It cannot be overstated just how important the opening shot is to a movie. The opening shot sets the tone for what to expect for the rest of the film’s running time. If you listen to a lot of director interviews, you’ll often hear how they have difficulty matching the movie they’ve made to what they originally planned inside their head. One would assume that the opening shot, at least, must be the one image that comes close towards approximating their vision. And it’s up to the rest of the film to live up to that initial image.
Casper Christensen has put together a video montage of opening shots from a select number of movies that happen to create strong first impressions. There are so many great movies that have unforgettable opening shots and many of them are featured here. “2001: A Space Odyssey,” “Taxi Driver,” “Apocalypse Now,” “Star Wars,” “Seven Samurai”—it says a lot about these films that many can point out which movie’s being shown just based on that first shot. So many of these shots are simply iconic and the video does a great job of highlighting just how cinematic and immaculate many of them are. Overall, it’s a real treat to watch and you can take a look for yourself below.