Best use of music in a movie (1 Viewer)

[Paul_Sjordal]

Oh, this one is easy to answer.

In Kurosawa's Ran, there's that spectacular battle sequence where Hidetora's castle is attacked and burned to the ground (chapter 16 "The Battle" on the DVD). The whole time Kurosawa displays all the carnage of war with an unflinching eye, but instead of filling the air with screams, shouted orders and the clatter of battle, we get somber but light classical music. Music is the only thing we hear through most of the battle.

This little musical interlude drags on a bit as Kurosawa proceeds to detail the events of a complicated battle without a single word spoken. Then the music abruptly stops, we hear a single gun shot ring out, then one of Hidetora's sons (Taro) is killed and we hear the sickening thud of his body hitting the ground. Right then and there all the cacophonous noises of battle come crashing in.

Not just a brilliant use of music, but a brilliant use of sound. I shiver just thinking about it.

 

[Nate Anderson]

I would say every shread of music in Almost Famous is great. esp. The "Tiny Dancer" sing-along, "The Wind" with Penny hanging out in the empty audiotorium, "I've Seen all Good People" with the band arriving in San Diego, and Nancy Wilson's wonderful score as William runs through the airport alongside Penny's plane (my absolute favorite scene in the film.)

 

[Kevin Porter]

The instrumental piece in Pulp Fiction when Marcellus is getting raped. It perfectly expressed the disgust, chaos, and tension of the scene coupled perfectly with handheld camera shots.

 

[Shane S.]

I remember alot of people I know being bugged by the it but I though the music used in "A Knights Tale" really added something to the movie. The crowd siningin "We Will Rock You" in the begining really set the tone for me. It took a relatively cliched idea and added something fun to it.

I won't call it the best but it was worth mentioning IMO

 

[EricW]

IN THE YEAR 2003 UMA THURMAN WILL KILL BILL

i'm sure i'm not the first one to point this out, but unless Thurman actually kills Bill in Vol.1, she probably won't kill Bill till 2004 (when vol.2 is released)

 

[Raymond_H]

Some songs in recent movies come to mind, these are very relevant to the story on-screen,

Magnolia Aimee Mann's "Save Me"

Toy Story 2 "When She Loved Me"

My favorite scores are pretty redundant to others,

Star Wars Empire Strikes Back
2001 : A Space Odyssey
The Godfather
Superman


Raymond

 

[Kevin Porter]

Actually Eric, you are the first to point that out. I just had it that way because that was the tagline for the trailers. I may change it to 2004 though. Oh and to stay on topic, the Kill Bill teaser may have been one of the best teasers to come out in recent memory. The music was brilliantly perfect and even better without Mr. Voice.

 

[rob kilbride]

LOTR:FOTR: The boy soprano piece after Gandalf's fall

I also really loved the boy soprano's voice when the moth appears on the screen as it flies to Gandalf's aid.

The synth music that comes in after Neo fights the new agents while Link comments that their code is like nothing he's seen before.

In terms of a very brief cue that fit the scene beautifully (its not even on the soundtrack) I always liked the renaissance like music that accompanies the first appearance of Legolas in Bakshi's LOTR. I also just love the chorus in the Battle of Helm's deep in the same film.

Many classical works used by Kubrick in his films : space scenes to Johann Strauss's Blue Danube, the loneliness and long length of the journey conveyed by Khatchaturian's Adagio from Gayane, the eerieness of Ligeti's Atmospheres,Lux Aeterna and Requiem, and of course the wonderful use of richard Strauss's Also Spracht Zarathustra in 2001. Ligeti's Lontano in the Shining. Ligeti's Musica Ricertata in Eyes Wide Shut.

The End by the Doors in the beginning of Apocalypse Now.

The stock music of Leroy Shield in the Laurel and Hardy and Little Rascals shorts.

I love John Williams and theres really no need to go into specifics since everyone knows his most famous stuff anyway.

I also like Jerry Goldsmith but especially his work in Star Trek TMP (favorite parts, Main Theme, Klingon Battle, and the extended setting of the main theme as Kirk approaches the enterprise) and the Secret of Nimh.

Queen's soundtrack to Flash Gordon.

Mozart's music in Amadeus especially the frightening opening notes of Don Giovanni.

The moving father and son theme from Road to Perdition.

The choral music after Maximus is stabbed by Commodus in Gladiator. Massive, horrifying, tragic. Lisa Gerard's singing as Maximus starts fading away as he fights Commodus.

Love braveheart score.

Twisted Sister Your Gonna Burn In Hell in Pee Wee's Big Adventure. Hilarious because it pretty much satirizes metal music.

Vangelis Chariots of Fire. Opening scene with Main Title music and the men running on the beach and Eric's Theme playing as Eric's voice is heard as he wins the final race.

Rosza's score to Ben Hur.

Many more some of which have been already mentioned. I could go on all day.

 

[David C Lin]

Last of the Mohicans. There are a couple of scenes I'm thinking of:
1) When the British is being ambushed by the Indians and Hawkeye saved Cora before she was about to be killed.
2) When Hawkeye told Cora to stay alive, jump into waterfall, then went on a search for her.

 

[MikeEn]

Well, I'll cheat and put in another TV show--

Miami Vice pilot, "In the Air Tonight." I thought that scene and the music were an all time highlight for episodic TV.

And I must admit, at the the end of "Timecop," I laughed when "Time Won't Let Me" by The Outsiders started up over the end credits. Very appropriate.

 

[Aaron Thorne]

One that I don't think has been mentioned was Predator. That score was perfect for the movie and basically it lasts throughout the entire film. I believe it was composed by the same guy that did Forrest Gump but I forget his name.

 

[Jeffrey Wiffen]

Wes Anderson is the best!

However, Sofia Coppola did a mighty fine job with Lost in Translation. The movies full of memorable music moments. For example, I was near to tears when Just Like Honey by The Jesus & Mary Chain played during the films heartbreaking conclusion.

Lyrics:
as she takes on half the world
moving up and so alive
in her honey dripping beehive, beehive
it's good, so good, it's so good
so good
walking back to you
is the hardest thing that
I can do
that I can do for you
for you
I'll be your plastic toy
I'll be your plastic toy
for you
eating up the scum
is the hardest thing for
me to do
just like honey ...

 

[Andy Sheets]

One that I don't think has been mentioned was Predator. That score was perfect for the movie and basically it lasts throughout the entire film. I believe it was composed by the same guy that did Forrest Gump but I forget his name.

Alan Silvestri. He also did the Back to the Future movies, IIRC. He's not bad

 

[Donovan]

The music during the ending of Rudy is my favorite. Suprised one has mentioned it yet.

 

[Tim Raffey]

I think Wong Kar-Wai has an ear for music much like Tarantino, Scorsese, the Andersons (Wes & Paul T.), etc. But to ask me, it's better.

i.e.: Dinah Washington doing 'What a Diff'rence a Day Makes', 'Things in Life' by Dennis Brown, Faye Wong's re-recording of 'Dreams' by the Cranberries, and of course 'California Dreaming' by the Mamas and the Papas--all in Chungking Express...

'Yumeji's Theme' by Shigeru Umebayashi (from Suzuki Seijun's Yumeji, which I haven't seen) in In the Mood for Love...

Recently, I've been high off of the rerecording (by Jeff Rona, I think) of 'Mi Unicornio Azul', written by Silvio Rodriguez in Wong's transcendance of the BMW commercial The Follow.

The last time I was sitting in a theater and was knocked over by the fusion of picture and music--other than the Kill Bill trailer--was the end of Morvern Callar; Morvern walking through the dance club (light capturing glimpses of her face in red & white--some of which are incidentally in focus) with 'Dedicated to the One I Love', again by The Mamas and the Papas.

If television shows count, I got a nice little rush from the use of Johnny Cash's 'I Walk the Line' for a good, straightforward montage on The Wire (though I personally think the credits don't do justice to 'Way Down in the Hole'; good enough, but I love the song).

 

[Jason_Els]

Few themes so haunting and longing as Bernard Herrmann's score for The Ghost and Mrs. Muir. The score sounds as if Neptune himself wrote it. I tugs so forcefully at the heart you can't help but cry at the end.

 

[John Palmer]

All Over Me
This indie flick has a great soundtrack and a particularly poignant moment is when Claude puts on Patti Smith's "pissing in the river" at Lucy's place. In this scene the music acts as a means for Claude to convey/release her bottled-up melancholy.

Lawn Dogs
John Duigan's crowd pleaser, Lawn Dogs, has a great scene in which Trent (played by Sam Rockwell) blocks traffic on a bridge, strips off, then somersaults into a lake in front of disbelieving spectators, and all to the country tune of "a thousand miles from nowhere" by Dwight Yoakam.

There are so many moments when watching films when the music really registers and I get the urge to check the net for details. A few other brief examples are,

Donnie Darko
Gary Jules's version of the Tears for Fears classic, "mad world". I'm sure this has been mentioned already in this great thread.

Manhunter
Iron Butterfly - "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida". I normally don't like Michael Mann's use of music in his movies, but this is an exception (perhaps because it isn't Phil Collins.)

Exotica
Mia Kirshner stripping over Leonard Cohen's "Everybody Knows". It's all about mood.

The Thin Red Line
The Melanesian chanting especially, "Jisas yu holem hand blong mi".

Strange Days
Juliette Lewis singing "Hardly Wait" in the club.

 

[Matt Pelham]

Last of the Mohicans

Pretty much everything, but my favorite being the opening mountain shot, and of course the final 20 minutes.

 

[Jefferson Morris]

Though he's been mentioned a number of times already, I think Stanley Kubrick was the undisputed master of using pre-recorded music to indelible effect, from Zarathustra to We'll Meet Again. Scorsese comes a close second, deploying Mascagni as brilliantly as he does The Rolling Stones ("Monkey Man" in Goodfellas is a particular favorite.)

Someone mentioned...

Quoting Tristan und Isolde in Vertigo.

I don't precisely remember Wagner being "quoted" in Vertigo, although it would certainly fit. Of course, Boorman's aforementioned Excalibur uses the Tristan prelude and other Wagner excerpts to brilliant effect.

In terms of original film scoring, my favorite marriage of imagery and music in recent years is the entrance into the great hall of Moria in The Fellowship of the Ring. The "Foundations of Stone" cue from The Two Towers is also terrific, particularly in that long shot of Gandalf and the Balrog falling into that enormous cavern. Damn, I'd like an isolated score on those discs so I could really crank it up.

Many have mentioned Jaws - the music cue that plays during the first big reveal of the shark ("That's a 20 footer") still gives me chills. And the last 15 minutes or so of Close Encounters of the Third Kind - particularly after the aliens single out Neary and begin leading him to the ship. Film scoring simply doesn't get much better than that.

--Jefferson Morris

 

[Josh Pounds]

OK, I'd like to add a couple.

8mm -- Very interesting use of "Eastern" music.

Donnie Darko -- the "Mad World" sequence at the end...makes me cry.

The one scene I don't think that was mentioned in The Fellowship of the Ring: "The Ring Goes South"

Natural Born Killers