Top 10 Great Movie Character Entrances
Sherif Ali (Lawrence of Arabia): The first appearance of Omar Sharif’s Ali is by far one of the most stylish ever created on screen as he makes a splendid entrance, appearing first as a speck on the horizon then slowly through the desert heat haze comes a camel with Ali riding on its back and Lawrence looks on in sheer amazement. Legendary set designer John Box achieved this stunning look by lining the desert sand with white stones to bring the full effect- today this scene is still awe inspiring and in Lawrence’s very long running time, it is this moment that will forever stand out!
Darth Vader (Star Wars): The man in black’s first appearance on screen is one forever imprinted onto the minds of die hard Star Wars fans- emerging from the destroyed blast door of the rebel ship with his storm troopers in tow, he calmly enters the scene with cold hard authority and in an instant the quintessential cinematic villain is born! Set to John Williams’ famous score, George Lucas masterfully set up one of the series most iconic characters who is able to conjure up pure excitement and immense nerves whenever he appears- but when he chokes the Rebel commander to a bone breaking death- we realize this is no ordinary villain!
Quint (Jaws): During a town meeting, the residents of Amity Island argues amongst themselves as to who will kill the Shark that has devastated their town and more recently killed the Kitner family’s boy- suddenly a horrific dry scratching noise rings out! The camera pans around to reveal hunter Quint (Robert Shaw) running his nails down a black board, which on it has a drawing of a stick man being eaten by a giant shark! Through his hard, piercing gaze, Quint instantly succeeds in not only grabbing the town’s attention, but the audiences too as he offers “$10,000 for me by myself. For that you get the head, the tail, the whole damn thing” the entrance of the old sea dog is as chilling as the entrance of the shark he’s pursuing!
Indiana Jones (Raiders of the Lost Ark): Whenever you see the opening sequence from this movie, it is always able to capture the same exhilaration each time as our hero Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford) skilfully manoveures his way through a variety of booby traps to claim the golden idol he has been seeking, we assume he has made it. But when the room begins to shake- his troubles are only just beginning and Indy is then forced to run from a collapsing chamber and most memorably a giant rolling boulder! This beginning perfectly sets up our hero for the series with his devil may care attitude and his love of the high risk stuff! This scene still ranks as the most notable Indy moment and without, its hard to imagine how the film would have been?
The Balrog of Moria (Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring): Gollum and Sauron may have been impressive CGI characters through the Rings trilogy- but neither of them made an entrance more spectacular than the Balrog. As he enters our nine companions are surrounded by a sea of orcs with seemingly no way out! From the air comes a deep growl which alone is enough to send the many enemies scarpering! As a bright orange light slowly creeps across, we know he is heavy duty stuff and from the defeated look on the face of Gandalf (Ian Mckellen) it dawns on our heroes that this enemy cannot be killed by any weapon they possess! But his gigantic and beastly form is revealed to us- it is hard not to be frozen with shock and have fear hit you hard!
John Doe (Se7en): As Kevin Spacey’s killer casually walks into a police station trying to catch the attention of his pursuer Detective Mills (Brad Pitt) it leads to a shocking reveal as he cries out “DETECTIVE!!!” as Mills turns around he sees his suspect drenched in calmly stating “You’re looking for me!” until this point John Doe has never been shown to the audience and has mainly avoided being seen- but his entrance causes firework as baffled cops restrain him. But his introduction will prove to be the catalyst for a tense finale which both thrilling and incredibly devastating as Doe tries to bring the seven deadly sins full circle!
The Alien (Alien): The Chestburster scene still has the ability to scare us even today as the Alien literally ‘bursts’ its way onto our screens through John Hurt! When the crew of the Nostromo starship sit down to what appears to be an ordinary dinner, they have no idea what is about to unfold- cue splatter filled mayhem as the crew stare in wonder at the tiny creature that has just appeared- this moment proves to be the tipping point of Alien- for genuine shock, director Ridley Scott didn’t inform his cast about the chestburster- so the stunned looks all around are genuine here!
Anton Chigurh (No Country For Old Men): One of cinema’s greatest bounty hunters instantly makes his presence felt within moments of arriving in the Coen Brothers Oscar winning thriller- picked up by the cops for a minor offense, Chigurh (Javier Bardem) then proceeds to strangle a young deputy to death with the same cuffs he put on him! The look of almost orgasmic pleasure on his face as he struggles on the floor with his foe instantly sets up one of this century’s finest villains. Moments later he flees in a police car and then after pulling over a random driver- shots him from the head with a captive bolt pistol! Chigurh is a machine of a man and his menace is felt throughout this and his introduction sets the tone for this!
The Joker (The Dark Knight): During the impressive bank heist sequence in Christopher Nolan’s second Batman adventure, the various masked vigilante’s keep mentioning a strange man calling himself ‘The Joker’ but when the Heath Ledger’s grinning maniac is finally revealed to us, his presence is unforgettable as he tells William Fichtner’s mob bank manager “I believe whatever doesn’t kill you simply makes you… stranger!” the moment he whips off his mask the audience see the madman that Bruce Wayne has to deal with and he has a face no one will ever forget!
Leon the Professional (Leon): Jean Reno as cinema’s best hitman sure has an entrance to go with it as well, as he coolly and brutally executes a multitude of drug dealing baddies to get to his target- but it’s the moment where he corners his victim in the shadows holding a blade to his throat that will raise pulses most as he calmly resists all manner of bribes and simply tells the man to ring a number. Upon completion he simply asks “Do you understand… good!” and slinks off into the darkness. This is one lesson this dealer will never forget and you can safely say he’ll never be visiting New York again!
Closer to the Edge 