cinema 101: all-time favorite opening credits


~ vid ~

Is that freakin’ brilliant, or what?
The dusty gritty detail, the pace, the humor, the context, the characters, the surprises …
Woody Strode and the water drop, Jack Elam and the fly … no CG, no PC, no BS.
Now that there’s a gullll-danged movie !
Heck, I’d pay to see that on a real movie screen again (even though I’ve already seen it a dozen times)
rather than any of the crap that’s showing this week.
(What? Yeah … help us, Sergio, you’re our only hope.)

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12 Comments!

  1. My Sharia Moor
    Posted December 7, 2011 at 4:19 pm |

    Funny you should post this, as I spent much of yesterday (my day off) watching this very film and my second favorite, John Ford’s “The Searchers” back-to-back.

    Best day I’ve had in YEARS.

  2. DougM (jackassophobe)
    Posted December 7, 2011 at 5:13 pm |

    ^ Love the screen name!

  3. dick, not quite dead white guy
    Posted December 7, 2011 at 6:02 pm |

    me too.

  4. Gomer
    Posted December 7, 2011 at 6:07 pm |

    A Sergio Leone classic! A very under appreciated film.

    Henry Fonda as an unapologetic, totally evil bad guy, no shades of gray.

    Jason Robards, Claudia Cardinale, Charles Bronson

    What is not to love about it?

  5. Paul
    Posted December 7, 2011 at 8:56 pm |

    Yep… they brought two to many!

  6. Spin
    Posted December 8, 2011 at 3:39 am |

    And please don’t forget Music by Ennio Marricone.

  7. Freddie Sykes #OccupyAquaVerde
    Posted December 8, 2011 at 6:42 am |

    One problem with watching it in the theater: the original American version was butchered. I doubt if they showed that scene in its entity. They certainly cut out Jason Robards’ death scene.

    One Upon a Time in America was even more disfigured by the editing: it started with the telephone ringing.

    Thank God for discs!

  8. SOYLENT GREEN
    Posted December 8, 2011 at 9:10 am |

    Jack and Woody were uncredited. Awesome…as were Claudia’s Casabas, which Woody had already seen in The Professionals, of course.
    Some guys have all the luck.

  9. staghounds
    Posted December 8, 2011 at 12:48 pm |

    1. Well if you watch the credits they are credited as guest stars” whatever that means.

    2. Morricone was brilliant.

    3. It drags, it makes you want them to get ON with it already. Openings should HOOK.

    If you’re asking for OUR favorite openings/credits:

    http://youtu.be/FP_dRjDz97Y (If they had started it at 2.35)

    http://youtu.be/D46oPJuqrbo

  10. mojo
    Posted December 8, 2011 at 2:20 pm |

    You can’t say anything about Sergio Leone without mentioning his pal Ennio Morricone, who did the wonderful scores.

  11. Paul
    Posted December 8, 2011 at 5:50 pm |

    Well I can say Henry Fonda did say one thing in that film that is absolute truth…

    Frank: “People scare better when they’re dying”.

    Kind of like Al Capone and his,”You can get a lot farther with a smile and a gun than you can with just a smile.”

    Brutal truth, but it is a truth.

  12. DougM (jackassophobe)
    Posted December 8, 2011 at 6:26 pm |

    staghounds (9.3)
    When I said “the pace,” I was saying that the intro’s pace established the
    what’s your hurry? this ain’t no singin’-cowboy flic, so sit back and soak it up
    pace of the entire film.

    The plot action in the film occurs almost in the natural element of real-life time — time is not snipped to vignette the plot action in movie-time. Heck, some things even go to slo-motion.

    You have to pay attention to everything in order to suss-out the story for yourself — it’s not a spoon-fed slide show.

    Sure, that can be a drag, if you’re lookin’ for just a simple, revenge-tale storyline; but if you look for everything that’s served up to see in every scene, it’s mesmerizing.


    lion vs jackal

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