshi Kon’s Paranoia Agent has always been one of my favorites: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8HChqhHVuU

I agree with Harrison, Mad Man must be in there….it’s fantastic.
http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/pages/Mad-man/39722686171?ref=s

You forgot CONTACT …. Great opener.

Agreed, Dave beat me to it. CONTACT has got to be one of the most profound, awe inspiring openings ever. Nothing else comes close in terms of true reality.

I am shocked Forrest Gump did not make it? The feather shot was the first thing that came to my mind! :)

se7en – Perfect to choose Trent for the opening. Definitely sets the mood.

The very long opening to Hatari w/ John Wayne,

Trailer: http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi3528458265/

j.

I love title sequences! The Big Lebowski had a great one that you missed tho :(

“Touch of Evil” by Orson Wells should top this list. Done in one take. Check it out.

Load Of War is one of my fav movies and it has the best intro of all times. hands down

Oh! And not to mention the opening sequence for Viva La Muerte.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bVGPoaGhRyE
Awesome.

What a wonderful post! Thank you for sharing so many great title sequences, I’ve seen quite a few of them but they never get old. I just went through this whole list and watched every one! I was ecstatic to see that “Live and Let Die” and “To Kill A Mockingbird” made the list. Thanks again for sharing. :)

Many good ones listed, but there is no better Bond intro than Goldfinger.

Romeo + Juliet by Baz Luhrman!
HOLY! HOW WAS THAT MISSED?!

A Series of Unfortunate Events

Kick ass opening sequence (and closing titles!) but an … unfortunate movie.

Great post! Pllease try also this one. It’s a little bit old (1968) but a real classic of french movies opening sequences: http://www.imvite.com/video/Faut-Pas-Prendre-les-Enfants-du-Bon-Dieu/t/7711427

How can you mention these and forget about
“The Jackal”

Nice collection…But have you seen the opening of Quantum of Solace?
It is amazing!!!

Stranger than Fiction for me, awesome!

Very nice list.

I think that Nightmare before Christmas should have made the list too, it sets the perfect tone to the entire movie.

where is 300 movie ??

Magnolia! One of the most crazy stories in the opening sequence.

I’m surprised that Strange Days is missing, if not for it’s “uncut” style (though there are a couple cuts, they’re practically invisible).

Great post… What about 4 weddings and a funeral…Marvellous opening

Dead Man on Campus: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ISumffBZMcI

this is the lateral thing, awesome collection’s,

+1 for “Touch of the Devil” This scene is so famous I don’t see how you could miss it. Oh, yes, it’s old… black and white. Time of the Pyramides

ex-drummer is missing. unforgettable opening where time is running ackwards and the credits are on street signs, door signs, thrown away newspapers, bicycles etc.(no computer animation).

After more than 3 years of using firefox, finaly I must say FIREFOX SUCKS!!!
I know that this is not place for that… sorry

I had the opening scene of “Enduring Love” in mind; and, after seeing it again on Youtube I still think it should be on this list: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7svF0D7u-Es

You may also take a look to http://www.artofthetitle.com/

Irreversible is missing…

The Panic room title reminds me of the floating text used in Fringe (tv series).

As soon as I saw the title to this article though I thought, I bet they have included Eurotrip, even though the film sucks. Someone should be pretty proud of themselves for making a title sequence better than the movie itself.

I would also mention The Incredibles ending credits. Very nice animation and style.

@jurica:
Upgrade to FF3. That’s a known FF2 bug that never got fixed.

what no Grease?

Charade does not only have a great opening sequence. It is one of the greatest movies of all time!
Scentsy Wickless Candles

my fav is of the “Dark Knight”. :)

great intros

Alot of them are saul bass influenced

A couple things, first, it’s kind of freaking me out that someone with the same name said the same thing I was going to. NIN for Se7en’s intro was a perfect combination. It’s a remix of Closer if anyone was curious. It’s on “Closer To God” which is Halo 9. S
Second, I agree you should do tv series intros and that Dexter should be at the very top. The only problem with that one is he shaves, and then has a scruffy beard upon exiting his apartment. I can forgive this due to the hours of viewing enjoyment that show has brought me.

what about the matrix trilogy :-(

Interesting clips. Some great sequences. I’m kind of disappointed that the openning to ‘Seconds wasn’t in there though…

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=v-VI6kxyV3w

Curly Sue , sould defitnately be on here. – the beginning is reallllyyyy cute (:

You’ll put something crappy like Catch Me If You Can, but no love for Full Metal Jacket?

Once Upon a Time in the West is the greatest title sequence in movie history. For shame, sinner!

RAISING ARIZONA

Although Srgio Leone was represented (the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly), I would submit Once Apon a Time in the West for consideration.

Very nice list.

One is missing, though: Le Mépris (The Contempt), JL Godard. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVgfYNJFKoo
Unique, breathtaking while minimalistic.

Apocalypse Now Great Intro

Um, Lost in Translation, anyone?

umm…juno, anyone?

Ed Wood would have been a good choice. Remember the names on the headstones, etc…?

Swordfish is still my number 1…!

The Mallrats intro is inexplicably absent from this list! Hehehe…

how can superbad make it into that batch?

Wow! What a great collection. I was so lucky to stumble on it. The life of a bullet alone is worth millions! Have you looked at the opening of Heavenly Creatures? It’s interesting but I am not sure it is in the same league as these others. Thanks for the efforts!

Anybody for “Outbreak”, or, the intense titles of “The Untouchables”?

i knew dexter would get a lot of comments, it is pure brilliance. but i had not realised before that it was so close to the american psycho sequence!! this doesn’t matter. the execution is ten times better.

thanks smashing.

Great list, I really enjoyed watching these :)

Excellent article.
It could have been a nice detail enumerate the people involved in development of each title sequence. Not just for the record and the credit by itself but also as information and personal archives.

Being picky, one 007 in the classic list? – but there are two…

Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang is one of my faves, but as this is ‘unforgettable’ openings, sad to see Contact not in there, and the opening to Star Wars (IV) is one of the defining moments in film history esp. including the sound.

I may be dating myself but how about “The Hunger”? Bauhaus, David Bowie & Catherine Deneuve…

Or “Streets of Fire”? Walter Hill’s ode to neon, wet streets and cool cars.

My absolute favorite movie opening sequence is “Brokeback Mountain.” The combination of Wyoming landscape and hauntingly beautiful musical score is perfection!

THEICE said : “Kubrick’s The Shining……needs to be somewhere in this list.”

+1

The only one missing here is the remake of Dawn of the Dead from 2004.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdPWrAMXGGo

“Scream” and “Wimbleton” stick out in my mind as great open sequences

Where’s ‘Saving Private Ryan’? That should be on your list somewhere. Just like to say how useful this website is though…great help for my media work so thanks!!!

“The World According to Garp” should be included.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n1zR5p1xqhE

Vacancyhad a great typographic title sequence.

RockNRolla?

I don’t know if this was published before Watchmen came out, but it definitely deserves to be near the top of this list… The opening credits with Bob Dylan playing can’t be touched by many….

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My personal favorite are Lord of War and The Fall. :)