Best Opening Credits ever?

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BOB1
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Best Opening Credits ever?

Post by BOB1 »

First, if this should be posted somewhere else (not T.P. section but Hap's Diner or whatever), moderators please moderate me.

Next, I like opening credits. I don't appreciate the modern tendency in films to have no opening to the film and instead give all the credits (including the film's title) at the end. OK, it obviously worked in Apocalypse Now, but exceptions prove the rules, don't they?...

So, to the point - I was thinking, is there any better film opening with opening credits than that lovely bird and lazy river of Twin Peaks, accompanied by the music that so many say was crucial to their initial fascination with the series? It's so simple, isn't it? Taken how weird and how technically complicated some of the openings are, the simplicity of Twin Peaks is striking. Yet it works - perfectly.

OK, but what could beat Lynch and Frost in this aspect? (by the way, do you know which one of them was behind these opening credtis?) I hope it's not a shame for anyone here to admit that there is anything in the world that we dare to like more than Twin Peaks. I mean - if this anything really exists ;)

Below comes my list:

10. Lord of the Rings - it's not really opening credits, just the title of the film. But I love these bronze (golden?) letters as they emerge from the dark with the beautiful music, forged like the three rings... Beautiful.

9. Rocky Horror Picture Show - a bit different from Tolkien, well ;) But letters, too! Can't help loving this trashy blood dripping from everywhere! There you go!

8. Cowboy Bebop - it's actually the music that makes it... I might not even like these images without the music. But as it is - GREAT!

7. Vertigo - a smasher!

6. Edward Scissorhands - a marvellous opening to a marvellous movie!

5. Hair - now that's an amazing thing. You know the film, brightly coloured, flower power, wild, dynamic and so on. Yet the very beginning - completely opposite! A bus stop in the middle of nowhere, a road, a fence, greyness... two guys saying goodbye in a way which is all but wild and dynamic. It is filmed simply BRILLIANT and what atmosphere, wow. I like Hair as it is but this beginning is what I truly love about American cinema of the 70s. These shots would do very well in Scarecrow, for instance! (can't find a link, sorry)

4. Starwars - sorry for being obvious but that's how I feel it, what can you do? :D

3. A Fistful of Dollars - and the others, too, by Sergio Leone, but let's take this as it was first. Bang, bang! Absolutely love both the visual of it and the sounds...

2. so there comes the lazy river... :) Twin Peaks

1. But here is my total favourite. It's quite different from all the rest, too, because the opening credits are interwined with actual scenes. And it all makes a whole which for me is pure perfection. The rest of the film may feel somewhat awkward or even pretensious. I could say something against all other films that Peter Greenaway made afterwards, too. But this opening is by far one of the best pieces of filmmaking I have ever been lucky to see!

The Draughtsman's Contract
warning: it's ten minutes long!
recommendation: do watch it!! :)
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herofix
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Re: Best Opening Credits ever?

Post by herofix »

Maybe 4 or 5 times a year I will go onto YouTube and look up the opening credits of Tarantino's Jackie Brown. Maybe it is my obvious tastes, but it must mean something that I return to it again and again.

I heard someone recently saying that the opening credits to Twin Peaks was their favourite ever "short film". It is the best opening credits I've ever seen, and I don't think I've ever, even once, skipped it.
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BOB1
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Re: Best Opening Credits ever?

Post by BOB1 »

herofix wrote:I don't think I've ever, even once, skipped it.
Neither have I. At least not that I remember!

Jackie Brown I still haven't watched, though I bought a dvd in a street market many many years ago. Well, I'll remember not to be late for the opening, thank you!
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LostInTheMovies
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Re: Best Opening Credits ever?

Post by LostInTheMovies »

BOB1 wrote:First, if this should be posted somewhere else (not T.P. section but Hap's Diner or whatever), moderators please moderate me.

Next, I like opening credits. I don't appreciate the modern tendency in films to have no opening to the film and instead give all the credits (including the film's title) at the end. OK, it obviously worked in Apocalypse Now, but exceptions prove the rules, don't they?...

So, to the point - I was thinking, is there any better film opening with opening credits than that lovely bird and lazy river of Twin Peaks, accompanied by the music that so many say was crucial to their initial fascination with the series? It's so simple, isn't it? Taken how weird and how technically complicated some of the openings are, the simplicity of Twin Peaks is striking. Yet it works - perfectly.

OK, but what could beat Lynch and Frost in this aspect? (by the way, do you know which one of them was behind these opening credtis?) I hope it's not a shame for anyone here to admit that there is anything in the world that we dare to like more than Twin Peaks. I mean - if this anything really exists ;)

Below comes my list:

10. Lord of the Rings - it's not really opening credits, just the title of the film. But I love these bronze (golden?) letters as they emerge from the dark with the beautiful music, forged like the three rings... Beautiful.

