Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: The Best Music or Song Used in a Movie

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Posted by Bill Mantz (Member # 754) on 04-06-2004, 05:46 AM:

What are some of the best music or songs made for or used in movies. Please list each individual pieces of music or song that you liked the most in a movie past or present, like

Prologue 1915-1923: from The Natural (Randy Newman)
Titles: from Chariots Of Fire (Vangelis)

List as many as you like and try not to duplicate any music or song others have list before you. Have Fun [Smile]

Posted by Demetris Thoupis (Member # 833) on 04-06-2004, 12:18 PM:

You want a list??
OK.

When A Man Loves A Woman - Percy Sledge (Selftitled picture)
I Want To Spend My Lifetime - Marc Anthony & Tina Arena (Mask Of Zorro)
Everything I Do - Bryan Adams (Robin Hood - Prince Of Thieves)
I Don't Want To Miss A Thing - Aerosmith (Armageddon)
I Wanna Run To You - Whitney Houston (The Bodyguard)
I Will Find You - Clannad (The Last Of The Mohicans)
Come What May - Ewan Mcgregor & Nicole Kidman (Moulin Rouge)
Circle Of Life - The Band version (Lion King)
Take My Breath Away - Berlin (Top GUN)
Hopelessly Devoted To You - Olivia Newton John (Grease)
My Immortal & Bring Me To Life - Evanescence (Daredevil)
There You'll Be - Faith Hill (Pearl Harbor)
My Heart Will Go On - Celine Dion (Titanic)
It Must Have Been Love - Roxette (Pretty Woman)
Have You Ever Really Loved A Woman - Bryan Adams (Don Juan De Marco)
All For Love - Bryan Adams & Rod Steward & Sting (The Three Musketeers)
Licence To Kill - Gladys Knight (Selftitled James Bond Film)
For Your Eyes Only - Sheena Easton (Selftitled James Bond Film)
One In A Million - Bosson (Miss Congeniality)
Beauty Has Her Way - Mummy Calls (The Lost Boys)!!!!
Shape Of My Heart - Sting (Leon)
This Used To Be My Playground - Madonna (A League Of Their Own)
Speak Softly Love - Andy Williams and a lot of others (Godfather)
Where To I Begin - Andy Williams and a lot of others (Love Story)
Will You Be There - Michael Jackson (Free Willy 1)
Friends Never Say Goodbye - Elton John (The Road To El Dorado)!!
Those are some of the songs I simply loved
And of-course complete OST
All Lord Of The Rings Trilogy
Pearl Harbor
Mask Of Zorro
1942 Quest For Paradise
Schindler's List
Pearl Harbor
THE PASSION OF CHRIST!!!!!!!!
The Last Samurai
JADE
Meet Joe Black
Bram Stockers Dracula
Scent Of A Woman (Especially the unforgetable TANGO)
The Fifth Element

I Could keep going on forever but I will leave room for others too. I will add on the list

I know you asked for FAVORITE and not FAVORITES but I love all of them.

And you also NEVER EVER ask a projectionist which movie he loves most of all times...

Demetris

Being a projectionist is not a Job. It's An ART

Posted by Chris Hipp (Member # 1788) on 04-06-2004, 03:03 PM:

Rocky theme and Godfather theme.

Posted by Claude S. Ayakawa (Member # 1401) on 04-06-2004, 05:48 PM:

Although, "MEET JOE BLACK" was already mentioned, I believe it was only for the score and not for the various songs used. There is a song played during the end credits of the film by Hawaii's Israel Kamawiwo'ole who passed away a few years ago. The song is titled "WHAT A WONDERFUL WORLD" to the tune of "SOMEWHERE OVER THE RAINBOW. It was also used during the end credits to "FINDING FORRESTER and during the recent "FIFTY FIRST DATES". Another piece of music I love is the most famous part of of Serge Rachmaninoff's "RAPSODY ON A THEME BY PAGANINI" which was heard in "SOMEREWHERE IN TIME" and the 1953 MGM film, "THE STORY OF THREE LOVES". It was during the theatrical showing of " STORY OF THREE LOVES when I first heard and fell in love with the music when I was only 14 years old.

