# Movies or Shows with Great Soundtracks **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 20, 2007, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-or-shows-with-great-soundtracks/404793 "2007-05-20T06:27:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2007, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-or-shows-with-great-soundtracks/404793/21 "2007-05-21T02:27:36Z")
**FM** **That Thing You Do!** (Cheesy but bouncy) **Rancho Deluxe** (For the Jimmy Buffett completist) ---
**Author:** ![Gordon\_Urquhart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/db5fbb/32.png) [@Gordon\_Urquhart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gordon_Urquhart)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2007, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-or-shows-with-great-soundtracks/404793/22 "2007-05-21T02:29:17Z")
[QUOTE=H3Knuckles] If so, then Tim Burton’s **The Nightmare Before Christmas**. The most interesting part is Danny Elfman, the composer of this, the Men In Black score, as well as Spider-Man and Batman series’ scores (not to mention the theme to the Simpsons), does the singing for the main character Jack Skellington! :eek: Who knew he had such a fantastic singing voice! [/QUOTE] Danny Elfman sounds a lot like the lead singer from Oingo Boingo. 🙂 _Goodfellas_ and _Boogie Nights_ are usually listed in these threads, and I’ll do so now. Of Scorsese’s movies, \*Goodfellas \* makes the most of its period music, I think – _Casino_, while not a bad film, had a great soundtrack as well. P.T. Anderson had a huge palette of late-70s and early 80s songs from which to place in _Boogie Nights_ soundtrack – he hit a grand slam, I think. None of the period’s songs were written with the movie’s scenes in mind, of course, but watching the movie, you’d think they were. _Dances With Wolves_ has been mentioned in a recent unrelated thread on this board – it’s extremely evocative (composed by the forementioned John Barry, IIRC) and is one of my favorite orchestral soundtracks. **Larry Borgia** – that _Casino Royale_ (spoilered) reference is a great one. ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2007, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-or-shows-with-great-soundtracks/404793/23 "2007-05-21T03:37:13Z")
Peters Friends ---
**Author:** ![Revedge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ecae2f/32.png) [@Revedge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revedge)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2007, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-or-shows-with-great-soundtracks/404793/24 "2007-05-21T05:53:42Z")
“Southern Comfort” was a average movie but had a kick ass soundtrack by Ry Cooder. I just wish that it was availble on CD. ---
**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:** [May 21, 2007, 9:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-or-shows-with-great-soundtracks/404793/25 "2007-05-21T09:35:56Z")
[QUOTE=want2know] **Twin Peaks** , bar none, best TV Soundtrack ever! [/QUOTE] Amen to that! For movies, I am VERY partial to A CLOCKWORK ORANGE. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Rieux](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Dr.Rieux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Rieux)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2007, 9:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-or-shows-with-great-soundtracks/404793/26 "2007-05-21T09:42:25Z")
Believe it or not, \*\*The Hindenburg \*\* (1975) had a pretty good music score by David Shire, and a witty, satirical song, “There’s a Lot to be Said for the Furher” (lyrics by Ed Kleban). ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2007, 9:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-or-shows-with-great-soundtracks/404793/27 "2007-05-21T09:42:42Z")
I always liked the sound track to The Big Lebowski, fitting and not bad to listen to on its own either. The music Air did for The Virgin Suicides wasn’t bad either, some of it better than what they’ve put in more recent albums. And as an aside, it was great to hear a strain of music from the original Star Trek replayed in The Wrath of Khan. That sort of brass lament, when Khan appeared to Kirk, sent a bit of a shiver down my spine (seeing as how I’m a fan!) and was the perfect way to let us know Khan was back and was a little peeved being left on Ceti Alpha V. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2007, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-or-shows-with-great-soundtracks/404793/28 "2007-05-21T12:18:02Z")
[QUOTE=Frostillicus] I can’t believe that nobody has yet nominated the soundtrack to **Pulp Fiction** , so I guess I will. [/QUOTE] And _Kill Bill_, both volumes. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2007, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-or-shows-with-great-soundtracks/404793/29 "2007-05-21T12:19:22Z")
**The Blues Brothers** ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2007, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-or-shows-with-great-soundtracks/404793/30 "2007-05-21T13:01:02Z")
One movie that had a soundtrack that I just had to hear again and again was [Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (1999)](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0165798/) with music by [RZA](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0753526/) and others listed [here](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0165798/soundtrack). The main theme is one of those things that captures the spirit of the movie and has such a haunting quality. Hard to hum, too! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![justrob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a9adbd/32.png) [@justrob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/justrob)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2007, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-or-shows-with-great-soundtracks/404793/31 "2007-05-21T14:58:03Z")
