# Best marriage of music and visuals in a film. (spoilers ok) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 3, 2005, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-marriage-of-music-and-visuals-in-a-film-spoilers-ok/315424 "2005-08-03T14:50:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2005, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-marriage-of-music-and-visuals-in-a-film-spoilers-ok/315424/41 "2005-08-04T18:45:54Z")
The end of **The West Wing** episode **In Excelsis Deo**. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2005, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-marriage-of-music-and-visuals-in-a-film-spoilers-ok/315424/42 "2005-08-04T18:49:05Z")
> [@fiddlesticks](#): > > The scene of a plane crash to Gorecki’s Symphony No. 3 in **Fearless** is a particularly memorable combination. Absolutly. Two directors that to me stand out on using songs in films are Cameron Crowe and Quentin Tarentino. Crowe uses familar songs and Quentin seems to come up with the coolest song you never heard. Tiny Dancer in Almost Famous Free Falling in Jerry Maguire Teenage Wedding in Pulp Fiction the 5 6 7 8’s song in Kill Bill Heart and Soul and Chopsticks in Big ---
**Author:** ![Lisa-go-Blind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Lisa-go-Blind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lisa-go-Blind)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2005, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-marriage-of-music-and-visuals-in-a-film-spoilers-ok/315424/43 "2005-08-04T20:49:01Z")
> [@bupkis](#): > > Anytime the main theme played during [In the Mood for Love](http://www.wkw-inthemoodforlove.com/eng/homepg/homepg.asp). All of the music used in **In the Mood For Love** was spot-on. In addition to the main theme, don’t forget the use of Nat King Cole’s “Quizas, Quizas, Quizas.” I never buy movie soundtracks but I had to get this one. I can’t say enough about it. > [@Ellis Dee](#): > > Where have I seen _Volunteers_ by Jefferson Airplane in a movie? I always liked that song, and saw it once in a movie, but I forget which one. I know it was used in **Forrest Gump** , but it’s probably been in others as well. ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2005, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-marriage-of-music-and-visuals-in-a-film-spoilers-ok/315424/44 "2005-08-04T21:54:55Z")
Does “Holding Out for a Hero” in Shrek 2 count as specially scored for the movie? If not, I’d like to nominate that sequence 🙂 As for original scores, nothing beats the Asteroid Chase from Empire Strikes Back. The Obi-Wan Vs. Anakin sequence in Revenge of the Sith comes darned close though. Gotta agree with the Good Bad and the Ugly nomination for Exctacy of Gold, with Tuco running through the graveyard past untold numbers of graves, trying to find the one particular grave that has the gold he’s been looking for through most of the movie. Also, if I could nominate a computer game, Homeworld’s use of Adiago for Strings (IIRC) was spot-on during the black box sequence showing the fall of the planet’s defenses towards the beginning of the game. ---
**Author:** ![Dead\_Badger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/848f3c/32.png) [@Dead\_Badger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dead_Badger)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2005, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-marriage-of-music-and-visuals-in-a-film-spoilers-ok/315424/45 "2005-08-04T22:52:29Z")
> [@Gerome](#): > > How about the graveyard sequence in **The Good, the Bad and the Ugly** with Ennio Morricone’s **The Ecstacy of Gold** playing loudly? Brilliant, I say, after almost three hours of buildup. Pretty much anything scored by Morricone has got to be up there; I’d go with all of “Once Upon a Time in the West”. The character-based themes are just outstanding, and the variations fit perfectly with the flow of the movie. If I had to pick a scene, it’d be the very end, Cheyenne’s death scene; the way his theme gradually slows down, becomes intermittent and stops is just brilliantly done. _Damn_, I love that movie. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2005, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-marriage-of-music-and-visuals-in-a-film-spoilers-ok/315424/46 "2005-08-05T00:20:22Z")
Just remembered – Tangerine Dream’s soundtrack for Sorcerer was absolutely badaaaasss. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2005, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-marriage-of-music-and-visuals-in-a-film-spoilers-ok/315424/47 "2005-08-05T01:32:52Z")
> [@Eonwe](#): > > I’ve always loved the opening suicide scene in **Harold and Maude** when he puts the Cat Stevens record on. Cat Stevens **Trouble** in between the hospital & car scenes. **We’ll Meet Again** in _Doctor Strangelove_ And, in the I can’t believe I’m the first to mention it category- the opening and most every other scene of _A Clockwork Orange_ ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2005, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-marriage-of-music-and-visuals-in-a-film-spoilers-ok/315424/48 "2005-08-05T01:33:54Z")
> [@mack](#): > > The brief scene in \*\*Big Fish \*\* where Ed Bloom is scooting down the road in his big muscle car to The Allmann Brothers’ **Ramblin’ Man**. > > The end of \*\*Donnie Darko \*\* where the camera pans through scenes of the aftermath to Gary Jule’s version of Tears for Fears’ **Mad World**. also the use of Tears for Fears **Head Over Heels** in Donnie Darko’s High School! ---
**Author:** ![Alias](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a88e4f/32.png) [@Alias](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alias)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2005, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-marriage-of-music-and-visuals-in-a-film-spoilers-ok/315424/49 "2005-08-05T02:03:34Z")
> [@FriarTed](#): > > **We’ll Meet Again** in _Doctor Strangelove_ I’d forgotten about that! I love it when visuals can make an innocent song seem rather sinister. Speaking of Kubrick, how about the William Tell Overture over the sex scene in A Clockwork Orange. ---
**Author:** ![threeorange](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@threeorange](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/threeorange)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2005, 10:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-marriage-of-music-and-visuals-in-a-film-spoilers-ok/315424/50 "2005-08-05T10:19:52Z")
“ **Perfect Day** ” by **Lou Reed** in **Trainspotting**. ---