Film score I love among many, many others include--

"GLORY" James Horner
"GETTYSBURG" Randy Edelman
"STEEL MAGNOLIA" Georges Delerue
"VERTIGO" Bernard Hermann
THE TEN COMMANDMENTS" Elmer Bernstein
"THE SEA HAWK" Erich W. Korngold
"AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS" Victor Young
"COCOON" James Horner
"THE ROBE" Alfred Newman
"THE ALAMO" (1960) Dimitri Tiomkin`
"HOW THE WEST WAS WON" Alfred Newman
"HOOSIERS" & "RUDY" Jerry Goldsmith
THE AMERICAN PRESIDENT" Jerry Goldsmith
"THE RIGHT STUFF" Bill Conte
"SCHLINDLER'S LIST" John Williams

and most of all ----
the 20th Century Fox fanfare & CinemaScope extention
by Alfred Newman

-Claude

Posted by Steve Guttag (Member # 268) on 04-06-2004, 05:54 PM:

Most of the James Bond films had excellent "self-titled" Title music with Live and Let Die being way up there on my list.

I wonder if musical films (not necessarily musicals) qualify. With that you get things like This Is Spinal Tap or even A Hard Days Night or HELP!.

Most of the tunes from Warriors was quite good and also Fame.

Steve

Posted by Mark Lensenmayer (Member # 134) on 04-06-2004, 06:38 PM:

I would agree that the Fox Fanfare truly says, "Now, THIS is a MOVIE!"

2 John William's pieces come to mind: Theme from JAWS and Theme from SUPERMAN. When you hear JAWS, you immediately think SHARK!! I think SUPERMAN is just a great, majestic tune...if you listen closely, there is even a small salute to the SUPERMAN TV show theme.

The most beautiful song I've heard in a LONG time was at the end of the SOPRANO'S this week (4/4/04). It was an aria entitled " CHI' IL BEL SOGNO DI DORETTA (MAGDA) (from La Rondine)" The singer is Luba Orgonasova. A beautiful tune in the extreme upper register, demanding great control on the part of the singer. Just beautiful.

Carmine Coppola's theme to NAPOLEON is also very exciting. I was one of the lucky ones to see this with a full orchestra conducted by Mr. Coppola. One of my greatest movie evenings ever.

Posted by Mike Heenan (Member # 392) on 04-06-2004, 07:18 PM:

I'd agree about the Bonds, most of them are great songs, I particularly like Thunderball, FYEO, Spy Who Loved Me, View to a Kill, just to name a few. I also though Bohemian Rhapsody used in Wayne's World was great!

Posted by Demetris Thoupis (Member # 833) on 04-07-2004, 12:49 AM:

Adding UBp.

Beautiful Maria Of My Soul - Los Lobos (The Mambo Kings)

Demetris

Posted by Bill Mantz (Member # 754) on 04-07-2004, 01:45 AM:

Here are a few more

Your Song: from Moulin Rouge (Craig Armstrong)
Good Morning: from Singin' in the Rain (Nacio Herb Brown/Arthur Freed)
Batman Theme: from Batman Original Motion Picture(Danny Elfman)

Keep them Coming there are a lot more out there. There are a lot of music or song's that were better than the movie. Also try to fined some from movie most of us here on Film-Tech have forgotten about.

Posted by Demetris Thoupis (Member # 833) on 04-07-2004, 02:18 AM:

Remember the end of the great DEAD POETS SOCIETY
That music really shocked me

Posted by William Hooper (Member # 71) on 04-08-2004, 01:51 AM:

Songs written for & performed in movies:

High School Confidential
The Girl Can't Help It
Pet Semetary
Curtis Mayfield's "Superfly" soundtrack
Bobby Womack's "Across 110th Street"
Trouble Man
Shaft

"Jailhouse Rock" is dopey & was tired when it was new, even if Leiber & Stoller DID write it.

Original orchestral accompaniment soundtracks:
I'm in the camp that finds John Williams an infuriating, klutzy, borrowing hack. James Horner's sludge, too. Give me Franz Waxman any day - among all his brilliant stuff, "Bride of Frankenstein" is out of this world. Eli Gold's is good too, & "Mad World" is super. Korngold & Steiner sometimes can get on my nerves.

