shrrshrr

I know we have a favorite soundtrack thread, but this is a different issue.

This is about how a great soundtrack can totally make a mediocre film (or even a good film) better.

I've been obsessively listening to the soundtrack for the recent Pride and Prejudice all day and finally gave in and bought a copy. Since it won't be here for a week, I bought a free trial at Rhapsody (which I will discontinue when the CD comes, so it'll really be a free trial).

Why? Because the soundtrack's awesome, and effectively evoked the mood of the film. In fact, I'm convinced some scenes would have been a lot less effective if it hadn't been for the musical score playing in the background.

That's not always the case - there are even film companies that make movies in which there's no background music (a group I like), but there are times when you just want that extra tune to give you an emotional lift.

I can say that about my all time favorite films, too - Wings of Desire and Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope. Both films benefitted greatly from brilliant soundtracks, although arguably they would have been good even without them.

What are some of the films you can think of? I'm not talking about films with good sountracks you like - as I said, we already have a thread for that. I'm talking about films where you really felt the soundtrack carried parts of the movie...like The Piana. Excellent example, and it included original music (which I think is often the criteria for these types of films).

Jezebel In Hell

Personally, I love the job that tomandandy did for The Mothman Prophecies. There was always this eerie tension in the air and the score only helped. I actually own the double disc set. One's entirely the score and the other has some songs that were featured in the movie. Well, Mothman is probably my favorite movie score.

Then again...

A Beautiful Mind had a wonderful score. I don't know. I just like movie scores in general.

goodnightboy

I thought the song 'Let Go' by Frou Frou made the end scene in Garden State sweet but not cheesy and that was really important because otherwise it would've just been another coming-of-age, finding-love story.

And this isn't a scene because this song is played in the credits, but Baz Luhrmann said that Radiohead's 'Exit Music (For A Film)' for Romeo and Juliet is probably the best end-song to a movie, ever. I have to agree. And maybe I'm biased because I'm a huge Radiohead fan, but the lyrics are beautiful and, together with the music, express perfectly the mood and emotion of the moment, the film (which was all the better because I studied it for my Lit O Levels, and I appreciated the movie better).

But if you're talking about scores, original compositions, I'd go with Philip Glass' score in The Hours. It was moving, and perfect for the movie, although I can't pinpoint how exactly because it's been a long time since I saw ithe movie. Also, the music in the background of The Pianist, when Adrien Brody is pretending to play the piano while imagining the music - it was so joyous and because of that, the scene became infinitely more heartbreaking, because he couldn't play the piano for real.

UnsilentMajorty

In my opinion, a lot of the scores by Vangelis are better than the actual films they belong to such asThe Bounty, and Chariots of Fire.

Other films where the music was better than the actual film, IMO are:

Armageddon (Trevor Rabin)
the "Rambo" Films (Jerry Goldsmith)
the Bad Boys films; Speed (Mark Mancina)
The Rock; Cool Runnings; Green Card (Hans Zimmer)
The Perfect Storm; Titanic; Deep Impact (James Horner)
Deep Blue Sea (Mark Mancina/Trevor Rabin)

Ron_Beckett

I agree, I think it's the music that can help make or break a film. These are some of the good ones that stood out in my mind:

-Pride & Prejudice
-Star Wars (all of them but especially 3, 5, 6.)
-Superman Returns
-The Mists of Avalon
-Deep Blue Sea
-Jaws
-A Walk to Remember
-The Prince of Egypt
-Armageddon
-Friday Night Lights

barelylegal

In my opinion a perfect movie with a perfect soundtrack is Almost Famous. To be quite honest, Cameron Crowe knows how to make excellent soundtracks to his great feature film creations.

shrrshrr

I love reading all your responses!

Jezebel In Hell - I agree that a score can absolutely bring more tension to a film. I always know something horrible's going to happen when the music stops and it gets eerily quiet!

goodnightboy - I agree with you, too. Your post also reminded me of the opening scenes to Apocalpse Now, with The Doors' "The End." It's the opening scene, which also happens to be the last scene, and the lyrics are the haunting voice of Jim Morrison singing, "This is the end..." It's genius.

But you're right and I absolutely noticed the Garden State and Romeo + Juliet songs, too - which made me go out and buy the soundtracks because they were so effective. I don't often buy soundtracks, but I did for them.

UnsilentMajority - absolutely! Those are excellent examples that I completely agree with. I saw Chariots of Fire when it came out and my friends and I were travelling for a track meet. It was so inspiring - the music more than anything - the three of staying together went out and not only won all our races, but made State requirements. I can't hear the themes to this day without them invoking those same feelings of physical freedom.

I'd add the score to Midnight Express, to that, too - the first time a Moog Synthesizer was used to create a full score.

R2Roswell - *nods* That's a good list and one I agree with (and I don't like lists! Hee!). I think many of those scores and soundtracks are exceptional, and in some cases (like Star Wars), ground-breaking.

barelylegal - I'd have to agree to a certain extent except that I don't care for most of his films so I'm a bit resreved in my praise. That being said, the soundtracks certainly took the world by storm and there's no denying they had a strong impact on the mood of the films.

Ron_Beckett

Thanks. I'm not fond of lists either but I was a little lazy to write out things but I'll do that now (however they're not indepth):

Pride & Prejudice- The music for this one was very simple yet elegant enough to where you could really feel the scenes in the movie.

Star Wars (all of them but especially 3, 5, 6.)- What can I say about this one? No one can beat John Williams! His scores are just incredible. And I think he really out did himself in Revenge of the Sith.

Superman Returns- John Ottman really did a good job for this one. My favorite music piece was when Superman took Lois flying abover the Daily Planet. When I heard the music I was just mystified and it flowed well.

