# When Music and Film Complement Each Other **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 5, 2014, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-music-and-film-complement-each-other/690117 "2014-06-05T14:03:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2014, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-music-and-film-complement-each-other/690117/21 "2014-06-06T22:11:00Z")
NuBSG’s music was everything post Star Trek TOS wasn’t. Bombastic, full of motifs. ---
**Author:** ![Accidental\_Martyr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ce7236/32.png) [@Accidental\_Martyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Accidental_Martyr)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2014, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-music-and-film-complement-each-other/690117/22 "2014-06-07T00:25:50Z")
> [@scabpicker](#): > > Yes, Kubrick is the Rembrant of this. [Surfin’ Bird](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NxgF2cx7gyk) in Full Metal Jacket is another. Beat me to it. That’s one of my favorites. How about _Boogie Nights_? “Sister Christian” [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/cGp-4NP76MM/hqdefault.jpg "Boogie Nights Sister Christian Scene") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGp-4NP76MM) “Jessie’s Girl” and “99 Red Balloons” [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/bZRzeUrVy1o/hqdefault.jpg "Boogie Nights Jessie's Girl") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZRzeUrVy1o) ---
**Author:** ![Saintly\_Loser](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saintly_loser/32/4045_2.png) [@Saintly\_Loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saintly_Loser)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2014, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-music-and-film-complement-each-other/690117/23 "2014-06-07T01:53:40Z")
> [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](#): > > William Tell Overture and the Lone Ranger? Or, since Kubrick has already been mentioned above, in _Clockwork Orange_, Kubrick also uses Rossini’s _William Tell Overture_, when Alex is having sex with the two girls he picked up in the record store. And Rossini’s _The Thieving Magpie_, when Alex takes his revenge on his droogs who have questioned his authority. And, in _2001_, Strauss’ _Blue Danube Waltz_, playing as the shuttle couples with the space station. It’s perfect. Not a human being in the scene, and yet it’s one of the most beautiful scenes in all of film. ---
**Author:** ![Saintly\_Loser](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saintly_loser/32/4045_2.png) [@Saintly\_Loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saintly_Loser)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2014, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-music-and-film-complement-each-other/690117/24 "2014-06-07T01:57:11Z")
> [@lost4life](#): > > Nitpick. It’s Music for a Found Harmonium, originally done by Penguin Cafe Orchestra, and yes, it fits the scene wonderfully. Wow, I might actually have to see _Napoleon Dynamite_, 'cause I’m a huge Penguin Cafe Orchestra fan, and I was completely unaware that their music was used in this (or any other) film. ---
**Author:** ![Saintly\_Loser](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saintly_loser/32/4045_2.png) [@Saintly\_Loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saintly_Loser)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2014, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-music-and-film-complement-each-other/690117/25 "2014-06-07T02:00:49Z")
Thought of another. The last scene of _Master and Commander_, that Boccherini cello and violin duet played by Maturin and Aubrey. Incredibly beautiful – it all comes together so well. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2014, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-music-and-film-complement-each-other/690117/26 "2014-06-07T02:22:06Z")
There’s no way Jim Croce’s music should fit _Django Unchained_, but damn if it don’t. ---
**Author:** ![jerez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c68b51/32.png) [@jerez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jerez)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2014, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-music-and-film-complement-each-other/690117/27 "2014-06-08T18:47:21Z")
> [@scabpicker](#): > > [Surfin’ Bird](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NxgF2cx7gyk) in Full Metal Jacket is another. Good one. For me, it’s compounded by the shot of the helicopter body (something about the proportions) and the stylized image of a smiling Asian man. The latter is seen in the hooker scene (billboard in background) and I think again toward the end in the sniper scene (painted on one of the buildings, IIRC). Not sure why, but it’s unsettling. What’s made the biggest impression on me, though, is **Taxi Driver**. The wailing sax is so soulful and sensual, but I’m referring to what’s heard at the end after the big shootout. Just a single note being sustained on several different instruments, but it’s pretty much “the sound of horror” for me. I first saw the film years ago and have seen it several times since, but when I remember that music, I’ll still get a short of mental shudder (similar to having a clear memory of a nasty smell) and find that I don’t want to dwell on it. ---
**Author:** ![chiroptera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@chiroptera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chiroptera)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2014, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-music-and-film-complement-each-other/690117/28 "2014-06-08T18:56:15Z")
The [entire soundtrack](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulp_Fiction_%28soundtrack%29) for Pulp Fiction. Also I second Ride of the Valkyries in Apocalypse Now. After watching that scene just one time, how could anyone possibly separate the two? ---
**Author:** ![Bozuit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/edb3f5/32.png) [@Bozuit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bozuit)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2014, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-music-and-film-complement-each-other/690117/29 "2014-06-08T19:00:18Z")
Does it have to be music not composed for the film? One of my very favourites is at the end of The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, with music by Ennio Morricone, of course. First you have the scene with Tuco searching the cemetery while The Ecstasy of Gold plays, and shortly after that there’s the Mexican standoff between the three titular characters with The Trio as the soundtrack. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-music-and-film-complement-each-other/690117.md?page=1)