10 Best Opening Credits Sequences In Movie History
4. Alien
If there's one thing that Ridley Scott's Alien is great at, it's building up a sense of dread, terror and foreboding. The entire movie is a perfect advocate for the effects of a slow burn, and this feel started right from the opening few minutes and never let up.
Just like Memento, the opening title sequence here is simple, yet hugely effective. The camera pans slowly across the vast, empty depths of space while an eerily transfixing score draws your attention and doesn't give it back. At the top of the screen, the title of the movie gradually reveals itself piece by piece, exactly like the monster does in the movie itself.
This opening shot was Scott's way of showing us just how massive space is and just how isolated, alone and vulnerable the crew of the Nostromo really are - and this, combined with the slow reveal of the word 'Alien', provided a feeling of uncertainty and plain stress - this terrifying, murderous beast could literally be anywhere out there and you'd never see it coming until it fully revealed itself.