15 Greatest Opening Credit Sequences In Movies

Quite possibly cinema's most provocative, daring and chilling credit sequence, Lord of War starts off with Nicolas Cage's arms dealer Yuri Orlov giving some bleak and eye-opening statistics about the number of guns in circulation. What follows is a clever and meticulous look at the production, distribution, and the use of one solitary bullet.

Lord of War was released in 2005, starring Cage alongside Jared Leto, Ethan Hawke and the late, great Ian Holm. It follows the exploits of Orlov, a career arms dealer during the Cold War. The whole thing is a fairly epic picture, and its grim portrayal of guns, war and wealth is shocking and very well crafted, right from the credits.

The credits start in a factory, as Buffalo Springfield's "For What It's Worth (Stop, Hey What's That Sound)" begins to play. From the POV of a lone bullet, the entire sequence shows its creation, its packaging, its distribution, and its use in battle, when the credits come to a shocking and disturbing end as the bullet is fired into the head of a child.

Thematically and technically it is a work of art - daring, depressing, surprising and stylish under the bleak tones. The use of a protest song of the proceedings is also a stroke of brilliance and irony at its finest.

Nic Cage wears a bullet around his neck throughout the film, as a constant reminder of its shocking first moments.