The Shining (1980) Opening Scene

[bazlh]

The eerie music and dramatic landscape perfectly set the tone right from the start. I always thought the way the camera flies through the sky was like an evil spirit following them, even before they arrived.

[TimothyElliott-ljyb]

I will never forget seeing this film when it opened in 1980. The theater was packed, the projection was razor-sharp and the sound system was superb. About a minute or so into this sequence, a young lady sitting two rows in front of us buried her head in her boyfriend's shoulder and said loudly, "I'm scared already!", reacting to the music and visuals. The entire audience heard, and there was nervous laughter everywhere. A masterpiece!!

[veldinjoeable]

Seeing the wide open space and long distance on the way to the hotel gives you a great sense of isolation before you even get there. It gives you an unsettling feeling about the place before it is even introduced.

[ThePlaton]

For those of you unaware this opening shot was filmed at Glacier National Park in Montana. The helicopter shot goes over St Mary Lake, flying close proximity to Wild Goose Island. Jack's car is driving on Going to the Sun Road, which runs east/west alongside the lake. If you ever get a chance to go, please do it. The scenery is absolutely sublime and almost unparalleled in any of the other national parks. The only other one that comes close to this kind of beauty is Denali National Park in Alaska.

[Josama]

Truly one of the greatest horror movies every made. This movie will always give me the chills

[alexsaucedo]

Love this opening scene and music. Such an eerie creepy feeling. That score just gets under ur skin. Love it.

[DC-zise]

1 common thing in all of Kubrick's films: great cinematography.

[Bates]

Anybody still watching this in 2024? One of the best opening intros. The Shining will always be my personal favorite and one of the best films ever made. There's not gonna be another great actor as good as Jack Nicholson. They don't make movies like this anymore. R.I.P to Shelley Duvall.

[PurpleHurrple]

I love the sense of isolation this opening gives together with the eerie music. The small road surrounded and hidden by the forest, nearly nobody on the roads no buildings or houses in this valley, the landscape dwarfed by the mountains casting their shadows onto the portrait. It's beautiful and chilling at the same time.

[melancholyhussar]

These three minutes alone represent one of the greatest masterpieces of filmmaking history. Brilliantly creative, flawless in it's craftsmanship and perfectly sets the tone for what follows. And the rest of the movie is just as good! I've watched a thousand times and it just gets better. Truly awesome.

[konstantinoskaragiannis]

"The Shining"(1980) is one of the best horror movies of all time for sure!

[justiniani]

Man, those native american screams are haunting. Imagine being lost in the jungle after a plane crash and listening to these screams echo throughout the forest, not knowing how close to you they are or their intentions or whether you are having auditory hallucinations from the crash

[HenrysHowTos]

Just imagine, the first 3 minutes of a horror/thriller from 43 years ago is better than every horror movie that’s come out in the past 20 years

[frankmessely]

A haunting film one wants to revisit over and over again, forever and ever and ever...

[BlacKnightRising]

the scariest opening scene to a horror movie bar none, you can feel what's coming will be shockingly frightening....

[sangeovr]

The fact is kubrick has more than 17 hours filmed than this and he shared only 3 minutes of it is insane

[kyleplatz]

Nothing can touch these majestic helicopter shots. They're utterly beautiful but paired with that music, it's just a facade for the impending horror. Absolute genius from the first frame. I always say, the best ghost movies are the ones where the films themselves "feel" haunted. As if there's something looming over the film the whole time, suspending you in a constant state of tension. The Shining is easily the best example of that. A couple others are, "Lake Mungo", "I Am The Pretty Thing That Lives in the House", and "Don't Look Now". One more film that does this perfectly is "The VVitch", although that's not a ghost movie haha.

[chrishickory]

2:53 Funny how Ullman says there's no skiing, yet you can see the trails on the mountain

[jcrocky]

I use to be so obsessed with this for some reason when I was 12, The Shining was one of the greatest novels ever written by Stephen King.

[tommydarko]

The cool blue tone of the credits are filled with optimism, but everything soon turns to red when they arrive at the Overlook.