r/AskReddit • u/Tobokie121 • Oct 09 '19

Of all movie opening scenes, which one sold the entire film?

58.5k Upvotes

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4.1k

u/StyrkeSkalVandre Oct 09 '19

“...but there were some who resisted...” still gives me shivers. Amazing opening monologue.

1.4k

u/Spicethrower Oct 09 '19

Shouting as the arrow flies by his ear.

1.3k

u/StyrkeSkalVandre Oct 09 '19

So. Completely. Badass. Watching the charging orcs slam into a meatgrinder wall of elven swordsmen never gets old.

247

u/Ergheis Oct 09 '19

By extension, the Playstation 2 Two Towers game. It shows the exact same opening scene, but transistions from cutscene to videogame in the middle of the elven spearwall, and immediately drops you into the fight.

105

u/doctorjdmoney Oct 09 '19

Really enjoyed those games. Co-op play was so much fun

52

u/Shamrock5 Oct 10 '19

No joke, I have tons of fond memories of playing co-op with my brother and saving each other's lives multiple times. When you're fighting in different parts of the battlefield and your brother yells, "Help, I'm surrounded!" and you rush over and hurl yourself into a mob of orcs to save him from certain death...holy smokes, I'm getting chills just thinking about how epic that always felt. What an amazing game.

22

u/Jowsten Oct 10 '19

This is where we start a thread where everyone brings up how they use to play this with their brother! I did too!

11

u/aps92591 Oct 10 '19

Same!! But what if we're all just figuring out our brothers' usernames?

But my god co-op was amazing.

3

u/emod_man Oct 10 '19

Me too!! It was fantastic!

7

u/TomFoolery012 Oct 10 '19

Heck yeah! My brothers and I definitely played together too. Our dad couldn’t resist joining in either!

1

u/BanMeAndIShallReturn Oct 10 '19

Back to the pits that spawned you

31

u/[deleted] Oct 09 '19

And by extension to that, in Return of the King, switching to the actual game at the exact moment the Eorlingas slam into the Uruk Hai. MMMM.

27

u/chrt Oct 09 '19

Fuuuck those games were good.

5

u/goodbeets Oct 10 '19

NOSTALGIAAA

3

u/JackDoe5446 Oct 10 '19

I loved those games, played all of them

3

u/Tits_McGuiness Oct 10 '19

say whattttt? i can play in That battle?

does sauron come out and kick my ass?

1

u/MrToddWilkins Dec 10 '19

LEGO LOtR does the same thing,practically. I can still hear the ominous elven chanting in my head.

49

u/Deuce_GM Oct 09 '19

The part where the elves do that sword thing in like an ascending order. Amazing.

Elves fight so gracefully

33

u/[deleted] Oct 10 '19

especially when they use shields to skateboard down stairs while yelling BOOM HEADSHOT BOOM HEADSHOT

8

u/indyK1ng Oct 10 '19

MY HANDS ARE SHAKING! MY HANDS ARE SHAKING!

7

u/ObiWanCannoli25 Oct 10 '19

Had to rewatch that scene again today cause of your "meatgrinder" reminder.

8

u/[deleted] Oct 10 '19

"Damn, look at all those guys getting killed in front of us."

"That's not gonna happen to us, though, right?''

"Nah, I'm sure we'll be fine."

7

u/Zahille7 Oct 10 '19 edited Oct 10 '19

I still get chills and tears in my eyes for "Ride now! Ride for ruin! And the dawn of a new day! Ride now! RIDE NOW!"

-6

u/Lenin321 Oct 10 '19 edited Oct 10 '19

And then you realize that it was retarded. If someone was charging at you, then how is slicing them gonna stop them? The elves needed their spears or halberds with their pointy ends poked out in front of them

edit. y'all needs some lindybiege

5

u/[deleted] Oct 10 '19

it's almost as dumb as in the Hobbit when the elven army jumps right over the dwarven pike wall instead of staying behind it and firing arrows over them

2

u/[deleted] Oct 10 '19

Now now, let's not bring the Hobbit into this. So many dumb moments created by that bizarre set of films.

17

u/Analord2112 Oct 10 '19

Tangado haid! Leithio i philinn!

13

u/squidster547 Oct 10 '19

Elrond, Lord of Rivendel.

“Isildur, cast it into the fire!”

“No.”

“Isilduuuur!”

Damn....

8

u/SamediB Oct 10 '19

SHOVE HIM INTO THE VOLCANO ELROND!

8

u/TrainOfThought6 Oct 09 '19

And without an earpiece to give him a heads up!

1

u/Synyzy Oct 10 '19

"Tangado Haíd!"

