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.