Favorite Soundtrack? - General Discussion Discussion

[–] AndyKing1967 (38073) 2 years ago

Xanadu - The Electric Light Orchestra / Olivia Newton-John: -
https://youtu.be/73YtveOZjAg

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[–] HarveyManFredSin (4877) 2 years ago

Great choice. I only discovered that film last year (it was screened on British TV for possibly the first time, or certainly the first time since the 1980s, following ONJ's death), and although I can't say the film itself is very good, the soundtrack is ace.

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[–] AndyKing1967 (38073) 2 years ago

ELO are my favourite band (I quite like ONJ too) so I have a soft spot for the film. I recently watched it with my 8 year old daughter and she loved every minute.

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[–] HarveyManFredSin (4877) 2 years ago

I like a lot of ELO music, particularly their 70s stuff, although I think they could be a bit hit and miss at times. They really came up trumps here though, and collaborated well with ONJ. "Livin' Thing" is a great ELO track which appears on another of my favourite soundtracks (i.e. Boogie Nights).

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[–] HarveyManFredSin (4877) 2 years ago

Excluding score-based soundtracks, and concert films, I'm going to say Jackie Brown ("Strawberry Letter 23" - The Brothers Johnson, "Street Life" - Randy Crawford, "Didn't I Blow Your Mind This Time" - The Delfonics, "Who Is He And What Is He to You" - Bill Withers, "Inside My Love" - Minnie Ripperton), followed by Pulp Fiction ("Let's Stay Together" - Al Green, "Jungle Boogie" - Kool and the Gang, "Flowers On The Wall" - The Statler Brothers, "Son of a Preacher Man" - Dusty Springfield, "You Never Can Tell" - Chuck Berry) and Out of Sight ("It's Your Thing", "Fight The Power" - The Isley Brothers).

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[–] Ace_Spade (9544) 2 years ago

Tarantino has always had a knack for slapping the perfect song over his stuff. It took me YEARS after seeing Reservoir Dogs to be able to just listen to Stuck in the Middle with You on its own terms...

Great choices.

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[–] Keelai (34858) 2 years ago

Star Wars

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[–] ItsGood2BeRight (3879) 2 years ago

(Not really from the soundtrack but this is so cool. I always wondered how they made some of the sounds.)
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly - The Danish National Symphony Orchestra
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=enuOArEfqGo

Gladiator Soundtrack "Elysium", "Honor Him", "Now We Are Free"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbHPTPUpQ1I

The Last of the Mohicans - Promentory
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9tjdswqGGVg

A Star Is Born - Shallow
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bo_efYhYU2A

Dirty Dancing Soundtrack
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6eyCDj1s4NI&list=PLUoBW9RBPmzqYzbc7-zfy9B_K_l3XIU1c

Saturday Night Fever Soundtrack
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zviINyGpldU&list=PL8Lpw39GxwbMuSZ13zF7ErQgbXsW1Sb3U

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[–] HarveyManFredSin (4877) 2 years ago

The Dirty Dancing and Saturday Night Fever soundtracks are brilliant, and Gladiator may possibly be Hans Zimmer's best score.

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[–] ItsGood2BeRight (3879) 2 years ago

Agreed!

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[–] Ace_Spade (9544) 2 years ago

I could listen to Promontory (I know it as The Gael) all day. The music in Last of the Mohicans is beautiful, inspiring, and tragic. I love songs with those flavours blended together, and none are better than the Gael. Equal, maybe, but not better.

Have you heard the score for The Mission? It seems like it'd be your cup o' tea.

