A pair of YouTube videos (part 1, part 2) offers up a montage of the creator's picks for the top 25 title sequences of all time. I think he really missed the boat-- many of them don't rate at all for me. He did get 2 of the 3 I thought of off the top of my head before watching-- Superman and Catch Me If You Can, but he missed Spider-Man 2 whose comic book recap of the first movie was brilliant. I agree with Panic Room, but also have the sense (though I can't remember it at all, so perhaps I'm wrong) that Fight Club, also by Fincher, merits inclusion.
What other cool titles am I forgetting?
Posted by Peter at June 24, 2007 03:34 PMcasino royale - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D6H9gf6JNno&mode=related&search=
batman - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HEK0N3KUga4
naked gun - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x8BThCLmLCg
napoleon dynamite - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvE4b2_6iL8
Posted by: dana on June 25, 2007 08:44 AMI don't know if closing credits count, but this is still very good:
West Side Story - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1TahkAkt5YI
Posted by: Stephen Glenn on June 27, 2007 09:19 AMThere are some cool ones there (you almost can't go wrong with any of the Hitchcock films), but it really feels like "Title Sequences I Happen to Have" rather than "Top of All Time."
I would think a Top 25 would include one Bond movie (to represent them all), and ditto The Pink Panther. Actually, I always felt bad for people who worked on those Pink Panther films because the focus was often not on their names. Hmm... maybe that's a strike against them.
One of my faves for years is Bullitt, the old Steve McQueen movie. The titles fall into that "give you some of the backstory" category - something I always enjoy - but on top of that, they are really cool graphically, and enhance the whole sequence rather than distract.
People did go crazy for those Panic Room credits, though. I can't deny they're cool and all, but they have nothing to do with the movie, really - they don't really relate - which always bothered me. But, you can absolutely thank Dave Fincher (and his team) for that whole "type lives in the world" thing that seems to be in every other commercial these days. I think Nissan nailed it best with those Titan ads.
Posted by: Dave on June 30, 2007 04:37 AM:)
So after writing that, I kinda wanted to see that Bullitt title sequence again... so I searched for it and got these hits:
"Unfortunately this film is remembered now purely for its car chase which, while still being excellent, is by no means the best part of the film. Steve McQueen gives his career-best performance, even above The Great Escape and The Thomas Crown Affair (definitely worth a look if you like this), the music (where used) is absolutely superb and in my opinion the film's main attraction is the title sequence, which really is one of the best of all time."
and
"... [a local event poster] reminded me of the titles and logo for the Talking Heads/Jonathan Demme film Stop Making Sense, which, in turn, reminded me of the titles for Dr. Strangelove ... [snip] ... Today, through the wonder of the world wide web, I discovered that one man is responsible for this stuff: Pablo Ferro. His site is a bit disjointed but provides a few good looks at his stuff from the last 50 years. While he is widely known for those fitted boxes of elongated, hand-drawn letters, his work is varied. Do rent Bullitt, if only for the title sequence. It's worth it."
(Peter, feel free to delete if you feel I've wandered too far astray)
Posted by: Dave on June 30, 2007 04:53 AMforgot about airplane! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UzYw4KOyCHw
Posted by: dana on July 2, 2007 08:59 AM"Thank You For Smoking" is worth a rental for the opening credits alone.
Posted by: Eric Berlin on July 25, 2007 12:53 PM