Top 10 Great Intros In Terrible Movies

WatchMojo

Great intros, bad movies. Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for films that have fantastic opening scenes that the rest of the movie just doesn’t live up to.

Transcript

00:00It's weird, those people look like they're clawing at themselves.

00:03Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for films that have fantastic opening scenes

00:08that the rest of the movie just doesn't live up to.

00:10What?

00:11You nerd me!

00:13Number 10, Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets.

00:17Filmmaker Luc Besson has several celebrated classics in his filmography,

00:21but this is not one of them.

00:23Check ignition and may God's love be with you.

00:30Based on a French science fiction comic series, the space opera, Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets,

00:35was a box office bomb, criticism focused on the plot and casting.

00:40However, you wouldn't have guessed it from the opening scene.

00:42And the stars look very different today.

00:48In an intriguing sequence, a montage showcases the evolution of the International Space Station

00:54as various nations, and eventually extraterrestrials, are welcomed aboard.

00:57The space station's gradual growth grounds the sci-fi themes, at least at first.

01:02Only for what follows to launch off into deep space, leaving the audience far behind.

01:07Its new course is set for the Magellan Current.

01:10Like the great explorer Magellan, the Alpha Station will journey into the unknown.

01:17A symbol of our values and knowledge.

01:19In the first scene of this comedy franchise's third installment, director Jay Roach playfully toyed with audience expectations.

01:29The movie opens with a James Bond parody, teasing us with a slew of celebrity cameos,

01:33including Tom Cruise as Austin himself.

01:35Yeah, baby.

01:37What a way to hook audiences.

01:38After that, however, the movie plunged into the usual Austin Powers silliness,

01:42but without the originality or cleverness of the first two movies.

01:45Yeah.

01:46Yeah.

01:47Yeah.

01:48Yeah.

01:49Yeah.

01:50Yeah.

01:50Mike Myers reprises his role as the groovy spy, teaming up with Foxy Cleopatra to thwart Dr. Evil's latest scheme.

01:57While it's packed with humor, the film leans on recycled jokes, delivering an ultimately forgettable end to the franchise.

02:03I'm a crazy...

02:04You all knew that.

02:05Austin caught me in the first act.

02:07It's all backwards.

02:08What's with that?

02:08Number 8, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

02:12The original Indiana Jones movies formed a perfect trilogy, ending with Indy and company riding off into the sunset.

02:24So, a fourth really needed to justify its existence.

02:28And the first scene wasn't a bad start.

02:30Unfolding during the Cold War, the movie opens with a kidnapped Indiana brought to Area 51,

02:34where the Soviets want him to retrieve a mummified alien.

02:37Don't toy with me, Dr. Jones.

02:40What is the point of all this?

02:42If it's still magnetic, metal in this gunpowder should point the way.

02:46It was a clever way to connect to the previous movies,

02:48since the Ark of the Covenant was brought to the same warehouse at the end of Raiders.

02:52But, it wasn't long before audiences were let down,

02:55when Steven Spielberg infamously had Indiana survive a nuclear test in a refrigerator.

03:00And it was all downhill from there.

03:08Number 7, Zoom.

03:10When this film kicked off with an electrifying comic book intro,

03:13a killer soundtrack, and a dramatic backstory,

03:16we expected a top-notch story.

03:17But, we got a bland and predictable one instead.

03:29Based on Jason Lethko's children's book,

03:31it follows an ex-superhero, played by Tim Allen,

03:33shaping an unlikely group of teens into superheroes.

03:35No matter what people told you around here, you're not superheroes.

03:40We're superheroes?

03:42Yes.

03:45Yes!

03:46You're definitely white kids, I'll tell you that.

03:47Sounds promising, right?

03:49But after the thrilling start, the film quickly loses its steam.

03:52It lacks heart, and the humor and performances fall completely flat.

03:56Zoom is a cheesy, charmless affair with nothing to offer beyond the intro.

04:00Well, I didn't believe you then.

04:02But congratulations, because you have convinced me.

04:04Number 6, Aliens vs. Requiem.

04:08Picking up from where the 2004 film ended,

04:10Aliens vs. Requiem burst onto the scene with an explosive introduction.

04:18After a chestburster emerges from the dead Predator scar,

04:21the xenomorph-Predator hybrid goes on a wild rampage.

04:24The Predator spaceship soon crashes outside a small Colorado town.

04:32You show this to the sheriff.

04:33So far, so good, right?

04:35Well, the Pred-Alien is a fun idea.

04:38But Requiem ends up feeling more like a teen slasher than either an alien or Predator movie.