[QUOTE=H3Knuckles] …Danny Elfman… Who knew he had such a fantastic singing voice! [/QUOTE] Hahaha, I started because I was going to mention this… [QUOTE=Gordon Urquhart] Danny Elfman sounds a lot like the lead singer from Oingo Boingo. 🙂 [/QUOTE] I would also like to second **The Commitments** and **The Blues Brothers** soundtracks. My contribution is **The Lost Boys** sountrack. Very good overall but I think the “People are Strange” cover is really good. Rob ---
**Author:** ![SaharaTea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@SaharaTea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SaharaTea)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2007, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-or-shows-with-great-soundtracks/404793/32 "2007-05-21T15:38:15Z")
The soundtracks to **Romeo and Juliet** , **The Crow** , and **Singles** are among the best of the 90s. Instrumentally, I always loved the soundtracks to **Dances With Wolves** and **Braveheart**. ---
**Author:** ![kung\_fu\_lola](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f4b2a3/32.png) [@kung\_fu\_lola](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kung_fu_lola)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2007, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-or-shows-with-great-soundtracks/404793/33 "2007-05-21T15:39:59Z")
**Snatch** is a great “party tunes” disc. It’s eclectic and you can dance to it. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2007, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-or-shows-with-great-soundtracks/404793/34 "2007-05-21T16:11:06Z")
No votes for the Graduate yet? Guess I’ll be the first. Amen to Twin Peaks. I finally started watching my DVD set last week and was just blown away. I don’t know of any show that used music the way TP did. ---
**Author:** ![SkipMagic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skipmagic/32/20706_2.png) [@SkipMagic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SkipMagic)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2007, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-or-shows-with-great-soundtracks/404793/35 "2007-05-21T16:23:19Z")
For television, **Supernatural** has an excellent classic rock soundtrack. And Christophe Beck contributed greatly to **Buffy, the Vampire Slayer** ’s atmosphere and story with his original instrumentals during his fifty-nine episode involvement; in fact, I wish they’d release a CD or two with _just_ his music. ---
**Author:** ![guppy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7feea3/32.png) [@guppy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guppy)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2007, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-or-shows-with-great-soundtracks/404793/36 "2007-05-21T16:54:00Z")
I’m suprised none of the Wes Anderson movies have been mentioned. I think he and Mark Mothersbaugh do a great job. I also loved _Shaun of the Dead_’s soundtrack. ---
**Author:** ![Guy\_Incognito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guy_incognito/32/3920_2.png) [@Guy\_Incognito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guy_Incognito)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2007, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-or-shows-with-great-soundtracks/404793/37 "2007-05-21T16:54:25Z")
Three soundtracks from movies really appeal to me: Blade Runner soundtrack by Vangelis The Shawshank Redemption soundtrack by Thomas Newman Passion (Soundtrack to “The Last Temptation of Christ”) by Peter Gabriel ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2007, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-or-shows-with-great-soundtracks/404793/38 "2007-05-21T20:00:08Z")
Some of my choices have already been mentioned (_Pulp Fiction, Kill Bill, Goodfellas, Scrubs, Garden State_), but I’d like to nominate a few more: Neil Young’s haunting instrumental soundtrack for Jim Jarmusch’s bizarre western _Dead Man_ (and I usually don’t like Neil Young at all!) _Grosse Pointe Blank_ (great selection of mostly '80s alternative; I believe John Cusack is a fan of most of this stuff and had a hand in choosing the selections.) _Grey’s Anatomy_ (very similar to _Scrubs_ in that they choose an excellent array of modern, off-the-beaten path songs from hip artists that complement the action perfectly.) _Transformers: The Movie_ (the 1986 animated version, not the one coming this summer – it’s a great collection of synth-laden hard rock and not-too-heavy hair metal guaranteed to get you PSYCHED UP! I can only imagine the amount of cocaine consumed by the no-name bands on the soundtrack. Oh yeah, and Weird Al appears with a subtle tribute to Devo.) ---
**Author:** ![Ferd\_Burfel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecccb3/32.png) [@Ferd\_Burfel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferd_Burfel)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2007, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-or-shows-with-great-soundtracks/404793/39 "2007-05-21T21:34:22Z")
**American Grafitti FM Blues Brothers** have been named previously, so I’ll express my agreement for those and nominate **Tin Cup Saturday Night Fever American Hot Wax When Harry Met Sally Fabulous Baker Brothers** ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2007, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-or-shows-with-great-soundtracks/404793/40 "2007-05-21T22:08:05Z")
Though the movie is not good, [“Daddy Day Care”](http://www.amazon.com/Daddy-Day-Care-Various-Artists/dp/B0000996J1/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/002-0910837-9045634?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1179785213&sr=1-1) has quite a decent soundtrack. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-or-shows-with-great-soundtracks/404793.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-or-shows-with-great-soundtracks/404793.md?page=3)