Compiled (& honesty admitted) or featured classical works:
Probably my favorite 'compiled' score arranged from classical works is the job Carl Davis did of arranging Rimksky-Korsakov themes into a successful whole for "Thief of Bagdad'. Lots of others have evocatively used classics for appropriate moments (cf: John Williams); this goes back to compiled scores in the silents days, & further to stage vaudeville & melodrama, & further still. "Life is Beautiful" had fun with the Barcarolle from Tales of Hoffman. The undisputed genius of this & its omega was Carl Stalling.

Posted by Demetris Thoupis (Member # 833) on 04-08-2004, 02:32 AM:

One More I remember

The Colour Of The Night - Lauren Christy (Selftitled Film)

Posted by Tim Reed (Member # 137) on 04-08-2004, 10:08 AM:

You Only Live Twice - Nancy Sinatra
North by Northwest - Bernard Herrmann
The Flim-Flam Man - Jerry Goldsmith
The Sons of Katie Elder - Elmer Bernstein
The Magnificient Seven - Elmer Bernstein

Posted by Hillary Charles (Member # 769) on 04-08-2004, 10:31 AM:

I second Claude's mention of Rachmaninoff's "Rapsody on a Theme by Paganini." It's so romantic and John Barry's "Somewhere in Time" score compliments it beautifully. It's also the tune Bill Murray is learning to play in "Groundhog Day." I'm actually practicing it myself to play on the piano at my wedding this fall.

Speaking of John Barry, those JAMES BOND songs and scores (with few exceptions) are fantastic, including those done by others. My fondness for the OHMSS music is already known.

And good for you Tim. "The Sons of Katie Elder" is REAL big-screen Western music, comparable to Bernstein's "other" great western score.

I want to add Hans Zimmer's score from "Thelma & Louise" as well as Glenn Frey's song, "Part of You, Part of Me."

Posted by William Leland III (Member # 1400) on 04-08-2004, 03:24 PM:

"Donnie Darko" - "Gary Jules's - Mad World" amazing song, Tears for Fears did the orginal, but i like Gary Jules version better.

"Band of Brothers" theme music, not sure who does it, but it very powerful

"The Last of the Mohicans" the theme music, one of my favorites scores. i use to play it for our theatre music.

Posted by Evans A Criswell (Member # 381) on 04-08-2004, 04:29 PM:

I liked the music used in the movie Good Will Hunting.

There was one track "Miss Misery" that I heard elsewhere and instantly recongnized. I loved that movie and hearing that track brings back part of the experience of seeing that movie for the first time. After hearing that track months later on a "movie tunes" type thing at Carmike 10, I went the next day and bought the soundtrack CD for the movie.

[ 04-09-2004, 10:08 AM: Message edited by: Evans A Criswell ]

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 04-08-2004, 05:55 PM:

Although it really ruined their career, the Bee Gees' soundtrack for "Saturday Night Fever" really made that movie. Without that music, it would have flopped. That soundtrack changed the world. (And if all dance music would have remained that quality, "disco sucks" would have been a non-issue.)

Posted by Manny Knowles (Member # 1171) on 04-08-2004, 06:19 PM:

James Horner's music for the main title sequence of "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan."

"The Right Stuff" not only has an excellent theme but it also uses Debussy's Claire de Lune for the fan dance near the end.

Adagio for Strings is used extensively throughout Oliver Stone's "Platoon." I believe Georges Delarue is listed as the composer for the film but this has always struck me as an injustice to Samuel Barber who is the actual composer of the film's "theme."

Take My Breath Away by Berlin, in the movie "Top Gun."

I'm Going Home performed by Tim Curry, in the movie "Rocky Horror Picture Show."

The Rose performed by Bette Midler, in "The Rose."

More performed by Madonna (written by Stephen Sondheim), in the movie "Dick Tracy."

If We Hold On Together performed by Diana Ross, in the movie "The Land Before Time."

Go The Distance performed by Michael Bolton, in Walt Disney's "Hercules."

Reflection performed by Christina Aguilera, in Walt Disney's "Mulan."

