Now everyone can think of a metric assload of good movies with great soundtracks (Reservoir Dogs, SLC Punk, Trees Lounge, Desperado just to name a few). But are there any cases where a really great soundtrack made a crap film enjoyable? Would Crossroads have been watchable if Brittney were quoting and singing Nick Cave? Would anyone have actually liked Empire Records if the soundtrack didn’t suck like a Thai hooker on Shore Leave day? I can’t come up with any examples where a crap movie was saved by good music, but then again my brain is still a bit muddled since the Sydney boozefest.
Feel free to provide your feelings and thoughts on here or Email me – burnmeup@yahoo.com.
I agree with RealityChuck. The soundtrack can make a movie slightly better or slightly worse but it can’t cause a 180 degree turn of opinion. The bonus features of the Jaws DVD said that the early screenings didn’t have John Williams’ music and everyone still thought it was a good movie. Once the music soundtrack was complete with that heartbeat-like theme the movie was considered great. So the score can bump the movie up or down a notch, but can’t be the Glade™ of Hollywood’s crap.
Well, a bad movie can have an excellent soundtrack that is a work of art, in and of itself. The Last of the Moheicans was a mediocre movie (based on a truly execrable book), but it had one of the best soundtracks ever recorded. However, I wouldn’t watch the movie just to hear the soundtrack; I’d just listen to the soundtrack.
There is also the converse of this: a really good movie can have a terrible soundtrack, but it will still be a good movie. Example: Ladyhawke, a medieval sword and sorcery flick with a soundtrack done entirely with cheest '80’s style synthesizers. But the movie itself is quite good. Still, I can’t help wondering how much better it might have been if the soundtrack had been done by, say, Basil Poulidoris, who scored Conan.
I like to watch the Insider because it has many scenes where the combination of the soundtrack and the visuals are really appealing to me, but as a movie it’s not normally something I’d go nuts over and my friends who are film buffs tell me it sucks.
No. I can prove this. I was in a music store not too long ago and heard a kick-ass tune playing. So I go ask the guy behind the counter what it is. He hands me The Queen of the Damned soundtrack and points out which track it is. Do you think that I wanted to go see the movie after that? Not on your life!