In this Ritalin addled age (No Cruise-O) of short attention spans and instant gratification, the first 2 minutes or so of a film can really make or break it. What I'd like to do here is discuss movies that go above and beyond the call of duty when it comes to the opening credit sequences. The ones that really hit the ground running, that don't waste a nanosecond of their time or ours. This isn't really a "Best of" list, nor are there any specific criteria I want to adhere to. Just share your favorite opening credit sequences and say a little bit about what makes them so good.

Off the top of my head, in no particular order...

North By Northwest - It's one of the oldest cliches in moviedom- the opening credits accompanied by the city skyline sequence. What made North by Northwest so fresh is the way the two elements worked together. This idea was sort of updated for the opening of Panic Room (a movie that went rapidly downhill after the opening credits)

Rear Window - This one is just a lot of fun. I know "Vertigo" is probably the Hitchcock favorite, but I'll get to Mr. Bass a little bit later. I've always dug this one for it's sort of loose narrative, each window telling its own little story.

Spider Man 2 - A nice score accompanied by beautiful Alex Ross artwork not only provided eye candy, but also served as a pictorial guide to what happened in the last movie. I'm surprised more sequels don't take a similar approach.

Catch Me if You Can - A nice little animated opening that almost serves as a mini-movie in and of itself. Kind of a throwback/tribute to The Man with the Golden Arm, or just Saul Bass in general. Okay, you know what- Scratch this one, and let's just say everything Saul Bass has ever done. Cool? Cool.

Everything Saul Bass has ever done - Pure genius. One of my graphic design idols.

Trainspotting - I might be confusing opening credits with opening scenes on this one... Well whatever it was, it was high energy and incredibly dope. Uh, no pun intended.

Raging Bull- Just plain gorgeous, really.

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind - Nothing particularly special about these credits, except for the fact that they come so late in the movie, to the point where you had already forgotten there were even supposed to be credits. See, because the movie is about forgetting. Get it?

Superman III - Say what you will about this movie (You'd probably be wrong, but say what you will anyway), this is one of the greatest opening sequences ever to be captured on film. Brilliant choreography.

I actually don't even love those credits as much as everyone else, but I took some graphic design classes and those came up on numerous occasions.

Also, I remember being delighted by the opening credits to Monsters Inc. although I honestly don't remember a lot about them.

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I check for: Serengeti, Zeroh, Open Mike Eagle, Jeremiah Jae, Moka Only.

But I always dug the typography of the logo, and I seem to remember the credits coming up in my Graphic Design courses as well...

credits written in mustard and ketchup with tots and pencils and eraser...

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My affinity for this flick may have dwindled, but that's still a great sequence.

has a similar sequence but sadly its the best thing about the movie

Starts off with Jason Schwartzman cursing to himself in his head.

The infamous "You rock, Rock!" poem.

The office hallway maze was awesome.

Yep.

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And a Jon Brion score never hurts.

>And a Jon Brion score never hurts.
>


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V.

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that great shot of the Wonder Wheel when the music kicks in, then we get look at all the tough scary gangs. like the mime gang, or the gang with top hats, or the gang with suspenders and roller skates...

Snatch - Great begining following Benicio Del Toro and his crew through the security monitors as the make their way through the diamond vault dressed as Hasidim. Then a great sequence introducing each character.

Panic Room - Interesting take on the city skyline credit sequence. What can I say? I'm a sucker for computer generated titles.

Mississipi Burning - Say what you will about the movie, but the credits rolling over a church buring down was ill.

12 Monkeys - I always liked the spiraling red monkeys effect. Good music as well.

Leaving Las Vegas - Great in the same way that Eternal Sunshine was great. The movie spends so much time settng up that you forget there's supposed to be a credits sequence.

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the shawshank redemption (i love how they let you know just enough right off the bat, with the music, that shit is about to get fucked up, then the court scene right into that cello ridden music entering the prison, so much happens in like 2 minutes setting up the best movie ever made.)

bad santa (puking next to the title)

slc punk (beating up rednecks)

rocky 4

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"I *always* quote myself. I'm the only reliable source on *most* subjects" - OKP's First Lady of Knowledge, Janey

...Amadeus ("Mozart! I killed you!", then Salieri being carried off to the loony bin, all the while hearing Mozart being played inside all of the houses on his way there.)

...Goodfellas (Just cuz the whole movie kinda seems like the opening sequence. It starts with a bang and never, not once, slows down.)

...Raging Bull (Co-sign on this. The definition of cinema at it's most beautiful.)

...Do the Right Thing (Little Rosie Perez doing the angriest fly-girl moves ever.)

...Jackie Brown (Pam Grier slowly walking through the airport...then running to catch her plane.)

...Miller's Crossing (This movie can do no wrong. Giovanni Casparo and Leo fighting, Tom telling Leo that Giovanni's right, and the credits in the woods, which turns out to be Tom's dream.)

...Touch of Evil (I know, I know, it's the obvious and most cliched choice, but I love this movie and still think the opening is fun as hell to watch.

...Cool Hand Luke (The first thing you see: a big red 'VIOLATION'. And the time it takes to realize just what the hell he's doing.)

...Once Upon A Time In The West (Waiting for the train, waiting to kill Charles Bronson. Then he finally shows up. HA!)

...Reservoir Dogs (I'll never forget the first time I saw this flick: 'Are these mean looking bad motherfuckers talking about Madonna?')

