# Movies you love for the music

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-love-for-the-music/625054>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [June 13, 2012, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-love-for-the-music/625054 "2012-06-13T19:42:16Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 20\
**Page:** 6

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**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\
**Post date:** [June 16, 2012, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-love-for-the-music/625054/101 "2012-06-16T04:08:28Z")

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Not yet mentioned is **Pleasantville** ; good music, and an excellent job of using it to help tell the story.

> [@Battle\_Pope](#):
>
> _The Right Stuff_. It took me ages to find the soundtrack but its worth it

It took ages for them to release a soundtrack, such as it was. The movie came out in 1983, the only soundtrack I ever saw for it was combined with music from the miniseries _North and South_, also done by Bill Conti. I don’t think I ever saw that until about 1990. It was one of the last things I ever bought on vinyl.

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**Author:** ![dnooman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/839c29/32.png) [@dnooman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dnooman)\
**Post date:** [June 16, 2012, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-love-for-the-music/625054/102 "2012-06-16T05:33:51Z")

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Buffalo '66

The Lost Boys

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**Author:** ![Taomist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@Taomist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taomist)\
**Post date:** [June 16, 2012, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-love-for-the-music/625054/103 "2012-06-16T06:45:37Z")

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I am loving all of the replies, thank you! I am bookmarking this one 🙂

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**Author:** ![crypto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b3f665/32.png) [@crypto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crypto)\
**Post date:** [June 16, 2012, 7:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-love-for-the-music/625054/104 "2012-06-16T07:35:35Z")

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I didn’t read the thread, because I wanted these to be the movies that came to me off the top of my head. I also selected movies that I either have a copy of the soundtrack or once did. This leaves out movies like Jaws, which wouldn’t have been such a great movie without the soundtrack at all. The sound of the shark is epic, but I wouldn’t listen to it in my car on the way to work.

In no particular order:

1. Grease - still the only true broadway musical made into a motion picture that I really enjoy. It doesn’t hurt that Olivia Newton-John had those tight black spandex pants on at the end. I had a BIG crush on her.

2). The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly. I know it’s probably not on many (if any) lists in thus thread, but I loved the music created for this music. Ennui Morricone produced one of the finest instrumental musical scores for this picture. I have the album!

3). The Sting - hit the movie perfectly. Ironically, the song that won the Oscar, “raindrops keep falling on my head”, is the only song I don’t like. I like the song in general, but not in the movie.

4). American Psycho - a great sampling of 80’s hits that will always be carved into my brain because of the scene they were used in. “Try getting a reservation at Dorsia now, you stupid fucking bastard!”

5). Reservoir Dogs - largely for the same reason as American Psycho, however I don’t like the music as much in Reservior Dogs. They are just aligned with some great scenes, like the cop maiming scene tied with “Stuck In The Middle With You.”

1. Eddie and the Cruisers - can’t have this movie without the fantastic soundtrack.

7). Purple Rain - not a huge Prince fan, but he’s a talented guy who put together some great music for this movie.

8). M&M - 8 Mile. I am not a rap fan, nor did I think I’d like this movie, but I have to say that I enjoyed this soundtrack. I still do.

9).The Jazz Singer - not one of my favorite movies, but a great soundtrack.

1. Thank God It’s Friday - this is my salute to the 70’s disco scene, I guess. But Donna Summer with the Commodores made for a great disco soundtrack.

I have more, but that’s enough. Assuming anyone read through the list first place. Now, I’m going back to see what others have written.

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**Author:** ![74westy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/74westy/32/3950_2.png) [@74westy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/74westy)\
**Post date:** [June 16, 2012, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-love-for-the-music/625054/105 "2012-06-16T17:39:17Z")

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> [@Stink Fish Pot](#):
>
> 3). The Sting - hit the movie perfectly. Ironically, the song that won the Oscar, “raindrops keep falling on my head”, is the only song I don’t like. I like the song in general, but not in the movie.

Did you mean Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid? Marvin Hamlish’s score for The Sting was quite a trick though - using Scott Joplin rags for a film set in the 1930s. It worked very well.

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**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\
**Post date:** [June 16, 2012, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-love-for-the-music/625054/106 "2012-06-16T18:36:52Z")

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Any film with a score by Elmer Bernstein (_Magnificent Seven_, _Great Escape_) or Ennio Morricone (_The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly_).

