The Greatest Opening Sentence of any game/movie

[Xiroh86]

"At the end of World War II
the world was split in two - - East and West.
This marked the beginning of the era called the Cold War."

Every time a start a new MGS3 game my spine tingles with excitement.

 

[Sandytimeman]

Best opening, I'd have to say from the penny arcade game:

"Four Gods wait on the windowsill

Where once eight Gods did war and will

And if the Gods themselves may die

What does that say for you and I?"

- The Quartet for the Dusk of Man
via "Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness"

 

[samgdawg]

Not the first line but. "So the stars themselves are our enemy now? Just WHO THE HELL DO THEY THINK I AM!?"

 

[Gnometron]

"You are not prepared!"

Illidan Stormrage from the Burning Crusade cinematic trailer
I love my WoW

 

[Diplian]

'In the Year of our Lord One Thousand Four Hundred Ninety-Two'
Colonisation, first line when you start a game.
so awesome :3

 

[Zyst]

This [http://www.mithral.com/~beberg/manifesto.html] is absolutely beautiful, especially if you consider the context in which it was written (after the author's arrest). It's not a movie or book, but is still very powerful.

As for first words, whoever came up with "Once upon a time" and "They lived happily ever after are pretty damn memorable.

I love you. I had never read that manifesto. But as soon as I did my skin jumped as if a thousand volts traveled through it, I got goosebumps. Thank you so much for sharing.

It's still very relevant today. If you're interested more in the context of his arrest or just history of hacking in the 90's, this [http://www.mit.edu/hacker/hacker.html] is a brilliant read, possibly one of the best books I've ever read.

Awesome. Thanks a lot of sharing! Will read.

 

[TheDudeAbides]

Two more:
"I remember the night of my 21st birthday. That was the first time I died"

"I believe that whatever dosen't kill you simply makes you... stranger"

 

[GeneWard]

"Daddy's back you bitches!"
"Dave!"
"Daddy's Back you bitches!"
"Dave, come on!"

 

[Pb Zeppelin]

Hands down the best opening line of any piece of dramatic work is Fahrenheit 451's

"It was a pleasure to burn."

 

[kyogen]

My personal gaming favorites are

1) Nier: "Weiss, you dumbass!..."

and

2) The Witcher 1: "His name was Geralt of Rivia..."

 

[RJ 17]

Beginning of The Big Lebowski with the old cowboy guy narrating about The Dude. Classic.

 

[woodaba]

"That...was the first time I died."

Or, maybe:

"I've been having these...strange...dreams lately. Is any of this real? Or not?"

 

[TD_Knight]

If it hasn't already been mentioned before...

"Kane is deified. The clans tell tales of him. Few know the truth. He was mortal once... as were we all..."

*Cue awesome music*

- LoK: Soul Reaver

 

[Shoqiyqa]

"War ... War never changes." HOW many times on the first page? I was guessing ten for the thread. Jayzus.

Ant struggles to choose.
Thread title asks for sentence.
OP says "moments".

(It's not a proper haiku if it doesn't refer to nature, so I changed "I struggle" to "Ant struggles," alright?)

I agree with the "A long time ago ... " posts, because I'm of the age group that can't hear the 20th Century Fox theme without wanting those chords to follow it.

[youtube]fOOb5Xe2Sb0[/youtube]
[youtube]7jK-jZo6xjY[/youtube]

You know they go together.

At the risk of re-igniting the eternal flamewar, this came to mind for a memorable opening:

[youtube]iOHdAr-ohbE[/youtube]

The "EVERYONE" is wonderfully ominous.

Personal favourite:

[youtube]8XKGhG0W0LQ[/youtube]

Honourable mentions to The Battle of Britain for the military might and Luftwaffe March and High Plains Drifter for the brutally straightforward appearance out of nowhere, for no reason, of the man with no name.

[youtube]eFIQ6QdxdTA[/youtube]

@5:15 prototype for movie version of Gollum?

However, despite reading a bit and thinking about this and browsing YouTube I can't come up with anything to beat this:

[youtube]v8SnZmUjhAA[/youtube]

Freddie? Eddie? Hannibal? Pennywise? Norman? You guys have got nothing on open, grey ocean.