Especially Goodfellas, Miller's Crossing, and Raising Arizone. It used to be my ambition in life to memorize the entire opening sequence and be able to recite it in its entirety whenever I felt like it.

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>...Once Upon A Time In The West (Waiting for the train,
>waiting to kill Charles Bronson. Then he finally shows up.
>HA!)

I could watch that scene for an hour

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we watched the opening for that movie in a class 3-4 times and it never once failed to lose my interest. between the rhythmic squeaking of the windmill to the close-up's of the actors to the cinematography, its such a well constructed opening sequence.

Now there's a great opening number. A little singing, a little dancing, and I was blown away the first time I saw Kate Capshaw standing in FRONT of the movie's title graphic. Despite this being the most racist movie I've ever seen- with Ghostbusters 2 a close second (But that's a whole different post) I gotta give it up for that opener.

Love the handwriting style credits, along with the completely silly and irreverent juxtaposition of imagery and music. Never before has jet refueling looked so damn elegant-- or saucy!

>Never
>before has jet refueling looked so damn elegant-- or saucy!

yes and homoerotic

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every now and then.

so i was watching that movie in a theater (film forum) in the west village last year and this flaming gay guy couldn't stop laughing throughout the entire opening sequence with the 'refueling'. the whole scene was hilarious.

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Represent the city that I'm from- Dum diddy dum

One of my favorite aspects of this film is the great use of color, and this credit sequence suffers from no absence of color. And the whole music/women thing sets the stage pretty well for the conflicts we're about to see in the movie. Really kind of elegant.

>Catch Me if You Can - A nice little animated opening that
>almost serves as a mini-movie in and of itself.

This my answer before I even read the post. I enjoy the opening credits and the movie as a whole.

♥ ♥ ☺ ♥ ♥ ☺ ♥ ♥ ☺ ♥ ♥ ☺ ♥ ♥ ☺ ♥ ♥ ☺

great dylan song, plus bowlers of all shapes and sizes. my favorites are the huge black guy and the "effminiate" guy

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But I was having trouble deciding if that was just because it prefaces one of the greatest movies ever made. It's so difficult to be objective sometimes.

i'm also biased by the dylan song

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>great dylan song, plus bowlers of all shapes and sizes. my
>favorites are the huge black guy and the "effminiate" guy


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in fact, Spike's really good at opening credits when you think about it.

>in fact, Spike's really good at opening credits when you
>think about it.

I'm going through my mental list of dope credit sequences, and his name keeps popping up. Hoo-ray for Spike, then.

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Great score

PEACE.
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the kids are playing stickball just before being called in to dinner and the stylistics' "people make the world go round" is the score.

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http://stacialbrown.wordpress.com

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with the money burning. "Yo, that moneys burning!"

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The Crimson Rivers (credits were the only good thing about it)

25th Hour


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Video meliora proboque, deteriora sequor.

-- Ovid, from The Metamorphoses

"I see the better way and approve it, but I follow the worse way."

You can almost see it coming, but not really. You just know something's about to happen with the way things seem so static. And then the explosion. Robert DeNiro's flying body superimposed over the lights of LAs Vegas is kinda cool too.

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Belly (I expect to get dissed for this one)

Just the Soul II Soul song playing, the neon-glow contacts, the way the actor credits come on while they're on screen, and the way the shooting and the shot of the club manager falling to the ground is in tune with the bass drop. Hype built that motherfucker up solid. Too bad Nas can't act to save his life.
They could have ended it right there, and I wouldn't have been mad.

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one of his last title sequences.

has anyone ever seen the 1974 sci fi movie saul bass has directed called PHASE IV? i've been looking for years.


>let's just say everything Saul Bass has ever done. Cool?
>Cool.

Office Space - The Michael Bolton rapping in traffic scene

Fight Club - The CGI through the brain thing is kinda neat.

Mean Streets - It's no secret that Scorsese loves his city and Phil Spector songs. Gotta love the authenticity and rawness of this home video styled intro.

American Splendor - Could just be the comic head in me, but I think this was an innovative idea and a brilliant execution. I imagine it was a bit of a no-brainer to say "let's make the opening credits look like a comic book", but the way they pulled it off was well thought out and it looked awesome.

Especially how the opening credits tell you pretty much what the movie's about.... btw, this guy I work with has this theory on how Fight Club (both the book and the movie) is actually a tale of one man's struggle to accept his homosexuality...
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The Chicken Chase, the closeups, vibrant colours, voice-over setting it all up, then the panoramic 360 degree camera taking it back to when he was a little boy.. really nice

Mortui Vivos Docent

...But then my stove caught on fire, which was a bit distracting, and I haven't gotten around to finishing the REST of the movie. So I didn't feel right discussing the opening credits of a movie I haven't seen.

Don't worry- when I do finally get around to watching it, I promise I'll make a new post about it right here in PTP!!!!

>Don't worry- when I do finally get around to watching it, I
>promise I'll make a new post about it right here in PTP!!!!

lmao

Mortui Vivos Docent

as a movie ... I dunno, but it had a great opening credits sequence.

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who are you









really

You know, we could all be reading a book right now.

Jeunet is usually pretty nice with his, too

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http://saulbass.net

The new one that is. With the Johnny Cash song and the news footage.
They had an article in Wired about the guy who did it and his production company. He does a lot of movie trailers as well.