10 Greatest Opening Scenes In Sci-Fi Movie History

While many will likely never be able to shake off the rather absurd way M. Night Shyamalan opted to bring his 2002 sci-fi horror to an end, never forget that things got off to a hell of a start during Signs' opening scene.

Long before it was revealed that H20 was the most powerful substance in the universe, audiences met Mel Gibson's Father Graham Hess as he suddenly woke from his slumber. Then, quickly disturbing this fairly mundane morning routine, a chilling scream cuts through the toothbrushing.

Brilliantly ramping up the tension from there on out, Shyamalan keeps those child cries in the distance as a panicked Hess and his brother Merrill (Joaquin Phoenix) begin sprinting through the crops in search of the youngsters calling their names.

But the stress isn't simply squashed by the finding of young Morgan (Rory Culkin) and Bo (Abigail Breslin). Instead, with the short and shocking utterance of "I think God did it", the former Hess child introduces both his father and viewers to a world-changing sign.

Drawing people in with every never-ending second Graham spends taking in the surreal visual of his plants being well and truly wiped out by an unknown force, Shyamalan expertly had his audience on the edge of their seats within the first five-minutes as the camera gradually zoomed out to reveal an astonishing crop circle.