Best soundtrack that simply fits the movie.. (1 Viewer)

[El Floppo]

Snatch

Caddyshack

actually prefer that one to Lock Stock.

 

[El Floppo]

These soundtrack/scores threads always go back to the same thing for me...

There are a handful of directors (Scorcese, Tarantino, Cameron Crowe, Sofia Coppola, Wenders) who IMO have a great sense of tying songs and soundtracks to their imagery.

There's also a handful of composers who do the same thing in reverse, and just know how to create the music to fit the imagery: Morricone, Williams... Elfman is decent, I'm spacing on a few others

John Barry

nice- never heard of him, but obviously (after googling) have heard his music: James Bond, Lion in Winter, Born Free, Dances with Wolves, Out of Africa

 

[huskers15]

Maximum overdrive

 

[timschochet]

I want to add The Sting. It's always seemed odd to me that Scott Joplin's ragtime music, which in itself represents an era (the turn of the 20th century) would fit into a movie about Depression era con men. But somehow it does, perfectly.

 

[El Floppo]

I want to add The Sting. It's always seemed odd to me that Scott Joplin's ragtime music, which in itself represents an era (the turn of the 20th century) would fit into a movie about Depression era con men. But somehow it does, perfectly.

can't think of the movie OR the music without thinking of the other. Perfect fit for this thread, IMO.

 

[Ilov80s]

I want to add The Sting. It's always seemed odd to me that Scott Joplin's ragtime music, which in itself represents an era (the turn of the 20th century) would fit into a movie about Depression era con men. But somehow it does, perfectly.

can't think of the movie OR the music without thinking of the other. Perfect fit for this thread, IMO.

Other than being totally anachronistic, it works well.

 

[wbaaoz]

Haven't read the entire thread so please forgive if these were already mentioned, but I always thought that both the OST to Juice and Above the Rim were pretty damn good soundtracks that encapsulated what the films were about.

 

[El Floppo]

I want to add The Sting. It's always seemed odd to me that Scott Joplin's ragtime music, which in itself represents an era (the turn of the 20th century) would fit into a movie about Depression era con men. But somehow it does, perfectly.

can't think of the movie OR the music without thinking of the other. Perfect fit for this thread, IMO.

Other than being totally anachronistic, it works well.

very true. works so well, I don't even think of the era-gap.

 

[meatwad1]

There is really only one answer here and it is Goodfellas.

Also, I second the concept that soundtracks means songs that are in the movie, not the instrumental track that serves as the score.

 

[The General]

Escape From New York but pretty much any John Carpenter movie.

I know he does his own music. I think Robert Rodriguez also does. Who are the others?

Not sure off the top of my head. Tarantino probably picks every song to match scenes.

Pretty sure Clint Eastwood composes a bit of the music in his movies.

 

[Ilov80s]

There is really only one answer here and it is Goodfellas.

Also, I second the concept that soundtracks means songs that are in the movie, not the instrumental track that serves as the score.

Soundtrack is the music accompanying film. Score is music specifically written for a film. A score can be the soundtrack. For example, Star Wars only had the music from John Williams so it's score was the soundtrack. Pulp Fiction had no score, just a soundtrack (Miserlou, C'est La Vie,etc). Forrest Gump had a score that made up just part of it's soundtrack. The soundtrack included California Dreamin', Fortunate Son, and the Forrest Gump Suite. The score only consisted of the The Forrest Gump Suite.

 

[Bob Magaw]

Great choices here. Good distinctions made between sound track and score (I'll focus more on score).

Kubrick was a master, I think Scorcese and Tarantino took a cue from him.

The use of the Blue Danube waltz by Strauss perfectly captured the weightlessness of space in the already mentioned 2001 (so did Brian Eno in the music for the Apollo documentary). He used Wendy Carlos' pioneering synths in Clockwork Orange. She was commissioned for The Shining, but only the brooding opening sequence was used. He used some some cues from avant garde composers, as well as inventing some himself with found sounds (he frankensteined two different camera components to shoot Barry Lyndon in candlelight only - though didn't plan for the heat lighting the set on fire ).

