# That 'moment' when the magic happens



## shadoe42 (Oct 21, 2010)

So I have lurked here for a very long time and I admit to rarely posting  maybe one day i will work up the courage to post some music even. But a question came up in conversation today that I thought was interesting and thought I would post it here. It has probably already been posted before though...

What are your favorite moments in movies when the music/score so perfectly matches the image that it creates that 'moment' you never forget?

For example - in Jurrassic Park as they top the hill after seeing the first dinosaur and see ALL the dinosaurs roaming and the main theme hits followed by the iconic - welcome to jurrassic park line.. that is a moment I have not forgotten from the first time I saw that film.

another is the solo violin playing the Imperial March as Vader dies in Return of the Jedi

haha look two JW references..imagine that.

Anyway what are yours?


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## robh (Oct 21, 2010)

The lighting of the beacons in The Return of the King comes to mind for me.

Rob


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## IvanP (Oct 21, 2010)

Any ET scene, but specially, all with the harp and strgs in background... Pure Genious:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2vnDz6rQ1FE starting at min 3.

And The Asteroid Field

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpPZgQ04 ... re=related


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## midphase (Oct 21, 2010)

There is a moment in Being There, where the score by Johnny Mandel and the scene are simply perfect. I remember watching the film and thinking "it just doesn't get any better than this."

I can't find the specific clip on You Tube...so anyone interested will just have to watch the entire film!


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## Nick Batzdorf (Oct 21, 2010)

Two classic ones that come to mind: 1. every cue in Psycho, and 2. every cue in Patton (but especially the opening).

And what's that film Henry Mancini scored, where the opening was just a long shot of the scenery while his cue tells the story for about three minutes? I forget, but it's amazing.


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## steb74 (Oct 21, 2010)

For me, Williams is most certainly the master of this.
I think the main reason being is because there is usually, more often than not, a great sense of preparation and resolution, so the 'meat' in the middle resonates much stronger.
The examples that shadoe42, IvanP and Thomas_J referenced are testament to that.

Of course, I don't want to sound as though I think only Williams can achieve this but they're often the ones that touch me that little bit more deeply.


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## IvanP (Oct 21, 2010)

Ste? Buddy? Is that you?


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## steb74 (Oct 21, 2010)

Haha, it is indeed man o-[][]-o /\~O 

Well, my example (sorry, another Williams one)

In The Empire Strikes Back when our heroes are escaping from Cloud City, there is a small fanfare which is followed by an incredible statement of the 'Love Theme'.
For me, this borders on the miraculous


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## drasticmeasures (Oct 21, 2010)

These are all great, some of which I would have listed too! I'll just add...

JW - Last Crusade - This, for me is more subtle than a being 'in awe' moment. The pacing of this score, especially action sequences, is IMO, fantastic. A total 'slower is faster' approach. 
"no ticket" cue in the blimp
The escape sequence with Connery (Scherzo For Motorcycle and orch).

JW - Schindler's List - The "I could have done more" scene.

Hermann - Taxi Driver. Perhaps not as relevant right now, but fantastic

JW - Images. Movie is meh, but the score is WAY ahead of it's time. Things everyone does now, but no one thought of at the time.

Elfman - Edward Scissorhands - the snowing sequence at the end. 

Yared - Talented Ripley - the Crazy Tom cue, when confronting Paltrow in the apartment

Goldsmith - Every cue in Basic Instinct 

Goldsmith - The Omen "Ave Satani"

Fiedel - Terminator. Every appropriate moment for that battery motif

Shearmur - Monte Cristo - Training Montage is really great, and is a perfect pacing. (This was obviously temp for the Cello theme in Pirates of the Caribbean, conformers be damned :wink: ).

Piovani - Life is Beautiful- the ending scene

Morricone - Every cue in The Mission

Thomas Newman - the night escape scene in Shawshank

There are so many more,but I'm out of time!


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## rpaillot (Oct 21, 2010)

Thomas_J @ Thu Oct 21 said:


> Hans Zimmer - Da Vinci Code (the unravelling scene)
> Hans Zimmer - Prince Of Egypt (when Moses splits the ocean)
> Clint Mansel - The Fountain (the whole Death is the road to awe)
> Thomas Newman - American Beauty (paperbag scene)
> ...



I exactly have the same references as you ! It's amazing...

I do agree with Chevaliers de Sangreal. I think it's an amazing piece of music, underrated in the community of Film music ...


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## shadoe42 (Oct 21, 2010)

good stuff all.


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## Ashermusic (Oct 21, 2010)

Randy Newman in "The Natural' when Roy hits the big home run.


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## Justus (Oct 21, 2010)

+1 for "Journey to the Island" - Jurassic Park

My mother once said when we watched this scene: "He MUST have seen the pictures to write the music."


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## Adamich (Oct 21, 2010)

In How To Train Your Dragon. When Hiccup (the boy) is starting to bond with the dragon, then he finally touches the head for the first time. The music and animation meld so well together, it gave me goosebumps.


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## Guy Bacos (Oct 21, 2010)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FTP7XFVGnxQ

"I cannot think of a piece of music and a piece of movie that are a more perfect match than Death in Venice and Mahler's 5. Both are incredible masterpieces."

There's often some misunderstanding about this scene. 

