How do you like your Pre-Title Sequence?
GiveMeMooreBond
Posts: 16MI6 Agent
Do you like them where they have nothing to do with the rest of the film - a la Octopussy, For Your Eyes Only, Goldfinger etc or have them connect to the rest of the movie to varying degrees?
Comments
The second, I like them to be connected even if only tenuously. What I don't like is for them to be really long.
I can like them either way
those disconnected ones are nice because its like a bonus episode attached to the main feature, we see more of Bond's life
the Goldfinger opening is subtle: that mission in Mexico is why he's in Miami after the credits, but I think you have to read the book to catch that, I'm not sure its spoken out loud in the film
heres what I especially like re the precredits sequence - the moment the action peaks and resolves, theres usually a single note of music that is recognisably Bondian, then a pause, then the first notes of main theme begins. We've had a taster of how great Bondian action should be, amping up our andrenaline, then theres this break in the tension combined with nervous anticipation, like at the apex of a rollercoaster, before we hurtle into the main feature and experience this fantasy world more immersively for the next two hours. Some films give us this moment better than others, but for me when that moment is done right its the most cathartic moment in the film. Goldfinger, Diamonds are Forever and the Spy Who Love Me achieve this almost perfectly, with the appearance of the cat in Diamonds..., the meow, then the twinkling motif of the main theme being my all time favourite.
How do I like my pre-title sequence? Shaken, not stirred of course.
Joking aside, I like them when they take place in the middle of the action...no setup, no exposition, it's just Bond in the middle of doing something. Ones that pull this off in great fashion include GE, SF and SP. I'd argue that the PTS for QOS is the best part of the film and the only part where the editing works. That's not to say that I don't like openings that feature an actual story arc (beginning/middle/end) like the one for TSWLM, but I prefer that immediacy of the ones where you're literally thrown into an operation in progress.
relevance to the overall story doesn't bother me. One word sums up how I prefer my pre-title sequences: SHORT.
theres a season of Monty Python where each episode they move the opening credits further and further back until its eventually the very last thing in the show
following this precedent, I predict the main credits of Bond26 will be exactly halfway through, and so on. We will have to wait another 25 films til they are at the very start once more like they were in Dr No
I like them to have a small link to the main feature (TB is a good example where Bond goes to Shrublands to cure his injury sustained in the PTS). 4-5 minutes is good (OHMSS withstanding).
I don't think the precredit sequence's relation to the film's plot has ever been an important to me. I judge precredits purely on how exciting they are, and how much they make me anticipate the rest of the film. Though every precredit sequence is self-contained, it's also a promise of what the movie will do as a whole. Some precredits earn greatness through a single great stunt (TSWLM); others have relatively unspectacular action but are filmed in a way that makes the action spectacular (OHMSS); and some triumph through their savoir faire in mixing over-the-top thrills with wit (GF).
I have no preference. I'm looking for something that is short and sweet, not dragged out like they have become since the late 90s - current. I'm looking for a lot of action, big stunts, something that will get my hyped up for the rest of the movie
I find the storytelling a bit more elegant if they are related to the main body of the film in some way; yeah I generally prefer that. I don't have any particular preference for the length of the PTS, just as long as it ends in a place which feels right.
I enjoy all types, even the Bond-less LALD which sets up the main locations.
Don't do a double reveal of Bond (TWINE) and we're good. Also, a maximum of ten minutes duration.
Either way, i loved Spectre's as well as Goldeneye's, which tie into the story