Part Drei: Movie Soundtracks

One would think that a really successful merger of music and film would be the cases where you can't hear the music without immediately drawing a connection to the movie, and vice versa. While this might not always be a good thing; i.e. it might not necessarily equate to said movie being among your favorites, at least it is an indication of a successful soundtrack. Off the top of my head, I can at least list the following cases where this applies* (*Results and Opinions may vary):

• Star Wars (all of them) - Duh.....
• Titanic - "Near, Far, Where-eeeeeeeeever you Are.."... not a favorite, but I sure know where it's from
• 8 Mile - Rockin' movie and a kick-ass soundtrack. The version of Sweet Home Alabama is priceless...
• Shine - Rachmaninoff and
• Immortal Beloved - Gary Oldman as Beethoven - fantastic incorporation of music. One of my favorite movies as well
• Rock Star - Sometimes this reminds me of the gigs we used to play - awesome music in this movie
• This Is Spinal Tap - ..other times, this is how I remember gigging :-(
• School Of Rock - ...but this is probably closer to how it really was
• Top Gun - Not a big fan of Tom Cruise, but it's impossible to think about this movie without hearing some of the accompanying music
• Rocky (all of them) - Survivor, James Brown and Vince DiCola......
• Bill & Ted's movies - ..Excellent Adventure and Bogus Journey, respectively. Keanu Reeves playing himself...but dude used Steve Vai for the soundtrack, so I remember...
• Wayne's World I and II - Totally resuscitated Bohemian Rhapsody, Foxy Lady etc. Excellent, Party Time
• Sleepwalkers - I only include this because they used "It's A Monster" by Extreme in the soundtrack..
• Crossroads - Never mind that this movie is about the Robert Johnson legend - it's got Steve Vai!!! And Eugene's Trick Bag sent thousands of aspiring guitarists back to their bedrooms...
• Last Action Hero - AC/DC is included, but the main attraction for me is "Angry Again" - one of my favorite Megadeth songs of all time, and a great crowd pleaser
• Shocker - Crappy flick with soundtrack from Megadeth - "No More Mr. Nice Guy"
• Karate Kid Part 2 - I can't even think about this movie without hearing "Glory Of Love" with Peter Cetera. This movie was hyooge when I was in the 6th/7th grade.
• The Adventures of Ford Fairlane - Dice doing "Ain't Got You"...
• Flashdance - Hey; I never said nothin' about having to like the movie...
• Fame - The TV series was infinitely better than the movie.
• Friday The 13th - ....yeah, I know......
• Terminator - You know what I'm talkin' about
• Deer Hunter - Cavatina was also the theme song for some demented Norwegian television program for children
• So I Married An Axe Murderer - Totally 90's, with "There She Goes" and Spin Doctors. Also with Mike Myers' Scottish thang and beat poetry. Party On...
• Doors - Jim Morrison is probably the most overrated lyricist and frontman this side of Cobain.
• The Bodyguard - Haven't even seen the movie, but boy do I ever know what the main song from the soundtrack is..
• Grease - Duh again
• Ghostbusters - Someone ought to pay Huey Lewis and the News every dime of royalty from this theme song...
• Neverending Story - Again, I haven't seen the movie, but Limahl has made a living out of this one song.
• Pulp Fiction - ...the horrible "Twin Peaks" music......
• James Bond - ..i suppose these atrocities should be mentioned...
• The Good, The Bad and the Ugly - Spaghetti Western movies in general
• 2001: A Space Odyssey - Also Sprach Zarathustra
• Pretty Woman - not a favorite, but...
• Dirty Dancing - Patrick Swayze extravaganza
• Notting Hill - Good stuff............

Revised and expanded edition, now including:

• Blues Brothers - memorable stuff for sure. Why on earth didn't they include their version of the Tammy Wynette classic "Stand By Your Man" on teh soundtrack?
• The Godfather - How could I overlook this one.......
• Days Of Thunder - Anyone remember the hit "Show Me Heaven" with Mariah McKee from way back in 1990?
• Beverly Hills Cop - Throwback to when Eddie Murphy had teh ratings
• The Way We Were - Annoying, but true
• Walk The Line - How could I forget?
• More?