Best opening scenes in movies

With minimal dialogue, a captivating sequence of events which chronicled the romance and dreams of one Carl and Ellie, who met when they were kids, and parted only by death, accompanied by a musical score both heart-warming and heart-breaking, the Pixar animated movie "UP" proved that for a story to be successful, a strong opening scene to reel in the audience and set the tone for the rest of the movie is not something that can be compromised.The following are other movies with memorable opening scenes:

1. Star Trek (The Future Begins) (2009)

As the USS Kelvin's first officer, George Kirk had to sacrifice himself by steering the ship towards collision against the Romulan ship, Narada, not only in order to save the members of the ship who were being evacuated, but also his pregnant wife, Winona, who went into labor right about the time USS Kelvin was attacked.

Moments before collision, the background music faded from strong thumping bass to something softer, intentionally to coincide with George's final conversation with his wife via telecon, and him hearing the sound of crying of his baby that he will never meet, a baby that both George and Winona decided before George's heroic death, will be named James T. Kirk.

2. Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003)

An ingeniously comical introduction to the iconic character played by Johny Depp, the pirate Jack Sparrow ("I believe there is a Captain somewhere in there"). His stance on top of the main mast of his ship seemed to convince the audience of the courage and fearlessness of a hard-bitten pirate, only to give way mere seconds later that this is going to be one-hell of a crazy-fun pirate when it is revealed his ship is fast sinking to the bottom of the sea. All this, and not a single word spoken. Genius.

3. The Dark Knight (2008)

When a group of highly trained and sophisticated bank robbers in clown masks starts killing each other during the heist, in an order determined by the Joker, each not aware that after killing one, another member of the robbery have been ordered to kill the one who just pulled the trigger. The revelation of the Joker (Heath Ledger) as the last standing robber, and the way he disposed of the Mafia-linked bank manager warns the audience that this is not going to be a run of the mill superhero movie.

4. Spiderman (2002)

This, I admit is a biased selection, and technically, what caught my attention was not even the opening scenes (which I've got no recollection of). What I remembered most was the level of excitement that built up quickly within me when the introductory credits started rolling, and the Danny Elfman score blasting through the cinema's speakers. I've read countless Spiderman comics as a teenager, and knowing that I'll be seeing a realistic CGI potrayal of my web slinging hero got me clenching my fist and biting my lips, my butt slightly elevated from the seat as I can't even sit still from anticipation.

I am sure there are countless other movies that grab you from the get-go, but for me personally, the above 5 movies (including Up) ranks as some of the best.

HOLMES vs. HOUSE MD

House MD is based on Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Dyle. Sherlock Holmes the movie by Guy Ritchie is based on Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Dyle. Hence, an extension of this logic is that S.H.T.M. ("Sherlock Holmes The Movie") should stand to be compared to H.M.D ("House M.D."), or so it seems.

But first, before the review begins, let me prove conclusively that H.M.D. is based on Holmes.

1. House is another word for homes, which sounds almost the same as Holmes.

2. Dr. Wilson, sidekick to Dr.House, has a name which is similar to Dr.Watson, sidekick to Sherlock Holmes.

3. The dynamics of the relationship between House/Wilson and Holmes/Watson is indiscernible.

4. In an episode of H.M.D. House played a prank on his fellows by sending himself a Christmas gift of an antique medical book by Dr. Joshua Bell. Wilson played along by claiming that the book was a gift by a mysterious patient called Irene Adler. No prizes for matching Irene Adler to the character played by Rachel McAdams in S.H.T.M. More interestingly, Dr. Joshua Bell is a real life doctor whose exploits form the foundation for Sir Arthur to craft his fictional detective, Holmes.

5. Holmes plays the violin while House plays the piano and guitar.

6. Holmes takes cocaine while House is addicted to Vicodin (a painkiller)

7. Holmes stays in 221B Baker Street while House stays in an apartment marked 221B.

(further prove can be found in the following website http://www.housemd-guide.com/holmesian.php)

Now, on to the how the movie fared, in my humble opinion. Should the main selling point of the movie be about the relationship between Holmes & Watson, it can clearly be seen that if fails in comparison to the one between House & Wilson. Granted, the writers of H.M.D. had 6 seasons to develop their individual characters and the relationship, but Guy should have done better. The chemistry between R.D.J. and Jude Law seems forced and farcical. At certain points in the movie, I found myself wishing that they would have just cast Hugh Laurie and Robert Sean Leonard in the movie.

If action is what Guy was reaching for, he packed more punch in his other movies such as Snatch and Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels (which by the way, benefited from quick editing. S.H.T.M's quick cut scenes just seemed...fractured). For those who thought that R.D.J's shirtless fight in the movie is cool should watch the Brad Pitt gypsy fight scene in Snatch. Now, that's cool.

Overall, I felt that the S.H.T.M story fell flat, the acting was mediocre and the action just plain *yawn* boring. It was disappointing, considering how I much I liked Guy Ritchie's previous movies and R.D.J's role in Tropic Thunder.

The Rotten Tomatoes gave S.H.T.M a 50% rating on its tomato meter. I think that is being a little to kind. Give this a miss, don't go even for mindless fun, as this movie was no fun at all.