Home > Entertainment > Movies > Movie Genres
Created on: February 18, 2007 Last Updated: May 09, 2007
The opening line of a movie sets the entire tone of the story. I've heard great ones and terrible ones. Let's take a look at some of the truly great opening lines of some of the best pictures ever made.
"We were somewhere outside of Barstow when the drugs finally hit." - Johnny Depp, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.
This line set the tone for this drug-adled tale from the book turned movie by Dr. Hunter S. Thompson. Depp masterfully delivered this opening line and made the entire movie a believable take on Thompson's book by the same name.
"Saigon. I was only in Saigon." - Martin Sheen, Apocolypse Now.
Sheen's deep voice ached in dispair at the relaization that he was only in Saigon and not in the deep jungles of wartorn Vietnam. He was waiting for a mission in a third-rate Saigon hotel room awaiting his orders. Sheen's character, Captain Willard, was an assasin for the Army and a broken man. He lost it all .... His wife and his mind. And the only thing he could count on was the war.
These two opening movie lines have always stuck with me and I never tire of hearing them.
Learn more about this author, Timothy Edward Jones.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.
Below are the top articles rated and ranked by Helium members on:
Favorite movie opening lines
The opening lines of movies can capture an audience from the get-go. Certain lines are a perfect set-up for the great film
by Nonsequitur
A lot of my favorite opening movie lines are the ones that usually evoke a sense of the entire movie in the first lines.
The opening line of a movie sets the entire tone of the story. I've heard great ones and terrible ones. Let's take a look
by Zachary Heil
My name is Lester Burnham. This is my neighborhood; this is my street; this is my life. I am 42 years old; in less than
by B. B. James
Opening lines don't get much better than these two comedies...
1. Steve Martin, "The Jerk." Huh? I am not a bum. I'm a jerk.
View All Articles on: Favorite movie opening lines
Helium Debate
Cast your vote!
Hollywood versus Bollywood: Which is the most successful?
Click for your side.
Featured Partner
Text and Academic Authors Association
The Text and Academic Authors Association (TAA) is the only authoring association devoted exclusively to serving textbook and academic authors. TAA was established in 1987 for those interested in developing and publishing educational...more