Prologues in a movie sense

Can you give an example? I'm having a hard time coming up with a movie that has a prologue, except maybe Star Wars.

What about Pirates -- you know young Elizabeth finding young Will, and it was a dream!

I like them mostly, but then I like well done, relevant prologues in books too, so take that FWIW.

IdiotsRUs said:

What about Pirates -- you know young Elizabeth finding young Will, and it was a dream!

I like them mostly, but then I like well done, relevant prologues in books too, so take that FWIW.

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Ah, okay. I forgot about that one. I don't really mind prologues in books, but I do think Pirates could have done without that prologue. Plus the dream was a cheap trick, too.

As always, I think it just depends how you handle it.

Plus the dream was a cheap trick, too

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Hell yeah. Couldn't they have just had a title saying 'X years later'?

Lord of the Rings had a great prologue. As long as they are relevant, prologues in films and books don't bother me.

tailstrike said:

I have seen that most people around dislike the use of prologues when starting a novel...

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When else would you use one? In the middle?

Anyway, I have no problem with a prologue in a book as long as it's not just an excuse for an infodump just as I wouldn't have a problem with an epilogue. Done well, either are acceptable.

A prologue, in this instance, would be akin to James Bond completing a mission before the start credits, right? Or Indiana Jones barely escaping from some pissed-off natives he's just stolen something from...

If so, then I'm fine with the use of a prologue of this nature. It can help show who the MC is straight away.

katiemac said:

Can you give an example? I'm having a hard time coming up with a movie that has a prologue, except maybe Star Wars.

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American Beauty sort of has a prologue- although it's kind of a framing device too.

A prologue in a movie- it was kind of necessary in Star Wars.

I dug the prologue in the newest Star Trek movie. Though I have a feeling now that I own it on dvd, I'll usually skip straight to the action when I watch it.

When I took my fantasy/sci-fi novel in to be reviewed by my last writing class, that was the biggest question my professor had for me. Why do you need this prologue? As was mentioned before, if it's just a big info dump, then you're probably not doing your job as a writer (i.e. show don't tell, competent world building, etc). I don't mind prologues in general, but ever since that class I often find them unnecessary.

I like prologues that serve an irreplaceable purpose, either in books or movies. They can have tremendous power.

Lord of the Rings had a great prologue. As long as they are relevant, prologues in films and books don't bother me.

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Actually, this is one that kind of stuck out to me as unnecessary, but maybe that's because I already knew that information going into the film...

I dug the prologue in the newest Star Trek movie. Though I have a feeling now that I own it on dvd, I'll usually skip straight to the action when I watch it.

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I agree this one worked, however, I'm not sure if it would work for any film ... One of the great things about the new Star Trek film was how it took years worth of canon and storylines from the original TV series and movies and flipped them on their head thanks to that one scene. As just any old opening to a movie I'm not sure it's necessary. But then, you consider that with action movies you'll pretty much want to start with action, which is another good reason they used that scene as the opening.