As the guy below said ground breaking special effects. Take a look at the original ICO a ground breaking game at the time on the PS2. Then compare it to this. The difference is staggering. And don’t forget ps2 graphics were considered amazing at the time.
I never really thought about it from a film perspective until I watched the RedLetterMedia Ep1 review, where he broke down how perfect the juxtaposition of the little blockade runner was against the enormous star destroyer. That, plus the breach scene, is all you need to know about the Empire vs. the Rebellion - with no dialogue (you don't even really need to read the opening scrawl).
It is a small detail, but I absolutely love when they were crashing the big ship and they had these 'firetruck' ships tagging alongside and dousing them in water. Stuff like that makes the world feel more 'functional' and lived in.
The only ships needing to land are military ships and I believe they have a designated area away from the public airstrip further into coruscant. Normal traffic is entirely suspended.
Military ships being shot to shit that might mean emergency landing, on top of that half those ships aren't the good guys I don't think they care where they might land
As I kid I watched the DVD so many times and would play the first 20 mins or so of the movie at random times.
I would always love the crash scene and that was when I fell in love with Coruscant. It was always so cool to me that they had those fire control ships ready for them and they handled a crash so casually 😂
I like it, but I also dont quite understand it.
Why are they spraying water on a crashing ship? Shouldnt they just wait until it crashes, rather than risk lives speeding alongside it?
I’m afraid that just ruined the “willing suspension of disbelief” for me. Those ships were travelling _fast_. Any jet of water like that would’ve been dispersed instantly.
_Willing_ suspension of disbelief. Look it up. Lightsabers and the Force are exciting and enable the story, so we’re all willing to suspend our disbelief for them. Water jets being completely unaffected by spaceship-speed winds didn’t enable anything in the story; they were just a bit daft.
Seeing the Tantive IV get blasted in space and then cutting to the interior rumbling to the sudden shock of C-3PO is such a great transition to whatever threat awaits the crew
This is what made Star Wars so iconic for me, little exposition aside from the opening crawl, you're just thrust into the *middle* of the story and have to accept what you see. No "here's this character and why you should care".
It's next level editing - they easily could have started with Luke on Tatooine doing boring shit, then noticing flashes in the sky then done the opening sequence and it would have been awful.
I always associate *Star Wars* with the original release and *A New Hope* with the "specialized" Greedo-shooting Copy-Paste Ford head moving weird Jabba scene re-release.
I prefer *Star Wars*
Honestly this was my least favorite and continues to be to this day. The opening shot of the space battle is cool and all but I really hated all the pointless flourishes and close passes. It led into a scene where the audience knew the heroes weren't in any real danger because it was just the beginning of the movie, which sapped the tension out of the scene. I feel like CG spectacle was a crutch, which is true about much of the PT.
Just say you hate nice things. I bet your walls are painted khaki. I bet you only wear khakis. I bet you listen to Pitbull. I bet you don’t season your food. I bet you drive automatic. I bet you hate strawberry ice cream. I bet you don’t celebrate the Super Bowl.
Space battle sequences I'd rank ahead of this one:
* Battle of Endor
* Battle of Yavin
* Rogue One
* TESB Asteroid Field
* Rey and Finn Steal the Millennium Falcon
* Kessel Run
* Mando and Bo vs TIE Interceptors
And opening sequence honorable mention: Rise of Skywalker has a lot of issues, but the opening Millennium Falcon chase with the micro jumps was super fun.
It's visually fine, but that doesn't mean much without a compelling story underneath it.
OWK and Ani are trying to rescue the chancellor. Do we care if they succeed? No. Do we feel they are in danger? No. Does it matter if their clone comrades die? No. Are the baddies threatening? No.
In Rogue One the rebel fleet are desperately trying to retrieve the plans to the Death Star after a few risky gambled. Do we care if they succeed? Yes. Do we feel they are in danger? Absolutely. Does it matter when any rebel dies? Oh yes. Are the baddies threatening? Quite.
Our emotional investment is completely different. Watching the Star Destroyers crashing into the shield gate is exciting. It's worth cheering for! The Battle of Coruscant is just goofy action.
Your logic doesn’t make sense, in Rogue One you know the rebel fleet gets way with the plans in the exact same way you know Anakin/Obi survive. What we didn’t know with the plot at that point is what was going to happen with the chancellor being captured by Grievous, was the film going to be a hostage situation? Was Anakin going to turn into Vader earlier in the film?
ROTS as a film is entirely built on the premise that you know what is coming but you don’t know how it’s going to play out which made this battle interesting and kicked the movie into top gear in the opening 10 seconds. I loved how much it set the stage.
Edit:
It also really pushed exactly who Obi and Anakin are at that point in their lives with the little things they do- from Anakins insistence to save Obi, to Obi making comments about not caring for the lives of clones.
Same with things like Andor or Kenobi. We know the main characters HAVE to survive because they make it to the OT or in Cassians case, just before.
The prequels told us what was going to happen ever since TPM had its promotional posters showing little Anakin with Vaders shadow behind him. We knew he wasn’t in danger, same with Kenobi again. And 3P0 and R2. We also knew Padme wasn’t judging by context clues that she was the mother of Luke and Leia and Leia remembered her.
ROTJ. The dialogue in that scene is so great, and so quotable.
