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Arriving on epic worlds, first glimpses of an iconic menace, and other great sci-fi movie openings.
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00:00It's time to enjoy and take a closer look at the way some of the greatest filmmakers on planet Earth
00:05captured our imaginations within the opening moments of these glorious chunks of sci-fi.
00:11So I'm Gareth, this is WhatCulture.com and here are the 10 Greatest Opening Scenes in Sci-Fi Movie History.
00:19Number 10. Landing on Pandora, Avatar
00:21Now sure there are those who are quick to argue whether the first avatar even made that much of a cultural impact
00:27on our own planet in the wake of its box office smashing run in cinemas.
00:31However, there's no denying that the moments that followed Jake Sully's narration as the camera soared high above the trees
00:37during its opening moments were some of the most mesmerizing of the 2000s.
00:41Waking up from cryo and floating out into this new universe James Cameron and the gang had beautifully crafted,
00:47within just a few gripping minutes viewers are swiftly informed why Jake was on this spacecraft,
00:52replacing his brother on the Avatar project, introduced to the gorgeous Na'vi homeworld for the very first time
00:58by an awesome-looking rocket ship, and the cold but impressive RDA's planet-sapping technology successfully took many a breath away.
01:06We certainly weren't in Kansas anymore.
01:09Cameron dumped viewers right into the middle of a bold new world
01:12and brilliantly prepared them for a sci-fi adventure like no other.
01:16Now I've got a quick question for you, what's your favourite Jim Cameron movie?
01:20Is it Avatar, Terminator, something else? You let me know down below.
01:24Number 9, Welcome to Arrakis, Dune
01:26Denise Villeneuve wasted absolutely no time when it came to blowing the minds of all in attendance
01:31back when Dune Part 1 was released in 2021.
01:35Opening on the sound of Zendaya's Charney telling viewers about how stunning her planet of Arrakis looks when the sun is low,
01:41a magnificent visual of that very desert world gives folks a glimpse of the spectacular universe
01:47they're about to be completely immersed in.
01:49That peaceful spice field is soon pulverised by the colossal intimidating contraptions used by the outsiders
01:55to mine the Fremen's home though, as the ferocious Harkonnens maraud into frame,
02:00led by the unsettling and monstrous Dave Bautista as Glossu Rabban.
02:05And the sight of Fremen emerging from the dust to stab these invaders,
02:09the occasional flicker of piercing light amid the sands as ships are gunned out of the sky,
02:13and shots of the big bad Harkonnen ultimately being forced to leave the planet in their extraordinary vehicles,
02:19all set the tone for the vast and routinely sensational sci-fi epic that was about to unfold.
02:25Number 8, Max is the one who runs, Mad Max Fury Road
02:29Inviting folks back into his post-apocalyptic wasteland,
02:33George Miller's Mad Max Fury Road begins with a breathtaking shot of the titular Rokotanski,
02:38looking out over the sands beside a thoroughly beat-up car.
02:42One quick two-headed reptile snack later,
02:44as Tom Hardy's Max fights with the voices in his brain,
02:47the battered anti-hero is pursued across the plains,
02:50before being well and truly stopped in his tracks by the first of many jaw-dropping vehicular stunts.
02:56Not done there, though, Miller steps down on the accelerator once again,
03:00after being dragged kicking and screaming to a Morton Joe Citadel by the War Boys,
03:04a frenetic sequence involving Max being shaved, tattooed,
03:08and very nearly branded soon turns out to be the equivalent of someone strapping your face to the front of a speeding truck,
03:14the gloriously wild visual of Hardy desperately scrapping and scurrying his way through waves of pale adversaries,
03:20all while Tom Hulkenberg's throbbing score booms on,
03:23then comes to a screeching halt after a failed attempt to swing out of trouble.
03:28And it was here when viewers learned early on that there was simply no escaping this chaotic sci-fi ride.
03:33Number 7, I Think God Did It, Signs
03:35Long before it was revealed that H2O was the most powerful substance in the universe,
03:40in M. Night Shyamalan's 2002 sci-fi horror, Signs,
03:44audiences met Mel Gibson's father, Graham Hess, as he suddenly woke from his slumber.
03:49Then, quickly disturbing this fairly mundane morning routine, a chilling scream cuts through the toothbrush in.
03:55Brilliantly ramping up the tension from there on out,
03:58Shyamalan keeps those child cries in the distance as a panicked Hess and his brother Meryl
04:03begin sprinting through the crops in search of the youngsters calling their names.
04:07But the stress isn't simply squashed by the finding of young Morgan and Bo.
04:11Instead, with the short and shocking utterance of I Think God Did It,
04:15the former Hess child introduces both his father and viewers to a world-changing sign.
04:20Drawing people in with every never-ending second,
04:23Graham spends taking in the surreal visual of his plants being well and truly wiped out by an unknown force,
04:29Shyamalan expertly had his audience on the edge of their seat within the first five minutes,
04:34as the camera gradually zoomed out to reveal an astonishing crop circle.
04:38Number 6, Chasing Trinity, The Matrix
04:41In the seconds that follow the first few notes of that unmistakable Don Davis score trickling out of nearby speakers,
04:48The Matrix introduces us to the instantly iconic falling green code that the titular simulated reality is made up of.
04:55But the soon-to-be legendary moments do not stop there.
04:58The Wachowski shot viewers right through a zero,
05:01and introduced the world to a mysterious woman decked out in full black leather.
05:05And this badass didn't need no man to get herself out of the sticky situation she'd found herself in,
05:11as cops appeared to have quote-unquote one little girl known as Trinity surrounded.
05:16Stopping time dead as Carrie-Anne Moss prepared to boot the life out of one foolish police officer,
05:21it was in this precise moment when folks buckled up for a science fiction action journey unlike anything they'd ever seen before.
05:28By the time Trinity had unbelievably launched herself across a ridiculous gap high up on the city rooftops,
05:34it was already beautifully clear that the impossible simply did not apply to this miraculous world.
05:405. Behind the Curtain
05:41The Prestige
05:42Showing off a ton of top hats that will ultimately come into play later on in the magical sci-fi tale,
05:48Christian Bale's magician Alfred Borden ominously asks if you're watching closely.
05:53Within the opening few seconds of Christopher Nolan's The Prestige,
05:56So begins a wonderfully puzzling sequence that sees Michael Caine's stage engineer John Cutter
06:01explaining the three acts that make up every single magic trick.
06:05And as he does this, the unbearably tense scene jumps between shots of Cutter making a little bird disappear,
06:11and Hugh Jackman's magic man Robert Angier doing that very same thing,
06:15only to himself with a lot more electricity.
06:18As Angier ends up being shockingly dropped into a locked water tank with Borden helplessly watching on,
06:24Nolan had viewers completely locked in.
06:26They wondered what in the holy hell they'd just witnessed,
06:29and were desperate to find out why the Jackman had just been seemingly killed off within the flick's opening minutes.
06:34That's one way to keep asses in seats, Chris.
06:37Those jaw-dropping revelations could not come soon enough after one of the most stressful,
06:41mysterious, captivating, and well-executed sci-fi hooks you're ever likely to see.
06:46Number 4, Shoot That Raptor, Jurassic Park
06:49In typical Steven Spielberg fashion,
06:51the iconic director was able to conjure up ridiculous amounts of dread and anxiety,
06:56with just a few hints at the monster within,
06:58during Jurassic Park's legendary opening.
07:01As the hilariously underprepared dino wranglers attempt to safely move a deadly velociraptor from a container into a holding pen,
07:08things inevitably take a turn for the worst.
07:10As Bob Peck's park warden Robert Muldoon watches on,
07:13the dangerous lady within, one that is never fully revealed,
07:17soon turns an intriguing scene into the stuff of nightmares.
07:20Dragging her next meal into her cage,
07:23the way said bloke is effortlessly ragdolled by the vicious raptor,
07:27let viewers know early on that they definitely weren't dealing with Barney here.
07:30The occasional glimpse of the bloodthirsty animal staring into the petrified souls of all who were trying to keep her from going on a rampage,
07:37then finally gives way to a two-word command for the ages.
07:40Shooting her still wasn't enough to erase the terrifying ordeal both Muldoon's men and those watching on had been put through, however.
07:48I'm still having nightmares.
07:50Number 3, a very different Los Angeles, Blade Runner.
07:53The gorgeous and unnerving use of synthesizers in Blade Runner's now-adored Vangelis score,
07:58was first introduced as a simple but perfectly cold opening crawl,
08:03explained what replicants were and why they were being retired by Blade Runner's at this time.
08:07But before a single bio-engineered humanoid had even made its presence known on screen,
08:12the audience was already in awe of the world Ridley Scott & Co. had unleashed.
08:17With flames shooting out of buildings and into the dark, twinkling skyline,
08:21other cars are spotted soaring through the soulless remains of LA,
08:25as the camera takes its sweet time wandering across the Hades landscape.
08:29The sudden cut to a fixated eye lit up by this fiery world,
08:33is merely the icing on top of the stunning sci-fi cake.
08:36And if that wasn't enough of a reason to get excited about the mysterious thriller to come,
08:40Scott only goes and follows that majestic vista,
08:43with the first compelling look at a particularly tense Voight-Kampff test.
08:47The gripping exam used to figure out whether an individual was a replicant.
08:51Spoilers, it did not go well.
08:52Number 2, The Dawn of Man, 2001, A Space Odyssey.
08:56Often imitated, but never even remotely close to duplicated,
09:00Stanley Kubrick's 2001, A Space Odyssey contains an opening scene so iconic,
09:05memories of it can be elicited with just five simple notes.
09:09You know the ones,
09:10duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh.
09:13But, you know, better.
09:14After spending a rather uncomfortable three minutes in complete darkness,
09:18as the flick gradually glues you to your seat with its intense overture,
09:22also, Sprach Zarathustra booms through the speakers as a tremendous sunrise over planet Earth emerges.
09:28And this all sets the fascinating stage for the legendary Dawn of Man sequence,
09:32one most recently seen inspiring the folks behind the Barbie flick.
09:36Over the course of a bold, dialogueless 10-minute opening spell,
09:39Kubrick then takes us through the evolution of man as apes collide with big cats,
09:44and their own kind before an alien monolith eventually arrives on the scene.
09:48Not long after this eerie monolith interaction, these apes figure out how to use bones as weapons.
09:53With this world-changing discovery inevitably leading to said weapons being used against a rival tribe, naturally,
09:59bringing an endlessly captivating scene to its epic conclusion.
10:03One of the hominins then chucks said bone high up into the sky,
10:06with that weapon then majestically transitioning into a satellite floating through space.
10:11Chef's kiss, mwah!
10:12And speaking of space, number one, Vader's Arrival Star Wars.
10:16How do you convince an entire galaxy to fall in love with the idea of rebellions fighting against villainous empires within just a couple of minutes?
10:23By giving those same folks watching 1977's Star Wars a dark Lord of the Sith-shaped reason to sit up in their seat, that's how.
10:32But before a certain half-machine, half-man fallen Jedi even showed up in the galaxy far, far away for the first time,
10:39everything from John Williams' magical Star Wars main theme playing out as the crawl dropped,
10:44to a never-ending Star Destroyer floating across the stars,
10:47had already convinced viewers their lives were never going to be the same again.
10:51Then, it happened, baby.
10:52After doing all they could to keep their ship from being taken over by Imperial forces,
10:57those rebels gunned down by many a stormtrooper were soon joined by the menacing force known as Darth Vader.
11:03The powerful brass, that badass suit, the first few mechanical breaths.
11:08And with just one terrific Vader-boasting opening scene,
11:11an entire generation and countless more were all in on this fantasy sci-fi space opera.
11:17But that right there is our list, so know of any other great opening scenes in sci-fi movie history that we have missed?
11:23Well, let us know all about them in the comments section right down below,
11:26and don't forget to like, share, and click on that subscribe button while you are down there.
11:30I have been The Great Gareth from WhatCulture.com, cheers for checking out this video today,
11:35and hopefully we'll see you again soon.
11:36Bye-bye!
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