John Williams is easily my favorite contemporary composer for cinema:

"The Empire Strikes Back" (Darth Vader's Theme & Closing Titles)
"Raiders of the Lost Ark" (Map Room Sequence)
"Saving Private Ryan" (Hymn to the Fallen)
"E.T." (The amazing fifteen minute climax sequence, re-edited by Spielberg to match Williams' score)

Theme from "Band of Brothers" (technically, a TV miniseries) is by Michael Kamen.

Another TV miniseries with a great theme is "Taken."

Best TV theme ever written -- "Theme from JAG" by Bruce Broughton.

Posted by Richard Greco (Member # 2032) on 04-08-2004, 07:00 PM:

I find that "Down With The Sickness" by - Disturbed
in "Dawn of the Dead" was very fitting.

Posted by Will Kutler (Member # 770) on 04-08-2004, 08:52 PM:

Pick any Disney film!:
Mary Poppins
The Aristocats

Those Magnificant Men and Their Flying Machines probably had the best opening title sequence of any film ever made....including that very special Fox Fanfare rendition.

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

The Good, THe Bad and the Ugly

Cabaret (Broadway and film)

Schindler's List

Star Wars

Superman

James Bond Themes

Grease soundtrack

The Longest Day

Patton

Rocky

The Godfather

The Music Man (Broadway and film)

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid

Wizzard of Oz

Yankee Doodle Dandy (Cagney)

Hello Dolly, and most MGM musicals

Posted by Manny Knowles (Member # 1171) on 04-08-2004, 09:23 PM:

Will: I thought we weren't supposed to duplicate. "Star Wars," "Schindler's List" and the James Bond themes have been included already.

I have to agree with you about the music in "Mary Poppins." Feed The Birds was known to reduce Walt Disney to tears. Over the years, I have gained a greater appreciation for the Chim Chim Cher-ee music (but not the lyrics).

Speaking of underappreciated Disney music, "The Little Mermaid" contains some excellent lyrics and a wide variety of music styles, ranging from the sort-of "Yo-Ho-Heave-Ho" opening number by the sailors (Fathoms Below) to Sebastian's calypso numbers (Kiss the Girl and Under the Sea) and a couple of camp 'n' vamp numbers (Poor Unfortunate Souls and Les Poissons). Of course, there is also the classical component of the rest of the score.

Adding to my earlier list -- two other films that used Claire de Lune are "Seven Years in Tibet" and the remake of "Ocean's Eleven."

I might as well go ahead and add the suite from "Forrest Gump."

Annie Lennox performs haunting vocals on the "Apollo 13" soundtrack. And, then, there are the songs she performs over the closing titles of "Bram Stoker's Dracula" (Love Song for a Vampire) and "Lord of the Rings: Return of the King" (Into the West).

Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 04-08-2004, 10:17 PM:

IMHO, the best sounding "Fox Fanfare" intro is the one on "Die Hard." Very thunderous. It rocked in 70mm Dolby mag and plays very well on the Five Star Collection DVD.

Some of my favorite movie music (pardon any duplications from previous posts):

"The Untouchables" Ennio Morricone
--the main title theme "The Strength of the Righteous" opens the film well. I remember it having a very "live" sounding quality when played in 70mm at Loews New York Twin.

"Glory" James Horner
--the music in "Charging Fort Wagner" has been used on quite a few movie trailers. "An Epitaph to War" has some passages sang by the Boys Choir of Harlem that are both beautiful and quite haunting.

"E.T." John Williams
--okay, Manny. I know you listed this one too. The track "Adventure on Earth" (the long track of the climax) is great. But I also like the scary sounding "Abandoned and Pursued" track. The string section really played their asses off on that one. Did they have Paganini sitting in for that one?

"Jurassic Park" John Williams
--I bought the soundtrack CD of this one right after seeing the movie, not just because it played well during the show. The Northpark #1 theater in Dallas ran it before the show (instead of that dull movie tunes crap). "Dennis Steals the Embryo" is my favorite track for its sneaky, creepy quality. Great overall escapist movie score.

"Miller's Crossing" Carter Burwell
--This is another flick whose main title theme has been recycled for movie trailer music.

