20 Movies That Peak With Opening Scene?

Austin Powers 3 had a really great funny, opening and then turned to crap when Mike Myers came on. —Travers 27

Bad horror movies can often be a lot fun. Sometimes they are best thing ever. I had such high hopes for the 2002 quasi-remake of Ghost Ship because it has, simply put, one of the most hilariously ghoulish open sequences ever. A faulty rigging; a loose cable; a dancefloor full of ritzy passengers swaying to the music. Let's just say, it's not the rug that's cut. The rest of the movie is a by-the-numbers yawn, but I still recommend it for a rental if only for its first 10 minutes. —jon

I actually love the crazy steal-gas-from-a-gas-truck-while-driving-backward-through-a-canyon opening sequence for Fast & Furious. (It was so cool, they pretty much just used part of it as the trailer for the film.) Nothing that came after was nearly as thrilling. —Aaron

2012. The beginning scenes that are all taking place in the few years before 2012 are perfect. The part in India, Thandie Newton in France, the scene with the Asian people being picked to build the ships. Those parts are mysterious and interesting because they are all leading up to the big 2012 event. But everything after that and when the event takes place bores me a little. —Marie

28 Weeks Later. I loved the opening scene in the countryside. The pacing, the camera work, everything about it was amazing to me. And then the actual movie began and I got more and more irritated by the plot. At the end I almost threw my empty box of Milk Duds at the screen. —Fanny

I nominate Breakfast at Tiffany's. Audrey Hepburn puts everything into that first minute when Holly Golightly actually has breakfast at Tiffany's — the elegance, whimsy, longing, loneliness, and New York iconography are all there. Then she gets saddled with cheesy hijinks, unfortunate stereotypes, and a completely uninteresting love interest. I'd rather watch the title sequence on loop. —M

The opening of Jeepers Creepers. I've seen the first 15 minutes dozens of times, and I've only finished it once. That was enough. —Greg

Predators. That scene of Adrien Brody trying to open his chute was INTENSE. The rest of the movie never lived up to that opening, in my opinion. —Shannon S

I honestly think the first 15 minutes of Watchmen is cinematic perfection. Too bad the rest of the film ruins it.—Kelsi

Melinda & Melinda. I thought the opening setup was brilliant, promising a classic Woody Allen study of the fine line between comedy and drama. Alas, it was simply a great bookend to a shrill, atypically dull Allen indulgence. —Trevor Burman

Music and Lyrics. The opening '80s music video for ''Pop Goes My Heart'' is brilliant. The rest of the film is terrible. —Kelly

Idiocracy. I love the opening that shows why stupid people keep breeding while the smart ones talk themselves out of having a kid. The rest of the movie was made for those who reproduce like crazy? —Shelby Coman

From Dusk Till Dawn. No question. Amazing opening scene that is inserted into an otherwise okay vampire flick. I once took a creative writing class, where in the first week we just wrote for 30 minutes and then the teacher took what we had and put it in the folder. At the end of the semester, he took out that assignment, passed it out, and made us finish the story. I feel like this is EXACTLY what they did here. They wrote an awesome scene, sat on it for 6 months, and then someone said, ''Lets make a vampire movie!'' —Monty

Snake Eyes. The only bad thing about that scene is Nicolas Cage's hair. And the rest of the movie is as bad as his hair. —Elaine Bennes

Josie and the Pussycats. The opening bit with the boy band Dujour was some of the funniest riffing ever done, and then they crashed, and the crappy movie about the Pussycats started up. Bring back Dujour (Seth Green, Donald Faison, Breckin Meyer, and that other dude from Can't Hardly Wait) for a whole movie about them! —bob

Dario Argento's Suspiria has one of the best kills in cinema history. Too bad about the rest of the snoozefest that occurs. —paige

The original 1979 version of When a Stranger Calls (not the completely unwatchable 2006 remake). The first twenty minutes of this film with Carol Kane being crank called, then harassed, then threatened over the phone (Have you checked the children?) are some of the most terrifying in cinema history. Once the sequence is over, the next hour or so is boring as hell until it picks up slightly at the end. —Tom

Superman Returns. The flying credits sequence in space shook me to my bones with nostalgia, and then nothing happens. —Jake

Vanilla Sky. The opening was awesome, the rest was totally forgettable. —S.O.

Star Trek: First Contact. The opening battle scene is fun action, with the fleet fighting the Borg. Then suddenly we go back in time and the whole movie goes downhill. —Mikie