Best Opening Lines

[jillian]

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair. - Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities

The Miss Lonelyhearts of the New York Post-Dispatch (Are you in trouble?—Do-you-need-advice?—Write-to-Miss-Lonelyhearts-and-she-will-help-you) sat at his desk and stared at a piece of white cardboard. - Nathanael West, Miss Lonelyhearts

It was a queer, sultry summer, the summer they electrocuted the Rosenbergs, and I didn't know what I was doing in New York. - Sylvia Plath, The Bell Jar

 

[LuckyDan]

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair. - Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities

The Miss Lonelyhearts of the New York Post-Dispatch (Are you in trouble?—Do-you-need-advice?—Write-to-Miss-Lonelyhearts-and-she-will-help-you) sat at his desk and stared at a piece of white cardboard. - Nathanael West, Miss Lonelyhearts

It was a queer, sultry summer, the summer they electrocuted the Rosenbergs, and I didn't know what I was doing in New York. - Sylvia Plath, The Bell Jar

"The Rosenbergs had it coming."
- LuckyDan, Love it or Leave It (2012)

 

[jillian]

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair. - Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities

The Miss Lonelyhearts of the New York Post-Dispatch (Are you in trouble?—Do-you-need-advice?—Write-to-Miss-Lonelyhearts-and-she-will-help-you) sat at his desk and stared at a piece of white cardboard. - Nathanael West, Miss Lonelyhearts

It was a queer, sultry summer, the summer they electrocuted the Rosenbergs, and I didn't know what I was doing in New York. - Sylvia Plath, The Bell Jar

"The Rosenbergs had it coming."
- LuckyDan, Love it or Leave It (2012)

On Memorial Day in 1967 Daniel Lewin thumbed his way from New York to Worcester, Mass ... With him was his young wife, Phyllis, and their eight-month-old son, Paul ... The day was hot and overcast ... and the traffic was wondering - I mean the early morning traffic was light, but not many drivers could pass them without wondering who they were and where they were going ... This is a Tinline felt-tip marker, black. This is Composition Notebook 79c made in USA by Long Island Paper Products, Inc. This is Daniel trying one of the dark coves of the Browsing room ... Daniel, a tall young man of twenty-five ...

The Book of Daniel. EL. Doctorow

 

[boedicca]

"Miss Brooke had that kind of beauty which seems to be thrown into relief by poor dress." -- Middlemarch

 

[Oddball]

The several minutes at the beginning of Once Upon a Time in the West that have no lines whatsoever.

Sometimes, less really is more.

 

[American Horse]

In the second century of the Christian Era, the Empire of Rome comprehended the fairest part of the Earth, and the most civilized portion of mankind. The frontiers of that extensive monarchy were guarded by ancient renown and discplined valor. The gentle but powerful influence of laws and manners had gradually cemented the union of the provinces. Their peaceful inhabitants enjoyed and abused the advantages of wealth and luxury. The image of a free constitution was preserved with decent reverence; the Roman Senate appeared to possess the sovereign authority, and devolved on the emperors all the executive powers of government.

The Decline & Fall of the Roman Empire Volume I by Edward Gibbon

 

[QUENTIN]

"All persons, places, and events in this book are real. Certain speeches and thoughts are necessarily constructions by the author. No names have been changed to protect the innocent, since God Almighty protects the innocent as a matter of Heavenly routine."

--Vonnegut, The Sirens of Titan

"Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way."

--Tolstoy, Anna Karenina

"The towers of Zenith aspired above the morning mist; austere towers of steel and cement and limestone, sturdy as cliffs and delicate as silver rods."

-- Lewis, Babbitt

"If they move, kill 'em"

--The Wild Bunch

"“I believe in America."

--The Godfather

"As far back as I can remember, I always wanted to be a gangster. To me, being a gangster was better than being President of the United States."

--GoodFellas

 

[xsited1]

The several minutes at the beginning of Once Upon a Time in the West that have no lines whatsoever.

Sometimes, less really is more.

That's not what she said...

 

[Modbert]

"The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed." - The Gunslinger, The Dark Tower Volume I by Stephen King.

“Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much. They were the last people you’d expect to be involved in anything strange or mysterious, because they just didn’t hold with such nonsense.” - Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J. K. Rowling.

 

[midcan5]

"The sun shone, having no alternative, on the nothing new." Murphy, Samuel Beckett


"Mother died today. Or, maybe, yesterday; I can't be sure. A telegram from the home says: your mother passed away, funeral tomorrow, deep sympathy. Which leaves the matter doubtful; it could have been yesterday." The Stranger, Albert Camus


"Estragon: Nothing to be done.

Vladimir: I'm beginning to come round to that opinion. All my life I've tried to put it from me, saying, Vladimir, be reasonable, you haven't yet tried everything. And I resumed a struggle. So there you are again.

estragon: Am I? "

Samuel Beckett, Waiting For Godot

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoC9Kx5QvK0]YouTube - Beckett On Film: Waiting for Godot Act I 2001[/ame]

 

[dilloduck]

"Hey baby--What's your sign ?"

