Title-Tale

They say you can't judge a book by it's cover. That may be true, but call me shallow because I often judge a movie by it's opening title sequence.

I recently saw Panic Room, and I was amazed at how they incorporated the opening titles into the New York scenery.

Also Spider-Man had a great opening title sequence, where the stars' names became stuck inside a web--cool!

Am I the only one who likes it when film-makers go that extra step, and make the title sequences interesting?

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r66-The member who always asks WHY?

Not at all. I was thoroughly impressed with the title sequences from Panic Room. It made me even more excited to watch the film, which I ended up enjoying quite a bit. When the opening of a film is good, it seems to relax my mood and fill me with anticipation.

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"Today, war is too important to be left to politicians. They have neither the time, the training, nor the inclination for strategic thought. I can no longer sit back and allow Communist infiltration, Communist indoctrination, Communist subversion and the international Communist conspiracy to sap and impurify all of our precious bodily fluids."

The coolest openings of them all must be "Se7en". That is so cool and creepy and it captures the whole spirit of the film, I think.

And what about "Reservoir Dogs"? First the long diner-scene and then the super cool sequence with all the guys walking in black suits and sunglasses and the great music!

What about the ending credits???

Example - xXx

Enemy at the Gates
BEST. CREDITS. EVER.
Although they are more suited to some wierd underground movie about stupid ravers than a serious war movie. They still own though...

Most Annoying and embarrasing to watch opening sequence : Desperado (not the awesome bit with steve buscemi, but the crap Mariachi bit that follows)

My personal favourite for best opening credits is definately "Mallrats". I'm a big comic book fan, and the opening sequence is great, with all the stars made into comic book characters. I hate Kevin Smith though.

Both opening and closing sequences are very important. When viewing a film, I am very, very critical. Only about 10 films have ever got a full five star rating from me.
In that tradition, if when watching a film, and it begins weak, it seriously hurts the final rating. Come to think of it, all of my favourite films have amazing opening AND closing sequences.

The greatest of all time, from my opinion, has got to be Raging Bull. It begins with Deniro, shadow boxing (in slow motion), in black and white, in the boxing ring. Beautiful opera music is played, as the credits show up, perfectly framed by the ropes around the ring. That scene should be put in a time capsule, for future generation film-makers.
I know that Scorsese has really influenced me as a filmmaker. (and countless others no doubt.)

Some advice for filmmakers. The viewer should be drawn in from the very first second of the film. It leaves a large impression.

Best Credits Ever:

Any of Jackie Chans and not because i like him as an actor but because i like to see him stuff up and the way he is happy even after the audience is going "ooooooo"

OR

Pixar animations

because you start to think that these animated people really did make the mistakes rather than they were purposly created for example Monsters Inc., Toy Story 2

You will never find an opening string of scenes as engaging as in A Touch of Evil with Orson Welles.

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I liked Candyman

The first "Superman" has one of my favorite title sequences. Of course, if you want to talk creative title sequences, you have to mention the "Bond" films. Some are better than others. of course, and the quality of the "Bond" title sequence often sets the mood for the rest of the picture. "The World Is Not Enough" title sequence was kind of functional but lackluster, and that was sort of true for the film as a whole...

This isnt an opening credit thing- but the character intro for Snatch is coolest opening to a movie ever!