Every James Bond Movie Pre-Credits Scene Ranked Worst To Best
9. No Time To Die - Spectre Agents Attack Bond And Madeleine In Italy
This is by far the longest pre-credits sequence in Bond history and it's divided into two parts. Firstly, a sinister and atmospheric flashback in which main villain Safin (Rami Malek) murders Madeleine Swann's (Lea Seydoux) mother (Mathilde Bourbin) and secondly, a present-day scene in which Bond and Madeleine are attacked by Spectre agents in Italy. They survive, but the agents frame Madeleine as a traitor and Bond leaves her.
For the most part, this is a very good opening. The flashback is very unsettling and well-filmed, while the Italy action sequence is pretty great and makes terrific use of Bond's iconic Aston Martin. Bond's visit to Vesper Lynd's grave was a very nice inclusion too.
The main issue is that the Italian car chase should've been longer. It would've been better to have the opening titles after the flashback and that would've given the Italian scenes more of a chance to breathe.
As well as this, Bond and Madeleine's break-up didn't feel remotely earned since Bond was so unreasonable. It seemed pretty obvious that she was being set up, yet somehow he didn't catch on.
Still, for the most part, it's a strong opening.