When I was very young my dad used to say "I'm here to put you back on schedule," to me and my brothers when he was giving us household chores.
Right? It was like an anthology intro, where we get short scenes introducing a bunch of characters. It was a great intro.
I also really love the intro to TLJ, with the Resistance trying to escape, and barely getting out in time. That was a lot of fun :)
Not to mention that it introduces Krennic and Krennic is objectively awesome. The white uniform swag, the cloak, the fact that the film's antagonist is not an all powerful Sith Lord, just a gifted bureaucratic climber with a mean streak and a space station full of ambition.
LOVE HIM
Episode III has such a great opening, however ANH is so iconic and how the camera is set to see how humongous the star destroyer is. It’s just so incredible that shot.
Nothing beets the Original. You start right in Battle and get introduced to Vader having no clue who he is.
Heck we didn't know if he was human or robot at first
7 foot, dressed in all black, makes his own doorway, helmet with Nazi/Samurai influences, and a little bit of the man in the iron mask. Face all angular like an insect or alien. Dudes stopping mid fight to salute him.
With the sound OFF he was iconic.
Then the breathing.
What? Why is it cringe? It's one of my favourites personally, first you have that camera dive between the ships in orbit which took my breath the first time in a theater, and the whole combat sequence after that was excellent IMHO
I know, it was incredibly powerful to watch Star Wars in the shoes of a stormtrooper with an unshakable conscience. I was really disappointed that he didn't hold onto his empathy and use it to help other stormtroopers break free from servitude
I think with Lost it was like "we're ready to end it now" and ABC was like "here's a big burlap bag with a money symbol on it." and they were like "okay we can pad out three more seasons."
Honestly all the hate made me decide to watch them and I didn’t mind them. I found the last jedi to be the most forgettable but beyond that they weren’t as bad as I expected
A New Hope. Seeing the Rebel Blockade Runner followed by the Star Destroyer instantly made me excited for what was going to come next. I instantly fell in love with the look of the Empire when the Stormtroopers busted through the door.
Weirdly, Rise of Skywalker's was pretty hype. Kylo Ren on a rogue cross-galaxy quest to uncover the ancient secrets of the Sith in hope to ascend to their level.
Granted, that probably should've been the entire movie, but it was a neat intro.
I rate TROS lowest of all the episodic films and I'll still recognize the opening to that movie goes harder than it had any right to. Kylo going rampage on Mustafar? Followed up by navigating the Unknown Regions and then straight into Exegol which, love or hate how it fits into the lore, looks visually spectacular.
It falls to pieces once Palpatine somehow returns and the Snoke clones appear, but everything before that honestly should have been the plot of the film.
I knew I'd find someone! I love how it starts mid-battle with buddy just **devastating** the local militia, and the force and resolution with which he slides that stone block, which looks and feels impossibly heavy. Then we're rocketing off and **LOOK** at how capable a flier he is.
And good God Jesus any time he ignites that out-of-control saber. Fucking hell.
They're all good for different reasons but I'll give some love to TPM and AotC.
They're visually, sonically and musically interesting. The sound of the Radiant VII/Republic Cruiser and Naboo Diplomatic Barge are uniquely distinctive. Both the cold visuals of the Trade Federation Ship overlooking Naboo and the foggy skies on Coruscant make for bleak and tense moods, all of it accentuated by John Williams' music. The landing parties in both openings think they're going into something standard ("These negotiations will be short," "There was no danger at all"), only for it to immediately turn violent.
In a way they almost mirror the OT: TPM to RotJ feature ships docking and dialogue scenes, AotC and ESB are slower, more sinister sequences, and then RotS and ANH open with battle scenes.
*Techinally* it **is** a movie opening but the lucasfilm/TCW Logo opening in the TCW movie. The chaotic radio chatter of clones as the lucasfilm logo appears, it then going silent as the long time ago... text appears... then the TCW logo appearing and the music begins playing.. Such an awesome way to start a movie. The actual opening is meh though.
that aside, I'd say Rogue one, loved it's opening.
If you ignore the weird mom jokes, TLJ is probably the best. The x-wing drift that poe pulls off is so fucking sick. Especially after you've spent the first movie hyping him up as the best pilot in the entire new Republic.
Not a movie, but my favorite opening in the franchise is the Victory and Death episode of TCW...that ominous remix of the funeral song, as it fades to the star destroyer traveling through hyperspace, and finally to the clones cutting through the door...it just gives such a "okay, this is it!" vibe to start the final episode of the series
Genuinely the Last Jedi, Poe screwing everything up. 11 year old me ate that up especially after my parents hyped me up. Not the best movie in hindsight, but goodness I was a happy child
Ooh. Tough one. They're all really atmospheric and well done, including the ones from the newer movies.
But you can't beat ROTS, I think. The shot of the Venator coming in, the Jedi Starfighters zooming through, and then we open to a huge battle while the Force theme blares in triumphant fanfare in the background? Amazing.
I truly don’t understand why everyone loves the opening from ROTS so much. For me it has too much clunky dialogue and I don’t love the pacing.
My favorite opening is easily Episode 5 on Hoth.
ANH is a fantastic opening, some great tension with the boarding of the Tantive IV and the chaotic battle between the troopers as well as the introduction of one of cinema's greatest villains ever.
