Favorite Opening Credit Sequence?

[Wolfslice]

Out of all the series which had your favorite opening?

Personally I love the the TNG season 3-7 opening credits the most. Mostly for the nostalgia factor- there's something about that wind-like sound right at the beginning that takes me back to being a kid.

DS9 season 4-7 opening would be a very close second-- although it always takes me a little bit to get used to if I watch it after watching the first 3 seasons. The melody seems too fast for the percussion they throw in starting during season 4. That wears off eventually though. It's visually superior to season 1-3, even if there are ONE too many shuttles flying toward the screen before they zoom in on the station (3 is a bit much).

Voyager's had the best visuals but the song never really did much for me. It grows on you though, I guess

TOS--- it's just plain dated, in the worst way. But even so it's still better than.....

Enterprise. I never got past season 1 in that (I tried to watch it as it was airing- I will give it another shot someday)... didn't they add a new intro eventually? I don't know what the hell Berman was thinking with that season 1 opening, but I count it as one of the worst executive decisions he ever made.

 

[Brian]

Out of all the series which had your favorite opening?

Personally I love the the TNG season 3-7 opening credits the most. Mostly for the nostalgia factor- there's something about that wind-like sound right at the beginning that takes me back to being a kid.

DS9 season 4-7 opening would be a very close second-- although it always takes me a little bit to get used to if I watch it after watching the first 3 seasons. The melody seems too fast for the percussion they throw in starting during season 4. That wears off eventually though. It's visually superior to season 1-3, even if there are ONE too many shuttles flying toward the screen before they zoom in on the station (3 is a bit much).

Voyager's had the best visuals but the song never really did much for me. It grows on you though, I guess

TOS--- it's just plain dated, in the worst way. But even so it's still better than.....

Enterprise. I never got past season 1 in that (I tried to watch it as it was airing- I will give it another shot someday)... didn't they add a new intro eventually? I don't know what the hell Berman was thinking with that season 1 opening, but I count it as one of the worst executive decisions he ever made.

They didn't add a new intro for Enterprise. They just pepped up the song, sort of like DS9 did, but without changing the visuals. Enterprise's opening was okay, particularly after they stepped up the pace of the song. It seemed appropriate for the series.

As much as you feel that the intro for the original series is dated, I consider it by far the best. It truly captures what Star Trek is all about. William Shatner's delivery of the monologue is fantastic and the visuals capture the balance of exploration and kick-ass which the Enterprise represents.

TNG sort of captured that too, but not as well, IMO. The revamped opening was superior to the early one.

DS9 and Voyager's songs are much too "dreamy" for me. Voyager's opening is a collection of beauty-pass fly-by's of various natural phenomena, as if the ship is on a pleasure cruise. DS9's early opening was just dull and visually uninspiring (except for the hidden Spock in the comet trail). Its later opening, though better, was still kind of uninspiring, like watching the trains come and go at a train station. The Defiant undocking and flying through the wormhole was the best part, IMO.

To rank them:

1. TOS
2. TNG (later)
3. DS9 (later)
4. TNG (early)
5. Voyager
6. Enterprise (later)
7. Enterprise (early)
8. DS9 (early)

I think. After the top three, I have a lot of variability in the rest, depending on my mood, I guess.

 

[JNG]

DS9 Seasons 1-3 for the stark power of it, and Enterprise for the well-chosen imagery depicting the history of exploration.

 

[Ziz]

The thing that struck me as out of place for ENT wasn't the use of the song, but when and how they changed it. For S1 and S2, it was softer, then they jazzed it up for S3. But S3 was the whole Xindi story, which was touted as trying to take ENT into a darker, more serious tone, so the happier tone of the opening didn't seem consistent with the show's attitude at that point. If it had happened the other way, with the softer version for S3 and S4, then it would be more consistent.

 

[FalTorPan]

I think opening sequence is effective at selling the basic premise of its respective series. I have no favorite.

 

[indranee]

Enterprise's mirror episode sequence.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Enterprise's mirror episode sequence.

Word. Still gives me chills. Linky

 

[Nerys Ghemor]

Definitely the first seasons of Deep Space Nine. The mood of it immediately sets the series apart from anything that had come before it, and from a visual standpoint is just wonderful--and the music is still the best of any series thus far. Not that I think it was bad, but I really thought the "starkness" of the original, as JNG describes it, was something special.

