The 5 best sci-fi opening scenes

We see a rain of green, digital code that transforms into a phone conversation between two unknown characters talking about “the Chosen One”. The scene switches to a dilapidated hotel where Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss) is cornered by police and mysterious agents. With superhuman skill and strength, he defeats them in a breathtaking fight scene and escapes.

Virtually all the key elements of The Matrix appear here: the sci-fi concept, the martial arts, the impressive action, the imposing antagonists, and even the anime references – Agent Smith (Hugo Weaving) notes that the police in the building are “already dead”. The surreal action and mysterious dialogues immediately draw the viewer into the special world of the film, hinting at deeper layers of reality and illusion that will be revealed later.

The Empire Strikes Back also begins with the iconic floating letters, then switches to a panorama of the icy planet Hoth. We see Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) patrolling a tauntaun when he is suddenly attacked and captured by a terrifying wampa. Meanwhile, Han Solo (Harrison Ford) and Chewbacca return to the base, and Han informs Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher) that he wants to leave the base to settle his debt with Jabba the Hutt.

On the one hand, the sequence re-introduces the three main characters and, in the process, quickly puts all the pieces of the first act of the film into place. The effects and costumes also look great, although this may be partly due to the subsequent cosmetics. Overall, the scene is worthy of the best Star Wars movie of all time.

Carpenter’s classic opens with a stunning aerial shot of the icy, barren Antarctic landscape. We see a Norwegian helicopter chasing a sled dog across the snow, its passenger desperately trying to shoot the animal. The scene quickly escalates when the helicopter reaches an American research station and the chase turns violent. The dog is taken in by the American team, not even realizing what a terrible danger it is.

The well-photographed scene raises all kinds of questions in the viewer. It amps up the tension nicely as the dying Norwegian researcher desperately tries to explain the dog’s true nature to the Americans, but to no avail. It’s a great opening that both sets the tone and sets the plot in motion.

Planet Name Death rivals the original in every way: more action, more weapons and more aliens. This intensity is evident from the first moment when Ellen Ripley’s (Sigourney Weaver) capsule is found by a spaceship rescue team. Ripley learns here that she has been hypersleeping for the past 57 years since the events of the first film. This is followed by a brutal nightmare scene in which he envisions a stranger sleeping inside him.

The episode shows Ripley’s psychological scars from her latest encounter with the xenomorphs, while also introducing the cold, metallic, spaceship environment. Even this opening scene foreshadows James Cameron’s ability to expand the Alien universe without undermining the foundations laid by the original film.

Perhaps the best sci-fi opening of all time begins not in the future, but in the past – more precisely at the dawn of humanity. We see primitive apes struggling to survive in a barren landscape. The idyll comes to an end when they meet a mysterious black monolith, which causes a leap in their cognitive abilities.

One such primitive man, under the influence of the monolith, discovers the use of tools and weapons, symbolized by a bone, which he uses to hunt and assert his dominance. The climax of the scene is the famous cut to a futuristic spaceship that illustrates the technological advancement of humanity. Kubrick is implying that the driving forces behind the technological development of humanity are violence and dominance. The scene is visually stunning and philosophically profound, which is emphasized by the solemn soundtrack. It was undeniably ambitious and could easily have become a laughing matter, but Kubrick’s plan worked; even the costume of the humanoids seems believable.

Via: Collider