10 Most Remarkable Sci-Fi Movie Opening Scenes
The Matrix knew that first impressions really count.
Opening scenes are arguably the most important moments in an entire movie. First impressions count, after all, and if the initial 10 minutes are worthwhile then we're far more likely to actually watch a film rather than pretend we did and then slate it on the internet afterwards.
Designed to suck you straight into the action and lay out exactly what sort of tone you'll be investing in, opening scenes have got to be showers rather than growers, and that's especially true of the sprawling and unnatural worlds of the science fiction genre.
Often packed with mechanical nightmares and futuristic concepts, if we don't quite GET what's going on early on - or at least WANT to get what's going on - then there's no point sticking around to see what's going on in an hour's time, even if it is that fantastic robot smackdown, or killer laser sword fight. We need a reason to care.
In a genre riddled with phaser guns, starships, and genetically engineered monstrosities, you wouldn't think you'd have to work this hard really. Fortunately, these ten movies know exactly how to start a party, and are some of the best examples in futuristic entertainment imaginable: whether it's through gene splicing, time travel, or good old fashioned telekinetic mind powers, you're going to want to stick around for more...
10. Losing His Mind - Scanners
David Cronenberg isn't going to ever make a movie that bores you, and if you need any proof of that - you're welcome to watch the first ten minutes of Scanners. Infamous for the exploding head scene, the film opens up with a scruffy looking man attempting to scavenge food, which two women soon openly judge him for.
Of course, what they don't know is that he's a telekinetic prodigy with the power to kill people simply by looking at them, so it's a classic lesson that you should never judge a book by its cover. Not unless you want to be quite literally mind-f*cked, anyway.
After introducing such powerful people exist, we get a seemingly benign lecture on the power of Scanners, to which a ConSec employee wishes to demonstrate his mind-reading abilities. Again, bad choices are made, since there's someone far more powerful in the room that causes his head to shower the nearby vicinity with its contents in excellently gory fashion. Mind readers really are a menace to society.
Scanners' opening has got everything: unpredictability, investment in a unique narrative, and of course, plenty of blood and goopy bits to cause a scene.