Instances where you liked a film soundtrack or score better than the movie itself

Somewhere in Time, 1980. John Barry’s score is still haunting.

Saturday Night Fever.

Romeo + Juliet

Grease

Meant to include this.

Conan the Barbarian

All the Twilight movies

The Big Chill.

Walk on the Wild Side - great title song and Elmer Bernstein score, bad movie

Last of the Mohicans.

Xanadu owns this thread

Purple Rain owns this thread.

Trouble Man - Marvin Gaye.

Great soundtrack, terrible film.

Fort Saganne -- a turgid, soporific would-be epic, enhanced only by the formidable Sahara locations and Philippe Sarde's gorgeous score.

Rocky Horror / Shock Treatment

Across the Universe

The Apple

Shaft

Earth Girls Are Easy

The Blues Brothers

Climax by Gaspar Noe

The Wiz

Most Adam Sandler movies

Saturday Night Fever

Surf II

Back to the Beach / anything Frankie Avalon + Annette Funicello

Teen Beach 1 & 2

Rock and Roll High School

Grease 2

Grease

The Last Emperor

Once Upon A Time In America

The Jazz Singer (Neil Diamond version)

Fame

The Sandpiper

The Schwarzeneggar Conans were greater than the sum of their soundtracks!

Most recently, Mary Queen of Scots (2018). Shit film, magnificent Max Richter score.

FLASH GORDON owns this thread!

Good, the Bad and the Ugly was a great film, too. No need to hate.

The Village People's craptacular YOU CAN'T STOP THE MUSIC.

1980 was the year of the Great Campocalypse. Do you realize XANADU, CAN'T STOP THE MUSIC, THE APPLE and FLASH GORDON all came out that year?

That's an 9.1 on the Shitcher Scale.

The Mission

Madonna's song for "I'll Remember" for the "With Honors" film.

It's one of her extremely dramatic, masterful ballads (which, sidenote, let's talk about how that bitch can barely sing yet has like 10 amazing ballads) but then the movie is super lame. But she looks like a high-fashion model in the video and that song just fucking TRANSPORTS me even though I find Madonna kind of loathsome (and have interacted with her several times and have not enjoyed it). But fuck...that song. That video. "I'll Remember." That's a GOOD fucking ballad.

Reference for R29

Singles

Bugsy Malone

"Bohemian Rhapsody".

The old Gene Tierney movie "Laura" The theme song is haunting.

r29 Why the need to completely disown Madonna? And throw in the usual bullshit? I am sick of the diva wars on this forum when fans of other divas might like something from them yet have to give you 100 reasons why they dislike the singer with the usual fan-girl put downs.

Purple Rain- thread closed.

Greatest Showman. I win.

"I'll Remember" was sublime (sorry but it does need to be used here). Pat Leonard said she handed him the lyrics and wanted to keep the song at a chill level, with no real swells. They wrote the music and her vocal was done in one take. It shouldn't have worked but it did.

The theme from Splendor in the Grass is outstanding. The movie itself is somewhat overrated to me.

The Russia House. The movie is a meh Cold War spy thriller but the score is lush, romantic and jazzy:

Empire Records

Titanic. James Horner composed the soundtrack.

Chariots of Fire, Vangelis.

R42, Trying this again. Film did have fab visuals of hot men running.

The Lion King, purely for the score. The sappy Elton John shit, I can do without

Glory, for me, is one of the best soundtracks ever! I love the movie, but I always think of the music first.

Crooklyn

American Beauty, hated the movie, love the score.

Pirates of he Caribbean

I agree, R43. I fall asleep every time I try to watch Chariots of Fire but the theme gives me chills.

STAR!

Empire Records is a great example

Lost Horizon

The soundtrack was the only decent thing about the Twilight movies, same with 50 Shades of Grey (didn't watched these though)

*watch

Groundhog Day. I would rather hear that chorus sing Pennsylvania Polka again and again and again then have to see that movie again.

[quote] ]. I fall asleep every time I try to watch Chariots of Fire

I feel the same way about The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.

[quote] ]. I fall asleep every time I try to watch Chariots of Fire

I feel the same way about The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.

Did they ever release a Naked Kiss soundtrack?

Legends of the Fall?

I'll throw in LABYRINTH. Though it had some innovative, wondrous visuals, the story was shallow and basic. So I love Bowie's music more and I still listen to it.

Nocturnal Animals

City of Angels

The Song Remains the Same.

Go (1999)

Garden State

Legends of the Fall

James Horner

The soundtrack album of Rodgers and Hammerstein's CAROUSEL is superb, but the movie itself is awful, mostly due to poor direction.

I love both the movie and the score of LAST OF THE MOHICANS.

LEGENDS OF THE FALL is a marvelous choice for this thread.

But John Barry comes to mind more and more -- I'd say A VIEW TO A KILL has one of my favorite Barry scores for a Bond film, but the film is quite poor. But the track "That Fatal Kiss" is extremely beautiful - that horn theme with the pad of strings, accentuated by that harp in the low register. And that flute solo. Gives me chills.

I can't believe that I'm the first person to mention XANADU! It was full of Top 10 hit songs.

The Hours

Ladyhawke

"Can you feel the love tonight?" is an amazing song.

I know Madonna and Elton song hate each other, but they both probably wrote/performed the best 90s soundtrack ballads.

"I'll Remember" and "Rain" are such good fucking songs. Can't believe the Madonna alive in this timeline is the same bitch who did those songs.

On a beautiful summer day, sit on your porch and listen to Steel Magnolias.

Suspiria (1977)

I grew up on a cutout of the LP soundtrack of Star! which I loved. I couldn't believe how bad the movie is. I tried watching it again on dvd but could only get halfway through.

Dr Dolittle is another one with a very good score but when you get the director of Barabbas, Mandingo and The New Centurions directing a musical you get Dr Dolittle.

Laura is a wonderful film and considered one of the great noirs. You really don't like it?

The original Casino Royale owns this thread. Original lps go for a lot of money. But nobody likes the mess of a film.

Doctor Zhivago, the music was lush and beautiful, the story, as dull as slicing beets for a few hours.

Omar Shariff is pretty beautiful as well.

Who's That Girl (1987)

American Graffiti

Forrest Gump

Xanadu

I love the throbbing urgency of this tune featuring two flutes.

(but I don't want to see the movie because it stars plastic nicole kidman)

Poison Ivy. Remarkaby beautiful music for a cheesy erotic thriller.

Goldfinger Theme Song - James Bond

John Barry's score for King Kong 1976 far exceeded the film.

Porky's Revenge -- actually a good soundtrack

Alice's Restaurant from 1967

Great collection of songs

Ennio Morricone's score for Once Upon a Time in the West .

Lara's theme by Maurice Jarre for Doctor Zhivago. Great score, infinitely better than the film - I've tried to watch it twice, lured in by the opening score. One of the most boring movies of all time, despite gorgeous cinematography.

Vangelis' soundtrack for Chariots of Fire.

Actually, his soundtrack for Bladerunner might be the best soundtrack ever. You can listen to it, alone, and feel you've had the same experience a movie can give you. But the movie was also quite good.

Grease. Most of the songs are great, the film not so much.

Garden State. Great soundtrack, meh movie.

I'm probably one of the few people who think that Madonna's "W.E." was a commendable sophomore effort. It is a visually stunning but flawed piece of work. The soundtrack by Abel Korzeniowski, though, is exquisite.

You Only Live Twice

Soundtrack is great, film is OK

Two Of A Kind

The Graduate. But the movie was awesome too.

Natural Born Killers

another vote for Doctor Zhivago

The music (and cinematography) are amazing, but the film is a piece of shit.

Ennio Morricone "The Mission"

Like many Woody Allen films, the music is better: Hannah and her Sisters stands out. A beautifully played bittersweet concerto for two harpsichords by Bach made me purchase that one.

A lot of John Barry themes are from good to average films. This collection and the album “Themes” by Vangelis are great!

I've always liked the soundtrack to 1971's "Nicholas and Alexandra." I also love the movie, but it was nota great box office or critical success.

Tomb Raider 2: The Cradle of Life. Gorgeous work by Alan Silvestri.

Another vote for Legends of the Fall The Cider House Rules Eyes Wide Shut Tron: Legacy The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996)

John Barry owns this thread.

Guardians of the Galaxy