13 Awesome Opening Scenes In Otherwise Terrible Movies

13. Die Another Day

The Opening Scene: In fairness, Pierce Brosnan's final Bond movie doesn't get unconscionably bad until Halle Berry shows up at the 35-minute mark, but it's the terrific opening sequence in this widely-panned effort (regarded by many as the worst Bond film) which people tend to forget. The film opens in North Korea as Bond arrives on the scene, and it's not long before he starts raising hell, pretty much single-handedly destroying an entire army base, despite being outnumbered about 1000-1. It's a thrilling scene with enough explosions to put Michael May to shame, while the majority of the stunt and effects work is practical, all the way to Bond's eventual capture, which slickly leads into the opening titles sequence, where Bond's torture is depicted throughout. When the movie resumes, it's 14 months later and the secret agent is a shadow of his former self: long-haired and totally bedraggled in appearance, holed up in a prison cell. He's eventually traded back to the West, and then things start getting silly (about 25 minutes in), when Bond somehow lowers his heart-rate, allowing him to escape when the medics rush in to revive him.

The Rest Of The Movie: Past this point, the remaining 100+ minutes get increasingly absurd, what with insane plastic surgery plot twists, invisible cars, terrible CGI, and two of the worst Bond girls in the series' history. It's so fashionable to hate Die Another Day, however, that many choose to ignore the fact that its lengthy opening was startlingly brave and unexpectedly original: it's just a shame the rest of the movie sucks so much.