Sometimes, a good entrance or introduction is all you need to get the audience gunning for or sympathizing with a character. What are some of the best entrances you've seen on screen?
I just thought of this while watching Blade. Fantastic scene in the techno "bloodbath" club; amid the blood-soaked vampires, there's Blade, clean as a whistle. The vampires ready themselves while some murmer"That's him!", "It's the daywalker!"... and then he starts kicking. major. vampire. ass.
Now THAT'S an entrance. Told you all you need to know, and was great in doing it.
I have some favorites from my movie collection. Some may not be so grandiose, but at the very least made a cool first impression, especially if accompanied by a cool line:
Brandon Lee rising from the grave in The Crow
Daryl Hannah walking up to the Statue of Liberty buck-naked in Splash
Arnold in T2
Jack Black walking in the record store playing air guitar in High Fidelity: "Holy Shiite! What the fuck is that?"
Sean Connery as Ramirez in the first Highlander
Shrek kicking open the outhouse door at the beginning of the movie
John Forsythe as Bill Murray's old boss in Scrooged: "Wooooooo-wee! That was a good one!"
Michael Clarke Duncan stepping off the prison truck in The Green Mile
Kelly LeBrock's entrance in Weird Science: "So, what would you little maniacs like to do first?"
DVD Smurf
12-04-04, 12:44 PM
http://blofeld.qbranch.se/~maal01/ToshiroMifune/SevenSamurai/SEVEN7.JPG Toshirô Mifune in Seven Samurai
http://www.a-point.org/photo/theseventhseal.jpg Antonius Block (Max von Sydow) in Seventh Seal
RyoHazuki
12-04-04, 12:52 PM
Christian Bale in Equilibrium shooting those guys in the dark.
Originally posted by Mondo Kane
http://koti.mbnet.fi/rs901536/shobary/ouatitw/harm1.jpghttp://koti.mbnet.fi/rs901536/shobary/ouatitw/frank1.jpg
A winnar si yuo. Best two entrances in any movie.
How about:
Max's introductory montage in Rushmore (JV triathalon)?
IDrinkMolson
12-04-04, 02:44 PM
Nightcrawler in X-men 2.
PopcornTreeCt
12-04-04, 06:08 PM
Bogie in Casablanca. There is no equal.
DonnachaOne
12-04-04, 07:10 PM
Originally posted by scott1598
http://www.channel4.com/film/media/film/4x/A/alien_xl_05.jpg More of an exit than an entrance... ;)
This was mine as well. One of the best, if not THE BEST, entrances in film history.
SeanValen
12-04-04, 08:39 PM
Timothy Dalton's hair blowing in the wind like some wolf as his fellow agent falls to his death in the living daylights, and the most dangerous bond of them all is seen by audiences, capturing the scene.
fumanstan
12-04-04, 08:43 PM
Batman :P
Your entrance was good. His was better.
nightmaster
12-04-04, 08:48 PM
Being with what currently hit the DVD market.....Kramer in most any Seinfeld episode.
DonnachaOne
12-04-04, 09:41 PM
Max - that's not quite what I meant. Darth Maul is seen throughout the film before that appearance in The Phantom Menace; he's even fought by Qui-Gon before that, so it's not a character entrance.
I suppose, since it's just "I just ENTERED the room", it works, but the idea is that "I just entered the MOVIE".
condorito
12-04-04, 09:47 PM
Originally posted by nightmaster
Being with what currently hit the DVD market.....Kramer in most any Seinfeld episode.
heh thats the first thing that popped in my mind
Maxflier
12-04-04, 10:16 PM
Originally posted by DonnachaOne
Max - that's not quite what I meant. Darth Maul is seen throughout the film before that appearance in The Phantom Menace; he's even fought by Qui-Gon before that, so it's not a character entrance.
I suppose, since it's just "I just ENTERED the room", it works, but the idea is that "I just entered the MOVIE".
Oops,sorry.
Shannon Nutt
12-04-04, 10:22 PM
Someone already mentioned Indy in Raiders, but Indy in The Last Crusade is a great one too...the hat goes down on young Indy, and when the head raises it's Harrison Ford...I love that shot!