Here are my two favourite versions of The Gael that I have come across:

No.1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zNnzufK0nVE
No.2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93wGaGFUnTs

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[–] BillHicksFan (10559) 2 years ago

Forrest Gump

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[–] samoanjoes (56645) 2 years ago

Batman Returns (score)

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[–] Ace_Spade (9544) 2 years ago

Nobody beats Elfman for Batman music. His score wouldn't have suited The Batman or The Dark Knight Trilogy, but he captured "Essence of Batman" so well that I don't think anybody will top it. It's as good and appropriate to the Batman character as the Superman theme Williams did. Although, maybe not quite as good, because I firmly believe that Superman movies shouldn't even bother coming up with a theme for the first time we see him fly. I REALLY missed it in Man of Steel when he's slowly finding his way to flight.

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[–] samoanjoes (56645) 2 years ago

Absolutely. The scene before the opening credits in Batman Returns set up exactly what the the world of Gotham City should be. No Batman movie has come close. Then you have the iconic theme which always pumps me up.

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[–] Ace_Spade (9544) 2 years ago

Gotham looked its best in Burton's films.

How Elfman made a piece of music that is both spooky and heroic is beyond me, but he did it.

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[–] samoanjoes (56645) 2 years ago

I want to live inside that movie.

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[–] HarveyManFredSin (4877) 2 years ago

Same here.

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[–] Stratego (30496) 2 years ago

Beauty and the Beast (1991)

Aladdin (1992)
Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (1998)
South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (1999)

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[–] Ace_Spade (9544) 2 years ago

That's a really hard question. I'm assuming that you're not talking about film scores, but rather the use of existing songs within a film. If that's wrong, and if you'd like, I can go into movie scores.

Even just soundtracks is hard, though...

One of the first I thought of was Sucker Punch - a movie that was basically aesthetic junk food, but it was really good junk food. What was so fun about this soundtrack was not just that it kicked all of the music video action scenes into high-octane mode, it was that it took familiar songs and warped them. The remixes are cool.

The Boat That Rocked (a.k.a. Pirate Radio) is full of great '60s gems. I'm partial to that style of music, so this film was just a treat to listen to (in addition to being full of fun).

Those two are probably some of the best that I've heard. Of course, Quentin Tarantino's name has come up elsewhere on this board and he's always great at crafting soundtracks. I also seem to recall liking the music featured in Empire Records.

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[–] HarveyManFredSin (4877) 2 years ago

"One of the first I thought of was Sucker Punch - a movie that was basically aesthetic junk food, but it was really good junk food. What was so fun about this soundtrack was not just that it kicked all of the music video action scenes into high-octane mode, it was that it took familiar songs and warped them. The remixes are cool."

Spot on! I'm often the first person to criticise Zack Snyder, but I honestly think that particular film is misunderstood, and some of the tracks that feature on the soundtrack are superb, especially Emily Browning's cover of The Smiths' "Asleep".

"Of course, Quentin Tarantino's name has come up elsewhere on this board and he's always great at crafting soundtracks."

His films introduced me to so much great music, particularly from the 1970s.

"I also seem to recall liking the music featured in Empire Records."

Including this 'classic' track? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQdvuWqm3Ow

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[–] Ace_Spade (9544) 2 years ago

Sucker Punch is an up-and-down movie for me (and I'm not making an innuendo there). It's got potential, it's got some depth, but it never lives up to its potential, and it never hits maximum depth. It's always fun, always entertaining, but sometimes it undermines itself or gets too many ideas and not enough execution - if that makes sense? Still, it's always cool.

Snyder always feels like he should be designing movies, picking soundtracks, helping with costumes and effects, and maybe even cinematography and camera work, but he shouldn't be directing or writing by himself. I haven't seen his zombie flick (flicks? Did he make more than one?). 300 was the first film of his I saw, and it's great, but it's also a straightforward story (in terms of themes and characters and so forth) and was largely mapped out by Frank Miller.

Tarantino's greatness with soundtracks is not just picking cool songs, but matching them to action. The blend of the 5, 6, 7, 8s for the long tracking shot in Kill Bill Vol.1 is a great example of this.

With Empire Records, the funny part is that I don't recall a lot of individual music moments, more just that the soundtrack was good and suited the scenes. But, yes, that is "classic".

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