I fell asleep during the opening. To me this whole movie was a bunch of orchestral hits, a screen that would slowly change colors, and a bunch of random vertical black lines.
shareI always make it past the opening/Prologue of the film West Side Story, and watch it from the Prologue through to the very end. This opening, too, is a very integral part of the film and the story as a whole.
shareThe Overture? Yeah, I can see how it would be difficult to get past for some people, even though I always enjoy listening to the music and identifying which song from the musical is playing. You can skip it, but if you wait it will zoom out at the very end and those lines will reveal themselves to be New York City.
shareThe Prologue, with all the different colors, and all the lines that ultimately become the West Side of the Island of Manhattan (NYC), and turn into buildings, is a very important part, imho.
shareSounds like an extreme case of ADD, not being able to handle, what, 4-5 minutes of the Overture. Seek help, please!
"May I bone your kipper, Mademoiselle?"
To have fallen asleep during the overture/opening is a clear indication that you had little to no interest in the film to start with. The graphics as single lines turning into the skyline, and then the aerial shots of nyc set up the film's mood for you.
When Bradford suggested you seek help, he was right.
Or, better yet -- WSS is better without you having seen it.
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The world doesn't owe you a damn thing.
I think that the opening visuals, sound effects that turn into the overture, and camera shots are very well done. They help set the story in a very specific place.
I'm watching the movie now, and about 30 minutes in, I thought that this film would be harder for some younger people to watch nowadays because several camera shots are very long and still. Over the past twelve years or so, shots in films have switched every few seconds- so much to the extent that any shot that lasts more than 15 seconds can make a film seem boring.
I thought that this film would be harder for some younger people to watch nowadays because several camera shots are very long and still.
mr_x350 obviously has no idea what an overture is.
shareThe opening with the different bird's eye views of the city finally zeroing in on the Jets at the basketball court, clicking, is sensational. Nodding off is kind of unbelievable IMO.🐭
sharePersonally, I think that the opening of the film West Side Story, with a moving bird's eye view of NYC's West Side, and the gradual zeroing down on the Jets at the school playground basketball court is a memorably beautiful beginning to a beautiful classic film overall.
shareBarely. The excruciatingly long title sequence, during which you can't even see the dang title (and the intense purple color on the screen made everything in my room look green for several minutes), then it finally becomes a shot of lower Manhattan and prompted me to say "Oh, this must be 'Battery Park Story'", then ten minutes of guys in pastel socks and sweater vests snapping their fingers and trying to dance each other to death on a basketball court... yikes. I watch (and like) all kinds of movies, but once in a while I'll find a so-called classic that I really struggle to make it all the way through, and "West Side Story" is one of those. Never again. I can see how it probably would have made an impressive show if it were live onstage, but it really didn't translate very well to film.
shareTo each their own, irishm, but I thought that the opening of the film West Side Story presented a great omen of what good was to come of this film.
shareNo.
No one ever has. That's why this film has never been seen.
Mice work in mysterious ways.
No, dear. That's God.
This:
That's why this film has never been seen.
I don't think you understand sarcasm.
Mice work in mysterious ways.
No, dear. That's God.
Nope, no one watched beyond the opening scenes.
shareHaving seen this a million times, I usually skip over it now. Not that it's the only movie with long open credits, Grease is the same way, along with every James Bond film.
"I'd rather lose for what I am than win for what I ain't"
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