It’s easy to point out movies with amazing endings, because obviously Casablanca, Cinema Paradiso, and The Shawshank Redemption all end fantastically, but the ways those movies begin? That’s a little harder to recall. And it’s not a flaw or anything, because once you do remember how they start, you realize they kicked off in perfectly fine ways, but you remember the endings a whole lot more, and you probably remember a fair few scenes that took place between the start and the end more than the opening scenes, too.
As for movies that get off to remarkable starts? The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring does, and the ending to that movie is also amazing, but you couldn’t rank both the opening and ending over the Gandalf vs. the Balrog sequence, right? Therein lies a further dilemma in picking out movies that have equally great beginnings and endings, and have those openings and endings stand out as the two best scenes in their respective movies. But that’s what the following ranking is gonna try and do regardless, screw it, you know?
8
‘Dawn of the Dead’ (1978)
Though it doesn’t feel like a sequel to Night of the Living Dead in the traditional sense, Dawn of the Dead still manages to hit the ground running, partly thanks to that prior film laying out some of how George A. Romero’s zombies generally work. There’s a slightly slower build to that film, but Dawn of the Dead, on the other hand, just starts at what feels like an instantly relentless pace.
And the opening is effective in throwing you into the whole thing, and then things slow down – and get a little breezier, even – for a good stretch of the movie, which involves several characters trying to wait out the zombie outbreak in a shopping mall. But humanity is going to humanity, and Dawn of the Dead goes a bit wild during its final act, topping the chaos and carnage seen in the opening sequence. Everything in between is also great, but both the start and the finish of this particular zombie flick stand out.
7
‘The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover’ (1989)
Fitting for something bold, controversial, and arthouse in nature, The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover starts in an alarming way, really laying bare how terrible the central antagonist is. It’s stylish and bombastic on a visual/musical front right from the get-go, the restaurant where most of the film takes place is well-established, and then you hate the titular thief (technically more of a gangster/thug) straight away.
Lots of stuff then transpires, including a whole cycle of revenge, and it culminates in an ending that does feel inevitable, on one level, but proves surprising because of how far the much-needed ending goes. It exceeds the shocking stuff seen earlier in The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover, and is a big reason why the film is overall so hard to shake (in a mostly good way).
6
‘All That Jazz’ (1979)
All That Jazz starts off in a pretty chaotic way, and it’s all a bit much when you first watch the movie. But it does have to be like that, since the main character’s life is one that’s dangerously jam-packed, and All That Jazz wants you to understand and feel how stretched thin he is initially, all the while making things more harrowing when more and more stuff keeps happening.
Fosse establishes a certain rhythm and uneasiness right from the jump, and then things build to some sort of release by the end.
It’s a movie that Bob Fosse more or less made about himself, albeit without casting himself in the lead role or calling his protagonist Fob Bosse or something dumb like that, but it’s essentially autobiographical. Fosse establishes a certain rhythm and uneasiness right from the jump, and then things build to some sort of release (not quite catharsis, given how sad All That Jazz ends up being) by the end, with the finale of this being one of the best endings of any movie musical ever made.
5
‘Babylon’ (2022)
It was tempting to put La La Land here, since it’s got a memorable opening and an all-timer of an ending, but a couple of scenes in between probably exceed the opening sequence in quality. And then, to go over some more Damien Chazelle stuff, Whiplash has a good opening and an immense ending, but scenes between… yeah, same deal. You can’t overlook the “were you rushing or dragging” bit, nor the main character’s frantic (and near-fatal) rush to get on stage in time, a bit over halfway through the film.
So, then there’s Babylon. Good old Babylon. You could technically say the opening scene here is just an elephant pooping all over the camera, which is one hell of a way to establish the mood for the next three hours. But that elephant part leads to the extended opening sequence that’s being counted here as the real opening, and that stretch of the film’s incredible to behold. The ending is also bold and quite beautiful, being bittersweet, but with more bitter, in contrast to La La Land’s bittersweet ending, which probably accentuates the sweet.
4
‘Police Story’ (1985)
The case for Police Story opening and closing on a high note is pretty straightforward and easy to explain. There is an amazing action sequence that opens the film, and then there’s an all-timer of an action sequence in a shopping mall that ends the film. It’s worth watching just for those two parts of the film, because yeah, Police Story would still be good if it had those two bits and then nothing but a blank screen without sound for the remaining 70 to 80 minutes.
It’s a movie that sees Jackie Chan at his best, so what more do you need? Well, maybe you’d want more comedy, if that’s your thing, and Police Story is admittedly a bit more focused on action than comedy, but still, what a blast (and it’s not without some funnier slapstick kind of moments). If you’re somehow new to Jackie Chan, or his pre-Hollywood stuff, then Police Story is a great place to start.
3
‘Sunset Boulevard’ (1950)
It’s usually a spoiler to say that the main character of a movie dies, but in Sunset Boulevard, the film opens with the narrator lying dead in a pool, and then the movie goes back in time to explain how he got there. It’s far from the only film to do that (see also Citizen Kane and Lawrence of Arabia), but having the dead person still narrating the whole thing is kind of neat, and also instantly a bit eerie.
Much of Sunset Boulevard ends up being pretty eerie, alongside darkly funny and appropriately dramatic for a film about an actress from the silent era holding onto the past while being driven mad by a desire to mount a comeback. Sunset Boulevard does pay off the intriguing opening well, by the time all’s said and done, and the whole final sequence here (even the final shot) is also phenomenal.
2
‘Gangs of New York’ (2002)
Some people talk about Gangs of New York like it’s a sandwich where the two slices of bread are pretty great, but then all the filling is kind of rotten, except for the Daniel Day-Lewis-flavored sauce that’s been added to the whole thing, because that actor has the sauce and stuff. Such people are being a little dramatic, because parts of this epic gangster movie get more hate than they deserve, but also, those same people almost have a point.
The extended battle in the streets that opens Gangs of New York is excellent, establishing the tone and setting well, all the while setting in motion the film’s central revenge plot. About 2.5 hours later, the climax isn’t explosive in the ways you might expect, but it does all feel fitting and sufficiently surprising, and then the very last scene – with time jumping forward to show the ever-evolving New York City skyline – is a genuinely poetic note to end the whole thing on.
1
‘The Empire Strikes Back’ (1980)
The first Star Wars film could probably go here, too, so consider that worthy of an honorable mention for having a fantastic opening scene that emphasizes the power of the Empire, and an all-around satisfying/cathartic finale. But then there’s The Empire Strikes Back, which came out three years later and did everything even better than the first Star Wars, which is no small task considering how excellent that movie was.
The Empire Strikes Back begins with what might well be the best battle of the Original Trilogy, and if you’re a first-time viewer, you might worry how the filmmakers will top it. They don’t, in terms of spectacle, but the conflict that plays out after the battle’s over ends up being just as compelling because of how dramatic and morally complex (at least by space opera standards) it is. The ending is also the stuff of legends, for countless reasons, but you know that already. Everyone knows that already, probably even the three or four people on the planet who’ve somehow gone their whole lives, so far, without seeing The Empire Strikes Back. Poor folks, they’re really missing out. We should send this one out into space so life forms literally in galaxies far, far away can perhaps watch it as well.