I love the classic Hollywood scores by composers like Erich Korngold (_Adventures of Robin Hood_, _Sea Hawk_), Alfred Newman (_Captain from Castille_), and Miklos Rozsa (_El Cid_).

Jerry Goldsmith (_Patton_, _ST: TMP_) is another favorite.

I can still listen to the soundtrack of _American Graffiti_ and get lost in the music just like I did when I first saw the movie over 30 years ago.

The Harry Potter music is very good. My daughter and I listen to it together sometimes.

The music from the first two _Star Wars_ movies I can still listen to with great fondness. Nothing about the other four films strikes me as memorable.

Pretty much any movie with a John Williams score will have good, memorable music.

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**Author:** ![Tierce](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ea5d25/32.png) [@Tierce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tierce)\
**Post date:** [June 16, 2012, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-love-for-the-music/625054/107 "2012-06-16T19:14:52Z")

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I watch **The Firm** first for Dave Grusin’s score, and second for Wilford Brimley’s portrayal of a bad guy.

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**Author:** ![TheFaerie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c57346/32.png) [@TheFaerie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheFaerie)\
**Post date:** [June 16, 2012, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-love-for-the-music/625054/108 "2012-06-16T20:40:16Z")

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Many of the ones listed before me, but I have to add the soundtrack to Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. Awesome covers of Beatles songs by many talented people and groups. I particularly love Aerosmith’s version of Come Together and Alice Cooper’s rendition of Because.

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**Author:** ![crypto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b3f665/32.png) [@crypto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crypto)\
**Post date:** [June 17, 2012, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-love-for-the-music/625054/109 "2012-06-17T05:08:08Z")

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> [@74westy](#):
>
> Did you mean Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid? Marvin Hamlish’s score for The Sting was quite a trick though - using Scott Joplin rags for a film set in the 1930s. It worked very well.

:smack: of course. I liked the music of The Sting. I guess Redford.and Newman bled over into my brain from Butch Cassidy when I typed that. I guess there isn’t anything I object to inn the Sting, and I still hate “Raindrops”.

I have to stop posting in the wee hours. Like now, for instance.

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**Author:** ![gms453](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@gms453](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gms453)\
**Post date:** [June 17, 2012, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-love-for-the-music/625054/110 "2012-06-17T13:25:30Z")

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Gettysburg.

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**Author:** ![crypto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b3f665/32.png) [@crypto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crypto)\
**Post date:** [June 17, 2012, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-love-for-the-music/625054/111 "2012-06-17T19:23:47Z")

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> [@Tierce](#):
>
> I watch **The Firm** …and second for Wilford Brimley’s portrayal of a bad guy.

How can you tell? The man never smiles. He’s in a permanent frown-state. Maybe it’s because of his die-a-be-tuss.  
removal of text (…) my idea.

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**Author:** ![Tierce](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ea5d25/32.png) [@Tierce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tierce)\
**Post date:** [June 17, 2012, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-love-for-the-music/625054/112 "2012-06-17T22:50:36Z")

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> [@Stink Fish Pot](#):
>
> How can you tell? The man never smiles. He’s in a permanent frown-state. Maybe it’s because of his die-a-be-tuss.

I just like the contrast of the old Quaker Oatmeal ads (“It’s the right thing to do, and a tasty way to do it!”) and Firm Security (“What do you think I am around here, a fuckin night watchman?”)…

But still, I think the score is the best thing about that movie.

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**Author:** ![notquitekarpov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71c47a/32.png) [@notquitekarpov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notquitekarpov)\
**Post date:** [June 18, 2012, 10:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-love-for-the-music/625054/113 "2012-06-18T10:52:36Z")

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Wim Wenders’ “ **Paris Texas** ”.

Great, atmospheric, Ry Cooder slide guitar soundtrack.Apparently Cooder based this soundtrack and title song “Paris, Texas” on Blind Willie Johnson’s “Dark Was the Night (Cold Was the Ground)”, which he described as “The most soulful, transcendent piece in all American music”.

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**Author:** ![dinahmoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8797f3/32.png) [@dinahmoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dinahmoe)\
**Post date:** [June 18, 2012, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-love-for-the-music/625054/114 "2012-06-18T17:33:31Z")

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I’m a big fan of Joe Jackson’s score from **Tucker: The Man and his Dream.** The tympani solo from the speedway scene is phenomenal.