And I agree with the Enterprise mirror sequence, too--they couldn't have come up with a more perfect contrast to the normal sequence if they'd tried.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

And I agree with the Enterprise mirror sequence, too--they couldn't have come up with a more perfect contrast to the normal sequence if they'd tried.

Here's an 'extended' Mirror Universe opening, complete with Rammstein's "Links 234" as the theme. Link

Cool song, BTW.

 

[Sector 7]

Enterprise's mirror episode sequence.

Word. Still gives me chills. Linky

And I agree with the Enterprise mirror sequence, too--they couldn't have come up with a more perfect contrast to the normal sequence if they'd tried.

Here's an 'extended' Mirror Universe opening, complete with Rammstein's "Links 234" as the theme. Link

Cool song, BTW.

Somehow I missed this one. It was a bold step to use this opening sequence and it works for the episode. I have always liked Enterprise's opening sequence because of the depiction of the roots of exploration upon which all of Star Trek is based. The Mirror opening gives the same history, but for the Mirror Universe.

The most beautiful opening sequence, however, is Voyager. The lonely music score over the shots of the beauty of space sets the tone for Voyager's series quite well. It often reminds me of Picard's lonely flute music.

 

[Smiley]

I'd call it a tie between VOY, TNG 3-7, and DS9 1-3.

I love the fact that the "Emissary" title sequence omits the wormhole visual effect so as not to spoil the surprise (although the menu of the DVD features the wormhole interior).

 

[Borg451]

Ent Season 1
then Ent IaMD episodes..

then who cares.. the rest are lame..

 

[Haytil]

DS9's early opening was just dull and visually uninspiring (except for the hidden Spock in the comet trail).

Do you know where I can find any pictures of this?

A quick google search shows that some believe the whole cast is there (including Kirk and Uhura), morphing into one another, but I can't find any pics.

 

[Brian]

DS9's early opening was just dull and visually uninspiring (except for the hidden Spock in the comet trail).

Do you know where I can find any pictures of this?

A quick google search shows that some believe the whole cast is there (including Kirk and Uhura), morphing into one another, but I can't find any pics.

Here's a tiny pic illustrating how Spock can be seen in the trail. I'll see if I can't find a bigger comparison somewhere out there.

 

[Admiral Bear]

DS9's early opening was just dull and visually uninspiring (except for the hidden Spock in the comet trail).

Do you know where I can find any pictures of this?

A quick google search shows that some believe the whole cast is there (including Kirk and Uhura), morphing into one another, but I can't find any pics.

There's definitely a face in the comet trail if you freeze the sequence at the right moment, but to say it's the face of Spock or anyone in particular takes more than a small leap of imagination.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=9XFc35FDUvw

Pause the video on 8 seconds and if you're lucky, you should see the face.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

TOS followed by TNG.

 

[Brian]

Hmm.. images seem to be hard to find, but I did find this description at NitCentral:

First, the smaller the TV screen size, the better. I think it may be easier to see if recorded at EP speed rather than SP speed. Even squinting your eyes may help.
NOTE: these frame counts were done at SP speed, your VCR may vary! One frame after the comet goes off screen, you can see the outline of half of Kirk's face dead center on the screen. As you pointed out before, Spock can be seen about 13-15 frames. If you advance to frame numbers 76-80, a good image of UHURA begins to come into view. She is sitting at her console, arm extended, and the bright patches of stars/dust is the instrument panel on either side of her body. Good luck!

I've never noticed Kirk and Uhura myself, but I notice Spock every time.

 

[DanStro]

If we're limiting this to just the series than I would agree that the Mirror Universe of ENT is by far the best.

But if the movies are fair game then I love the opening of TVH. Its just so happy.

 

[I am not Spock]

DS9 seasons 4-7 is cool. I like the pacier version of the song, and the more busy space station (ships docked there, little guys in Work Bees, etc)

TNG season 3-7 is good, too.

 

[Newspaper Taxi]

My favorite opening credit sequence is definitely Enterprise. Majestically flying around in space was enough fun for one show, but when it was essentially the same thing in three different shows it got old. I haven't actually paid attention to the TNG-DS9-VOY openings in ages. The Enterprise one thought constantly keeps my brain energized as I try to recognize all of the events/break through in the sequence. It also embodies the spirit of Star Trek in that it shows humanity striving forward and the hopeful song fits both Trek and Enterprise specifically.