10 Sci-Fi Movie Openings That Get Worse The More You Think About It

Prepare to have some of your favourite sci-fi flicks completely ruined.

Sam Rockwell Moon
Sony Pictures Classics

Being clever is a real pain in the backside, isn't it?

Sure, you might always know where you put your keys and you're really good at Where's Wally/Waldo, but noticing stuff and thinking more deeply than you should is a sure-fire way to ruin a movie.

Subtext is the mortal enemy of joy and a cruel trick played by filmmakers to lure us into a false sense of security. Oh, you think this movie is about a cute little unicorn? Wham! The unicorn is a metaphor for oppressed peoples!

This movie doesn't exist, but feel free to take that idea if you want.

What do exist are the following ten films, all of which are much more harrowing than they appear on the surface. The opening scenes to these movies hide a wealth of secrets that, when you dig a little deeper, will change the way you see them forever.

Sometimes the openings contain little details that reveal more about characters than you wanted to know. Other times, the openings just get way scarier if you actually put yourself in the shoes of the character.

Whatever the reason, these openings are all way, way worse than you first thought.

10. WALL-E

Sam Rockwell Moon
Pixar

A post-apocalyptic drama where the world has been ravaged by human wastefulness, leaving behind a polluted husk of a planet populated only by robots... is actually a charming family movie with lots of laughs and endearing moments?

Damn Pixar, you're good at this.

The 2008 classic WALL-E is a fantastic film, no qualifiers needed. The titular robot's quest for love is interwoven spectacularly with a larger story about the human race's return to Earth decades after they abandoned it for a life of luxury amongst the stars.

The movie begins with a couple of shots of space before sweeping down to Earth to see the mess in which humanity has left it. Everything is brown and rusty, with huge piles of garbage stacked in blocks.

WALL-E is working tirelessly to collect the rubbish and, from the size of his stack, he's clearly been doing this a long time. How long exactly? When did the humans leave Earth? How long has WALL-E been on his own?

All of these big questions and more rush through your brain, as the dystopian scene plays out in front of you to the brilliantly jarring sound of Put On Your Sunday Clothes.

It's just great.

Contributor
Contributor

Jacob Simmons has a great many passions, including rock music, giving acclaimed films three-and-a-half stars, watching random clips from The Simpsons on YouTube at 3am, and writing about himself in the third person.