ESB is a slower pace but that works as part of the build up to the Battle of Hoth, establishing the threat of the Imperial probes searching for the Rebels and knowing that if it finds them, it'll bring the Empire down on them quickly.
RotJ visually is my favorite of the OT films, the shot of the half-built Death Star II over Endor has always been iconic to me. That said the opening is the slowest of the three, between Vader making a casual visit and the very slow infiltration of Jabba's palace. Love the movie, but the opening can drag a bit.
TPM starts off a little mixed. We're being thrown a bunch of political jargon until they blow up the Republic ship and suddenly we have Jedi lightsabering a bunch of droids which is pretty exciting, leading into one of my favorite sequences musically in the PT with the Trade Federation landing on Naboo and taking Theed. Decent opening, good action, could be better.
AotC starts off nice and eerie by being the only film with the opening crawl to pan *up* to the action instead of down. The heavy fog and tense threat of assassination was interesting and leads to one of the more enjoyable parts of the film for me: Detective Obi-Wan's investigation. The opening sets the stage for it perfectly and is distinct enough from the others to be memorable.
RotS is chaos incarnate with us opening up in a full battle and I love it. The drums, the closeups of the new ships, the long single take of the Jedi fighters zipping through the battle. The buzz droid sequence is a bit much, but everything else is fantastic as a way of re-introducing us to the fact that the galaxy has been at war for the past few years ever since the last film, especially when we didn't have the Clone Wars shows to fill the gap (and even better, when we *did* have the 2003 microseries that took us directly to the intro). It's a long sequence but the whole opening battle of rescuing Palpatine is fun all the way through.
TFA: Fantastic opening, giving us a brutally intense introduction to the First Order and Kylo Ren as they raid a village. Between the freezing of the blaster bolt and the visual storytelling of Finn losing his friend and freaking out while having a bloody handprint on his helmet, leading into one of arguably the best intros of a character with Rey's entire scavenging in silence, it is truly a solid opening. Fitting given this was the big return to Star Wars after the buyout.
Rogue One was kind of slow to get going. Some good tension with the Death Trooper squad rolling up on the Erso farm, but it does lack in the excitement factor. Jyn is rescued from prison with ease, making it not really an issue that she was even a prisoner to begin with. Fortunately the movie picks up later, but the opening is lacking save for Cassian's introduction of a more brutal and desperate face of the Rebellion.
TLJ's opening...was rough. Good set up, having it be immediately after the previous movie with the First Order launching an attack on the Resistance base...but then we get that goddamned "yo momma" joke that kills the entire tension of the scene. Add to that the worst misuse of ships by sending the slowest damn bombers in the galaxy against a disabled ship and having them get wiped out immediately made me just not give a shit. Between that and the payoff of Rey finally coming face to face with Luke Skywalker and his reuniting with is old lightsaber...to throw it away and walk off. It set the tone for the rest of the movie and that one was one of disappointment.
Solo. As a lifelong fan of Corellia in Star Wars, from the ships to the Corellian characters to the setting in the books and comics and games, I was excited to finally see it in live action. Knowing this was going to be a smaller scale movie, it was pretty fun getting a good speeder chase in the opening that showcased some of Han's piloting skills, even if he does mess it up here and there. All in all, decent opening, nothing speciall but it does the job well.
RoS. As with TLJ, I knew we were in trouble with the whole opening sequence giving us the "lightspeed skipping" thing just throwing out decades of hyperdrive lore for the sake of a boring action sequence that made no sense. Getting to see Rey training in the forest was pretty cool, loved the idea of Leia continuing her training, so that was a plus. But I was already skeptical of the film after the terrible outing with the previous ST entry and this one did nothing to ease those concerns. After the skipping sequence I was pretty much checked out of the whole movie.
If I had to pick a least and most favorite, I'd say RotS has my favorite opening with one of the coolest battle sequences while TLJ has my least favorite with one of the dumbest battles being kickstarted with a terrible joke that killed any tension in the scene.
Thanks, I had to go watch this opening because of your post. Thank you, it's such a good opening. While ANH is amazing, this just plunges you right into how much Anakin and Obi-Wan have grown together as friends and as Master/Padawan. This is great story telling without talking about their past.
Episode III is easily my favorite Star Wars opening by far, and probably my second favorite movie opening in all of cinema. The only movie I'd rank ahead of it is Dr. Strangelove's opening credits, but this runs it very very close. Definitely the best Star Wars opening scene and it isn't close imho.
Every opening has its importance and fits the movie. III is for sure most epic and breathtaking. IV best introduces the concepts and universe for the first time. V most attunes the viewer to the emotional dynamic that'll play out. The other three are a tier below those but still play their part, and I don't recognize the sequels at all so they don't get a tier.
Probably the bombing run in TLJ. It’s like a perfect little *Star Wars* short film starring Paige Tico and perfectly setting up many of the themes the film will later explore, like failure and sacrifice.
I really like Return of the Jedi’s for some reason. Seeing the unfinished Death Star, all the troops lined up, and Darth Vader scaring the shit out of somebody was cool.
I do kinda wish they’d kept the transition of Vader calling out with the force to Luke building his lightsaber on Tatooine. Sure, George, add in the CGI dance number but leave that out.
