10 Best Opening Shots In Cinema History

2. The Player

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0epB5Z6ijpk One of the few directors who was capable of keeping pace with Welles was Robert Altman, and he demonstrated this no better than in his immaculate 1992 Hollywood satire The Player, which opens with a staggering 8-minute single-take sequence. The scene, which revolves around movie studio executive Griffin Mill (Tim Robbins) and the staff he works with, took fifteen takes to nail down, and suitably includes references to other technically audacious masterpieces such as A Touch of Evil and Alfred Hitchcock's Rope. What makes this scene rise above mere gimicry, though, is that it's an exceedingly efficient way to introduce us to and make us familiar with all the principal characters. Rather than nonchalantly cut to lazily introduce them, Altman smoothly passes through the production office and exterior area to do it all in one fell swoop. The result is a staggeringly impressive first glance at this world, and one that helps make the film a 90s classic as well as one of Altman's best.