"Theres nothing gay about it, its more of a emotional and spiritual obsession with the boy and his beauty brought on by feeling alone, Gustav von Aschenbach plays orchestra and feels in doing so him and god understand each other (sort of ) and he's looking for beauty that is found in both classical music , god, life and he thinks he's found it in the boy's apperance which grows into love based obsession. Nothing gay in it"


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## midphase (Oct 21, 2010)

Nick Batzdorf @ Thu Oct 21 said:


> And what's that film Henry Mancini scored, where the opening was just a long shot of the scenery while his cue tells the story for about three minutes? I forget, but it's amazing.




A Touch of Evil?


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## Nick Batzdorf (Oct 21, 2010)

That's it!

Plus there isn't a single cut in that whole sequence until the explosion.


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## Craig Sharmat (Oct 21, 2010)

Morricone-For me it's the end scene in Cinema Paradiso where it sums up the main character's life which has now passed him by.


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## synthetic (Oct 21, 2010)

I was listening to the final battle ("Battle of Yavin") from Star Wars in the car last night. It's very difficult for me to not speed when listening to that in the car! And the end of that cue is so edge-of-your-seat. "DUN! DUN DUN! DUN DUN! DUUN DUUN DUUN DUUN..." timpani going nuts. Such a nice tension then release. You're so happy when the explosion finally happens. 

(If someone has the score to this cue, please do not PM it to me.) 

What amazing luck Lucas had. A huge generational leap in special effects, sound effects and soundtrack in one film. Yes he invested in all of those, but he couldn't have anticipated the results.


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## MacQ (Oct 21, 2010)

Lots that have been mentioned ... the Zimmer stuff (Chevaliers de Sangreal in particular works SO well with the film ... this long slow build into "A-ha!" ... great work), the JW Scherzo for Motorcycle & Orchestra from Last Crusade (one of my all-time favourite cues, without question ... I had to buy the score to figure out that damned x/8 timing, so playful with a great quote of his Nazi theme from the same) ... and several others I can't think of right now. Actually, Basil Poledouris' score from The Hunt for Red October, just about everything there ...

Lots. Interesting how melody trumps technique sometimes, and sometimes it's the opposite. A different approach for every scene, whatever works to picture, right?

~Stu

Edit: Oh yeah ... the "Journey to the Island" cue from Jurassic Park. First time I got goosebumps from music in a movie, and noticed the music as being such a part of the film. I was 12, I think.


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## shadoe42 (Oct 21, 2010)

Basil Poledouris - rather fond of the Conan score. the main theme to that is a classic


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## Mike Connelly (Oct 22, 2010)

Lots of moments like this for me in the various Pixar movies. Ending of Monsters Inc, a number of spots in Incredibles particularly the main chase sequence with the flying blades, even some spots in Ratatouille (the sequence of running through the walls and ceiling with the jazz flute comes to mind).


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## alphonse (Oct 24, 2010)

Arvo Part 0oD & Gus Van Sant Gerry http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANoZ0y8pek4
Mystic dimension


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## choc0thrax (Oct 25, 2010)

Some of my favourites have already been mentioned like in Jurassic Park and Scissorhands. I think some more would be:

-The love scene in Mulholland Drive between Naomi Watts and Laura Harring.

-The scene where Sam Neil cuts off Holly Hunter's finger in The Piano http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4upckEHg ... re=related (music starts around 3 mins in)

-John Murphy's music near the end of Sunshine http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3GBXpbsRqLA (starts around 2:45)

-When William Wallace sees Murron in the crowd near the end of Braveheart. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lR8iXWUH ... re=related

-When Eve fixes WALL-E but he doesn't recognize her http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3HIwzZMqufg (starts at like 1:20)

-The final battle between Luke and Vader in ROTJ when Luke screams "Never!" at 3:14 and then goes nuts. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4XMgQUqLZ0

-Season 1 finale of Carnivale. They used Hans Zimmer's Journey to the Line. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iOFVhdnF5Yk

-Season 2 finale of Carnivale. Jeff Beal is awesome. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-VjyiF0VPUE


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## Alex W (Oct 25, 2010)

Return of the Jedi - When Luke finally overpowers and defeats Vader. Goosebumps every time.

Darth Vader: Give yourself to the Dark Side. It is the only way you can save your friends. Yes, your thoughts betray you. Your feelings for them are strong. Especially for... sister. So, you have a twin sister! Your feelings have now betrayed her, too. Obi-Wan was wise to hide her from me. Now his failure is complete. If you will not turn to the Dark Side... then perhaps she will...
Luke: Never!

*Cue music*

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3fQ9ZskcDSI


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## mjc (Oct 25, 2010)

Hans Zimmer - 'Chevaliers Of Sangreal' scene
John Williams - First 5 1/2 minutes (Prelude and Opening Titles) of Superman
James Horner - 'The Legend Spreads' scene (when William Wallace is running through the Scottish Highlands)
James Newton Howard - Ending scenes of Signs (Hand of Fate Parts 1 & 2)
Howard Shore - Lord of the Rings: the whole damn score to picture, though the 'Lighting of the Beacons' and 'Journey to the Grey Havens' scenes stand out to me.
HZ & JNH - The Dark Knight: the interrogation scene when the detuned piano subtlety plays the Jokers theme.
John Powell - How to Train Your Dragon: 'Forbidden Friendship' and 'Test Drive' scenes

so many more though these first came to mind


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