Top 7 Movie Title Sequences

I love title sequences.  The opening title sequence sets the expectation for a movie.  And, as any marketer knows, managing expectations is the key to customer satisfaction.  The title sequence hooks us, gets us ready to suspend disbelief and enter into the story.  It sets the tone and hints at what’s going to happen.  It has become an art in its own right. The following are my personal favorites.  I’ll start with Saul Bass’s famously pioneering title sequence from North by Northwest.  Simple and effective, it’s one of Bass’ most famous sequences.

Stanley Kubrick’s 1964 film “Dr. Strangelove or: How I learned to stop worrying and love the bomb”, starring Peter Sellers, George C. Scott and Sterling Hayden.  The title sequence design by Pablo Ferro.  It is dreamy, surreal and memorable. It’s funny that I don’t remember a lot about the movie, but I remember this title sequence vividly.

SE7VEN, directed by the master of weird, David Fincher, starring Brad Pitt, Morgan Freeman, Gwyneth Paltrow.  This sequence uses creepy, slightly disorienting closeups and threatening music to awesome effect.

James Bond Casino Royale.  Just awesome use of the playing card themes.

Thank You For Smoking.  This is one of my all time favorite title sequences.  The song is perfect and it’s a great use of object labels as titles.

Eurotrip has to be included. Though not the best movie, it’s opening title sequence is gold.

And finally, the one and only Napoleon Dynamite.  The use of food is pathetic and funny and sets the tone perfectly for the weird, coming of age American comedy. Why type when you can use food?

If I missed any really good ones, let us know in the comments.  I’m sure I haven’t seen the best title sequence out there.  Maybe I’ll change this post to “Top 10 Movie Title Sequences” if there is a “must see.”