The Mists of Avalon- Lee Holdridge did a very nice job. When there was despair, you could really feel it. The music would go from happy and joyful to solumn and blue. The flow between the different tones was perfect.

Deep Blue Sea- All I can say for this one was that it was intense. The music had a shock feeling to it and fit perfectly with the movie.

Jaws- Not much to say about this one except for the memorable sound every time the shark was near.

A Walk to Remember- Many great artists to put this soundtrack together. The songs flowed also.

The Prince of Egypt- Really loved the songs that were sung in this one.

TAKEN- What can I say about this one? Laura Karpman did an outstanding job! Definately one of my favorite soundtracks. To the Rescue is such a great track. The opening song; pure...enlightenment would have to be the word I choose. It really brings you into the "alien" world that the viewer is about to enter.

LittleMilkJug

I think the soundtrack to Last of the Mohicans is the best ever. It underscores the tension, the freedom Hawkeye and his family had running and hunting in the beautifull forrests, the love story and the music to one of the best and most intense scenes ever in a film..the death of Cora's sister and Hawkeye's brother.

The Pomp of the Star Wars theme is brilliant and was a refreshing change to all the electrical music they used to do for sci-fi films.

And another favorite is the music to Merry Christmas, Mr Lawrence. It makes me cry if I listen to it after a glass or two of wine.

Oh, and a guilty pleasure of mine (and my mums)! is the Queen soundtrack to Flash Gordon. "Flash..Ah-Aaaaaa saviour of the universe...dundundundundundun" etc. Very original and frankly the best thing about the film.

Miss GoodManners

I love soundtracks! I can say that the majority of my CDs are soundtracks!
However,I think that a soundtrack can be very powerful in a movie and I'm not talking only about musicals! Sometimes the soundtrack makes the film something special or it makes a mediocre film a good film. For instance,take "The devil wears Prada":that's a great film per se,but all those songs make it even more powerful,you're totally captured also because the score underlines all the important moments,the songs are just where they should be
(the protagonist's change of style,her strolling in the streets or the beginning itself). It totally strucks you!
There are many movies whose soundtrack is very evident and audible(A good year for example,just because it's the last movie I've seen),then there are some others where the soundtrack is in the background,you can't quite hear it,but it's something very necessary and without it the movie wouldn't be that movie.
I'm thinking of Gosford Park by the great Altman:a part from the scenes in which Novello(Northam)sings and plays the piano,there's a really beautiful soundtrack that you can really appreciate only listening to the CD,but without it the movie wouldn't be so magical!

UnsilentMajorty

I forgot about that one. Definitely Trevor Jones, Randy Edelman's best work by far.

Definitely a cult-classic... As is any Queen soundtrack from the 1980s like "Highlander" and "Iron Eagle"

.....

I think what qualifies as a good soundtrack or score is if it stands by itself regardless of whether or not the movie is any good (which is what I think ShrrShrr started this thread for). The ones I and others have listed are great stand-alone albums even if no movie existed. This is the true test, IMO.

This is also why I have to add some more such as...

The Conan The Barbarian Films - Basil Poledorous. Although, I do consider the films guilty pleasures. Pure Arrrrrrnoooolllllddd in his hey day.

Days of Thunder - Hans Zimmer - Great modern synth score for the 1990s. Incredibly cheesy movie.

Ghostbusters - Various Artists - Great vocal songs "Cleanin' up the Town"; "Ghostbusters" as well as an effective other-worldly score with comedic overtones.

Streets of Fire - Various Artists - This is one of those rare Rock Opera-type soundtracks that is composed of great rock and roll tunes because the fictional era the movie takes place in is reminiscent of the rocking 1950s... But instead of going the typical bee-bop route, they used a lot of 1980s and contemporary influences (Jimmy Irvine was the music supervisor) to enhance the characters and story line in a timeless way that can still be listened to in 2006, and it sound like it came out yesterday, IMO.

I'll have to cheat on this one because it is a musical after all... But Phantom of the Opera - Various Productions. This is truly a timeless classic soundtrack/score that defies aging and has great music that ranges from rock to slow ballads to full orchestral pieces. This can stand alone based on the Andrew Loyd Weber music and lyrics by itself, regardless if there are plays or movies made about the subject matter.

AutumnColorsღ

I agree on Garden State, I loved the song they used for the ending.

I think Footloose had some great songs on there, always made me want to dance and sing to it.

Quarterley

The Talented Mr. Ripley

I should have bought that soundtrack.

BehrItAll

Lots of good mentions
I esp agree with Pride and Prejustice. I am so in love with that movie. Been watching it all week.
and John Willaims is a genious and but I esp love the music in Star Wars. Esp the scene in Empire Strikes Back when they are being chased through the astroid field. That scene would not have been the same without the score.

Same with ET when Eliot is on the bike.

I have to mention The Godfather esp the baptisim/murder scene.
That's the most memorble scenes for me in this film and the music adds to the hypocracy of Michael's lines.

Back to the Future.What a way to get the suspense going even more - THE Music! still makes me nervous to this day.

That's off the top of my head for now
Great thread BTW

goodnightboy

Oh, that reminds me of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind now, when the opening credits (which is quite a bit after the opening scene) has Jim Carrey crying in his car with Beck's 'Everybody's Gotta Learn Sometimes' playing - which fit the mood well. But because of the twistedness of the movie, that scene is actually from later on, but it's not the same as the the closing scene of Jim Carrey chasing Kate Winslet across the snowy beach as, yes, Beck's song plays again. And this time it is just so incredible, the way the scene and the song (the sound and the lyrics, the overall mood of the song) come together so perfectly.

Didn't watch Apocalypse Now, but it sounds good