And here's some other scores:
"American Beauty" Thomas Newman
"Road To Perdition" Thomas Newman
"L.A. Confidential" Jerry Goldsmith (5.1 music track on DVD)
"Total Recall" Jerry Goldsmith
"Patton" Jerry Goldsmith
"Fistful of Dollars" Ennio Morricone

Other miscellaneous songs, scores, etc.:
"(Everything I Do) I Do It For You"
from "Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves"
by Bryan Adams & the sadly late Michael Kamen

End Title music for "X-Files: Fight the Future"
by Mark Snow. Good bass & 360 surround pan on that one.

The "Lost Highway" song soundtrack.

The soundtrack & songs from "Magnolia" by Jon Brion and Aimee Mann.

"Seven" both for the score by Howard Shore and its songs by Nine Inch Nails and David Bowie.

Posted by Manny Knowles (Member # 1171) on 04-08-2004, 10:38 PM:

Bobby --

There are a few good musical cues in "The Untouchables." I bought the soundtrack even though I wasn't a big fan of the movie.

Also by Ennio Morricone -- "The Mission" soundtrack, in particular, the Gabriel's Oboe theme and also Ave Maria Guarani and Te Deum Guarani.

Haven't seen any of his movies but Michael J. Lewis has a 2CD set of his film music and he's done some nice work.

Have You Really Ever Loved a Woman? from "Don Juan DeMarco."

My One True Friend by Bette Midler, from the film of the same name.

I'm going to be a little bit controversial here and include two songs by Kander & Ebb. The first is Class from "Chicago." The song was actually cut from the movie. I wish it was also cut from the CD and DVD because it was a lifeless rendition and would have brought the movie down a notch. Nonetheless, it's still a great song in its own right. The second song is the Nazi anthem Tomorrow Belongs to Me from "Cabaret."

Somebody mentioned Your Song from "Moulin Rouge" and I would like to add Come What May and One Day I'll Fly Away.

Posted by Tim Reed (Member # 137) on 04-08-2004, 11:00 PM:

Well, hello there, Hillary! Haven't seen you for a while. [Smile]

quote:
IMHO, the best sounding "Fox Fanfare" intro is the one on "Die Hard." Very thunderous.

Not sure which recording that is, but my vote for best Fox Fanfare recording is the one used in the 50s and 60s:
Fox Fanfare
The main reason being that later arrangements don't have the drums beating along with the melody (listen carefully), which make it sound bigger and fuller. There's a bit more reverberation in the room, too. Aesthetically, the new versions sound almost amateurish by comparison (wider dynamics and noise level notwithstanding), and are severely lacking.

Also don't care for the 3D rendering/animation of the 20th Century-Fox logo -- the painted one from the 60s still looks best to me -- but that is another thread...

Posted by Phil Hill (Member # 371) on 04-08-2004, 11:20 PM:

But Tim, that version doesn't have the CinemaScope extension!

A couple of my favorites are:

"Surf Rider" from "Pulp Fiction"

"Sugar Daddy" from "Hedwig and the Angry Inch"

"Sweet Transvestite" from RHPS (Actually all the tunes from that pic)

And of course the swimming pool scene buy-out music from the porno “Pleasure Beach”. HOT!

>>> Phil

Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 04-08-2004, 11:41 PM:

Tim, that Fox Fanfare MP3 is indeed a pretty old version. You like it and that's fine. I don't. First, it doesn't have the CinemaScope extension, as Phil mentioned. Second, the trumpets seem out of tune on the end chord. Finally, the recording just doesn't have very good audio quality at all. This version was also used on "Alien" and it doesn't sound very good there either even in DD/DTS.

Now, I will agree the newest versions of "Fox Fanfare" are pretty wimpy, especially the arrangement used on Episodes I and II of those "Star Wars" prequels.

The version on "Die Hard" just plays with awesome authority. The drums really have impact, especially on that final note at the end of the CinemaScope extension. The horns are in tune and the string section really makes it fly. It's my favorite arrangement of that intro by far.

Here's a weird thing about that "Die Hard" intro. Did anyone else besides me see "Die Hard" in 70mm? I keenly remember how GREAT the opening music sounded. But the picture was ODD! The 20th Century Fox logo was horizontally stretched to an extreme. It was like Fox just grabbed an academy frame version of the Fox logo and anamorphically stretched it all to hell. Was the logo like that on 35mm as well? The Fox logo also got screwed up on 70mm prints of "The Abyss" (severely cropped; only part of the "20" in the logo was visible on screen).

