Best Music Moments in Film

[the amazing fro]

What are you favourite movie music sequences/moments? I find the moments that really stick out for me in a film is where there is little to dialogue and the visuals are accompanied by music. It could be part of the score or a pop song but the right piece of music with the right visuals can be mesmerizing. Here are mine:

Taxi Driver- Late for the Sky
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This sequence wonderfully illustrates Travis Bickle's loneliness and the music and lyrics by Jackson Browne complements this beautifully. Never fails to both move and disturb me every time I watch it.


Apocalypse Now- Ride of the Valkyries
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Probably the most famous musical movie sequences ever. Just Amazing

Clockwork Orange- Funeral of Queen Mary
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One of the most unsettling sequences I have ever seen (in some ways more so than the singing in the rain sequence) for two reasons. One, the haunting music and two, Alex's eyes. Complete and utter malice.

The Graduate - Sound of Silence
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Great song and great editing in this sequence both effectively getting across Ben's boredom and the emptiness he feels due to the affair.

The Good the Bad and the Ugly- Ecstasy of Gold
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This sequence really illustrates Tuco's passion and fervour for getting the gold and the excitement is infectious. The visuals and the music merge into one which is harder to do than it looks, though the two masters Leone and Morricone pulled it off brilliantly

There are literally hundreds more. What film music sequences stick out in your mind the most?

 

[Why Are You Crouching Spock?]

The massacre scene in Ran.

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[DACrowe]

The Godfather- Love Theme

Couldn't find a link.

Jaws - Boy Attack

Couldn't find a good link to it either.

Gone with the Wind - As God as my witness..."



Casablanca - As Time Goes By Flashback



Casablanca - La Marseillaise Scene (if you aren't moved by this you have no soul)



Lawrence of Arabia - Any of it


Bram Stoker's Dracula - The Hunter Scene in Carfax Abbey

Couldn't find a link.

Psycho - Shower Scene



Singin' in the Rain - Singing in the Rain


Seven Brides for Seven Brothers - Barn Dance


Top Hat - Dancing Cheek to Cheek



Goodfellas - Then He Kissed Me/Single Steady Cam Shot



Goodfellas - Everybody dies to Layla's Piano Exit


The Big Chill - Opening Through the Grapevine



Pulp Fiction - Girl, You'll Be a Woman



Platoon - Death of Elias (Adaigo for Strings No. 11)



Batman - Finale



And there are many more.

 

[The Navigator]

Vader saves his son (from about 1:30 onwards):
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Indy returns to rescue the slave children in Temple of Doom (audio, no video):
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"Nice shootin' son, what's your name?"
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Alien 3's chilling opening score sets up the scariest scene in the whole movie:
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The ending scene of MotP (from 0:35 or so onward):
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as well as the birth of Batman (from 1:07):
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[Thebumwhowalks]

'Perfect Day' in Trainspotting.

 

[The Morningstar]

A Few Dollars More

 

[ttotheusher]

Couldn't find the video on youtube, but the opening scene in Star Trek, specifically the part that features this track is amazing. I well up everytime.

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[Liam_H]

The ending to 127 Hours, so uplifting after everything that happened. Sigur Ros was a great way to go...

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[Thebumwhowalks]

Couldn't find the video on youtube, but the opening scene in Star Trek, specifically the part that features this track is amazing. I well up everytime.

[YT]G6QPye9IuGs[/YT]

Ah, the bit where 'Thor' dies, haha, eh, it's a good opening scene, but I never got why folk went so apesh** over that bit in particular, sure, it's a sad scene presented, but we never got to know the character at all, in essence he's just some fictional cipher, so I didn't really connect with that to the point of being moved.

edit: in other words, it probably didn't get to me particularly, cause there wasn't enough time for them to convince me he was real, and it was a pretty standard performance, if there had been some kind of outstanding moment of acting in there that conveyed what was being presented onscreen, that could have moved me, but he was far too stoic, I would have had him lose it for a moment there if i was directing, y'know, not too much, but the scene definitely needed something more in order for an unknown character to have such an impact, on my sensibilities anyway.

Now, the one that DACrowe cited above, with Elias getting it in Platoon, that was the kind of scene that got to me, we spent the whole movie with him, and I felt both a combination of sadness and anger at the way he went out.

 

[Kent]

"Needle in the Hay" by Elliot Smith in Royal Tenenbaums

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[ttotheusher]

Ah, the bit where 'Thor' dies, haha, eh, it's a good opening scene, but I never got why folk went so apesh** over that bit in particular, sure, it's a sad scene presented, but we never got to know the character at all, in essence he's just some fictional cipher, so I didn't really connect with that to the point of being moved.

Now, the one that DACrowe cited above, with Elias getting it in Platoon, that was the kind of scene that got to me, we spent the whole movie with him, and I felt both a combination of sadness and anger at the way he went out.

Well, I think that for me, that the team created such empathy for a character that appeared less than five minutes is quite brilliant. It elevated the scene. I agree however, that there are far better sequences in films, Platoon included. I just happened to have watched Star Trek last night.

Another Michael Giacchino one here too:

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[Thebumwhowalks]

Well, I think that for me, that the team created such empathy for a character that appeared less than five minutes is quite brilliant. It elevated the scene. I agree however, that there are far better sequences in films, Platoon included. I just happened to have watched Star Trek last night.

Aye, I thought it must have been something like that, because it's hardly one of the all time greats. But, y'know, even if you thought it was, who am i to argue, but somehow i didn't beleive you thought so either, which you are saying here, haha, i think i am developing psychic powers when it comes to people's posts.

I edited in a bit explaining why the performance didn't get to me so much.

and in the tradition of nominating dvds you have just watched...I have just put Unbreakable on, and I nominate the moment when the music soars up both times during the end sequence... when David raises his head up under the light of the lampost, and realises that this is finally his moment of destiny being put in front of him... and when the kids rescue him from the drowning.

 

[The Morningstar]

Elias' death is gut wrenching. Sargeant Barnes is an underrated cinematic villain. He deserves more mentions in "best villain" lists. Berenger was unbelievable in that role.

 

[mclay18]

I'm shocked no one's mentioned the final montage in TDK. It's probably one of the few scenes where C. Nolan let Zimmer do what he does best... the music and images lead to a knockout finale.

Special notice has to be given to John Powell for "Dark Phoenix Rises", or the pivotal climatic scene in X3. The acting and music in that particular scene elevates a mediocre film, and the music is overwhelmingly good.

Other great musical moments: any of the Sultan's 'toy' scenes in Thief of Bagdad, any of the fight scenes in The Adventures of Robin Hood and the cleansing of the river spirit from Spirited Away.

 

[The Morningstar]

The final montage in TDK is ruined by the awful spoon feeding, fourth wall breaking monologue by Gordon. Great music, well edited, but that speech is basically like "hey stupid people who didn't get the movie! this is what it's about!"

 

[darkseid26]

Amadeus
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[_achilles_]

TDK ending

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Inception ending

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Amazing endings...great score

 

[Snare]

Each and every Rocky montage.

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[ThePowerCosmic]

Spider-Man's final swing, a favorite of mine.
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[darkseid26]

2001, the docking sequence

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[Watchman]

In Dreams, Blue Velvet

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Putting on the Ritz, Young Frankenstein

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Always Look on the Bright Side of Life, Life of Brian

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The Ministry of Information, Brazil

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[steintym]

Each and every Rocky montage.

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I was reading through the responses waiting for a Rocky montage mention. This list would not be complete without those.

 

[THANOSRULES]

End of the Matrix I

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B6klufTgqeY

Conan The Barbarian Intro

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9j6nyEcIk98&feature=related


Transformers Cartoon Intro!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_WKV0ep4h7E&feature=related

Last of the Mohicans final scene

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7tiKM4fxY1U

 

[cherokeesam]

HOLY CHIT, THIS THREAD RULES ALL!!!!

Great concept for a thread.....a great musical moment in a film will forever enscribe a movie in my consciousness more so than any acting, directing, cinematography or anything else.

And you guys have covered some of the true all-time greats, and introduced me to many more.

One I'd like to add is the finale of The Right Stuff:

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Truly magical. I *LOVE* how it juxtaposes the Gemini astronauts sitting there enjoying Sally Rand's Fan Dance to "Claire De Lune," and the scene has a beautiful and melancholy nostalgia to it; and it's great seeing the self-satisfied, almost smug brotherhood and camaraderie between the guys as they take their place in history....

....but Yeager....man. Yeager. That is awesome as *phuck.* Dude nonchalantly (practically) steals a Starfighter and, for the sheer hell of it, aims it at the ceiling and tries to punch a hole in the stratosphere. Never makes it....there's the one wistful moment where the stars try to peep through at the edge of space, but that will always elude Yeager....and he comes crashing back down to earth, literally and figuratively. And then the scene of him walking out of the wreckage and the smoke, his face wrecked, but he's still walking, goddammit....and dragging his chute and helmet with him...

*That,* my friends, is truly not only a great moment in musical and cinematic history, but in the history of mankind. Period. Because there is NO scene in recorded history that truly illustrates "the right stuff" and the sheer courage and audacity of who Yeager is and what he is doing at exactly that moment in time.

 

[Why Are You Crouching Spock?]

A Few Dollars More

The sad "justice is done!" music after that is really good as well.