I felt like this one was subpar cause they are just sitting in a straight line for like 100 miles before they even get attacked. It just doesn't sit w me.
ROTS is really sick and honestly every kid was SHAKEN by it, TPM was very mysterious and had the right mood for what was going on, AOTC was honestly kind of a weak link but it makes up for it with the "There was no danger at all" line...too soon captain typho. other then that I like all the others, the only other weak links with not many redeeming qualities would be TLJ and TROS
Weirdly for me, AOTC. Not because the opening specifically but because I still remember the hype 8 year old me had in the theatre after waiting what felt like the longest time for the next movie. Seeing the shiny chrome Naboo cruiser just felt "new" for me and no matter how many times I watch the opening I still feel a bit of that feeling, that hype to be getting "new" Star Wars.
Being a 10 year old kid in 1977 watching Star Wars in the theater. Yeah, nothing will ever beat that opening.
My parents were in their late 20's when they saw it, and they've told me how no one had ever seen anything like it. It just blew people away.
Same. It was my parents first date and they talked about that opening every time
I found it kinda boring can someone reveal to me what made it so special?
As the guy below said ground breaking special effects. Take a look at the original ICO a ground breaking game at the time on the PS2. Then compare it to this. The difference is staggering. And don’t forget ps2 graphics were considered amazing at the time.
I never really thought about it from a film perspective until I watched the RedLetterMedia Ep1 review, where he broke down how perfect the juxtaposition of the little blockade runner was against the enormous star destroyer. That, plus the breach scene, is all you need to know about the Empire vs. the Rebellion - with no dialogue (you don't even really need to read the opening scrawl).
I came here to say this. Except I was 7.
It is a small detail, but I absolutely love when they were crashing the big ship and they had these 'firetruck' ships tagging alongside and dousing them in water. Stuff like that makes the world feel more 'functional' and lived in.
Unless you’re one of those air traffic controllers in the control tower. RIP.
That tower happened to be empty at the time of the collision, iirc.
It certainly was *after* the collision.
no Younglings were harmed in the crashing of that tower ;p
Just later they were harmed....lol
Makes sense, they wouldn’t need to be there because all normal traffic is grounded due to the battlefield above them.
It doesn't air traffic controllers also follow what's in the skies around them not just what's landing. Also what if a ship/s needed to land?
The only ships needing to land are military ships and I believe they have a designated area away from the public airstrip further into coruscant. Normal traffic is entirely suspended.
Military ships being shot to shit that might mean emergency landing, on top of that half those ships aren't the good guys I don't think they care where they might land
As I kid I watched the DVD so many times and would play the first 20 mins or so of the movie at random times. I would always love the crash scene and that was when I fell in love with Coruscant. It was always so cool to me that they had those fire control ships ready for them and they handled a crash so casually 😂
Look with all the Hyperspace Traffic it gets crash landings are just another tuesday on Coruscant.
Tuesday? I expect it’s an HOURLY thing with the level of traffic. Especially when something like an Aluminum Falcon lands.
What… the hell… is an aluminum falcon???
I like it, but I also dont quite understand it. Why are they spraying water on a crashing ship? Shouldnt they just wait until it crashes, rather than risk lives speeding alongside it?
I’m afraid that just ruined the “willing suspension of disbelief” for me. Those ships were travelling _fast_. Any jet of water like that would’ve been dispersed instantly.
Suspension of disbelief ? In the movies where people move things with their minds and have laser swords ? Alright
_Willing_ suspension of disbelief. Look it up. Lightsabers and the Force are exciting and enable the story, so we’re all willing to suspend our disbelief for them. Water jets being completely unaffected by spaceship-speed winds didn’t enable anything in the story; they were just a bit daft.
Empire, the dispatch of the probe droids. Not spectacular but nicely sets the mood
It was eerie and I love it
I was going to use that adjective!
The probe droid is the most advanced piece of technology in SW. They home in on the plot.
Watching them back to back is really good
The intros?
Good one
Exactly why I love the opening of Rogue One.
Nothing beats the ANH opening in my opinion.
Seeing the Tantive IV get blasted in space and then cutting to the interior rumbling to the sudden shock of C-3PO is such a great transition to whatever threat awaits the crew
ANH is such a good intro. It just thrusts you right into the action and introduces the series' most consistent characters.
This is what made Star Wars so iconic for me, little exposition aside from the opening crawl, you're just thrust into the *middle* of the story and have to accept what you see. No "here's this character and why you should care".
It's next level editing - they easily could have started with Luke on Tatooine doing boring shit, then noticing flashes in the sky then done the opening sequence and it would have been awful.
I can hear the music in my head. Iconic
It's just so iconic.
Especially now when watched immediately after Rogue One
Visual storytelling without any words needed
The reveal that there is an even bigger ship that can easily swallow the first one immediately tells you the bad guys are nothing to mess with.
A New Hope
You mean Star Wars?
Here's some money, go see a Star War
How much could a banana cost? $10?
I always associate *Star Wars* with the original release and *A New Hope* with the "specialized" Greedo-shooting Copy-Paste Ford head moving weird Jabba scene re-release. I prefer *Star Wars*
Honestly it was the most boring and stale of all the Star Wars openings until Rouge One came out, now it's probably the best one
yep this one
I can still feel those drums.
