What movie has the best first 15 minutes?

1. Scream. The first 15 minutes is an extended death scene with Drew Barrymore as one of the killer's first two victims. She should very well be the star of this film considering how famous she is. Instead, she turned down the lead role of Sidney Prescott because she thought it would shock the audience if she was killed off early and she was right. The opening also introduces us to those iconic ghostface killer phone calls ("Do you like scary movies?"). If you've never seen Scream, go to YouTube and look up "Scream opening scene". You won't be disappointed.
   — TheFalconner


2. The Matrix. Those opening few minutes really set the stage for the whole movie. When it was coming to theaters the marketing was done in such a way, you had no idea what to expect. And then going back and watching it for the second time, a lot more of the opening scenes made sense.
   — daGonz


3. Saving Private Ryan. The reenactment of the D Day landings is probably the most intense battle scenes ever made for film. It was so well done that even guys who took part in it agreed it was the most true representation of their experience. A lot broke down releasing tears with emotion for the first time since the landings all those years ago. >What Makes Saving Private Ryan's Beach Landing Scene So Brilliant Some movie scenes are unforgettable, and Steven Spielberg’s reenactment of the Normandy Landing is one of them. Every shot feels chaotic, with indiscriminate bloodshed consistent with this brutal event. But as Nerdwriter1 explains in the video below, Spielberg’s filmmaking choices are anything but random. For starters, he’s a student of history. In order to capture the feeling of being in the midst of battle, Spielberg borrows techniques from actual World War II footage. The main takeaways include keeping the camera low to the ground and introducing shake during running sequences and after explosions A wandering frame in the midst of mass death would be effective in some sense, but Spielberg comes from the tradition of blockbusters, where intention has to be balanced with audience comprehension. For this reason, he shoots the scene from three perspectives: as the Allied troops on the ground, as the Axis troops above, and following Tom Hanks. The camera pans, tilts and zooms between their perspective—instead of cutting—in order to keep viewers aware of where they are and who they’re supposed to be looking at. (Anyone who has watched a more modern action movie knows how jarring a cut-heavy action sequence can be.) There’s much more to this, so here’s Nerdwriter1's analysis in detail: https://youtu.be/LFpki7v4xiI There’s a reason this scene resonates with audiences almost 20 years after its release, and it’s because of a meticulous attention to detail, beneath the chaos. http://sploid.gizmodo.com/what-makes-saving-private-ryans-beach-landing-scene-so-1786329669
   — Spinner1975






4. 28 weeks later, for a horror movie, its also the BEST 15 minutes of the film unfortunately
   — Ebenezer_Truth


5. Watching Raiders of the Lost Ark for the umpteenth time. Such a cool character defining opener.
   — edit-grammar


6. Goodfellas. Billy Batts should have just kept his mouth shut.
   — Ferdinand_Feghoot






7. You could probably make the beginning of Inglorious Basterds into its own short film.
   — Obamas_Tie


8. Full Metal Jacket
   — NickyFingers07