10 Best Opening Scenes In Martin Scorsese Films

Netflix partnered with Scorsese to produce the first straight-to-streaming film of the director’s career, The Irishman.

Prior to the gangster epic’s release in 2019, the film had been in development hell for over 12 years, with its release ending the director’s long-awaited return to the genre. The film also marked only the second time that legendary actors Robert De Niro and Al Pacino have starred alongside each other, with the picture also featuring a returning Joe Pesci.

The Irishman was also remarkably the first time that Pacino had starred in a Scorsese film.

In The Irishman, Scorsese opens the movie with an older Frank Sheeran (De Niro) reflecting on his career as a hitman in the mob. What is perhaps most impressive about the opening sequence, is the fact that Scorsese explicitly spoils the key event of the story in the first two minutes of a three-hour film.

Whilst the cut is a blink and you’ll miss it moment, eagle0eyed viewers aware of Frank’s alleged role in Hoffa’s disappearance, should be able to clearly see that it was indeed Pacino being killed in the opening scene of the film. A risky move, but Scorsese pulled it off!