10 Movies That Peak With Their Opening Scene

A great opening scene is an important part of many movies. Some of the greatest films in history have memorable openings, whether it's the Joker's heist in The Dark Knight, the iconic long take sequence in Children of Men, or Christoph Waltz's performance in Inglourious Basterds.

However, there are cases where a movie gets off to a strong start and then never quite reaches those highs again. Sometimes, the film goes way downhill and never gets good again, while in other cases, it can still be good, yet have peaked with its initial scene.

Fast & Furious (2009)

Despite its beloved nature, The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift seemed like the end of the series, since it featured none of the original cast members outside of a cameo. However, the series returned in 2009 with Fast & Furious.

This brought back the main cast and started with a bang. The opening scene sees Dom, Letty, Han, and others hijack fuel tankers in the Dominican Republic. It's filled with the great action the series is known for.

By the time it concludes, we learn that Letty has been murdered (though that ended up not being true), which changed the face of the franchise's return. Fast & Furious remains a solid entry, yet that opening is the highlight. The franchise didn't really take off until Fast Five.

Idiocracy (2006)

Idiocracy is one of those cases where the entire film is good, but that opening is the best part. The film starts by explaining that evolution doesn't reward intelligence.

It focuses on a well-educated couple who make the smart decision to wait to have children until their lives are in order. That fails for them, while a poorly educated man elsewhere impregnates several women and his family tree grows exponentially. Enough cases like this, and it doesn't bode well for the population.

The rest of the movie sees characters wake up in a future where the average intelligence has decreased heavily. All those scenes are fun and are a good commentary on anti-intellectual capitalism, yet it's hard to beat that opening scene.

Spectre (2015)

The James Bond franchise is one known for starting its movies with something big. More often than not, we watch as Bond wraps up a mission that sees his life in grave danger and he comes out looking cool at the end of it.

That's the case with Spectre, as the first scene follows Daniel Craig's James Bond in Mexico City. Director Sam Mendes uses a single take tracking shot to set things up and it looks gorgeous.

Once we see Bond leave a woman and coolly walk across a balcony, the action kicks in and it remains great. There are better Bond openings out there for sure, yet the fact that Spectre isn't all that well-received adds to the idea that it peaks in its opening.

Rocky V (1990)

Most people agree that Rocky V is the low point of the boxing franchise. The storyline regarding Tommy Gunn isn't all that engaging and the final fight, being a brawl in the streets, felt off.

However, Rocky V has a masterful opening scene. It picks up right after Rocky's triumphant win over Ivan Drago in Rocky IV. While that was an uplifting moment, this showed us the harsh reality.

Rocky is shivering and in pain, broken from the physical toll the fight took on him. Watching this tough guy be so broken as he talks to Adrian is gut-wrenching and plays into his line from Creed II about Drago breaking things in him that have never been fixed.

The Dark Knight Rises (2012)

The Dark Knight Rises had so much to live up to thanks to the high bar set by The Dark Knight. Since that film featured a great opening scene to introduce The Joker, this sequel did the same for its villain, Bane.

The film opens with an attack on a CIA plane that's led by Bane. The way the movie reveals Bane, his first lines delivered, and every moment of this scene set the tone for Bane being a terrifying antagonist.

The opening scene of The Dark Knight Rises is a big-budget way to start things and seeing how Bane sets up the explosion and escapes is truly captivating. The rest of the movie is good, yet has its issues, which is why it peaked at the beginning.

Mission: Impossible 2 (2000)

Like Fast and the Furious, Mission: Impossible is a franchise that took a bit to truly get going. After a strong first installment, the sequel was a disappointment and is widely regarded as the worst Mission: Impossible movie.

Of course, there are still good things about Mission: Impossible 2. The best part is the opening scene, which is an early look at the extravagant stunts that Tom Cruise is famous for.

We watch as Cruise's Ethan Hunt scales a mountain without any harness. Each step he takes or leap he makes is filled with intensity and intrigue. It's also well shot, yet nothing that comes after comes even remotely close.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009)

Most people agree that X-Men Origins: Wolverine isn't a good film. It's a lackluster prequel that features poorly done CGI, mishandled characters like Gambit and Deadpool, and upset fans everywhere.

However, one thing X-Men Origins: Wolverine got right was its opening sequence. Following our first look at a young Logan activating his mutant gene, we get a montage of Logan and his brother Victor.

The montage shows the two fighting over the decades in several wars and the way it's filmed really adds to the drama of it all. It also shows us how the wedge was driven between the two and sets them up as rivals going forward.

28 Weeks Later (2007)

28 Days Later has a great opening scene of its own, as do later sequels, yet it's hard to top 28 Weeks Later. The second entry starts by centering on Don and his wife, who are taking shelter during the virus outbreak.

Along with other survivors, they led a kid into their shelter only to learn that the infected followed him. Don flees, despite the words of his wife, who wants to stay and help the kid.

The scene shows Don getting chased by a horde and is as heartbreaking as it is terrifying. Part of the reason this is the film's high point is that it was one of the only bits shot by Danny Boyle, who helmed the first installment.

Thor: Love And Thunder (2023)

MCU fans everywhere were excited at the prospect of Thor: Love and Thunder. The previous film in the series injected new life into the character, Taika Waititi was a trusted director, and Natalie Portman's Jane was back.

The biggest news, though, was Christian Bale's casting as Gorr the God Butcher. A great comic book villain portrayed by a fantastic actor should've meant this would've been a special film.

Alas, Thor: Love and Thunder was too jokey and suffered from tonal issues. That said, the opening scene where Gorr's daughter dies and he learns that the gods don't care is captivating. Gorr vows to end all gods, killing one on the spot, and setting the stage for something that the film never lived up to.

Ghost Ship (2002)

A lot of the movies discussed here are at least pretty good, even if they never lived up to their opening scenes. Ghost Ship is an outlier because it received poor reviews from pretty much everyone.

The opening sequence is stellar, though. It depicts a large group of people dancing on a ship in 1962, capped by the captain dancing with a young girl who was lonely. Ultimately, a tight wire snaps and cuts through the crowd of dancers.

You're not sure what the damage is until we start to see that the cord cuts through everyone, splitting some people in half and killing everyone. The only survivor is the young girl, who was too short to be affected. The rest of the movie is pretty generic afterward.