10 Greatest Opening Lines In Movie History

10. "You Don't Like Flying, Do You?" - Die Hard

The quote that kicked off an action dynasty.

Bruce Willis' John McClane is flying into Los Angeles as the events of Die Hard begin. The detective's clear discomfort at flying leads to a rather overly friendly passenger advising him to make "fists with his toes" after he lands to combat his affliction - trust him, he's being doing this for years.

The unnamed passenger's immortal line sets up the sequence that truly set the scene for proceedings, as well as introducing McClane's signature dry wit to audiences. In a twist on what seemed to be a regular plane journey, the aforementioned gentleman understandably looks rather concerned as McClane stands to retrieve his bag, confronted with the sight of a pistol dangling from a shoulder holster. Spotting the man's unease, McClane reassures him that he is a cop, deadpanning with barely disguised amusement;

"Trust me, I've been doing this for eleven years."

Considering the explosive fanfare of events that follow Mr McClane touching down in LA, such a throwaway sentence appeared to be doomed to be lost in the endless library of cinematic opening soundbites. It seems bizarre that such a benign, everyday quote has such a lasting legacy. However, utter those words in the company of any action fan in the world and watch as their ears instantly prick up when they realize which film is being referenced.