Here are some of the most popular choices we've published so far. The top vote-getters from this round will advance to the next! (I had to upgrade this thing -- it only gave me 100 "views" a day, which were used up in about 15 minutes. Now we get 2,000 views per day...) Poll after the jump >>
Final results (02/05/07):
My personal favourite is still 2001.
Where's Citizen Kane? Surely one of the greatest opening shots of all time.
If memory serves correctly, the uniqueness of Kane's opening isn't necessarily from one single continuous shot, rather a series of shots that keep the lit window of Xanadu in relatively the same position on the screen while we cut to different angles progressively getting closer.
While that is a great opening to a movie, I believe Jim has rightly placed it in a different category than, say, Touch of Evil.
My favorite will always be the original Russian Solaris made in 1972. Tarkovsky was a genius.
I know Jim hasn't published it yet, but where's "The Godfather"? That's got to be one of the all time greats. The way it pulls across the room to sit right behind Don Corleone. I love, love, love that shot.
I agree with Nav. "2001", wins it hands down. It's opening space shot with Richard Strauss's "Also Sprach Zarathustra" is unbeatable.
JE: Well, as I said, I had to save some good stuff for the second round!
I choose Touch of Evil, only because La Dolce Vita is absent.
JE: Thanks, Matt. That's the idea. Gotta hold some good stuff for Round Two, so the choices get more difficult!
So will there be another 10 opening shots to choose from? And the winner of that one competes against the winner of the first round?
If so, how many rounds will there be? 12 would be great, so it feels more like a Championship Bout than a regular bout; Winner of Round 3 Vs Winner of Round 4; Winner of Round 5 Vs Winner of Round 6; etc.
The top 120 opening shots, mano-a-mano; bloody greatness!
JE: Well, I don't know. I just got this polling software module and I thought it would be fun, so I'm playing around with ideas for how to use it...
I'm sure The Magnificent Ambersons will be making an appearance coming up soon. I was reminded of it's opening shot with the guys jumping off the trolley to push it while watching Little Miss Sunshine.
Dolce Vita is a great opening sequence, but what about Jim Jarmusch's 'Down by Law'? That is a fantastic opening to a film, with Tom Waits singing 'Jockey Full of Bourbon' on the soundtrack.
What about Dark City? Has a beautiful opening shot!
Consider the opening sequence of Martin Scorsese's Raging Bull: a grand master-shot, done from wide, in elegant slow-motion; in stark, high-contrast black-&-white... we see our subject, Jake La motta, sparring his own shadow, mid waltz. Mascagni's sad intermezzo wails and I have chills. The ropes of the boxing ring -- perfectly super-imposed in the foreground, are essential to Jake's impassioned and momentous left-screen waltz--they are, as Martin Scorsese intended them to be, lines in sheet music.