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

2. The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (2011)

The Opening Credit Sequence: David Fincher's background as a music video director has certainly served him well. Panic Room, Fight Club, Seven; each a hard-hitting, eye-grabbing triumph of design and ingenuity. But his opening sequence magnum opus is the one that begins his remake of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. It's grotesque yet somehow gorgeous, a nightmare in oil. And, as is proving to be a key factor in this list, it has the support of a stunning soundtrack; in this case, Karen O and Trent Reznor's raucous cover of Led Zeppelin's 'Immigrant Song'. Creeping hands, slipping masks, snaking cables, fire, fists, faces cracked open like coconuts- it's a James Bond film sequence's evil twin ( perhaps inspired by 1999's The World is Not Enough), or the ungodly result if ever H.R Giger had created a perfume advert. With a leading role from Daniel Craig, the former comparison is most likely deliberate- but despite all of Skyfall's skulls and watery graves, Bond has never been this dark. Whatever complaints you may have about the remake, this opening is definitely not one of them. The film: A smart, stylish and perfectly taut (if a little overlong) thriller that for all its gloomy, grunge aesthetic doesn't really improve much on the original. As Lisbeth Salander, Rooney Mara's the only one to brave a Swedish accent, Craig hasn't quite stepped away from his double-oh status and there's only really a sadistic turn from Stellan Skarsgard to keep us shivering in the snow. As for outdoing the title sequence, well, let's just see what Fincher's got up his sleeve for a second stab at the Millennium series.