Posted by Manny Knowles (Member # 1171) on 04-09-2004, 12:05 AM:

That has got to be the worst-sounding "Fox Fanfare" I have ever heard.

Can anyone confirm that "True Lies" was the film that introduced the 3D version of the 20th Century-Fox along with the re-intro of the "Fanfare" ?

Posted by Tim Reed (Member # 137) on 04-09-2004, 12:28 AM:

quote:
That has got to be the worst-sounding "Fox Fanfare" I have ever heard.

Uh... guys, that's what I meant by "wider dynamics and noise level notwithstanding".

Bobby, there may be some wow, but it's perfectly in tune; it's the new ones that are wrong. It was conducted by Newman himself, and recorded on United Artists Soundstage 7, in the early 1930s (when 20th Century Films were being distributed by UA.) You're just used to the version from your generation.

The CinemaScope extension was a different arrangement altogether. Bah! [Razz]

But Phil, I agree, buyout music can be great!

Posted by Michael Coate (Member # 757) on 04-09-2004, 12:32 AM:

quote:
Can anyone confirm that "True Lies" was the film that introduced the 3D version of the 20th Century-Fox along with the re-intro of the "Fanfare" ?

Theatrically, yes, I believe True Lies was the first to use the new intro. (Some films released theatrically prior to True Lies showed up on ancillary market versions with the new logo.)

quote:
Now, I will agree the newest versions of "Fox Fanfare" are pretty wimpy, especially the arrangement used on Episodes I and II of those "Star Wars" prequels.

I agree the new fanfare sounds wimpy, but isn't the recording used in the Star Wars prequels the same version recorded by John Williams and the London Symphony for The Empire Strikes Back (and used in Jedi as well)?

quote:
Did anyone else besides me see "Die Hard" in 70mm?

Yes, twice (Avco Westwood -- gets my vote for the Avco's finest moment).

quote:
But the picture was ODD! The 20th Century Fox logo was horizontally stretched to an extreme. It was like Fox just grabbed an academy frame version of the Fox logo and anamorphically stretched it all to hell. Was the logo like that on 35mm as well?

Yes...and on the laserdisc too (first version, not Dolby Digital re-issue).

Back to the music topic....

Many of my favorites have been mentioned already, and since we have been asked not to repeat any, I won't. What I will mention instead is a bizarre but memorable scene from Boogie Nights. It's the drug deal scene with Alfred Molina (remember him as Indy's South American guide in Raiders?) and Night Ranger's "Sister Christian".... Not my favorite band or song and not my favorite movie, but I found the combination of the two to be entertaining.

Lots of John Williams identified. Good! I'll add that my favorite Williams theme (not complete score or soundtrack album, but theme) is probably the one from 1941. As for favorite soundtrack cue from Williams, it's a piece from The Empire Strikes Back called "Rebels At Bay" which included a number of individual cues segued into a "complete" album track. Great music! What's interesting about it -- and many of you Williams fans probably know this -- is the piece begins with an original version of the rebels searching for Luke and Han while lost on Hoth (the film version used the "Hyperspace" cue also used later in the film). The piece also included a bunch of planet Hoth and snowspeeder-Imperial walker battle bits, including stuff not used in the film. Unfortunately, this piece appeared only on the original 1980 soundtrack. The cue did not appear on the first CD version, nor did it appear (in original album form) on any of the subsequent compilations or Special Edition albums.

**Edited for clarification**

[ 04-09-2004, 10:55 AM: Message edited by: Michael Coate ]

Posted by Hillary Charles (Member # 769) on 04-09-2004, 08:25 AM:

Hi Back at Ya, Tim!

Weighing in on the Great Fox Fanfare Debate, I opt for the early CinemaScope version. Maybe not the greatest dynamic range that is afforded by modern recording techniques, but nice discrete separation to emphasize the 4-track mag sound for a sweeping effect. Goosebump inducing.

John Williams "Imperial Death March" from "Empire Strikes Back" is my favorite of his pieces, and has been used countless times elsewhere to underscore pure evil (including The Daily Show this week). I got chills the first time I heard it in Empire, and it has since become as iconic as the JAWS music.

