ROTS still has the best opening of any SW movie ever.

The beginning was so goddamn awesome indeed.

You could tell that they were going for broke with ROTS. It was supposed to be the last Star Wars movie, so they made it as big of a spectacle as possible. It's the definition of 'epic'.

it was okay. the barnacle droids (or w/e) were goofy and kind of ruined it for me. also Anakin.

imo

 that is true, that first long shot was something special and will not be beaten, dude.

But I am glad George Lucas did not make a stupid full-scale battle movie a la Battle of 5 Armies, but showed considerable restraint by giving us a human drama, a moral tale of downfall and failure with some of the best scenes and dialog ever, such as the opera scene, order 66, the immolation or the fight Yoda and Palps which destroys the senate (democracy) - best and most relevant SW metaphor ever!

Sith, Empire and RO form the adult SW-trinity to demonstrate SW is not just colorful kiddy entertainment but provides deeper realms too.

🐾Dictated but not read 🐾

Agreed! It is definitely the best opening, although nostalgically I prefer TESB and possibly even ANH. But let's take the nostalgia and sentiment out of it.

First off, I've read some of the silly nitpicking from other posters in this thread:

- R2D2 burned up 2 super battle droids with an oil slick; which still isn't as silly as Kylo killing Lor San Tekka before he had a clue that someone else knew where the map was or how to find it. But we don't care because it makes Kylo look so bad*** evil.

- I didn't like the colors. Seriously!?! What are we in? Preschool!

- The droid designs were too strange. Yeah, I'm sure weapons designers who constantly come up with new innovations to take away advantages from your opponent (especially during wartime) are worried about aesthetics and nostalgic appearance. ("Strange" new stuff during wartime is very realistic, by the way. If you don't believe me, research any war during the 20th and 21st century).

- The buzz droids... (see above). And why weren't they Force pushed? Try thrusting your hand out while trying to pilot a ship!

- Holy crap! If TFA got nitpicked this bad half the TFA apologists would be sending you death threats!


Secondly, the opening takes us right into a full scale war that underscores the gravitas of the most basic theme of this saga: hello!... it is called Star Wars! It was done in a very balanced way where you feel both the scope and gravitas of the battle without sacrificing the personalization of the storyline at this point in the movie. Star Wars (being the fairy tale that it is) often presents the wars and battles in an idealistic fashion that centers around heroics and backdrops for the main plots and characters. But this opening balanced that against the more realistic portrayal of war (gritty environments full of sensory overload with random mass casualties) more than any other SW battle or movie!

Rogue One was done in a more realistic fashion or style, of course. But for some it scaled back too much of the idealistic heroism. After our heroes finally reach their destination by the skin of their teeth (which created great tension for the opening of the story), they face a gauntlet of problems and droids before reaching the point of the classic SW epic confrontation: the lightsaber duel. This is the only SW movie that gives us a genuine lightsaber battle in the opening. And it had plenty of gravitas with the seeming fate of the Chancellor at stake, and a life or death battle that almost spells the end for ObiWan and sees the end of the 2nd biggest antagonist "meet his destiny"! Not to mention that this is also the point of no return for Anakin's attraction to the Darkside. And where his Sith apprenticeship starts, even before he pledges himself to it.

The movie continues with a gauntlet of "minor" perils for the heroes and Palpatine before they confront Grievous, setting the stage for the rivalry with the antagonist of "the second act" of ROTS. After an action packed battle with Grievous and his bodyguards, the heroes salvage a very sabotaged situation to just barely save the day (in another tension filled situation). This all segways into 2 of the films continuous storylines: Chancellor Palpatine coming away looking like a sympathetic "damsel in distress", and Padmé's pregnancy.

Need I say more... Of course if you are brainwashed by nostalgia or a Plinkett lemming, all of these points are completely lost on you.


"The mission... the nightmares... there... finally... over." - ARCtrooper Fives

I also agree.

Return of the Jedi's opening is my favorite. The set pieces. The voice and character acting. The music. The sound effects. It has it all. The full atmosphere of Star Wars is laid out here in these opening minutes.

It's to busy and to epic. ANH is the winner of best opening scene.