Same with Ride of the Valkyries by Wagner for Duvall's scenery chewing in the helicopter scene of Coppola's Apocalypse Now, also mentioned.

The liberal use of Morricone in Kill Bill.

Vangelis in Blade runner was a great choice for a score.

Tangerine Dream did great scores for Billy Friedkin's Sorceror and Michael Mann's Thief.

I liked the score for Tron: Legacy by Daft Punk.

A short list of my favorite film scorers would have to include Morricone (700+ films?), the song set in the cemetery of the Good, Bad and Ugly where his swirling accompaniment to the whirling dervish circular camera pans may be the apex of his art. The quirky, off beat orchestration for the title sequence of Fistful of Dollars (twangy, jangling electric guitars and coyote-like howling) was one of the best tone setters ever.

Miklos Rozsa was a master of biblical/historical epics, he did Ben Hur, King of Kings, Quo Vadis and El Cid.

Bernard Herrmann is inextricably linked with Hitchcock. Strings-only was an inspired choice for Psycho (high pitched, staccato shrieking perfectly meshed with the shower stabbing scene, as noted above. The swirling cue in Vertigo (one of the top movies in Sight and Sounds once a decade, international top 10 poll) perfectly mirrors Saul Bass's title sequence rotating pattern that shrinks and dissolves into an eye, as well as thematically, the underlying psychological undertow/vortex.

Jerry Goldsmith was a master with sci fi. Planet of the Apes was unconventionally scored (non-diatonic scale, atonal?). He also did Alien and Total Recall. He also captures flying well, did the Blue Max (and Disney's Soaring Over California ride). He also may have done Chinatown and LA Confidential, two of the best post-Touch of Evil, end of the classical noir cycle, neo-noirs.

Howard Shore's score for Scanners was relentlessly creepy and psychologically claustrophobic, music to telekinetically explode heads to.

Elmer Bernstein was prolific. The theme from the Magnificent Seven probably one of the more "quoted" Western scores. To Kill A Mockingbird was more understated, but it had a wistful quality that captured the sense of Scout's nostalgic adult narration, reflecting on her childhood memories of a bye-gone era.

 

[Binky The Doormat]

Hard Day's Night seems to fit pretty well.

 

[John Bender]

The Sting would have been my answer.

I would also nominate The Breakfast Club (duh)

and actually, Napoleon Dynamite

 

[John Bender]

Haven't read the entire thread so please forgive if these were already mentioned, but I always thought that both the OST to Juice and Above the Rim were pretty damn good soundtracks that encapsulated what the films were about.

Above The Rim soundtrack got a lot of play for me growing up.

I would add Belly to the list of the same ilk

 

[Ilov80s]

Great choices here. Good distinctions made between sound track and score (I'll focus more on score).

Kubrick was a master, I think Scorcese and Tarantino took a cue from him.

The use of the Blue Danube waltz by Strauss perfectly captured the weightlessness of space in the already mentioned 2001 (so did Brian Eno in the music for the Apollo documentary). He used Wendy Carlos' pioneering synths in Clockwork Orange. She was commissioned for The Shining, but only the brooding opening sequence was used. He used some some cues from avant garde composers, as well as inventing some himself with found sounds (he frankensteined two different camera components to shoot Barry Lyndon in candlelight only - though didn't plan for the heat lighting the set on fire ).

Same with Ride of the Valkyries by Wagner for Duvall's scenery chewing in the helicopter scene of Coppola's Apocalypse Now, also mentioned.

The liberal use of Morricone in Kill Bill.

Vangelis in Blade runner was a great choice for a score.

Tangerine Dream did great scores for Billy Friedkin's Sorceror and Michael Mann's Thief.

