Movies with the best music track (music makes the movie)
I think music can help a movie. These are some of my favorites where the music is such an integral part of the movie that the movie wouldn't stand up as well without it. This list is not about musicals.
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- DirectorMike NicholsStarsDustin HoffmanAnne BancroftKatharine RossA disillusioned college graduate finds himself torn between his older lover and her daughter.The music of Simon & Garfunkle just makes the movie. It's perfectly placed and each song fits with the situation
- DirectorSergio LeoneStarsClint EastwoodEli WallachLee Van CleefA bounty hunting scam joins two men in an uneasy alliance against a third in a race to find a fortune in gold buried in a remote cemetery.The whole movie is situated around music. I love the interwoven music and the music that was written for specific situations (esp. The Ecstasy of Gold)
- DirectorVictor FlemingKing VidorStarsJudy GarlandFrank MorganRay BolgerYoung Dorothy Gale and her dog Toto are swept away by a tornado from their Kansas farm to the magical Land of Oz, and embark on a quest with three new friends to see the Wizard, who can return her to her home and fulfill the others' wishes.No explanation necessary.
- DirectorMichael CurtizStarsHumphrey BogartIngrid BergmanPaul HenreidA cynical expatriate American cafe owner struggles to decide whether or not to help his former lover and her fugitive husband escape the Nazis in French Morocco.Again, enough said.
- DirectorGuy HamiltonStarsRoger MooreYaphet KottoJane SeymourJames Bond is sent to stop a diabolically brilliant heroin magnate armed with a complex organisation and a reliable psychic tarot card reader.A great movie made greater by the music.
- DirectorStanley KubrickStarsKeir DulleaGary LockwoodWilliam SylvesterAfter uncovering a mysterious artifact buried beneath the Lunar surface, a spacecraft is sent to Jupiter to find its origins: a spacecraft manned by two men and the supercomputer HAL 9000.It's impact on society is self explanatory
- DirectorSidney LumetStarsSean ConneryDyan CannonMartin BalsamAfter ten years in prison to protect a mafia family, Duke Anderson is released and he cashes in a debt of honor with the mob to bankroll a caper.Quincy Jones' score is arguably the sum of the movie.
- DirectorFrancis Ford CoppolaStarsMarlon BrandoAl PacinoJames CaanThe aging patriarch of an organized crime dynasty transfers control of his clandestine empire to his reluctant son.The subtlety of the music makes it so haunting that coupled with the directing makes this movie so engaging one can't help but find yourself immersed in the story.
- DirectorAlan ParkerStarsMickey RourkeRobert De NiroLisa BonetA private investigator is hired by a man who calls himself Louis Cyphre to track down a singer named Johnny Favorite. But the investigation takes an unexpected and somber turn.This movie is so underrated it's pathetic. DeNiro's devil is easily in the top 5. The music is so interestingly interwoven in this movie that a person needs to watch the movie twice just to realize that you are being given clues in so many different ways that you should be able to watch 10 minutes and the plot is exposed to you. The fact that you don't realize it until you watch it a second time makes this a movie that in my opinion is a classic.
- DirectorGeorge LucasStarsRichard DreyfussRon HowardPaul Le MatA group of teenagers in California's central valley spend one final night after their 1962 high school graduation cruising the strip with their buddies before they pursue their varying goals.A movie set in the 50's would have to have a great soundtrack. This is done very well in this movie. Keeping it fresh and similarly to other movies on this list, appropriate for certain settings.
- DirectorTom LaughlinStarsTom LaughlinDelores TaylorClark HowatEx-Green Beret hapkido expert saves wild horses from being slaughtered for dog food and helps protect a desert "freedom school" for runaway.The music brings a poignancy to the movie that is at times more powerful than dialog would.
- DirectorSteven SpielbergStarsRoy ScheiderRobert ShawRichard DreyfussWhen a killer shark unleashes chaos on a beach community off Cape Cod, it's up to a local sheriff, a marine biologist, and an old seafarer to hunt the beast down.Iconic theme music that transcended the movie.
- DirectorJohn LandisStarsJohn BelushiDan AykroydCab CallowayJake Blues rejoins with his brother Elwood after being released from prison, but the duo has just days to reunite their old R&B band and save the Catholic home where the two were raised, outrunning the police as they tear through Chicago.Classic. That's more than enough.
- DirectorBrian HelgelandStarsMel GibsonGregg HenryMaria BelloAfter a successful heist, Porter is left for dead. Once he recovers, he seeks vengeance and wants his share of the money.I love this movie. The music that is in this movie just amped it up for me. So love this movie.
- DirectorJohn HughesStarsEmilio EstevezJudd NelsonMolly RingwaldFive high school students meet in Saturday detention and discover how they have a great deal more in common than they thought.Defined teens of the 80's and the music helped. Great movie that allows us to stay young. The songs are still playable.
- DirectorTony ScottStarsTom CruiseTim RobbinsKelly McGillisAs students at the United States Navy's elite fighter weapons school compete to be best in the class, one daring young pilot learns a few things from a civilian instructor that are not taught in the classroom.If you haven't seen the movie then watch it. Music is all over this movie, which is, ironically a movie for pretty much everybody. I will get a lot of heat for that last statement but I believe it's still true.
- DirectorCharles Martin SmithStarsMarc PriceTony FieldsLisa OrgoliniA bullied teenage boy is devastated after the death of his heavy metal idol, Sammi Curr. But as Halloween night approaches, he discovers that he may be the only one who can stop Sammi from making a Satanic comeback from beyond the grave.It's a campy horror movie. I LOVE IT!!! The music helps a lot.
- DirectorJoel SchumacherStarsJason PatricCorey HaimDianne WiestAfter moving to a new town, two brothers discover that the area is a haven for vampires.Another great movie from the 80's that was musically great.
- DirectorSpike LeeStarsDanny AielloOssie DavisRuby DeeOn the hottest day of the year on a street in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn, everyone's hate and bigotry smolders and builds until it explodes into violence.The music is so important to this great movie!
- DirectorCameron CroweStarsBridget FondaCampbell ScottKyra SedgwickA group of twenty-something friends search for love and success in grunge-era Seattle.Any movie with Alice In Chains singing Would? live is on the list.
- DirectorLana WachowskiLilly WachowskiStarsKeanu ReevesLaurence FishburneCarrie-Anne MossWhen a beautiful stranger leads computer hacker Neo to a forbidding underworld, he discovers the shocking truth--the life he knows is the elaborate deception of an evil cyber-intelligence.Groundbreaking movie, groundbreaking music.
- DirectorBrian HelgelandStarsHeath LedgerMark AddyRufus SewellAfter his master dies, a peasant squire, fueled by his desire for food and glory, creates a new identity for himself as a knight.Rock music in a period piece is pure genius.