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**Author:** ![Gerald\_II](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/43a26b/32.png) [@Gerald\_II](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gerald_II)\
**Post date:** [June 18, 2012, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-love-for-the-music/625054/115 "2012-06-18T20:35:37Z")

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**Tron Legacy**

I enjoyed the film, but the score played a very substantial part of the film. That’s the only one I can think of.

Wait, Ghost In The Shell.

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**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\
**Post date:** [June 18, 2012, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-love-for-the-music/625054/116 "2012-06-18T21:16:05Z")

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> [@LawMonkey](#):
>
> Film Forum is running a spaghetti western film festival right now. I went to see _ **The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly** _ on Sunday. (Yes, it was indescriably awesome. Thank you for asking.) Afterwards, you heard a whole lot of people humming, whistling, and singing the music. (Yes, I was one of those people. I expect folks on Houston Street thought me very peculiar.)

If you get a chance to see these guys, take it. They put on a really good Morricone show. I saw them a couple of years ago.

> **[社内SEへ転職したい！と思うエンジニアの方へ](http://www.spaghettiwesternorchestra.com/)**
>
> SEやエンジニアが憧れる「社内SE」という職種。ただし、社内SEになるためには、高倍率の求人情報へ応募し、且つ企業から選んでもらえる人材でなければなりません。当サイトでは、社内SEを目指す方にとって必要な情報をまとめています。

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**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\
**Post date:** [June 19, 2012, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-love-for-the-music/625054/117 "2012-06-19T00:46:53Z")

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Doesn’t really count , but Tim Robbins got a bunch of great musicians to create songs “inspired” by his film “Dead Man Walking”, and the result is a terrific CD’s worth of songs – Tom Waits, Steve Earle, Mary Chapin Carpenter, and much more.

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**Author:** ![phxjcc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8491ac/32.png) [@phxjcc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phxjcc)\
**Post date:** [June 19, 2012, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-love-for-the-music/625054/118 "2012-06-19T22:53:00Z")

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Moonstruck  
Room With a View  
The Big Chill  
…and no one has mentioned The Magnificent Seven? WTH?!

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**Author:** ![Grestarian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grestarian/32/3227_2.png) [@Grestarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grestarian)\
**Post date:** [June 21, 2012, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-love-for-the-music/625054/119 "2012-06-21T03:05:36Z")

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+1 on

[ul]  
[li]Ray[/li][li]Streets of Fire[/li][li]Eddie and the Cruisers[/li][/ul]  
I also liked Eddie and the Cruisers 2 (Filmed at the same time but never really made it as a sequel?) and the original Footloose (which came out around the same time but didn’t have Michael Pare; I never bothered with the remake).

More +1s for

[ul]  
[li]Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon[/li][li]Amadeus[/li][/ul]  
And, since I haven’t seen them mentioned…

[ul]  
[li]Braveheart[/li][li]Danny the Dog (some parts)[/li][li]Fearless (Oh! Jet Li again!)[/li][li]Enter the Dragon (that other Lee…)[/li][li]Unforgiven (didn’t it get an Oscar nomination for its use of music?)[/li][li]Anchors Aweigh (Gene Kelly and a very young Frank Sinatra)[/li][li]The Music Man (but that was a tale to carry the music, not music supporting a tale).[/li][li]Oh, yeah…and the original Battlestar Gallactica (or was that only a TV show?)[/li][/ul]

And my friend and I used to sing all the songs from the animated (Rankin/Bass) version of The Hobbit when we were young – but I don’t know if they were really all that great…

–Ab 😃

Music holds the secret  
To know it can make you whole  
It’s not just a game of notes  
It’s the song inside your soul  
. Rik Emmet (Triumph)  
. _Hold On_  
. Just a Game

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**Author:** ![crypto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b3f665/32.png) [@crypto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crypto)\
**Post date:** [June 21, 2012, 11:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-love-for-the-music/625054/120 "2012-06-21T11:19:54Z")

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> [@Malthus](#):
>
> If you get a chance to see these guys, take it. They put on a really good Morricone show. I saw them a couple of years ago.
> 
> [http://www.spaghettiwesternorchestra.com/](http://www.spaghettiwesternorchestra.com/)

Thanks for this tip. I’ve never heard of them, and would love to hear some of my favorite Morricone songs in a live orchestra setting.

It’s nice to see that Morricone is getting quite a bit of support out here. His music was such an integral part to his films. And yet, for each film, he was able to give it its own personality, even if the films were related.

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