Great sci-fi movies have even greater opening hooks that grip viewers from the beginning itself. However, even among the movies with some of the best opening sequences, there is one that easily ranks above all others because of how brilliantly it executes its first scene and follows it up with an unforgettable sci-fi drama.

Arguably, the opening scene in question is not only the greatest in sci-fi movie history but also the best in the history of cinema. From delivering a masterful match cut to giving audiences a glimpse of the movie’s philosophical underpinnings, the brief sequence achieves it all.

What makes it even more impressive is that it is from one of the greatest sci-fi movies of all time, which came out nearly 60 years ago.

2001: A Space Odyssey’s Opening Scene Is A Visual & Musical Masterpiece

Often referred to as the “Dawn of Man,” 2001: A Space Odyssey‘s opening scene perfectly uses Richard Strauss’s “Also Sprach Zarathustra” as its background score. It starts with a low organ drone that aligns with visuals of an ape learning how a bone can be used as a tool. As the tension rises and the ape evolves its ability to think, the music transitions into a brass fanfare.

The visual of the ape embracing its newfound discovery is compelling enough, but the Stanley Kubrick movie further reels viewers with one of the most iconic match cuts in film history.

As the ape throws the bone in the air to celebrate, the visual of the spinning bone is cut to a nuclear-armed satellite orbiting Earth. With just one single frame and in less than a second, Kubrick captures four million years of human evolution. With no dialog or unnecessary narration, Kubrick uses the golden rule of “showing and not telling” to link humanity’s first tool/weapon to its most advanced and destructive technology.

In a few minutes, we, as viewers, understand that, despite the vast gulf in time, humanity’s undying impulse for dominance and its relentless drive to innovate remains the same.

The Opening Sequence Perfectly Captures Nietzsche’s Thus Spoke Zarathustra

It is no coincidence that Stanley Kubrick used Richard Strauss’s “Also Sprach Zarathustra” as 2001: A Space Odyssey‘s background score in the opening scene. One of the most iconic quotes from Nietzsche’s Thus Spoke Zarathustra is:

“Man is a rope stretched between the animal and the Übermensch—a rope over an abyss.”

The opening scene comes off as a perfect reflection of the above quote where the ape, an animal, begins the long, dangerous walk toward becoming the Übermensch as soon as it uses the bone as a tool. The match cut that transitions from the bone to the satellite suggests that modern humans are mere ropes stretched as midpoints between the apes and the “final form.“

Nietzsche argued that the “will to power” was the fundamental force that drives humanity. The opening scene seems to capture this by showing that, after being purely driven by a desire to survive, the monolith’s intervention drives the ape to dominate and grow.

However, this “Dawn of Man” is not a peaceful awakening but a violent rupture, where the ape smashes a rival’s skull to establish its dominance and will to power.

It Perfectly Sets Up The Iconic Stanley Kubrick Movie’s Ending

By aligning the monolith’s appearance with the ape’s leap in evolution, 2001: A Space Odyssey sets it up as a device that represents progression. It is an evolutionary alarm clock. Every time it appears in the movie, it coincides with a radical shift in awareness. This early revelation of its symbolism ultimately gets the perfect payoff in the film’s final scene when it appears for the last time and captures Man’s transition to Star Child.

A lot more can be drawn from 2001: A Space Odyssey‘s opening scene and how it gradually expands into the movie’s storyline. Since it achieves so much in a matter of minutes and still leaves a lot of room for personal interpretation, it is hard not to tout it as the greatest opening scene in sci-fi history.