The Transformers: The Movie (1986)'s Use of the Soundtrack

With Travis Knight's new Bumblebee film right around the corner, I've been looking back on the the oldest installments in the franchise. With Transformers: The Movie in particular, you can so clearly tell where its place in film history lies. Films like this and Rocky IV are so memorable to me because of how it deeply incorporates its soundtrack into the entertainment factor of the film. Moments like this in particular show just how damn fun a good soundtrack moment can make a film. Stuff like this is for the most part not seen anymore. Besides the occasional Linklater or P. T. Anderson prestige film, Guardians of the Galaxy is one of the few big blockbusters to hold the torch. I'm curious to know if there are any other examples I'm forgetting.

Comments

  1. UnknownDecember 13, 2018 at 12:10 AM

    To be honest I have never seen the animated Transformer series or any films. I've only ever experienced the CGI-live action movies with Wahlberg and LaBeouf. I can, however, see what you are getting at in the meaning of the soundtrack. Star Wars at times also hints at certain plot meanings through the music

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  2. Jackson GallatiDecember 14, 2018 at 2:52 PM

    I think many 80s movies accomplish what you're referring to here, but you're right in that it's not very trendy to do anymore. Most recently, I think Into the Spider-Verse had some very fun uses of pop music. I think there's a sort of stigma around it these days because see it as lazy; as if the filmmakers are using the soundtrack as a crutch. That may be true sometimes, but there's something to be said for knowing when music can operate in a way that makes what's being seen on the screen all the more entertaining. If you can count the Mamma Mia films in this category (which may be cheating because they're musicals and are required to have songs in there), then I think that may be one of three things those films are good for: having some fun music not for the story, not for the characters, but because music is just fun to listen to. I would put the Portugese Bowie covers from "Life Aquatic" in there, too.

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