I had forgotten about Ennio Morricone! Some great scores of his mentioned, and I'll add the score from "Danger Diabolik." The theme song, "Deep Deep Down" is arranged a dozen different ways, and other tracks make great use of that 1960's fuzz guitar sound, as well as some spaghetti western-sounding stuff. An insane score for an insane movie.

Posted by Richard Greco (Member # 2032) on 04-09-2004, 08:37 AM:

Two Words.............."That Girl" by Lindsay Lohan!!!!!!!

Whoooooooo

Posted by Scott Norwood (Member # 30) on 04-09-2004, 09:02 AM:

Some personal favorite scores or uses of music (in random order):

Thirty-Two Short Films About Glenn Gould
Bonnie and Clyde
The Graduate
Star Wars
Brazil
Trainspotting
Dances with Wolves
Far from Heaven
Lawrence of Arabia
pretty much any score by Bernard Herrmann
Run Lola Run
2001
Ben-Hur
Touch of Evil
Wizard of Oz
My Fair Lady
many others that didn't come to mind in the sixty seconds I spent thinking about this

Posted by Tim Reed (Member # 137) on 04-09-2004, 09:47 AM:

How could I forget Morricone!

And Lawrence of Arabia?

I don't think anyone's mentioned The Sound of Music. That's one of my favorites, too.

Posted by Manny Knowles (Member # 1171) on 04-09-2004, 12:09 PM:

Visually as well as sonically, "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" is a unique film. I'm not sure if I will remain a huge fan of it into the future but it's worth mentioning in this discussion.

Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 04-09-2004, 01:57 PM:

quote:
I agree the new fanfare sounds wimpy, but isn't the recording used in the Star Wars prequels the same version recorded by John Williams and the London Symphony for The Empire Strikes Back (and used in Jedi as well)?

I'm not sure about that. I don't have any copies of the original trilogy to compare versions, but the "Fox Fanfare" on Episodes I and II just sounds completely different from renditions I've heard on other Fox films including the original "Star Wars" trilogy. I seem to remember the original trilogy having fanfare which sounded closer to that used on "Die Hard." I guess I can compare for myself when those (gacck!) Special Editions of the SW trilogy get released on DVD in September.

quote:
Can anyone confirm that "True Lies" was the film that introduced the 3D version

"True Lies" was indeed the first to use the 3D logo. As Mike mentioned, other movies released previously have had the 3D logo popped on there. The Five Star Collection DVD edition of "Speed" is a notable example, especially since that was the last movie to use the older logo. I can forgive that error since the DVD shows the THX "Grand" trailer, which is kinda cool. I would have been kinda pissed if they put the 3D logo on "Die Hard."

quote:
Lots of John Williams identified. Good! I'll add that my favorite Williams theme (not complete score or soundtrack album, but theme) is probably the one from 1941.

The United States Marine Corps band performs the march theme from "1941" as one of their standards. I watched the Marine Corps Band and the Marine's Drum & Bugle Corps perform this at the Commandant's parade field at 8th & I in Washington, D.C. The Silent Drill Team was there too. Freaking kick ass show. Ooorah!

Posted by Gracia L. Babbidge (Member # 582) on 04-09-2004, 02:41 PM:

One I find myself listening to from start to finish, quite a bit (i.e. it will sit in my stereo for a month whilst I change the other discs in the carousel much more often) is the soundtrack to the Crow.
[thumbsup]

While I do like Graeme Revell's score to that one, I like his score for the Crow: City of Angels much better.
Nevermind that the movie paled in comparison to the Crow... [uhoh]

I'm also quite fond of "Love Song for a Vampire" from Bram Stoker's Dracula. [Smile]

Posted by Erica Peterson (Member # 1784) on 04-09-2004, 11:49 PM:

Shostakovich's "Jazz Suite, Waltz #2" from EYES WIDE SHUT (opening and closing credits music)
Tango "Por Una Cabeza" from SCENT OF A WOMAN and TRUE LIES
Theme and Soviet national anthem from THE HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER
Theme from HOW THE WEST WAS WON
Theme from THE COWBOYS
Soundtrack from THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION
Soundtrack from A MIGHTY WIND
Bob Dylan's "Things Have Changed" from WONDER BOYS

Posted by Phil Hill (Member # 371) on 04-10-2004, 12:27 AM:

Yes Erica! How could I have NOT mentioned:

"Shostakovich's "Jazz Suite, Waltz #2" from EYES WIDE SHUT"

Absolutely superb! Fantastic!

