First impressions: The most iconic opening film lines

It’s an iconic line, even if it is completely ominous. When audiences first went to see Citizen Kane, and a man they don’t even know as Charles Foster Kane said the word “Rosebud,” how did it register? These days, we are reflecting on the film’s legacy as one of the best movies ever made, Orson Welles’ masterpiece. It all begins with “Rosebud.” That sets the table for the story with the perfect hint of mystery.

The first line of The Prestige is almost a call to action. “Are you watching closely?” says Christian Bale’s character. He’s not talking to us, the audience, but in a way, he could be. In a way, he’s speaking for director Christopher Nolan. The Prestige is about magicians, revenge, and obsession. It’s also about things not being what they seem. Better watch closely.

Disney’s Tangled was a fraught production, leading to worries it would end up a disaster and a box-office fiasco. It ended up being a big hit that spawned multiple TV shows. The film begins not with Rapunzel but with Flynn Rider giving a voiceover that starts with, “This is the story of how I died.” He follows that with, “Don’t worry, this is actually a very fun story,” but that still grabs you.

A lot of old horror movies start with lengthy monologues. Sometimes William Castle would appear to begin his own films to warn people of just how scary they were. The Haunting is not one of his. It’s directed by the prestige filmmaker Robert Wise, and it is what some might call “elevated horror” (and others would bristle at that terminology). The film is a literary adaptation, which may have helped with lending it an evocative opening line: “An evil old house, the kind some people call haunted, is like an undiscovered country waiting to be explored.”

Francis Ford Coppola’s war epic is full of memorable moments and iconic lines, which is probably a relief to him, given that the film almost killed him. That includes the opening of the film, when a distraught Captain Willard laments, “Saigon. Shıt. I’m still only in Saigon.”

Let’s not unpack the many discussions that have been had about David Fincher’s Fight Club over the years. In terms of setting the stage for a movie, Edward Norton’s opening line of “People are always asking me if I know Tyler Durden” definitely does that memorably. Of course, the imagery it is paired with helps as well.

Rebecca is a classic novel that spawned a classic film, the only film directed by Alfred Hitchcock to win Best Picture. The opening line has been riffed on, spoofed, and referenced many times over. “Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again,” says the character known only as the second Mrs. de Winter, which speaks primarily to the looming specter of the first Mrs. de Winter, the titular Rebecca.

Now, the opening monologue from The Fellowship of the Ring has Galadriel saying, “The world has changed. I feel it in the water. I feel it in the earth. I smell it in the air.” However, frankly, just opening a film by saying, “The world has changed” is enough to grab us and open up one of the most successful film trilogies ever.

George C. Scott may have refused his Oscar for Patton, which also won Best Picture, but you can understand why he won it. The film opens with a famed monologue in front of a giant American flag. That monologue is full of significant lines, beginning with Patton addressing his troops by declaring, “Now I want you to remember that no bastärd ever won a war by dying for his country. He won it by making the other poor dumb bastärd die for his country.”

It speaks to the incredible filmmaking of Coppola on The Godfather that the opening line can be so iconic but also spoken by a character who is truly tertiary to the story. He is a man who has come to Vito Corleone on the day of his daughter’s wedding, looking for a favor. This man, Amerigo Bonasara, is a sliver of this all-time film, but he arguably speaks as thematically resonant a line as anybody: “I believe in America. America has made my fortune.”

Stephen King is not known for concise or subtle writing. That hasn’t been an impediment to him being as highly adapted as any novelist. Plus, he occasionally provides exactly the right fodder for a film and an opening line. Take, for example, Stand by Me, which certainly grabs you by opening with, “I was 12 going on 13 the first time I saw a dead human being.”

The Sound of Music isn’t just a musical; it’s a musical that opens with a song. Oh, and it doesn’t just open with a song but with the title song. The film's first line is, “The hills are alive with the sound of music.”

In these modern times, a film starring Johnny Depp and directed by Terry Gilliam is perhaps not going to be remembered as fondly, and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas has always been more of a cult movie anyway. It hooks you in with the first line, effectively a statement of purpose: “We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the drugs began to take hold.”

When a movie begins with a character talking about the main character, before we even meet them, and they say, “He was the most extraordinary man I ever knew,” immediately you’re going to be like, “I’ve got to know more about this dude!” This opening line really set the stakes high for Lawrence of Arabia, but the Best Picture-winning epic cleared the bar.

Even though this was the first of the many movies starring Spider-Man, when Peter Parker’s voiceover says, “Who am I? You sure you wanna know?” most people in the audience probably were already quite acquainted with their friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. That said, it’s still a nice enticement to keep you watching and a smart way to lead you into the superhero story. Let’s all find out who Peter Parker is together!

Rounders went from underrated to overrated to an artifact of poker’s time in the spotlight (which it presaged, to be fair) since its release. Through it all, it had an opening line that sticks with you. Matt Damon’s Mike McDermott delivers plenty of tips and bon mots in his narration, but he begins with this crucial bit of advice: “Listen, here's the thing. If you can't spot the sucker in your first half-hour at the table, then you are the sucker.”

One of the first films in Tom Cruise’s rise to superstardom, Risky Business sees Cruise playing the kind of character he would eventually eschew: sleazy, sketchy, and mostly unlikeable. Back then, he was totally cool with playing somebody like Joel Goodson. Joel opens the film by saying, “The dream is always the same.” Now, he goes on to discuss a specific dream, but honestly, at the moment, that line can be taken broadly, it really is evocative.

When the American Film Institute made their list of the 100 best movie quotes of all time, at No. 81 was “Hello, gorgeous.” It is one of the rare opening lines on that list. When Barbra Streisand won the Oscar for starring in Funny Girl, she dropped the line in her speech. Even if you have never seen Funny Girl, you know the line “Hello, gorgeous.”

Spike Lee’s indelible film begins with a radio DJ speaking to his listeners, but effectively, to the audience. “Wake up!” he exclaims. He then exclaims it a few more times. It’s a call to arms, an imploring to be attentive. Not just to the film but to the world around you. It helps that this DJ is voiced by none other than Samuel L. Jackson, of course.

The iconic opening line of the modern era of film. It’s the perfect introduction to a character, world, and film. We’ve already seen Ray Liotta’s Henry Hill awash in a world of violence and chaos. Then, we hear his first line of voiceover: “As far back as I can remember, I wanted to be a gangster.” Indeed.