10 Opening Movie Scenes NOTHING Like The Rest Of The Film
When movies don't begin as they mean to go on.
The opening scene of a movie is absolutely crucial in securing the audience's attention and ensuring that they're hooked for whatever is to come.
Sometimes this might mean offering up a high-wire action sequence to give viewers a taste of what's to come, introducing them to the central characters in a clever and entertaining way, or otherwise letting the audience know what the tone and aesthetic of the movie they're watching actually is.
But then there are movies that open with scenes that are really nothing else like the rest of the film - like, not even a little bit.
This is generally done on purpose for the sake of contrast or intentionally jarring effect, though sometimes it can be a result of directors letting the material's tone escape them.
Whatever the reason, these 10 films kicked off with scenes that are really unlike anything else in the movie.
In some cases it's clearly an intentional flourish and one that works extremely well, while in others it's not quite so convincing, and then there are those where it's not immediately good or bad but simply very, very weird...
10. G.I. Joe: The Rise Of Cobra
When you sit down to watch a G.I. Joe movie, you expect a couple of things above all else: military fetishism and action figure-shaped men destroying hordes of anonymous goons, right?
Paramount's first of three failed attempts to make G.I. Joe a hit movie franchise was 2009's The Rise of Cobra, which for the most part focused on ridiculous sci-fi action, hammy performances, silly dialogue, and so on. Pretty much what you'd expect, then.
This is, except, for the movie's bizarre opening prologue, which takes place in 1641 France, and depicts the ancestor of one of the film's villains, James McCullen (Christopher Eccleston), being caught selling weapons to enemies of Louis XIII and being fitted with a hot iron mask as punishment.
Though a similar fate ends up befalling McCullen when he's transformed into the masked baddie Destro, the tone and aesthetic of the scene are completely different to the rest of the film.
Without even a hint of sci-fi derring-do, you could watch the scene in isolation and assume it was from a more "realistic" historical thriller, especially considering its harsher, more brutal vibe compared to what follows.
Immediately after this we jarringly shift to the "not too distant future," where the far sillier and more harmless sci-fi schlock kicks off.