10 Opening Credit Sequences That Were Better Than The Films That Followed

9. Go (1999)

The Opening Credit Sequence: Some people like films that force us to face a harsh and uncompromising reality; that the world can indeed be a cruel and discouraging place. They want their directors to offer a profound and universal truth, a humble statement that pushes us the smallest of steps closer towards understanding the human condition. Me, I'm a sucker for any film that subverts the studio logo in its title sequence. And so when the Columbia lady with her fancy torch and corporate fanfare is rudely interrupted by the opening riff of Lionrock's 'Fire Up the Shoesaw', I'm already sold. Watching the camera weave between bodies at a rave may be cinematic shorthand for a Nineties setting but here we're dragged through a packed dancefloor like a reluctant friend who'd much prefer to stay at home tonight and read a book in bed. The song choice, coupled with all those lasers, is certainly disorientating (as all the best sequences/parties are) and the picture that flashes, almost subliminally, of two policemen accosting a young man slumped against a wall tells us that a life of hedonism has, like, consequences, yeah? But who cares? We're having fun! Whoo! The Film:Not so much. Doug Liman directs three stories interconnected by a central theme, a drug deal that is presented as both bold and banal, and hopes that nobody has seen Pulp Fiction. For his characters (an ensemble cast that includes Katie Holmes, Timothy Olyphant, Sarah Polley, Jay Mohr and William Fichtner) are precisely the type of low-life opportunists who, when they're not theorising on pop culture trivia, are making guns, gangsters and getting thrown out of Vegas look very glamorous indeed. While certainly not a failure, and twice as energetic as Liman's 1996 debut Swingers, the overall sense isn't one of elation or despair but rather déjà vu.