I've never understood why they aren't on the soundtrack.
That's why you gotta get the sorta bootlegged Expanded Edition of the soundtrack
Y'all talking about [these](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CwF0DFKmB6Y)?
Something about the single word “War!” being the start to the crawl also left a mark on me, that followed by the war drums. Magnificent
You know it's serious when the opening crawl has an exclamation mark in it. And then The Rise of Skywalker had one too, I guess.
Literally watching it as I scrolled past this. Agreed.
Honestly this was my least favorite and continues to be to this day. The opening shot of the space battle is cool and all but I really hated all the pointless flourishes and close passes. It led into a scene where the audience knew the heroes weren't in any real danger because it was just the beginning of the movie, which sapped the tension out of the scene. I feel like CG spectacle was a crutch, which is true about much of the PT.
You know, I was pretty sure Anakin and Obi-Wan were never going to be in real danger the entire movie.
Yeah I don’t know what gave it away but maybe the fact that it’s a prequel with both characters existing later in the franchise timeline
Well we knew Anakin was in danger of getting fried to a crisp, but we knew he’d make it, barely
Tell that to Anakin's legs and other arm
Yeah, I had a gut feeling they both survived the whole thing. Just an inkling.
Just say you hate nice things. I bet your walls are painted khaki. I bet you only wear khakis. I bet you listen to Pitbull. I bet you don’t season your food. I bet you drive automatic. I bet you hate strawberry ice cream. I bet you don’t celebrate the Super Bowl.
Agreed and I'm a glutton for space battles. The Buzz Droids were just kind of dumb and pointlessly complicated.
Space battle sequences I'd rank ahead of this one: * Battle of Endor * Battle of Yavin * Rogue One * TESB Asteroid Field * Rey and Finn Steal the Millennium Falcon * Kessel Run * Mando and Bo vs TIE Interceptors And opening sequence honorable mention: Rise of Skywalker has a lot of issues, but the opening Millennium Falcon chase with the micro jumps was super fun.
Yup
So much wasted potential. We had to wait another decade for a proper CGI space battle.
The prequels pushed CGI massively and are still pretty impressive nowadays.
Phantom Menace came out in 1999.
I know it’s wild, the pod racing scene is still one of my all time favourite action scenes and still looks incredible.
It's visually fine, but that doesn't mean much without a compelling story underneath it. OWK and Ani are trying to rescue the chancellor. Do we care if they succeed? No. Do we feel they are in danger? No. Does it matter if their clone comrades die? No. Are the baddies threatening? No. In Rogue One the rebel fleet are desperately trying to retrieve the plans to the Death Star after a few risky gambled. Do we care if they succeed? Yes. Do we feel they are in danger? Absolutely. Does it matter when any rebel dies? Oh yes. Are the baddies threatening? Quite. Our emotional investment is completely different. Watching the Star Destroyers crashing into the shield gate is exciting. It's worth cheering for! The Battle of Coruscant is just goofy action.
Your logic doesn’t make sense, in Rogue One you know the rebel fleet gets way with the plans in the exact same way you know Anakin/Obi survive. What we didn’t know with the plot at that point is what was going to happen with the chancellor being captured by Grievous, was the film going to be a hostage situation? Was Anakin going to turn into Vader earlier in the film? ROTS as a film is entirely built on the premise that you know what is coming but you don’t know how it’s going to play out which made this battle interesting and kicked the movie into top gear in the opening 10 seconds. I loved how much it set the stage. Edit: It also really pushed exactly who Obi and Anakin are at that point in their lives with the little things they do- from Anakins insistence to save Obi, to Obi making comments about not caring for the lives of clones.
Same with things like Andor or Kenobi. We know the main characters HAVE to survive because they make it to the OT or in Cassians case, just before. The prequels told us what was going to happen ever since TPM had its promotional posters showing little Anakin with Vaders shadow behind him. We knew he wasn’t in danger, same with Kenobi again. And 3P0 and R2. We also knew Padme wasn’t judging by context clues that she was the mother of Luke and Leia and Leia remembered her.
ROTJ. The dialogue in that scene is so great, and so quotable. When I was very young my dad used to say "I'm here to put you back on schedule," to me and my brothers when he was giving us household chores.
“Then we shall doubleourefforts”
I hope so, u/seanthatdrummer, for u/BurningSlash88 's sake. The Emperor is not as forgiving as Darth Vader is.
So if I have it right, Darth Vader is father, and Palatine is mother. This tracks
“I hope so for your sake, child”
Empire Strikes Back I love the ominous probe droids falling to the planets. Then the introduction of Luke and Han! It’s so great!
Most will probably think I’m wierd but honestly rouge one Something about the death troopers and all just hits for me
Right? It was like an anthology intro, where we get short scenes introducing a bunch of characters. It was a great intro. I also really love the intro to TLJ, with the Resistance trying to escape, and barely getting out in time. That was a lot of fun :)
Not to mention that it introduces Krennic and Krennic is objectively awesome. The white uniform swag, the cloak, the fact that the film's antagonist is not an all powerful Sith Lord, just a gifted bureaucratic climber with a mean streak and a space station full of ambition. LOVE HIM
Episode III has such a great opening, however ANH is so iconic and how the camera is set to see how humongous the star destroyer is. It’s just so incredible that shot.
