Best opening/closing scenes in movies

[vaticanplum]

Have we done this one before? Sometimes I feel like I've been on this board so long that we've covered everything there is to cover.

Last night I watched Big Night, which is a movie I love but haven't seen in years. All that time, I've held a particular scene up as the best scene in any movie I've ever seen: the scene where Stanley Tucci makes eggs. One long shot, wordless, uninterrupted breakfast making, start to finish, and tremendously emotionally resonant. What I had forgotten is that it's the closing scene of the movie. I don't want to link to it here because you really should see the whole movie in order to get the context (and the movie itself is near flawless, so if you haven't seen it already you should anyway).

So that got me thinking of favorite opening and closing scenes of movies. Before I remembered that this is a closing scene, I would have also mentioned the final scene of Before Sunset, which is just about perfect. Again, great movie, but elevated by that final scene.

I think my favorite opening scene of any movie is An American in Paris, when Gene Kelly puts his little bedroom away.

What are some of the best opening and closing scenes of movies you've seen?

[dfs]

Hard to top the beach in Saving Private Ryan as an opener.

......I'm a guy. Sue me.

[reds1869]

Not a great scene by most definitions, but as a Marshall alum and West Virginia native the opening scene of We are Marshall always hits me with an emotional gut punch. The aerial view of Huntington sweeping down to campus combines with the soft music and voice over to evoke the desired effect in viewers close to the story. A cheap film making tactic but it works on me in that case.

[Chip R]

Hard to beat Patton for an opening scene.

[medford]

Hard to top the beach in Saving Private Ryan as an opener.

......I'm a guy. Sue me.

That is the first movie that came to mind when thinking "Great opening scene". Frankly, I think they got the ending pretty damn good as well. I'm certainly no movie buff, never mind a critique, but it seems like having a really great final scene is going to be limited. Most movies hit their climax a scene or two before the final scene, the last scene is kind of like an epilogue to move the characters on into the future.

The final scene in The Karate Kid is still pretty awesome. Did I mention that I'm NO movie critique?

[NebraskaRed]

The opening of Pulp Fiction blew me away when I first saw it. And then BAM, right into Dick Dale's "Miserlou". Very exciting stuff.

[bucksfan2]

Hard to top the beach in Saving Private Ryan as an opener.

......I'm a guy. Sue me.

Not to split hairs, but isn't the opening scene of the movie where Ryan is in the American Cemetery visiting a grave?

I always though the closing scene in Gladiator was cool and fitting.

[dfs]

Not to split hairs, but isn't the opening scene of the movie where Ryan is in the American Cemetery visiting a grave?

I always though the closing scene in Gladiator was cool and fitting.

No. You are absolutely correct. Thanks for the reality check.

[klw]

Chariots of Fire with the memorial service fading into the scene on the beach as both the opening and closing scene.

[KittyDuran]

The opening scene w/credits rolling in Reservoir Dogs and Little Green Bag playing in the background is pretty good (rest of the movie not so much).

Would that qualify?

[KittyDuran]

I think my favorite opening scene of any movie is An American in Paris, when Gene Kelly puts his little bedroom away.

I have a real soft spot for old musicals whether it's Astaire trying to be quiet in a London gentlemen's club in Top Hat, or Kelly telling a gossip columnist his life story in grand fashion while the flashbacks tell just the opposite in Singin in the Rain.

[JaxRed]

I think it was the opening scene........ Cliffhanger. Was pretty intense.

[Stray]

Off the top of my head...

Opening scene that I loved was in Trainspotting.
Closing scene that I loved was in Lost in Translation.
And as far as any scene at any point in a movie, the train robbery scene from The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford is my favorite.

[marcshoe]

I'm not sure if it is the absolute opening scene, but the scene at the beginning of Time Bandits with the knight bursting through Kevin's wardrobe blew me away back when I saw the movie in theaters (twice in two weeks).

[OldRightHander]

How about this classic scene?