Personally, I know that a movie is going to be good if it grips me within the first five minutes. Slow build-ups make it almost impossible to get into the film, but if there's a mysterious monologue, a tense exchange or an amazing soundtrack at the very start, I know I'm going to stay with it all the way to the end.
Inglourious Basterds
Here are nine of our favourite movie openings:
1. Inglourious Basterds (2009)
For a film that's over two and a half hours long, a gripping opening scene is essential to hook the audience. Quentin Tarantino doesn't disappoint with this Nazi thriller which sees Christoph Waltz in the most terrifying role of his career as Jew hunter Colonel Hans Landa. If anything encapsulates the true horror of the Nazi regime, it's this opening scene.
2. Jaws (1975)
One of the most iconic moments in this triple Oscar-winning Steven Spielberg epic is unofficially known as "Chrissie's last swim". We see a young woman get devoured by the Great White shark as she goes for an evening dip on Amity Island. It certainly sets the tone for the rest of the movie, complete with the iconic John Williams score.
3. The Lion King (1994)
Few things are more visually stunning than the start of this Disney animation. As all the animal kingdom gather beneath Pride Rock, The Circle of Life plays on the soundtrack and Rafiki the baboon blesses baby Simba in a sacred ceremony. Don't tell me you've never lifted your pets in the air like a primate shaman.
4. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
Cate Blanchett makes for such a magnetic voiceover artist that Galadriel's monologue at the beginning of Peter Jackson's epic adaptation about the forging of the Great Rings, the defeat of Sauron and the rediscovery of the One Ring is one that you can't help but listen to again and again.
5. A Clockwork Orange (1971)
Malcolm McDowell's evil smirk into the camera as he drinks milk with his droogs as Alex DeLarge in this Stanley Kubrick masterpiece is so sinister you can't draw your eyes away from the rest of the movie... Even if you desperately want to.
6. Trainspotting (1996)
Any film that starts with an enigmatic monologue is bound to be a excellent thrill ride. Thus, Renton's "choose life" rant is one of the first things that come to mind when we think of Danny Boyle's adaptation of the Irvine Welsh novel. It was originally meant to appear in the middle of the film, but in the end it became a very fitting beginning.
7. The Dark Knight (2008)
There are a lot of memorable scenes in this Batman epic; the Joker blowing up the hospital, the "Why so serious?" moment, but it was the intense bank robbery that kicked the movie off and gave us an immediate insight into our villain's "sense of humour". You're just not expecting how that moment's going to end.
8. Scream (1996)
If you remember any scene from Wes Craven's cult horror flick, it's the opening moments which sees Drew Barrymore on the phone to her killer, and her death just minutes later. It's equal parts amusing and terrifying, and has been parodied a number of times, most famously in Scary Movie.
9. Star Wars: A New Hope (1977)
The Star Wars opening crawl remains the signature introduction for the franchise and is iconic despite it's low budget presentation. The phrase "A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away..." is one of the most famous lines in the history of the sci-fi genre, and paired with a John Williams soundtrack, is still one of the most memorable movie openings of all time.