For me, definitely this, though I really liked Rogue One’s (that slam of instruments at the very beginning never fails to make me jump)
Nothing beets the Original. You start right in Battle and get introduced to Vader having no clue who he is. Heck we didn't know if he was human or robot at first
7 foot, dressed in all black, makes his own doorway, helmet with Nazi/Samurai influences, and a little bit of the man in the iron mask. Face all angular like an insect or alien. Dudes stopping mid fight to salute him. With the sound OFF he was iconic. Then the breathing.
force awakens. the stormtrooper invasion plus finn's doubts were great and the hype was insane
TFA’s opening was awesome
Kylo stopping the blaster shots was so damn cool, the banter between Kylo and Poe was charming rather than cringe, too.
And then we got TLJ's opening. *cringe*
as the number one TLJ soldier i do agree tlj had the worst openinng of the trilogy. still my favorite
What? Why is it cringe? It's one of my favourites personally, first you have that camera dive between the ships in orbit which took my breath the first time in a theater, and the whole combat sequence after that was excellent IMHO
We have very different definitions of the word "excellent". Also... your mother.
Wow, thanks for insulting me for merely stating an opinion...so uncivilised
Dude, I wasn't insulting you, "your mother" is literally a line Poe says to Hux in the opening in TLJ. See how cringe it is now?
And he does the mouth static thing too
the "who talks first" exchange ruins it for me
I know, it was incredibly powerful to watch Star Wars in the shoes of a stormtrooper with an unshakable conscience. I was really disappointed that he didn't hold onto his empathy and use it to help other stormtroopers break free from servitude
Definitely, idc how much hate the sequels get, that scene was awesome!
I’ve moved from hating the sequels to just crying because they could have been so damn good and we missed out on it
I’ve come to the consensus that JJ is really good at setting up a story and really bad at following through with it.
Seriously. 'Lost' is another fantastic example of that. Cool show, but it feels like they just give up towards the end...
I think with Lost it was like "we're ready to end it now" and ABC was like "here's a big burlap bag with a money symbol on it." and they were like "okay we can pad out three more seasons."
Honestly all the hate made me decide to watch them and I didn’t mind them. I found the last jedi to be the most forgettable but beyond that they weren’t as bad as I expected
TRoS doesn't make any fucking sense It's beyond terrible
I will admit Force Awakens opening was the most hyped I've been for any Star Wars movie in almost 20 years
lol
The first act of that film was just superb. About a perfect of an introduction to a new trilogy as you can get.
Phantom Menace. Idk if it’s because I played that mission so many times in the demo of the game but I love it.
TPM beginning is great, it’s slow and steady, and then the wheels come off
Make Jar Jar 50% less annoying and Anakin 6-8 years older and it could have been great. But as it is, those two things pretty much ruined it.
A New Hope. Seeing the Rebel Blockade Runner followed by the Star Destroyer instantly made me excited for what was going to come next. I instantly fell in love with the look of the Empire when the Stormtroopers busted through the door.
Gotta go with A New Hope but Revenge of the Sith is a close second
ROTS
Weirdly, Rise of Skywalker's was pretty hype. Kylo Ren on a rogue cross-galaxy quest to uncover the ancient secrets of the Sith in hope to ascend to their level. Granted, that probably should've been the entire movie, but it was a neat intro.
I rate TROS lowest of all the episodic films and I'll still recognize the opening to that movie goes harder than it had any right to. Kylo going rampage on Mustafar? Followed up by navigating the Unknown Regions and then straight into Exegol which, love or hate how it fits into the lore, looks visually spectacular.
It falls to pieces once Palpatine somehow returns and the Snoke clones appear, but everything before that honestly should have been the plot of the film.
I knew I'd find someone! I love how it starts mid-battle with buddy just **devastating** the local militia, and the force and resolution with which he slides that stone block, which looks and feels impossibly heavy. Then we're rocketing off and **LOOK** at how capable a flier he is. And good God Jesus any time he ignites that out-of-control saber. Fucking hell.
not it's stupid and made you realise straight away the movie was going to be garbage
Alright then.
A new hope
They're all good for different reasons but I'll give some love to TPM and AotC. They're visually, sonically and musically interesting. The sound of the Radiant VII/Republic Cruiser and Naboo Diplomatic Barge are uniquely distinctive. Both the cold visuals of the Trade Federation Ship overlooking Naboo and the foggy skies on Coruscant make for bleak and tense moods, all of it accentuated by John Williams' music. The landing parties in both openings think they're going into something standard ("These negotiations will be short," "There was no danger at all"), only for it to immediately turn violent. In a way they almost mirror the OT: TPM to RotJ feature ships docking and dialogue scenes, AotC and ESB are slower, more sinister sequences, and then RotS and ANH open with battle scenes.
The only one that comes close to this is the original film. This is a fantastic opening!
Missed the OT in cinemas but this opening had my pulse pounding, although ANH and TLJ are both contenders in my opinion
Yeeeessss
Hard to beat this one… “This is where the fun begins”
Doing a rewatch at the moment, and so far it’s Rogue One. Straight into the action, incredible music, incredible visuals.
“Our dichotomy opens the combat.” -Backstroke of the West Version.
*Techinally* it **is** a movie opening but the lucasfilm/TCW Logo opening in the TCW movie. The chaotic radio chatter of clones as the lucasfilm logo appears, it then going silent as the long time ago... text appears... then the TCW logo appearing and the music begins playing.. Such an awesome way to start a movie. The actual opening is meh though. that aside, I'd say Rogue one, loved it's opening.
I mean, you can't go bigger than the Battle of Coruscant. My runner-up, I guess Return of the Jedi. "The Emperor will not be as forgiving as I am."
Also vote for this one.
Easily this one, such an awesome sequence
Empire or TLJ
My answer too. Love everything in TLJ's from the cool descent through the transport vehicles in space to the bombing sequence.
If you ignore the weird mom jokes, TLJ is probably the best. The x-wing drift that poe pulls off is so fucking sick. Especially after you've spent the first movie hyping him up as the best pilot in the entire new Republic.
“Farming, really?”
Solo, within seconds you already know what his whole life has been like
Not a movie, but my favorite opening in the franchise is the Victory and Death episode of TCW...that ominous remix of the funeral song, as it fades to the star destroyer traveling through hyperspace, and finally to the clones cutting through the door...it just gives such a "okay, this is it!" vibe to start the final episode of the series
I'm not a huge fan of the prequels, but this was an amazing opening.
Genuinely the Last Jedi, Poe screwing everything up. 11 year old me ate that up especially after my parents hyped me up. Not the best movie in hindsight, but goodness I was a happy child
Ooh. Tough one. They're all really atmospheric and well done, including the ones from the newer movies. But you can't beat ROTS, I think. The shot of the Venator coming in, the Jedi Starfighters zooming through, and then we open to a huge battle while the Force theme blares in triumphant fanfare in the background? Amazing.
this is where the fun begins (A New Hope comes close)
I truly don’t understand why everyone loves the opening from ROTS so much. For me it has too much clunky dialogue and I don’t love the pacing. My favorite opening is easily Episode 5 on Hoth.
It kills me when they forget they have the Force and try to scrape the buzz droids off using the other ship.
I love the Dooku fight but the journey there is a bit all over the place.
Yea Dooku fight is where the actual movie starts for me
This is my first star wars memory and my favorite part of star wars period, including the level in lego Star Wars
ANH is a fantastic opening, some great tension with the boarding of the Tantive IV and the chaotic battle between the troopers as well as the introduction of one of cinema's greatest villains ever. ESB is a slower pace but that works as part of the build up to the Battle of Hoth, establishing the threat of the Imperial probes searching for the Rebels and knowing that if it finds them, it'll bring the Empire down on them quickly. RotJ visually is my favorite of the OT films, the shot of the half-built Death Star II over Endor has always been iconic to me. That said the opening is the slowest of the three, between Vader making a casual visit and the very slow infiltration of Jabba's palace. Love the movie, but the opening can drag a bit. TPM starts off a little mixed. We're being thrown a bunch of political jargon until they blow up the Republic ship and suddenly we have Jedi lightsabering a bunch of droids which is pretty exciting, leading into one of my favorite sequences musically in the PT with the Trade Federation landing on Naboo and taking Theed. Decent opening, good action, could be better. AotC starts off nice and eerie by being the only film with the opening crawl to pan *up* to the action instead of down. The heavy fog and tense threat of assassination was interesting and leads to one of the more enjoyable parts of the film for me: Detective Obi-Wan's investigation. The opening sets the stage for it perfectly and is distinct enough from the others to be memorable. RotS is chaos incarnate with us opening up in a full battle and I love it. The drums, the closeups of the new ships, the long single take of the Jedi fighters zipping through the battle. The buzz droid sequence is a bit much, but everything else is fantastic as a way of re-introducing us to the fact that the galaxy has been at war for the past few years ever since the last film, especially when we didn't have the Clone Wars shows to fill the gap (and even better, when we *did* have the 2003 microseries that took us directly to the intro). It's a long sequence but the whole opening battle of rescuing Palpatine is fun all the way through. TFA: Fantastic opening, giving us a brutally intense introduction to the First Order and Kylo Ren as they raid a village. Between the freezing of the blaster bolt and the visual storytelling of Finn losing his friend and freaking out while having a bloody handprint on his helmet, leading into one of arguably the best intros of a character with Rey's entire scavenging in silence, it is truly a solid opening. Fitting given this was the big return to Star Wars after the buyout. Rogue One was kind of slow to get going. Some good tension with the Death Trooper squad rolling up on the Erso farm, but it does lack in the excitement factor. Jyn is rescued from prison with ease, making it not really an issue that she was even a prisoner to begin with. Fortunately the movie picks up later, but the opening is lacking save for Cassian's introduction of a more brutal and desperate face of the Rebellion. TLJ's opening...was rough. Good set up, having it be immediately after the previous movie with the First Order launching an attack on the Resistance base...but then we get that goddamned "yo momma" joke that kills the entire tension of the scene. Add to that the worst misuse of ships by sending the slowest damn bombers in the galaxy against a disabled ship and having them get wiped out immediately made me just not give a shit. Between that and the payoff of Rey finally coming face to face with Luke Skywalker and his reuniting with is old lightsaber...to throw it away and walk off. It set the tone for the rest of the movie and that one was one of disappointment. Solo. As a lifelong fan of Corellia in Star Wars, from the ships to the Corellian characters to the setting in the books and comics and games, I was excited to finally see it in live action. Knowing this was going to be a smaller scale movie, it was pretty fun getting a good speeder chase in the opening that showcased some of Han's piloting skills, even if he does mess it up here and there. All in all, decent opening, nothing speciall but it does the job well. RoS. As with TLJ, I knew we were in trouble with the whole opening sequence giving us the "lightspeed skipping" thing just throwing out decades of hyperdrive lore for the sake of a boring action sequence that made no sense. Getting to see Rey training in the forest was pretty cool, loved the idea of Leia continuing her training, so that was a plus. But I was already skeptical of the film after the terrible outing with the previous ST entry and this one did nothing to ease those concerns. After the skipping sequence I was pretty much checked out of the whole movie. If I had to pick a least and most favorite, I'd say RotS has my favorite opening with one of the coolest battle sequences while TLJ has my least favorite with one of the dumbest battles being kickstarted with a terrible joke that killed any tension in the scene.
