"Axel F"? Really? Ugh. As the NY Philharmonic proved last night, you could pick any piece of the score from "West Side Story" and it would obliterate your puny little synth crap. As far as scores written directly for the screen, take any of these: Ennio Morricone -- The Good, The Bad & The Ugly; The Mission John Williams -- Jaws, Close Encounters, Star Wars, Superman. Most everything he's done in the past decade is garbage, but these are all classics. Bernard Herrmann -- Citizen Kane, North By Northwest, Vertigo, Psycho Max Steiner -- Gone With The Wind, Casablanca, The Treasure Of The Sierra Madre
For reasons I can't explain, "Jumping Jack Flash" during the credits at the end of "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" just seems to fit perfectly.
As far as songs that you can't hear without thinking of the movie, or songs that were written specifically for the movie: "Don't You Forget About Me" from the Breakfast Club The theme from Rocky "Danger Zone" from Top Gun "Nobody Does it Better" from The Spy Who Loved Me Theme from Star Wars "Up Where We Belong" from An Officer and a Gentleman Theme from The Sting "Stayin' Alive" from Saturday Night Fever
i'm with obie: morricone, "the mission." gorgeous stuff. and adagio for strings (barber) was used to very good effect in both "platoon" and "the elephant man." too, the entire soundtrack to "Amandla!"
"Casino's" mix of rock songs, classical pieces, and old scores from other films is the greatest integration of music and image I 've ever seen.
Theme from Shaft. "Leaving Dry Dock" theme from Star Trek II:TWOK. Opening song from Neon Genesis Evangelion. Opening theme for The A-Team.
Bob Dylan, Knockin on Heaven's Door, from Pat Garret and Billy the Kid. Runnerup: Queen's Flash Gordon.
In terms of just great songs that appeared in movies, there are way too many to list. I mean, anything from "The Graduate"'s entire soundtrack to just the music from "Bottle Rocket". It's all great. But if you are trying to discuss the use of music in a given scene or for a particular point, I've always loved the scene in "Boogie Nights" with Alfred Molina where things during the drug buy are getting increasingly intense and "Sister Christian" is playing in the background on his mix tape. As the song builds, so does the tension, punctuated by the fireworks going off the background. Absolutely classic. Similar is the remixed version of "Magic Carpet Ride" in "Go" in 1999, which kicks in right during a car chase right as the car comes flying out of a garage onto the open Vegas streets.
The Cars - "Moving in Stereo" (Fast Times...) The "Layla" scene in Goodfellas "Stuck in the Middle With You" during the torture scene of Resevoir Dogs... 2001: A Space Odyssey
Quiet by Bjork in Happy, Texas. It's Not Unusual by Tom Jones in Mars Attacks. If You Leave by O.M.D. in Pretty In Pink. View to a Kill by Duran Duran in A View to a Kill. Devil's Chasing Me by Reverend Horton Heat in Love & a .45. Stuck in the Middle With You by Stealers Wheel in Reservoir Dogs. Stayin' Alive by The Bee Gees in Saturday Night Fever. Because We Can by Fatboy Slim in Moulin Rouge. Usually on this kind of thread someone has popped in with the obligatory Apocolypse Now reference by now. And what's the over/under on posts before someone has to toss Phillip Glass into the mix by stating that you can't pick one song because they're all so powerful and miles ahead of anything ever heard by anyone ever.
I thought the use of the Stone's "Time is on My Side" in Fallen was brilliant. A song done specifically for a movie: Theme from The Blues Brothers.
Good call on Morricone ... don't forget "Ecstasy of Gold," though. I'd probably add "Summon the Heroes" and "Empire of the Sun" to Williams' list. Maybe the "Cowboys" score, too, but it's been a while since I've listened to that. I'd also add Leonard Bernstein's score for "On the Waterfront," Aaron Copland's works on "He Got Game" and the themes from "How the West was Won" and "The Magnificent Seven."
Heres a few: Apolcalyse Now "The End" by the Doors The Warriors "In the City" Joe Walsh Whatever it takes "Charm Attack" by Naomi Naess Say Anything "Within your Reach" by The Replacements Blackboard Jungle "Rock around the Clock" Bill Haley THe whole Grease Soundtrack
From Say Anything, I'd also look at Peter Gabriel's "In Your Eyes" And from one of my favorite 80's movies: Public Enemy's "Fight the Power" (Do the Right Thing) "My salary's two-fiddy. Two-fiddy a week..."