I liked the score for Tron: Legacy by Daft Punk.

A short list of my favorite film scorers would have to include Morricone (700+ films?), the song set in the cemetery of the Good, Bad and Ugly where his swirling accompaniment to the whirling dervish circular camera pans may be the apex of his art. The quirky, off beat orchestration for the title sequence of Fistful of Dollars (twangy, jangling electric guitars and coyote-like howling) was one of the best tone setters ever.

Miklos Rozsa was a master of biblical/historical epics, he did Ben Hur, King of Kings, Quo Vadis and El Cid.

Bernard Herrmann is inextricably linked with Hitchcock. Strings-only was an inspired choice for Psycho (high pitched, staccato shrieking perfectly meshed with the shower stabbing scene, as noted above). The swirling cue in Vertigo (one of the top movies in Sight and Sounds once a decade, international top 10 poll) perfectly mirrors Saul Bass's title sequence rotating pattern that shrinks and dissolves into an eye, as well as thematically, the underlying psychological undertow/vortex.

Jerry Goldsmith was a master with sci fi. Planet of the Apes was unconventionally scored (non-diatonic scale, atonal?). He also did Alien and Total Recall. He also captures flying well, did the Blue Max (and Disney's Soaring Over California ride). He also may have done Chinatown and LA Confidential, two of the best post-Touch of Evil, end of the classical noir cycle, neo-noirs.

Howard Shore's score for Scanners was relentlessly creepy and psychologically claustrophobic, music to telekinetically explode heads to.

Elmer Bernstein was prolific. The theme from the Magnificent Seven probably one of the more "quoted" Western scores. To Kill A Mockingbird was more understated, but it had a wistful quality that captured the sense of Scout's nostalgic adult narration, reflecting on her childhood memories of a bye-gone era.

Outstanding post. Strauss and Wagner weren't part of any film score though.

 

[Riversco]

The Grand Budapest Hotel.

 

[Bob Magaw]

Hard Day's Night seems to fit pretty well.

Great one.For a polar opposite, the use of SILENCE in the half hour heist scene (no dialogue, either, just minimal sound effects) of the classic French caper film Riffifi was inspired, as was the decision to not score No Country For Old Men at all by the Coen brothers.

The use of the anthemic Fight the Power by Public Enemy in Do The Right Thing fit like a glove.

Breaking Bad might be the best example of outstanding sound track on TV, and I liked the score for True Detective.

 

[th3f00l]

I'm surprised I haven't seen the Matrix listed in here yet.

the score https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5DLRaXYg1F0 ,

morpheus getting beat down https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7gCAmbTSYo,

lobby scene https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCBL33NKvPA,

end credits https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTL4qIIxg8A

 

[th3f00l]

These soundtrack/scores threads always go back to the same thing for me...

There are a handful of directors (Scorcese, Tarantino, Cameron Crowe, Sofia Coppola, Wenders) who IMO have a great sense of tying songs and soundtracks to their imagery.

There's also a handful of composers who do the same thing in reverse, and just know how to create the music to fit the imagery: Morricone, Williams... Elfman is decent, I'm spacing on a few others

John Barry

nice- never heard of him, but obviously (after googling) have heard his music: James Bond, Lion in Winter, Born Free, Dances with Wolves, Out of Africa

Hans Zimmer?

 

[JohnW1970]

I think Trent Reznor nailed the music for The Girl with the dragon tattoo. It really made the movie for me.

 

[togo]

I think my #1 has to be "Flash Gordon." Queen so thoroughly CRUSHED that soundtrack, the movie is literally 3 times better than it has any right to be purely because of the music.

This is #1 for me as well.

Honorable mentions

Visionquest - This is just a great soundtrack. Journey, Madonna, Foreigner, Sammy Hagar. John Waite's Change starting while Louden is climbing the pegboard and then when he's running home. Can't help but thinking about that scene when you hear that song. Red Rider's Lunatic Fringe just works perfectly with Louden's warmup routine and entrance into the big match.

