Ah the intro scene! It is essential because it serves to capture our attention and make us want to continue watching the film in question.
In cinema, the beginning is always very important. If after 15-20 minutes, we still can’t get hooked on the film, then generally that means we won’t like the rest either. The intro scene must therefore be very successful.
Here are some of these particularly worked scenes. But this short list is far from exhaustive and remains subjective.
The Dark Knight
It’s a very well-crafted scene that opens this Nolan film, the entirety of which is also very successful. Fast pace, suspense, surprise, it’s all there.
A heist scene where the criminals disguised as clowns end up killing each other until there is only one: the sponsor, in this case the Joker, recently arrived in Gotham.
This scene is a superb introduction to the character who will become Batman’s sworn enemy: a psychotic criminal with formidable intelligence.
Saving Private Ryan
This scene from Spielberg’s classic is also cult. She plunges us into the hell of the D-DAY fights at Omaha beach.
From the start of the assault, when the landing craft opened, the American troops were cut to pieces. The images are particularly violent: bodies torn to pieces, mutilated, men burned alive, screaming, etc.
This scene therefore shows us the true nature of war, and this is probably its greatest merit. Indeed, in many films, war is shown in a heroic, even romantic, light. Now, the war in this scene is just dirty, horrible.
Matrix
In the first minutes of the Wachowski sisters’ classic, we meet Trinity, a woman who is part of the resistance against the computer dictatorship of the Matrix.
While she seems in bad shape, cornered by the police, the heroine quickly shows her abilities by defying the laws of gravity to get rid of them. Slow motion images, incredible stunts…
Pursued by Agent Smith, she manages to escape thanks to a telephone booth which absorbs her. A successful introduction which reveals the tone of this science fiction classic.
Indiana Jones (The Lost Ark)
This scene is also a perfect introduction for our favorite adventurous archaeologist.
At the beginning of this other Spielberg classic, it is impossible to see the hero’s face because he keeps his back turned and does not even speak. It therefore remains very mysterious. Moreover, we can even doubt that it is really the hero.
And suddenly, with a single stroke of his whip, he disarms the man who wanted to kill him and who fled without asking for his rest. It is then that the hero’s face finally appears in the light, to the sound of gripping music. Enough to give you chills!
From this image, there is no longer any doubt as to the identity of the hero and his nature: intelligent, lively, formidable.