The Case for Cinematic Beginnings

You may have noticed, this blog is devoted ostensibly to films.

I see a lot of them. Really. And, as I wrote the last entry, something struck me recently upon which I have not really dwelled. 

As you know, before each film comes the little “promo” sequence for the company or companies who have made this triumph/travesty possible. 

As the Family Guy pointed out, some of these intros are pretty impressive and some of them are spectacularly long, sometimes taking on the appearance of a mini film themselves: 

I have previously mentioned that I like the Relativity Media one for fairly obvious reasons:

And the Universal intro is pretty cool, especially when it is “mixed up” for the movie that follows:

The Fox (nee 20th Century Fox) introduction is a classic, though for me it will always be associated with Star Wars, except for the campy version which precedes The Rocky Horror Picture Show.

Paramount’s is a bit dull, as is the one for United Artists, but they’re inoffensive rather than irritating.  I do like the Warner’s “resting on Casablanca’s laurels” version, though it is not overly inspirational either: 

Now for some brickbats. 

I am not sure if it is part of a “big evil corporation” feeling I have about the company, but the CGI Disney introduction is one of my least appreciated.  I always notice that the door seems to be part of a moat these days (perhaps reflective of the impregnable, unassailable Disney empire?) and for some reason this really annoys me.  Oddly enough, I don’t find the simplified Pixar version of same quite as disagreeable.  Odd.

But, to round off the “ughs”, I can’t really go past the Dimension Films one; I mean, well, its just pretty dull really.  How many Dimensions is that again?  Ah well.

Verdict: The production company credits definitely do not make or break a film, but they are fun to judge nonetheless. If you have your own favourites or pet hates, let me know. 8 credits out of 10.