**Author:** ![lhovis73](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecd19e/32.png) [@lhovis73](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lhovis73)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2005, 10:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-marriage-of-music-and-visuals-in-a-film-spoilers-ok/315424/51 "2005-08-05T10:49:24Z")
Roger Ebert said that it sounded like a man dropping his guitar over and over again, but I’ll say that Neil Young’s score for Dead Man is spot-on perfect. ---
**Author:** ![yojimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yojimbo/32/232_2.png) [@yojimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yojimbo)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2005, 10:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-marriage-of-music-and-visuals-in-a-film-spoilers-ok/315424/52 "2005-08-05T10:53:42Z")
A lot of my favs have already been mentioned but the best IMO has not. A documentary called [One Day in September](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0230591/) about the hostage situation at the 1972 Munich Olympics ends with a montage of images of the aftermath. Each cut is linked to the soundtrack which is the strong powerful guitar riff from _Child in Time_ by Deep Purple. Very moving. ---
**Author:** ![yojimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yojimbo/32/232_2.png) [@yojimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yojimbo)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2005, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-marriage-of-music-and-visuals-in-a-film-spoilers-ok/315424/53 "2005-08-05T11:24:18Z")
Not in a film but I think it deserves a mention. The most moving thing I’ve ever seem in my life was during LiveAid. Bowie cut his performance down by one song so a video made by CBC TELEVISION in Canada of dying and dead mothers and children in Ethiopia with _Drive_ by the Cars playing in the background. I have never been able to view this without ended up in a mess. Everyone I know was destroyed by that tape. When it was shown during the UK concert they made more money just after it that at any other point that day. I’m nearly crying now just because this post has made me remember some of the images in that video. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2005, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-marriage-of-music-and-visuals-in-a-film-spoilers-ok/315424/54 "2005-08-05T11:50:11Z")
> [@FriarTed](#): > > And, in the I can’t believe I’m the first to mention it category- the opening and most every other scene of _A Clockwork Orange_ I can’t hear the _William Tell Overture_ without visualizing that scene from _Clockwork Orange._ Likewise, Bobby Darin’s _Beyond the Sea_ always reminds me of that _X Files_ episode where the bad guy claims to be a medium between Scully and her dead father. Gives me shivers every time. ---
**Author:** ![big\_dogs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f1d935/32.png) [@big\_dogs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/big_dogs)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2005, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-marriage-of-music-and-visuals-in-a-film-spoilers-ok/315424/55 "2005-08-05T12:38:46Z")
Thought of another one. In **Risky Business** : Tom Cruise taking out his dad’s Porsche while Jeff Beck’s “The Pump” plays in the background. The song starts when he starts the car, but the car stalls and the music stops. Then he starts it again and the song starts over. Also, Tangerine Dream’s “Love On A Real Train” during the sex on the subway. ---
**Author:** ![yellowval](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/919ad9/32.png) [@yellowval](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yellowval)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2005, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-marriage-of-music-and-visuals-in-a-film-spoilers-ok/315424/56 "2005-08-05T13:39:15Z")
In addition to many of the others that have already been mentioned here: The use of Mozart’s music in **Amadeus** is absolutely brilliant, I think. The music they chose to use (and they had a lot to choose from) matches the emotion in the movie perfectly. Or is it the other way around? More recently, I loved the party scene in **Garden State** when Zero 7’s “In the Waiting Line” is playing. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2005, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-marriage-of-music-and-visuals-in-a-film-spoilers-ok/315424/57 "2005-08-05T13:45:04Z")
A candy colored clown they call the sandman tip-toes through my window every night just to sprinkle stardust and to whisper go to sleep everything is all right In Dreams in the movie Blue Velvet. ---
**Author:** ![Alias](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a88e4f/32.png) [@Alias](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alias)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2005, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-marriage-of-music-and-visuals-in-a-film-spoilers-ok/315424/58 "2005-08-05T14:08:50Z")
> [@Zebra](#): > > A candy colored clown they call the sandman > tip-toes through my window every night > just to sprinkle stardust and to whisper > go to sleep > everything > is all right > > In Dreams in the movie Blue Velvet. AAAAAHHHHHHHH!!! Thanks for giving me the willies for the rest of the day!!! :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Coach77](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f17d59/32.png) [@Coach77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coach77)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2011, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-marriage-of-music-and-visuals-in-a-film-spoilers-ok/315424/59 "2011-04-19T18:27:31Z")
Can’t believe no one has mentioned “Can’t You Hear Me Knockin” - Rolling Stones, over the opening scene of “Blow.” If you have a big screen and nice surround sound, put the blu ray in, turn it up loud, sit in the middle of the room, and it will show you its greatness. Ditto on Zero 7’s “In the Waiting Line” In Garden State. There is also a song in The Girl Next Door during the scene where he attends the award ceremony on X that really goes great together. Finally, many of the songs in Into the Wild qualify - can’t really pick a favorite scene/song there. ---
**Author:** ![Clawdio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d07c76/32.png) [@Clawdio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clawdio)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2011, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-marriage-of-music-and-visuals-in-a-film-spoilers-ok/315424/60 "2011-04-19T19:18:01Z")
_Fuckin in the Bushes_ by Oasis playing during the fight at the end of _Snatch_ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-marriage-of-music-and-visuals-in-a-film-spoilers-ok/315424.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-marriage-of-music-and-visuals-in-a-film-spoilers-ok/315424.md?page=4)