Terminator - The opening theme is just awesome. (Mix of the terminator's heartbeat and Kyle and Sarah's theme), the 80's pop rock especially in Tech Noir fits so well. The music enhances this film for me.

This!

 

[Yankee23Fan]

Some good ones mentioned.

I'll nominate Speed. The music won an Oscar and it should have because the music in that movie built the tension better than Keanu Reeves did.

 

[MikeMan]

lots of good choices in these threads. I also love the Last of the Mohicans soundtrack.

The one that came to mind instantly for me where the song and movie are inseparable is That Thing You Do. The movie is the song.

 

[rick6668]

lots of good choices in these threads. I also love the Last of the Mohicans soundtrack.

The one that came to mind instantly for me where the song and movie are inseparable is That Thing You Do. The movie is the song.

No doubt. It plays 9 times I think.

 

[Vike Me]

Sorority Sluts #13 was pretty much perfect. Geoff Hebler's feverish jazz riffs juxtaposed against the adult contemporary overtones set the perfect aural scene for several oral scenes.

Link?

 

[B-Deep]

Yeah, the OP sort of dismissed Star Wars, but that movie series practically defines what a good "from scratch" soundtrack should/could be. You don't even need the iconic Star Wars theme.

- the pop jazz in the cantina scene is simply awesome for its unexpectedness, not to mention it's quality. I can't hear that tune and fail to smile or think of that scene.

- the Imperial March, for all of its self-important triumphalism is perfection when it comes to personifying the Empire in the movies;

- the frantic tune when Han Solo's piloting the Falcon through the asteroid field in ESB greatly enhances the drama of the scene;

- the Luke and Leia themes work really well for the characters and the scenes;

- etc.

It's just really good move scoring. I too have seen Williams conduct this stuff live, in my case at the Hollywood Bowl, and it's awesome.

Star Wars without John Williams

chewbacca

 

[Grace Under Pressure]

Saturday Night Fever

 

[Vike Me]

Yeah, the OP sort of dismissed Star Wars, but that movie series practically defines what a good "from scratch" soundtrack should/could be. You don't even need the iconic Star Wars theme.

- the pop jazz in the cantina scene is simply awesome for its unexpectedness, not to mention it's quality. I can't hear that tune and fail to smile or think of that scene.

- the Imperial March, for all of its self-important triumphalism is perfection when it comes to personifying the Empire in the movies;

- the frantic tune when Han Solo's piloting the Falcon through the asteroid field in ESB greatly enhances the drama of the scene;

- the Luke and Leia themes work really well for the characters and the scenes;

- etc.

It's just really good move scoring. I too have seen Williams conduct this stuff live, in my case at the Hollywood Bowl, and it's awesome.

Star Wars without John Williams

chewbacca

Btw, why didn't Chewy get a medal?

 

[dhockster]

Yeah, the OP sort of dismissed Star Wars, but that movie series practically defines what a good "from scratch" soundtrack should/could be. You don't even need the iconic Star Wars theme.

- the pop jazz in the cantina scene is simply awesome for its unexpectedness, not to mention it's quality. I can't hear that tune and fail to smile or think of that scene.

- the Imperial March, for all of its self-important triumphalism is perfection when it comes to personifying the Empire in the movies;

- the frantic tune when Han Solo's piloting the Falcon through the asteroid field in ESB greatly enhances the drama of the scene;

- the Luke and Leia themes work really well for the characters and the scenes;

- etc.

It's just really good move scoring. I too have seen Williams conduct this stuff live, in my case at the Hollywood Bowl, and it's awesome.

Star Wars without John Williams

chewbacca

Btw, why didn't Chewy get a medal?

He would have eaten it.

 

[SmoovySmoov]

Yeah, the OP sort of dismissed Star Wars, but that movie series practically defines what a good "from scratch" soundtrack should/could be. You don't even need the iconic Star Wars theme.