Also, has anyone mentioned Darth Vader in the original Star Wars? Great entrance!
The "over the top" (no pun intended) entrance has to go to Sylvester Stallone in Rambo III...showing us the muscles first, then the head band being tied...like he was some kind of Norse god. :lol:
Foole
12-04-04, 11:17 PM
Sorry, that Blade entrance is the clear winner. :thumbsup:
DonnachaOne
12-04-04, 11:29 PM
Just watching Shaun Of The Dead DVD again the other day; the first scene of that film is just a character entrance over and over - and each one a load of fun.
"It's not that I don't like it... Ed, it's not that I don't like you"
"S'alright!"
Originally posted by Maxflier
Oops,sorry. No apologies necessary! It's not like I'm roasting people's heels over hot coals for not correctly indering my implications...
towbinaj
12-05-04, 09:40 AM
I enjoyed Simone Simon's entrance in The devil and Daniel Webster.
Christian Bale in Equilibrium shooting those guys in the dark.
That is not his character entrance, that's just literally his character entering a room.
I love Charles Bronsan's character entrance in Once Upon A Time In The West, one of my all-time favorites.
Brent L
12-07-04, 11:25 PM
Here are two of my favorites. :)
http://img99.exs.cx/img99/6251/tcm28mw.gif
http://img99.exs.cx/img99/3294/puss28oo.gif
gnradd21
12-08-04, 01:54 AM
http://img56.exs.cx/img56/8925/halloweenmichaelyoung650x4889c.jpg
Hello, I am the devil's spawn. I have the power to unleash numerous crappy sequels on the world.
Xezoid
12-08-04, 05:05 AM
For the classic movies:
Sherif Ali ibn el Kharish "Desert Mirage" introduction from Lawrence of Arabia.
For the modern movies:
Missy Pantone "Audition" introduction from Bring It On.
(Nope. Im not resurrecting THAT thread. Honestly.)
freudguy
12-08-04, 01:14 PM
John Belushi in The Blues Brothers. Heck, also include when he gets in the car with Akroyd as the musical cues play and the camera switches to head on shots of them with the cues for the opening credits.
wendersfan
12-08-04, 01:30 PM
Anyone who has ever seen The Third Man knows that Harry Lime's entrance is the best.
Now we can tell who in this thread has seen it and who hasn't. :)That would be correct.
Johnny Zhivago
12-08-04, 01:44 PM
^ Indeed. Harry Lime in The Third Man gets my vote.
Some other great ones in this thread, but that scene rules all.
A few I really love, though Harry Lime is classic...
Fagin in Oliver Twist. Coming out of his hole with the smoke all around him.
Tom Cruise in Magnolia
Frodo in Fellowship of the Rings, the place just looked beautiful, and him reading his book was just perfect.
bhk
12-08-04, 02:26 PM
Arnold in Conan The Barbarian.
DVD Smurf
12-08-04, 02:51 PM
Here are two of my favorites. :)
http://img99.exs.cx/img99/3294/puss28oo.gif
I gotta agree with this one... I loved it.
Comics
12-08-04, 10:47 PM
I think I'll say Harry Lime in The Third Man, too. What's so great about it is the first time you see that movie, you keep thinking "where's Orson Welles?", and the lighting when he finally does make his entrance is just beautiful.
cruzness
12-09-04, 01:24 AM
have not seen The Third Man yet but I'll list some of my favorites
Blade - Blade at the end of the Bloodbath rave.
Silence of the Lambs - Hannibal in his cell waiting for Clarice
The Matrix - Trinity on the phone in the beginning
Star Wars - Vader
I think I'll say Harry Lime in The Third Man, too. What's so great about it is the first time you see that movie, you keep thinking "where's Orson Welles?", and the lighting when he finally does make his entrance is just beautiful.
Yes, and man, what a perfect, mischievous look he gives to Joseph Cotten, as if saying, "busted!"
Is there anyone here that's seen Third Man that doesn't think that's the greatest entrance in movie history?
