Great movie title sequences

[BigSleeper]

Total movie geek topic, but that the heck. I recently rewatched "Catch Me If You Can," was reminded how cool its opening title sequence was and wondered what others might compare. YouTube to the rescue with a Top 25:

Part 1:

Part 2:

Among the 25: "Hollow Man," "Dr. Strangelove," "Pi," "Altered States," "The Terminator," "Se7en," "Psycho," "Casino," "Alien," "Superman," "Soylent Green," "Panic Room" and "99 and 44/100% Dead."

Interesting stuff.

 

[Rumpleforeskin]

Any James Bond film.

 

[Dickens Cider]

Touch of Evil.

 

[DanOregon]

Maurice Binder was a genius with the stuff he did with the Bond titles. I prefer any title sequence that actually helps tell the story. The title sequence of "The Kingdom" did a great job of explaining the U.S. presence in Saudi Arabia.

 

[doubledown68]

The sequence of Lord of War always intrigued me. You follow one round of AK47 ammo from production to end.

 

[MartinEnigmatica]

Always enjoyed the one from It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World.

 

[NoOneLikesUs]

I win.



I win again.

 

[joe king]

I don't know about the title sequence itself, but the funniest part of Raising Arizona takes place before the title sequence.

 

[HejiraHenry]

Always enjoyed the one from It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World.

Excellent call. Sam Bass, if my memory serves,

 

[MartinEnigmatica]

Always enjoyed the one from It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World.

Excellent call. Sam Bass, if my memory serves,

I was curious was else he'd done, and apparently it's Saul Bass. Quite prolific, too, doing the title sequences for Spartacus, North by Northwest, Vertigo, West Side Story, Alien,....well, hell, here's his IMDB page:

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000866/

 

[RossLT]

If for no other reason than the music.

 

[93Devil]

I think the entire movie Apocalypse Now runs before the title is even shown.

 

[HejiraHenry]

Always enjoyed the one from It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World.

Excellent call. Sam Bass, if my memory serves,

I was curious was else he'd done, and apparently it's Saul Bass. Quite prolific, too, doing the title sequences for Spartacus, North by Northwest, Vertigo, West Side Story, Alien,....well, hell, here's his IMDB page:

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000866/

Oops. Sorry, I gapped on his first name. Damned influential in the biz.

 

[Fenian_Bastard]

The opening credits of Hoosiers always get me.

 

[93Devil]

Goodfellas comes to mind as well.

 

[terrier]

The simple yet stylized animation in many of Sergio Leone's spaghetti westerns (and, of course, the tunes from Ennio Morricone).

 

[Mizzougrad96]

Lord of War is very cool....

I don't think anything touches Fight Club.

Seven is also very cool.

 

[bigpern23]

Lord of War is very cool....

I don't think anything touches Fight Club.

Seven is also very cool.

Damn ... you nailed the two I was going to mention. And I hate 9-Inch Nails in general, but that song was perfect for Seven.

I would add Top Gun to the list. Jets taking off. Cool music. Not a bad way to get it going.

 

[king cranium maximus IV]

Spider-Man 2.

 

[EStreetJoe]

I'm partial to this one being great: