DARKMAN
BEETLEJUICE
SMALL SOLDIERS
NEVER BEEN KISSED (this is really more of an end title sequence, but I like it.)
MARS ATTACKS!
HONEY, I BLEW UP THE KID
DUMB AND DUMBER
101 DALMATIANS (the 1961 original; arguably the most dynamic title sequence for an animated film ever.)
HIGH ANXIETY
ROBIN HOOD: MEN IN TIGHTS (one of the funniest I've ever seen; the last few moments are a riot.)

More to come...

TOTAL RECALL is my second favorite, for similar reasons, although the whole sequence lasts about half as long as SUPERMAN's.

The strange beauty and melancholy of the main title rendition of "Carol Anne's Theme" in POLTERGEIST still fascinates me, especially when contrasted to the warmer, more Pops-friendly version Goldsmith conducts at concerts. His opening for POLTERGEIST II is sublime as well.

Bernard Herrmann's main title for VERTIGO has always fascinated me. The insistent brass decrescendoes of his subsequent JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH is also a favorite.

Akira Ifukube's main title for BARAN is one of the best things he ever wrote, a cacophany of symphony and chorus. Ditto his opening for THE BIRTH OF JAPAN, which is almost as exhausting to watch and listen to as SUPERMAN (that picture may well be the biggest, in terms of major stars and major crew, ever made in Japan before or since. Directed by Hiroshi Inagaki; his only "rival" in the industry, Akira Kurosawa, was more notorious for going overschedule and overbudget, but still never assembled a cast quite as massive and various as that of THE BIRTH OF JAPAN's.)

Speaking of Kurosawa, he encouraged a great "bulldozer-like" main theme from Masaru Sato for YOJIMBO; and the eerie, primitive drum-thumping that seems to go on for hours during the tilted, hand-painted main credits for SEVEN SAMURAI (composed by Fumio Hayasaka in his last complete work for Kurosawa.)

John Barry's LION IN WINTER is properly majestic and strangely foreboding. So also the haunting organ playing from his KING KONG, although the film sequence itself is rather ordinary (just a ship at sea.)

I'm no big Ken Thorne fan, but he did a nice job of interpolating Williams' music with his own ideas for the wacky slapstick main title sequence of SUPERMAN III. (Brief non-main-title digression: I always loved just ONE cue on Thorne's SUPERMAN II, "Ursa Flies Over Moon," a catchy, wicked spin on Williams' Krypton music from the original.)

I loved the opening to NATURAL BORN KILLERS, with Leonard Cohen's creepy gorgeous deadpan purring "The Miracle" in the background.

The Coen Bros. never fail to come up with a memorable opening sequence, and my favorites include MILLER'S CROSSING and FARGO, both hauntingly scored by Carter Burwell (WHEN will the Academy recognize him with, at least, a NOMINATION?). Up until THE BIG LEBOWSKI, however, they Coens never placed technical credits at the front of the picture, always saved it for the back. (There used to be a sense of "occasion" about saving credits for the back titles as well, but I now think it's mainly about getting the picture started as quickly as possible -- that damnable MTV effect.)

And finally, pretty much all of the Sergio Leone westerns get off to a beautiful blasting start -- my favorite main title from one of these is probably FOR A FEW DOLLARS MORE (although my favorite of the movies is GOOD, BAD & UGLY). We're so used to the Morricone sound today that we may not realize how outrageous it seemed at the time ...

Star Wars (all of them)
Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves
Jurassic Park

• Much Ado About Nothing (Branagh)
  
• Fight Club (the music is not my cup of tea, but it's perfectly right for the movie)
  
• Captain Blood, because the music sets the atmosphere as perfectly as if you'd already seen the movie
  

Army of Darkness (Not really a sequence, as it's just a shot that says "Bruce Campbell vs. Army of Darkness")
Austin Powers (The first one)
Back to the Future II
Broken Arrow
The 'burbs (With the zoom in on the Earth. Wasn't this the first time Universal started a movie that way?)
Daylight
End of Days
Eraser
Halloween (Especially #3 and #5)
Innerspace
Mission: Impossible
Predator
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves
Spacehunter (It's no Star Wars, but it works with Bernstein's excellant score)
Stargate
Star Trek: First Contact
Star Wars (Obviously!)
U.S. Marshals (Just the short shot of the title over the static of the videoscreen, combined with Goldsmith's pounding score)
Vampires (The aerial shots of the New Mexico landscape combined with Carpenter's excellant score is great!)

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James Bond Theme - gunbarrel opening (I guess this counts)
Tripfall - evan evans (you guys can download this for free at mp3.com, its very cool!)
The Faculty - Extra Credit (M. Beltrami)
Total Recall
Star Wars
Glory
Back to the Future

just to name a few...

NP - Blade Runner - Memories of Green (Vangelis) *****/*****

Opening credits...
"Sphere" - it really, really sets the mood up for the rest of the [half-bad] film.
"12 Monkeys" - Striking bizarreness
"Ghost in the Shell" - Striking bizarreness once again... a person's body is constructed as a choir sings and the credits roll.
"Gattaca" - Striking bizarreness: it's all good
"The Ninth Gate" - Sets the slow, very suspenseful and intriguing tone of the film.
"Gunsmith Cats (Amercian version)" - stylin' heh

This topic's been here before! http://www.moviemusic.com/mb/Forum4/HTML/000049.html

ESCAPE FROM THE PLANET OF THE APES. From the point where the army officer says, "Welcome, gentlemen, to the United S--" and Goldsmith's music drops loudly in over the shot of the three apes removing their space helmets, I'm just hooked. Goldsmith's music really juices up the following montage, groovy drums and electric guitar underpinning the growing orchestra as we see the army recovering the spaceship, various shots of military types getting phone calls and looking puzzled, and the three apes being herded into a truck and driven to the zoo. Still gets me jazzed after all these years.

THE TAKING OF PELHAM 1-2-3. Nothing happening in the main title - just credits on a black screen. Why is it so exciting? Cos it has David Shire's tremendous music playing over it. Apparently the intent was to make the audience feel this was going to be the most exciting thriller they'd seen in ages ... worked for me.

WHEN EIGHT BELLS TOLL. The nighttime opening of this underrated Alistair Maclean flick shows Anthony Hopkins in scuba gear, climbing up the anchor chain of a ship and sneaking along the deck (Anthony Hopkins, action star!) as Walter Stott's rousing main theme injects itself into your veins and gets your heart pumping. It's one of those main titles that makes you say to yourself, "Damn, I'm SO glad I came to see this movie, this is going to be GREAT!" Sadly, it doesn't maintain the level of anticipation (and adrenalin) that the opening theme creates, but it's still a nifty little film ... plus it's got Anthony Hopkins, action star! And a priceless turn by Robert Morley as his snobbish boss - their antagonistic banter is a lot of fun. Anyone love Walter's - sorry, Angela's - theme as much as me?

If you go to her most recent column for the on-line magazine Salon.com, you will read her comment on a main title sequence that blew her away--The Carpetbaggers--She even mentions Elmer Bernstein in her column!

As great minds think alike, I too was floored by The Carpetbaggers main title when I saw/heard it for the first time.

quote:

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Originally posted by Mark Olivarez:
although I hate the film: Grease

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Hate GREASE?? To each his/her own, but GREASE? What do you hate about it?

quote:

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Originally posted by Emo:

Hate GREASE?? To each his/her own, but GREASE? What do you hate about it?

I love that movie and yes, like all other little girls at the time, wanted to be Olivia Newton John.[/B]

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All the HalloweeN movies.

The Omen.

Alien 3.

Bats.

Child's Play 2.

Batman Returns.

Sleepy Hollow.

Jaws the Revenge.

Scrooged.

M:I2.

Inspector Gadget.

Of course there are many more but that's all I can think of right now.