Daroga posed the question on the Signs board. Here's some of the ones I found more memorable.

The Thomas Crown Affair (the remake) Nice thematic motiff.

Star Trek First Contact Not so much the visual "blurred names come into focus" thing, but the score. I love listening to that score.

Chariots of Fire No explanation needed.

Superman The combination of the score and the way that huge red and yellow "S" appears on the screen does it for me.

Basic Instinct Admit it. Going in, knowing all you did about what was in this movie, and in that first scene, you were trying to make out what the images were doing in the reflections of that crystal, weren' t you?

The Accused. Very tense, the way the camera focused on that bar, and just stayed on it as day turned into night. You knew what the movie was about, and you wondered if they would show the brutal rape scene, but instead we see what happened after it ended: A freaked out Jodie Foster bursting out of the bar, desperately seeking safety.

Mallrats The comic-book covers introducing the actors was a cool touch. Espeically Stan Lee's comic, "The Man," and Jason Lee's "Brodieman."

Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back The closing credits, showing bits of the actors flubbing their scenes while the classic Jungle Love plays in the background. YEAH BOY!

We could also include the closing sequences to Jackie Chan's films, including the Rush Hour movies.

I loved the opening sequence to A Hard Day's Night, which in turn was well parodied by the first Austin Powers movie.

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Quote:

Star Trek First Contact Not so much the visual "blurred names come into focus" thing, but the score. I love listening to that score.

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BTW, Luigi--

Happy birthday, buddy.

Know what ya need to do? Go out and get trashed.

Thanks.

Desperate Measures & 13 Ghosts, both had cred sequences that followed along stuff in the scenes and cast shadows on the background.

Anytime. Enjoy yourself? E-mail or IM me, if you'd like.

No mention of Maurice Binder's James Bond titles yet?

Since I brought this up ... My favorites are Moulin Rouge and Shadow of the Vampire. When I first saw the credits to the former, I thought it was some new advertising of the movie studio's ... and as for the latter, I don't really remember what I liked about it, but that I liked it! J

I thought of them, Joe, but they seem a bit too generic and cookie-cutter to me at this point. They're all the same theme and imagery, pretty much. I was thinking of the sequences that relate somehow to the movie itself in a specific way.

Jurassic Park: The raptor transport scene plays out, intercut by a black title screen with a timpani hit. And, like First Contact, the SCORE. The JP main title is amazing. As is anything from Williams, but...

The James Bond Gun Barrel sequence was a classic from birth. By the way the first 3 films used Sean Connery's stunt double Bob Simmons as 007 at the start, with Connery doing it after the sequence was reshow for cinemascope.

Maurice Binder died in or about 1991. His last Bond film was Licence To Kill. Daniel Klienman has done the Bond title sequences since Goldeneye.
In Truffaut's film version of Fahrenheit 451, the opening titles were spoken, not displayed, in keeping with the theme of the novel and film.
The titles to the DVD version of Star Trek-The Motion Picture are a vast improvement over the theatrical version. However, First Contact's lays waste to them all (yes, Luigi, the music is superb.)

However, First Contact's lays waste to them all

Not for me - I particularly like Star Trek 3's opening credits, what with the opening montage peaking at the appearance of Spock's coffin, and ending with the starfield scrolling backwards.

Don't forget the "pause" where Nimoy's name would have been in the credits, too!

Music wise the best Trek opening is Star Trek VI no question.

TMP was too slow scriptwise, etc... but the music was awesome. TWOK also had a great opening theme (Nimoy reused it for STIII). As an aside, Shatner reused the TMP theme for STV.

TMP *was* slow scriptwise...

But did STV even *have* anything that could be called a "script?"

True. STV gets flamed for being a horrible film. This is true (IMHO). Shatner gets blamed for it. It is his fault, but not for the reason most people think.

Shatner did an excellent job of directing STV, given the script. However, making sure you have a good script is also the director's responsibility.

That said, let's get back on topic.

Back in the day, the "fade off into the distance" opening credits for Star Wars (no bloody episode number back then) were top of the line and excellent!

I actually prefer the theme from Star Trek IV. It has a completely different feel from the previous few movies. The first time you hear it, you know that the tone of this one is going to be much more upbeat.

As far as actual credits go, I liked the ones for Generations better - the wine bottle tumbling through space. It was a nice little gimmick.

I agree there, Matt.

Didn't THX-1138 have the opening credits scroll downwards? I may be thinking of the closing credits, but it's been many years since I've seen the film. Anyway, I thought it was a nice parallel to the story, where humanity had descended into a state of mindlessness.

Also, wasn't Star Trek IV the first time a movie used the opening theme from TOS as part of its theme?

Craig,

You mean humanity hasn't already become mindless?

*rolls eyes in disgust for the human race, sighs*

Merat, no, STII's opening theme opened with a motif from the TOS theme.

Scott, Merat was asking about STIV, not II. The answer is the same though, I'll admit.

I was answering Merat's question.

Well, I thought it was obvious I meant more mindless.

I like how the old tv Trek theme is worked into the opening credits and music for Wrath of Khan. I also like the fade to the caption " In the 23rd century..." afterwards.
ST:Nemesis managed to reduce the opening titles to just the movie's title and a spectacular zoom to Romulus. It was the most visually interesting of the Trek openings. I would say the floating wine bottle in Generations would come a close second.

Yeah, I always liked the floating wine bottle. Very cool, in a 'what the-oh! Of course'! sort of way.