 

[Jon]

"In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit." -J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit

 

[tigerbob]

"All persons, places, and events in this book are real. Certain speeches and thoughts are necessarily constructions by the author. No names have been changed to protect the innocent, since God Almighty protects the innocent as a matter of Heavenly routine."

--Vonnegut, The Sirens of Titan

"Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way."

--Tolstoy, Anna Karenina

"The towers of Zenith aspired above the morning mist; austere towers of steel and cement and limestone, sturdy as cliffs and delicate as silver rods."

-- Lewis, Babbitt

"If they move, kill 'em"

--The Wild Bunch

"“I believe in America."

--The Godfather

"As far back as I can remember, I always wanted to be a gangster. To me, being a gangster was better than being President of the United States."

--GoodFellas

Actually, that's not the first line.

The first line, appropriately enough, is "What the fuck is that?"

 

[California Girl]

Far out in the uncharted backwaters of the unfashionable end of the western spiral arm of the Galaxy lies a small, unregarded yellow sun. Orbiting this at a distance of roughly ninety-eight million miles is an utterly insignificant little blue-green planet whose ape-descended life forms are so amazingly primitive that they still think digital watches are a pretty neat idea.

Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy.

But..... one of the best lines from the book is "Humans are not proud of their ancestors, and rarely invite them round to dinner." Always makes me laugh.

 

[tigerbob]

Far out in the uncharted backwaters of the unfashionable end of the western spiral arm of the Galaxy lies a small, unregarded yellow sun. Orbiting this at a distance of roughly ninety-eight million miles is an utterly insignificant little blue-green planet whose ape-descended life forms are so amazingly primitive that they still think digital watches are a pretty neat idea.

Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy.

But..... one of the best lines from the book is "Humans are not proud of their ancestors, and rarely invite them round to dinner." Always makes me laugh.

OMG! I was watching the old BBC TV series of that on YouTube yesterday.

I love it when Vogon Jeltz lectures humankind on the fact that if they were unaware that earth is scheduled for destruction in 2 minutes they should have visited the planning office on Alpha Centauri (where the plans had been available to the last 50 earth yers) and registered a complaint, and that if humans can't take an interest in local affairs they've got only themselves to blame.

 

[California Girl]

Far out in the uncharted backwaters of the unfashionable end of the western spiral arm of the Galaxy lies a small, unregarded yellow sun. Orbiting this at a distance of roughly ninety-eight million miles is an utterly insignificant little blue-green planet whose ape-descended life forms are so amazingly primitive that they still think digital watches are a pretty neat idea.

Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy.

But..... one of the best lines from the book is "Humans are not proud of their ancestors, and rarely invite them round to dinner." Always makes me laugh.

OMG! I was watching the old BBC TV series of that on YouTube yesterday.

I love it when Vogon Jeltz lectures humankind on the fact that if they were unaware that earth is scheduled for destruction in 2 minutes they should have visited the planning office on Alpha Centauri (where the plans had been available to the last 50 earth yers) and registered a complaint, and that if humans can't take an interest in local affairs they've got only themselves to blame.

The books are brilliant!! I love that trilogy - all 5 of them.

 

[AquaAthena]

"The village of Holcomb stands on the high wheat plains of western Kansas, a lonesome area that other Kansans call "out there" -- In Cold Blood

"Behavioral Science, the FBI section that deals with serial murder, is on the bottom floor of the Academy building at Quantico, half-buried in the earth." -- The Silence of the Lambs

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For reasons I can't fathom, the first line of "In Cold Blood" has been playing back in my head the last 2 days. I thought I would exorcise it by starting a "Best Opening Line" Thread

What's your favorite?

I totally agree with your opinion, Crusader Frank. It was a bone chilling, suspenseful statement and captured one's imagination, immediately. It was also such a fantastic and absorbing movie, with Philip Seymore Hoffman playing his role to precision, making me decide to buy it. I seldom can watch a film over once or twice, but this one, continues to interest me. The acting was superb and Chris Cooper is one of my all time faves and did a fabulous job with his character. The film, In Cold Blood is on my top 5 all time favorites.

 

[Nate]

"Man," said Terl, "is an endangered species."

Battlefield Earth by L. Ron Hubbard(not that damn movie that had the poor bastard rolling in his grave)

"Come on, you apes! You wanna live forever?"

Starship Troopers by Robert A. Heinlein(again book, not movie. Though the movie wasn't too bad)

 

[CrusaderFrank]

"One minute it was Ohio winter, with doors closed, windows locked, the panes blind with frost, icicles fringing every roof, children skiing on the slopes, housewives lumbering like great black bears in their furs along the icy streets" -- The Martian Chronicles by Ray Brabury.

 

[rdean]

Be right out Sergeant

Yes sir

So begins the opening line of a movie that terrified young mothers in the 1950s

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CF_tQAHJPJ0&feature=related]YouTube - ‪The Bad Seed (1956) pt.9/13‬‎[/ame]

At 2:48 in begins one of the most chilling scenes involving a child in movies. Rhoda Penmark scored scarier than every child monster from a poll I saw about a year ago. Even scarier than the Exorcist.

The scenes where she tells her mother about the murders she commits are nightmarish.