It's definitely my favourite opening scene followed by one in The Innocents. The beautiful shot, the creepy music, the lovely pink credits. What's your favourite opening scene?
shareI agree the haunting lullaby with the shots of The Dakota from the air shows the somewhat sinister look of it. I never tire of watching that then to go from that to the mildly comic antics of Guy. Makes for a great opening.
shareHitchcock's 'Frenzy' opens with a great bird's eye view of the City of London.
But yeah, RB includes parts of Central Park, & that slowly roving camera and haunting music. And RB begins and ends with the same hard hit notes.
Psycho has that jarring music and split text to throw you off, then guides you through the city from above, peering in on Marion and Sam. Rosemary's Baby is nearly hypnotic with a soothing lullaby mixed with that eerie, sinister riff - bookending with the the final score to give it an almost endless loop.
shareThe pre-credit sequence to "Goldfinger"---they stopped doing that circle/target and curtain of blood opening. I always thought they'd keep that.
"North By Northwest" has another Saul Bass credits sequence. Very linear.
The opening credits of Halloween are pretty cool with te legendary music playing while the jack-o'-lantern gets closer and closer to you. Halloween II does something similar which I also like, only the jack-o'-lantern splits open and reveals a skull inside it.
shareThe Shining. Still analyzed to this day.
shareReally? Do they analyze the shadow of the helicopter, too?
shareSo what. You can see the helicopter shadow in The Thing too.
The Thing and The Shining = arguably the best horror films ever made. Your point? Lol
Uh, that's because the shot in The Thing involves a helicopter, maybe? Not in The Shining. The audience is supposed to be swooping over the lakes and mountains, not flying in a helicopter.
shareSo you're really hating on The Shining for that one "goof"? It's still an amazing film- and yes- it is still analyzed
shareI'm not "hating on the Shining." I like the film. But you're the one with the pretentious, "oh, the opening scenes are still being analyzed to this day" comment. Come on. With an artist of Kubrick's stature, showing the shadow of a helicopter is a MAJOR goof. That it's plainly visible takes the viewer right out of the scene instantly.
shareWatched the film throughout my childhood- never noticed it. Neither me or my family or friends ever said anything about it. Only found out about it when I saw Room 237 around a year ago. "Taken out of the scene immediately" Is a stretch. You really got your panties in a bunch over that shadow huh?
Room 237 was made in 2012. It got a lot of viewership when it got on Netflix- so yes- people are still trying to analyze the film - 4 years later. Go check out the IMDb message board- you'll still see people discussing the film. Maybe not extensively the opening scene- but 237 actually brings up a lot of small details about the scene that are very subtle- possibly symbolic.
I'm not talking about the film, I'm talking about the OPENING, which is what this thread addresses. Yes, I've no doubt the movie itself is analyzed, as is almost EVERY movie in creation...but since we're really discussing the opening here, the helicopter is a buzz kill. Seeing the shadow immediately takes the viewer out of fantasy and right into reality.
And I find it amazing that neither you or your family or your friends have "ever" mentioned the helicopter, when it's right there for everyone to see. I saw The Shining at the cinema three weekends in a row during the summer of 1980, and we spotted the helicopter right away.
Since you like "analyzing" this film, apparently, you haven't been looking at it very closely. I didn't need to watch a documentary to tell me it was there. The helicopter's shadow isn't obscured by trees or mist or clouds. It's as clear as the Overlook.
It's a very small goof as far as I'm concerned.
shareWell, since we're discussing "great openings" of films, and that happens in the opening, I'd say it's a big goof.
shareDespite your scrupulous criticisms - I still think it's an A+ opening of a film. Flying over the lake was awesome. I'm sure a lot of Poole would agree.
The Thing,Texas Chainsaw, and The Witch also have sweet openings. Chill dude. It's a shadow. The film is still a masterpiece. The opening is still a masterpiece.
It depends on the screen format; it can only be seen in the 4:3/1.37:1 print. The helicopter's shadow can be seen clearly, so if you saw it at a theater, then it would be distracting if we are judging great openings. While I liked the cinematography in the opening, I didn't care for seeing it either. The music was too heavy handed, so that bothered me. To me, Psycho had the best opening scene since I just saw it for the first time in a theater last night.
shareI thought it was an incredible opening shot. I was wondering how they did it and I expected helicopter but I never saw the shadow nor could I perceive any camera movement I would have expected from a copter shot, especially the end of the shot where it held on the front of the building.
shareIt's been edited out of the digital versions, but I think Kubrick was ripped for it and several mistakes in the movie. It lessens him a bit as a director -- https://youtu.be/YfNm1bD5Lws. Obviously, one would notice it in a theater presentation back when the film came out.
shareI was actually referring to this film, Rosemarys Baby. But yeah The Shining too.
shareThe Hangover
Where Phil answers the phone and responds with his lip bleeding "Uh yeah!...That's not gonna happen!"
Vertigo - Opening title sequence
shareWest Side Story
Kiss Me Deadly
Candyman
(W)hat are we without our dreams?
Making sure our fantasies
Do not overpower our realities. ~ RC