04:43The characters are flat stereotypes, and the dialogue cliche and cringeworthy.

04:47There's some interesting action in there, but it's too damn dark to see!

04:51Number 5, Sucker Punch.

05:03The first six minutes of Zack Snyder's 2011 action fantasy are a visual feast,

05:07with a killer soundtrack that pulls you right in.

05:10It's every one of us who holds the power over the worlds we create.

05:14After Babydoll accidentally shoots her sister,

05:17her abusive stepfather has her committed to a mental asylum.

05:20Fun fact!

05:21Emily Browning, who plays Babydoll, also sung several of the songs in the movie,

05:25including the cover of Sweet Dreams in the opening sequence.

05:28Sweet Dreams are made of this.

05:33Who am I to disagree?

05:38Seems like a solid beginning that hints at deeper themes.

05:41But then, the film takes a nosedive into a jumbled mess that's all style and little substance.

05:46Not even stunning heroines and fancy CGI can save it.

05:49Still, that opening scene...

06:03LOVED IT!

06:05Number 4, The Happening.

06:07It was hoped that this would be a turning point for the director who won universal acclaim with The Sixth Sense,

06:12then had a series of flops.

06:13Oh, that's right. That's right.

06:19Did you hear that?

06:24But The Happening turned out to be another letdown in M. Night Shyamalan's filmography.

06:28It starts off intriguingly enough, though.

06:30In and around Central Park in New York City,

06:33people start freezing and then taking their own lives.

06:36Claire, are you saying this?

06:38Claire.

06:39It's certainly an eerie premise, but it's all downhill from there.

06:42What follows is an incoherent shamble of a movie,

06:46with a very on-the-nose message.

06:48Spoiler alert, it's The Plants.

06:50Transmitting an airborne toxin in defense of the natural world.

06:53Maybe this movie would have worked as a comedy?

06:56What? No!

06:58Number 3, X-Men Origins Wolverine.

07:01We all love a good origin story, and we love Hugh Jackman's Wolverine.

07:05That just isn't you, though.

07:07And you would know, huh?

07:08Put them together, and what could go wrong?

07:11Well, this.

07:12A strong opening scene sees the young James Howlett witness the murder of his father,

07:17which triggers his mutations and leads to his first kill.

07:20It's an emotional introduction to the character,

07:22and the subsequent montage of James and his half-brother fighting through historical events

07:26is pretty compelling, too.

07:27But that's as interesting as the movie gets.

07:35The rest is bland and filled with cliches,

07:38and we will never forgive what this movie did to Deadpool.

07:42Wait, is that you?

07:47Your striker finally figured out how to shut you up.

07:50Silencing the merc with a mouth?

07:52What were you thinking?

07:54Number 2, Hancock.

07:56This Will Smith blockbuster offers what should have been an interesting spin on the superhero genre.

08:01Hancock!

08:12What, boy?

08:15Bad guys?

08:16We're introduced to the grumpy superhuman as he wakes up very hungover.

08:20He dives into action with a bottle of whiskey in hand,

08:22leaving a trail of destruction in his wake.

08:24We gotta admit, our interest was peaked.

08:26Hancock's latest act of so-called heroics took a hefty financial toll.

08:32Initial damage estimates are set to top $9 million,

08:36which, if accurate, represents a personal record for the notoriously publicity-shy Hancock.

08:43This introduction sets up what could have been an unconventional but fun superhero saga.

08:48However, the second half is a narrative muddle.

08:50Suddenly, Hancock's immortal,

08:52and Charlize Theron's character is his soulmate?

08:54Whatever we are, we were built in twos, okay?

08:57We're drawn to each other.

08:59No matter how far I run, he's always there.

09:01He finds me.

09:02It's physics.

09:03It's all a mess.

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09:19Number 1. Ghost Ship

09:22If there is one aspect of this atmospheric horror that deserves your attention,

09:26it's the jaw-dropping opening sequence.

09:28Aboard an ocean liner, passengers are happily dancing when someone pulls a lever,

09:46and it triggers what's still hailed as one of the greatest murder sequences in horror.

09:50A cable titans, bisecting the dancers.

09:52The scene grabs you by the throat and demands your attention.

10:01However, the rest of the film is a gore-fest with a weak plot.

10:05It all feels very derivative, especially compared to the innovative opening.

10:09Watch the intro, and then throw yourself overboard away from this incoherent disaster.

10:14It looks like we missed one hell of a party.

10:17What's a movie you hated, but thought had a lot of potential?

10:19Tell us in the comments.

10:20Did you enjoy this video?

10:28Check out these other clips from WatchMojo,

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