9. Rocky Horror Picture Show - a bit different from Tolkien, well ;) But letters, too! Can't help loving this trashy blood dripping from everywhere! There you go!

8. Cowboy Bebop - it's actually the music that makes it... I might not even like these images without the music. But as it is - GREAT!

7. Vertigo - a smasher!

6. Edward Scissorhands - a marvellous opening to a marvellous movie!

5. Hair - now that's an amazing thing. You know the film, brightly coloured, flower power, wild, dynamic and so on. Yet the very beginning - completely opposite! A bus stop in the middle of nowhere, a road, a fence, greyness... two guys saying goodbye in a way which is all but wild and dynamic. It is filmed simply BRILLIANT and what atmosphere, wow. I like Hair as it is but this beginning is what I truly love about American cinema of the 70s. These shots would do very well in Scarecrow, for instance! (can't find a link, sorry)

4. Starwars - sorry for being obvious but that's how I feel it, what can you do? :D

3. A Fistful of Dollars - and the others, too, by Sergio Leone, but let's take this as it was first. Bang, bang! Absolutely love both the visual of it and the sounds...

2. so there comes the lazy river... :) Twin Peaks

1. But here is my total favourite. It's quite different from all the rest, too, because the opening credits are interwined with actual scenes. And it all makes a whole which for me is pure perfection. The rest of the film may feel somewhat awkward or even pretensious. I could say something against all other films that Peter Greenaway made afterwards, too. But this opening is by far one of the best pieces of filmmaking I have ever been lucky to see!

The Draughtsman's Contract
warning: it's ten minutes long!
recommendation: do watch it!! :)
Ah, Greenaway is brilliant! Great pick.

I love a good opening credits sequence. I'll have to think more about it later, but I think my #1 is Mean Streets, with Scorsese kicking in Be My Baby under 8mm home movies. Such verve...
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Auggeo
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Re: Best Opening Credits ever?

Post by Auggeo »

Nice thread. I dont believe i have ever seen a better intro than Twin Peaks. Its amazing, and whenever i hear it (even for the million time), i always get immersed.

Anyway, for tv series, i really enjoyed the macgyver intro. Looking back it is a bit cheesy, but the music and the action sequences were very exciting. I also liked the dexter opening.

As for films, maybe Ridley Scott´s Alien.
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hopesfall
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Re: Best Opening Credits ever?

Post by hopesfall »

Although it can't touch Twin Peaks' intro in any way, this remains one of my favourite introductions to a show ever. I knew i'd enjoy it before the first scene even happened.

Also, like TP, i've never once skipped it when watching episodes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ouTCtwNIYaQ
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Jasper
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Re: Best Opening Credits ever?

Post by Jasper »

hopesfall wrote:Although it can't touch Twin Peaks' intro in any way, this remains one of my favourite introductions to a show ever. I knew i'd enjoy it before the first scene even happened.

Also, like TP, i've never once skipped it when watching episodes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ouTCtwNIYaQ
That intro was for an episode directed by Tim Hunter, also. I think he did some of the best directing on Twin Peaks. I seem to remember Lynch complimenting him recently. Anyways, he's got an amazing imdb page. Aside from the film River's Edge, there's Twin Peaks, Mad Men, Carnivale, Deadwood, Dexter, Breaking Bad, and many more. I see he's directed two episodes of the upcoming Twin Peaks wannabe series Wayward Pines, and even as early as 1991 he was snagged (along with Harry Goaz) for the Twin Peaks-ish Eerie, Indiana.

My second-favorite intro for a TV drama (after Twin Peaks) is season one of True Detective.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FxXRkqXfhYM
I can't embed it because all of the decent versions on yt have protections to keep them from being played on other sites. Hopefully everybody's already seen it anyway. After all, David Lynch himself gave it his seal of approval.
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MoondogJR
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Re: Best Opening Credits ever?

Post by MoondogJR »

hopesfall wrote:Although it can't touch Twin Peaks' intro in any way, this remains one of my favourite introductions to a show ever. I knew i'd enjoy it before the first scene even happened.

Also, like TP, i've never once skipped it when watching episodes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ouTCtwNIYaQ
I agree! Love the opening credits and the series Carnivàle itself. I remember seeing the opening credits and thinking: this is going to be great! I was right :D
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Re: Best Opening Credits ever?

Post by Carl »

My fave Intro:
Film, Soylent Green (also brilliant closing credits.)
TV, Carnivale, Emmy winner, though the folks who made the opening sequence knew only that the show was set in the Dust Bowl and that it involved the Tarot.
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