- the pop jazz in the cantina scene is simply awesome for its unexpectedness, not to mention it's quality. I can't hear that tune and fail to smile or think of that scene.

- the Imperial March, for all of its self-important triumphalism is perfection when it comes to personifying the Empire in the movies;

- the frantic tune when Han Solo's piloting the Falcon through the asteroid field in ESB greatly enhances the drama of the scene;

- the Luke and Leia themes work really well for the characters and the scenes;

- etc.

It's just really good move scoring. I too have seen Williams conduct this stuff live, in my case at the Hollywood Bowl, and it's awesome.

Star Wars without John Williams

chewbacca

Btw, why didn't Chewy get a medal?

Racism.

 

[pats3in4]

Yeah, the OP sort of dismissed Star Wars, but that movie series practically defines what a good "from scratch" soundtrack should/could be. You don't even need the iconic Star Wars theme.

- the pop jazz in the cantina scene is simply awesome for its unexpectedness, not to mention it's quality. I can't hear that tune and fail to smile or think of that scene.

- the Imperial March, for all of its self-important triumphalism is perfection when it comes to personifying the Empire in the movies;

- the frantic tune when Han Solo's piloting the Falcon through the asteroid field in ESB greatly enhances the drama of the scene;

- the Luke and Leia themes work really well for the characters and the scenes;

- etc.

It's just really good move scoring. I too have seen Williams conduct this stuff live, in my case at the Hollywood Bowl, and it's awesome.

Star Wars without John Williams

chewbacca

Btw, why didn't Chewy get a medal?

Chewie needs to keep a low profile. He was a high-ranking guy on his planet during the Clone Wars and a friend of Yoda.

Or racism.

 

[Parrothead]

off the top of my head-

Dazed and Confused

Halloween

Lord of the Rings trilogy

Almost Famous

Vacation

 

[El Floppo]

These soundtrack/scores threads always go back to the same thing for me...

There are a handful of directors (Scorcese, Tarantino, Cameron Crowe, Sofia Coppola, Wenders) who IMO have a great sense of tying songs and soundtracks to their imagery.

There's also a handful of composers who do the same thing in reverse, and just know how to create the music to fit the imagery: Morricone, Williams... Elfman is decent, I'm spacing on a few others

Still stand by pretty much every movie these directors have done incorporating music really well.

Wender's Wings of Desire is high up the list for me.

on the flip side, Alan Parsons Project's inclusion in Ladyhawke might win for worst.

 

[B-Deep]

Yeah, the OP sort of dismissed Star Wars, but that movie series practically defines what a good "from scratch" soundtrack should/could be. You don't even need the iconic Star Wars theme.

- the pop jazz in the cantina scene is simply awesome for its unexpectedness, not to mention it's quality. I can't hear that tune and fail to smile or think of that scene.

- the Imperial March, for all of its self-important triumphalism is perfection when it comes to personifying the Empire in the movies;

- the frantic tune when Han Solo's piloting the Falcon through the asteroid field in ESB greatly enhances the drama of the scene;

- the Luke and Leia themes work really well for the characters and the scenes;

- etc.

It's just really good move scoring. I too have seen Williams conduct this stuff live, in my case at the Hollywood Bowl, and it's awesome.

Star Wars without John Williams

chewbacca

Btw, why didn't Chewy get a medal?

racists

 

[SmoovySmoov]

Oh great, another racism thread. Way to fire up the Tim-signal, guys. Next he'll be in here complaining of the historical oppression of the Jawas and demanding open borders for Ewok Immigration.

And yet it seemed to attract you first. Hmmmmmm.

 

[Tom Skerritt]

Forrest Gump

 

[Vike Me]

Don't think it has been mentioned

Shaun of the Dead

 

[saintfool]

"thin blue line" is *perfectly* paired with phillip glass.

 

[AcerFC]

Stand by me