20 Greatest Opening Movie Scenes Of All Time

19. The Matrix

The Matrix Opening
Warner Bros.

The Matrix should really have been a one-and-done movie, but despite its disappointing sequels, there's no taking away from the first film's influence.

The Wachowskis' seminal sci-fi thriller was visually ambitious, unique in its premise and gripping from start to finish. It also kicked off with a gripping introduction, one that showed off Carrie-Anne Moss' Trinity taking on a SWAT team before stylistically leaping through a window onto the street below.

The action's breathtaking, and it's made apparent from the off that something isn't quite right. It makes for a great piece of world-building, and in launching the mystery surrounding this particular dystopia, the Matrix's introduction is superb.

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Content Producer/Presenter

WhatCulture's very own resident movie guy, Ewan has been working in the content creation biz for over 10 years now, having started as a freelance contributor to WhatCulture Gaming all the way back in 2015. After graduating with a First-Class Honours in History from Northumbria University in 2017 (where he won a prize for a totally killer dissertation on the Watergate years), Ewan took on the role of Comics Editor at WhatCulture and quickly developed WhatCulture Comics into one of the biggest superhero-focused channels on YouTube. He followed this with a brief hiatus at Screen Rant in 2021, where he worked across the Gaming and Film sections as a writer and editor, before returning to WhatCulture as a Senior Content Producer / Presenter in 2023. He started his own podcast, We Love Dad Movies, in 2022, and has contributed several written pieces to the Eisner-nominated comics website Shelfdust as well. In his current role, Ewan incorporates his love of cinema, comic books, and history into written pieces and video essays for WhatCulture's Film & TV channel, as well as WhatCulture Gaming and WhatCulture Horror, with a particular focus on nineties-era Dad Movies, old school Westerns, and Golden Age Hollywood Noir. John Carpenter is his fave, and he thinks Batman Beyond should never have been cancelled. If that's your vibe, you'll probably like his stuff.