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One formula for a great film is having a great opening scene, it doesn’t guarantee that the movie will be great, but it helps to start out with a good first impression. The goal with doing this is to grab the audience’s attention and keeping them invested for the whole film. Many great directors have done this, from greats like Stanley Kubrick, Steven Spielberg to stylish directors like Quentin Tarantino. This opening Scene “tactic” is not limited to just one genre of film, opening scene’s can be seen in horror, action, dramas to even animated films like 1994’s The Lion King, which had a powerful opening scene! When thinking of great opening scene’s many movie’s come to mind like, Jaws, Star Trek (2009), Inglorious Basterds, A Clock Work Orange and Jurassic Park. Horror movie “The Shining” (1980) has one of the creepiest opening scene’s which it accomplishes with just an aerial view of a car as it follows it thru a lonely mountain landscape with opera music playing (very creepy opera music). One of my favorite opening scene’s has to be the opening of “From Dusk Till Dawn” (1996), directed by Robert Rodriguez! Now say what you want about the rest of the movie but this opening scene was so intense and just plain fun! It all takes place in a shoddy little liquor store as the Gecko brothers (George Clooney/Quentin Tarantino) hideout as they try to cross the border for they are wanted fugitives on the run. Unsuspecting Texas Ranger Earl McGraw (Michael Parks) walks into the liquor store and the opening scene begins! Liquor store clerk Pete Bottoms (John Hawkes) should have won an Oscar for his performance in this scene! Now the last act of the movie turns into a painful horror comedy that I was just not expecting! Had it stayed with its serious tone this might have been one great movie. Unfortunately it turned into a over the top horror satire, completely different from the first half of the film. Ending of the movie aside, watch this movie for its opening scene alone, or at least until they arrive to the “Titty Twister” and see Santanico Pandemonium (Salma Hayek) perform her show. So what great opening scene’s do you like? Is there one opening scene that really grabbed your attention with its powerful first impression? Feel free to let me know which ones I missed and until then,

“See You At The Movies”