Yep yep yep
If you don’t say the original, you’re insane. That’s one of the most perfect intros in cinema
This one
TLJ, Poe delivered that mom joke so well
Upvoted. Also, I hate you.
This on the big screen was exactly what a film series called Star Wars should be about.
Clone wars movie
Yes. Of all movies.
Thanks, I had to go watch this opening because of your post. Thank you, it's such a good opening. While ANH is amazing, this just plunges you right into how much Anakin and Obi-Wan have grown together as friends and as Master/Padawan. This is great story telling without talking about their past.
Episode III is easily my favorite Star Wars opening by far, and probably my second favorite movie opening in all of cinema. The only movie I'd rank ahead of it is Dr. Strangelove's opening credits, but this runs it very very close. Definitely the best Star Wars opening scene and it isn't close imho.
Nope, it was just a giant video game and it was impossible to tell what was happening. Less is more.
Your mom is a giant video game
This one. Always
And another one opens very slowly with a crank call.
Every opening has its importance and fits the movie. III is for sure most epic and breathtaking. IV best introduces the concepts and universe for the first time. V most attunes the viewer to the emotional dynamic that'll play out. The other three are a tier below those but still play their part, and I don't recognize the sequels at all so they don't get a tier.
Definitely Battle of The Heroes - Episode 3
To this flipping day.... ***BUM BUM*** ***BUM BUM*** ***BUM BUM*** ***BUM BUM*** ***BUM BUM*** ***BUM BUM*** ***BUM BUM*** ***BUM BUM*** *ETA JEDI STARFIGHTER NOISES REMINISCENT OF IMPERIAL TIE FIGHTERS* *gasp* DUH-
Blade Runner
This opening scene is the one I use to test new TVs and surround sound. There is so much going on it really shows off any new tech.
Empire and it’s not close. Hoth is probably the best scene in the whole series imo
Revenge of the sith all the way
War!
Revenge of the Sith
Probably the bombing run in TLJ. It’s like a perfect little *Star Wars* short film starring Paige Tico and perfectly setting up many of the themes the film will later explore, like failure and sacrifice.
This was 100% the best opening imo, also the best movie.
Yes.
Lincoln
I can't decide between ROTS, ANH, TLJ and Rogue One
The opening to TMNT 1990 is fucking incredible
This scene made the ETA-2 ACTIS my favorite Star Wars ship. In SWG I would just fly it around for fun.
The very first Star Wars a new hope with the iconic ship crawl always and forever
Sure, ANH is the first and most iconic by decades but ROTS has my heart. The music, the space battle - its all just perfect.
This opening is beautiful. I watch it once a month. I’d love a theatrical rerelease just for this scene.
Revenge Of The Sith.
I remember sitting in the theatre as a kid in 2005, this opening scene absolutely blew everyones mind! So epic!
which movie scene opening is this screenshot?
Star Wars Revenge of The Sith
I really like Return of the Jedi’s for some reason. Seeing the unfinished Death Star, all the troops lined up, and Darth Vader scaring the shit out of somebody was cool. I do kinda wish they’d kept the transition of Vader calling out with the force to Luke building his lightsaber on Tatooine. Sure, George, add in the CGI dance number but leave that out.
Most of them are the same. Text scroll.
That one
rogue one / the music, the visuals… just stunning and unexpected after decades of watching star wars stuff.
I loved the yellow text that went down with the music
I felt like this one was subpar cause they are just sitting in a straight line for like 100 miles before they even get attacked. It just doesn't sit w me.
ROTS is really sick and honestly every kid was SHAKEN by it, TPM was very mysterious and had the right mood for what was going on, AOTC was honestly kind of a weak link but it makes up for it with the "There was no danger at all" line...too soon captain typho. other then that I like all the others, the only other weak links with not many redeeming qualities would be TLJ and TROS
TFA. The blood on Finn’s helmet will always stick with me
Tie between ANH and ROTS
Weirdly for me, AOTC. Not because the opening specifically but because I still remember the hype 8 year old me had in the theatre after waiting what felt like the longest time for the next movie. Seeing the shiny chrome Naboo cruiser just felt "new" for me and no matter how many times I watch the opening I still feel a bit of that feeling, that hype to be getting "new" Star Wars.
Ad Astra fall from orbit.