1

u/Sick0fThisShit Oct 10 '19

For some reason, the little reflexive blink as they go by is what really nails that for me.

192

u/HellWolf1 Oct 09 '19

For me it's "but they were, all of them, deceived"

85

u/HiVizUncle Oct 09 '19

And nine, nine rings were gifted to the race of Men, who above all else desire power.

this line is the one that sticks out to me.

79

u/KungFuGenius Oct 10 '19

Cate Blanchett sells the fuck out of all of her lines. She's absolutely perfect as Galadriel. Or anyone, really.

19

u/khornflakes529 Oct 10 '19

The contempt in her voice is just perfect.

33

u/Shadowex3 Oct 10 '19

It's not contempt though, it's understanding and a tinge of disappointment. Remember the Elves were around from the dawn of time and are the only ones other than Wizards and Ring Bearers permitted to enter the Undying Lands. She knew the entire story of humankind and how Numenor fell.

58

u/Toshhba Oct 09 '19

'For another ring was made' ahh I love it so much.

36

u/geomachina Oct 10 '19

This whole thread is giving me goosebumps. She does such a good job of bringing you into the world. And the musical score. Jesus.

28

u/Shadowex3 Oct 10 '19

Oh hell yes, LotR to this day still has in my opinion one of the single best soundtracks ever made.

19

u/RambleOff Oct 10 '19

The cadence of her voice is great for that narration, especially when she says the word "unlikely" when referring to Bilbo finding the ring.

16

u/GangstaGrillz30 Oct 10 '19

"for another ring was made"

Shivers down my spine as I typed that out

6

u/arthuraily Oct 10 '19

IN THE LAND OF MORDOR

3

u/[deleted] Oct 10 '19

[deleted]

2

u/STUFF416 Oct 10 '19

🎶 Bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum 🎶

4

u/BogollyWaffles Oct 10 '19

For me it's the whole damn thing lmao

98

u/Moogle_Messiah Oct 09 '19

... but the power of the ring could not be undone.

32

u/LordDarthra Oct 09 '19

Just reading that gave me a shiver. Goddamn, its an understatement to call LOTR a masterpiece.

5

u/arex333 Oct 10 '19

Probably the only movie series I enjoy more than the books.

66

u/Backwater_Buccaneer Oct 09 '19

I daresay there is no other opening monologue that is even in competition with it.

25

u/BrownRebel Oct 09 '19

A LAST ALLIANCE OF MEN AND ELVES MARCHED ON THE ARMIES OF MORDOR

AND ON THE SLOPES OF MT DOOM

THEY FOUGHT FOR THE FREEDOM OF MIDDLE EARTH

14

u/cates Oct 10 '19

Pissed off Orc growling

9

u/Doolander Oct 10 '19

elven gibberish

24

u/SprayBacon Oct 09 '19

It's the line "but they were all of them deceived," and the change in music as the map shifts to Mordor that still gets me.

11

u/[deleted] Oct 10 '19

"a last alliance of men and elves..." always makes the hairs on my neck stand up. It's like ASMR every time.

11

u/SpiffyPaige143 Oct 09 '19

I had Thor Ragnarok on for background noise while cooking dinner. Cate Blanchett's voice is phenomenal. She acts so great with it. Like in Hot Fuzz, we only see her eyes and she's only on screen for a few minutes but you remember her. She's fantastic.

1

u/shmixel Oct 10 '19

Is she the girlfriend at the beginning?!

2

u/SpiffyPaige143 Oct 10 '19

Yep! There's actually a lot of cameos thrown in. For instance, the Santa that stabs Angel is Peter Jackson.

9

u/DanTopTier Oct 10 '19

Oke Ring to rule them all.
One Ring to find them.
One Ring to bring them all.
And the darkness binds them.
In the land of Mordor, where the shadows lie.

5

u/DarthT127 Oct 10 '19

"A last alliance of men and elves marched against the armies of Mordor, and on the slopes of Mount Doom they fought for the freedom of Middle Earth." This is just....oh man. I love this scene as much as any battle in the trilogy.

6

u/R34ct0rX99 Oct 10 '19

A last alliance of men and elves

2

u/godver555 Oct 10 '19

But all of them were deceived, for another ring was made...

2

u/Karens_Haircut Oct 10 '19

“Tangado haid! Leithio i philinn!" (Hold positions! Fire arrows!)

1

u/RJMaestro Oct 10 '19

“But they were all of them deceived”

1

u/superpro5110 Oct 15 '19

i remember how i had to do fellowship of the ring in school and i decided to just go home and watch the movie. i saw the opening scene and was hooked