TomMiller
12-16-04, 03:08 PM
I've seen it, and it gets my vote for greatest entrance. Only a few other entrances come close, and I haven't seen them mentioned yet:
Grace Kelly in Rear Window. This is the greatest entrance by an actress in a film that I can think of.
"Mother" in Psycho
and
Henry Fonda in Once Upon a Time in the West
Other good ones:
Rita Hayworth in Gilda
Cyd Charisse in Singin in the Rain
Marilyon Monroe in Seven Year Itch (the famous subway grate shot)
King Kong
whaaat
12-26-04, 03:10 PM
Ben Kingsley in Sexy Beast.
"I'm sweating like a c*nt!"
Groucho
12-26-04, 03:32 PM
The thread should have been locked the first time somebody mentioned Harry Lime in The Third Man.
He comes driving up in that Trans Am or whatever with some loud guitar solo playing on his stereo and crashes into the boxes of fruit. Then gets out, and yells that Penthouse has published his letter and so on......
cfloyd3
01-04-05, 02:51 PM
Harry Lime in The Third Man as everyone who has said cannot be beat, it is the best.
Death from The Seventh Seal is another great one.
Kechulater
01-04-05, 03:51 PM
Dennis Hopper in Blue Velvet.
Nuff
01-04-05, 04:08 PM
Come on now, nothing tops Darth Vaders entrance in A New Hope!
dealer
01-05-05, 02:08 PM
"I am Gunnery Sergeant Hartman, your Senior Drill Instructor. From now on, you will speak only when spoken to, and the first and last words out of your filthy sewers will be 'Sir!' Do you maggots understand that?"
dick_grayson
01-05-05, 02:14 PM
I still think the one of John Candy from Splash should be up in, at least, the top 5.
Chipmaker
01-05-05, 02:16 PM
Quint in Jaws -- the original, fingernails-on-the-blackboard version, not the DVD version in the music store (very pedestrian, that one).
The Genie in Disney's Aladdin.
The Queen in Aliens.
Rocky in Chicken Run.
The Ferret
01-05-05, 04:31 PM
Saw it recently and had never realized how good it was (entrance AND movie):
"I am Gunnery Sergeant Hartman, your Senior Drill Instructor. From now on, you will speak only when spoken to, and the first and last words out of your filthy sewers will be 'Sir!' Do you maggots understand that?"
SIR...Yes SIR!!!!!
QuiGonJosh
01-13-05, 02:16 PM
Darth Maul, James Bond, and Harmonica own this thread!
I'd also like to mention:
Indiana Jones - Raiders of the Lost Ark
Arnold/Conan/Turning the giant wheel - Conan the Barbarian
Hannibal Lecter - Silence of the Lambs
Quint - Jaws
Dont Fuck with the jesus..... :) :) :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :banana: :banana:
TheNightFlier
01-14-05, 03:49 PM
Arnold/Conan/Turning the giant wheel - Conan the Barbarian
:thumbsup:
Two great entrances in the movie. Conan looking up from the Wheel of Pain, and Thulsa Doom taking off his helmet at the village. Basil Poledouris's score during the two was perfect.
obscurelabel
01-14-05, 05:14 PM
Orson Welles in Citizen Kane. What's unique about this one is that we see dozens of images of Kane at various stages of his life in the newsreel. Then we see him as a child. But then Thatcher relates his exasperation with Kane as a young man, in a series of faster and faster shots, until boom! Kane wheels around in his chair and grins at him. Everything in the first 15 minutes of the film or so works up to that shot, saying, "ladies and gentlemen, here's Orson Welles".
My vote for best anti-entrance: John Hurt as John Merrick in The Elephant Man. Everything in the publicity for the movie lets you know that Merrick is terribly deformed, so you are anxious to see him for the first time. So you see a bit of his face, in shadow, in one scene. Then a bit more in another scene. Then his full face, but he's in the background and isn't fully lit, so you still don't see everything. By the time that you do get a full image of his face, there isn't really a single time that you can point to as being its "unveiling", it's been revealed little by little. I think of it as almost the opposite of the Lon Chaney Phantom of the Opera unmasking scene.
Buy: