How Much Does Music Play into Success...
 

I was thinking about it and was wondering how many of you think that music plays a huge part in a film being long remembered. Not just initially successful, but remembered for long after it was made. And it doesn't JUST go towards movies, but also television or video games, etc.

Thinks like:

1.) Star Wars
2.) Indiana Jones
3.) Jaws
4.) Jurassic Park (yes all Williams themes)
5.) The Simpsons (Danny Elfman score)
6.) Batman '89
7.) I Love Lucy, Peanuts (Linus and Lucy Theme), Andy Griffith Show, etc.
8.) The Wizard of Oz (off to see the wizard/over the rainbow)
9.) Spider-Man
10.) Super Mario Bros.
11.) Donkey Kong
12.) Sonic the Hedgehog
13.) James Bond movies

... just thinking about it. The movies stand well on their own. But when you hear the music, it brings about the "feeling" of the movie and things like that. When I hear the Raiders march, I certainly can imagine all sorts of Indy adventures... it just pumps me up! I think music is an often underplayed importance to any project.

Eh. All good examples of music nearly over-powering the films. Not that the films are bad but what I really respect in filmmaking is when music is used as an organic extension of the film. Music that blends in and only becomes noticeable on a subconscious level is music that is truly skillfully employed.

Greatest example:

2001: A Space Odyssey

I'm a have to agree with Resident Alien for the most part, though I think bombastic, rousing anthems have their place-- in Indy in particular.

From the video game world... If you play REALLY good music, at a really good quality, people will actually THINK that the graphics are better than they are....

The reverse is NOT true... No matter how good your graphics are, if your soundtrack/audio quality sucks people will notice.

isnt it interesting how music can evoke such an emotional response from people

It's true - probably nobody used music to such great effect as Kubrick. I was recently blown away from the Nino Rota score for Fellini's 8 1/2, and obviously Rota's score for The Godfather was crucial to those films. Music is probably the easiest way to nudge the audience towards the proper emotion to feel for a given scene, being far more emotionally evocative than mere image, which is more open to interpretation.

Music definitly is one of the most memorable things of a movie,i know people who dont even like star wars and they hear the song and there like isnt that star wars?so that just show how music plays a major part in a movie ,especially John Williams scores.:D
I love film scores:)

John William's scores are always better than the films he does, even for Indiana Jones. Imagine the truck chase with a lesser, routine action score.