And "Did a Bad Thing"... Actually ALL the music from that film! F*cking Great!

>>> Phil

Posted by Mike Heenan (Member # 392) on 04-10-2004, 01:28 AM:

Phil, got a copy of the Pleasure Beach soundtrack? [Razz]

Posted by Phil Hill (Member # 371) on 04-10-2004, 01:50 AM:

Ummm Mike... you bet! [beer]

(AND! Since I know where that pool is and was there and personally know some of the "players", I have a few "stills" and other goodies from that shoot...) [Wink]

>>> Phil

Posted by Manny Knowles (Member # 1171) on 04-10-2004, 04:55 AM:

My theory about the subdued Fox Fanfare on the new "Star Wars" movies is that it was intended to force the faders back up to 7.

Say whatever you like about George those new movies; he's still got some brilliant minds working in the sound department.

Posted by Mike Heenan (Member # 392) on 04-10-2004, 12:53 PM:

Phil.... whoops, wrong movie (looked it up on imdb)! [Smile]

Posted by Manny Knowles (Member # 1171) on 04-10-2004, 02:15 PM:

Easy To Be Hard from "Hair."

Angel by Sarah McLachlan, "City of Angels."

Posted by Gordon McLeod (Member # 33) on 04-10-2004, 03:39 PM:

The IMAX film Secrets of Life on Earth has an exceptional symphonic score

Other favorites Tm already go North by Northwest but the other hitchcock film that the score works so perfectly is The Trouble with Harry

Also another film Is O Lucky Man with the band walking into the movie much like the way Cat Ballou has the sequences joined with the musical segways

Another film is Walter Carlos score for ClockWork Orange

Chinatown and BladeRunner also have excellent scores

Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 04-10-2004, 05:48 PM:

Does anyone else out there like the music from "Midnight Express" (synth music from Giorgio Moroder, the guy a little more famous for writing the hit "Call Me" from American Gigolo)?

Posted by Phil Hill (Member # 371) on 04-10-2004, 10:39 PM:

Mike, you must have meant "Tales From Pleasure Beach".

I meant Tails from "Pleasure Beach". [Wink]

>>> Phil

Posted by Sam Hunter (Member # 1119) on 04-10-2004, 10:46 PM:

Dr. Zhivago has a great score.

Posted by Manny Knowles (Member # 1171) on 04-11-2004, 01:28 AM:

Then I might as well chime in again and add "Lawrence of Arabia."

Posted by Tim Reed (Member # 137) on 04-11-2004, 09:28 AM:

Too late, Scott already did.

Posted by David M. Dorn (Member # 2298) on 04-11-2004, 08:12 PM:

The "Third Man Theme" opening of THE THIRD MAN. Of course you have to like zither musich...so I guess that's why I like the whole score.

Posted by Dan Lyons (Member # 1454) on 04-11-2004, 08:43 PM:

Best Fox Fanfare: Rocky Horror Picture Show - very simple, done on a piano. You KNOW that lips are coming on screen when you hear the piano fanfare.

Songs: "love kills", Freddie Mercury, from the Metropolis soundtrack- will it ever be released on dvd? [Frown]

"new skin", Siouxsie & the Banshees, in Showgirls credits

"but not tonight", Depeche Mode, in Modern Girls credits

Moulin Rouge "bolero" credits. all of reel 9

..i have hundreds more..

Danny

Posted by Jennifer Pan (Member # 2035) on 04-11-2004, 08:44 PM:

AMERICAN GRAFFITTI!!! Awesome soundtrack!!

Posted by David Favel (Member # 1125) on 04-11-2004, 10:47 PM:

True Romance - Viens Mallika Sous Le Dome (Best death scene ever BTW)
Also the song played at the end Zimmer?

Lately The Ramones songs have been appearing in films, gotta love that