10 Most Controversial Opening Movie Scenes

9. The Wild Bunch

One the first movies to transition American Westerns from being feel-good nostalgia trips to unrelenting, self-critical downers, The Wild Bunch was unlike anything else in the genre at the time, particularly when it came to its depiction of violence. That should have been expected, though; Sam Peckinpah is known for being one of the most controversial directors of the 20th Century, a reputation which he more than upheld immediately with The Wild Bunch's opening.

Following a gang of outlaws as they rob a bank, the initial sequence bursts from its quiet beginnings into a bloody frenzy on a dime. Unlike most movies on this list, though, the violence actually received some loud defenders from inside film circles, with critics explaining that it was essential to the narrative's core themes. It still rubbed some people the wrong way, of course, with audiences especially not expecting such a bleak, nasty opening.

That said, it wasn't quite as blood-soaked as the flick's finale, but it did send a message that this wasn't the same Wild West moviegoers had been so accustomed to.