Great Musical Movie Montages (not named Rocky)

[IrishCanadian25]

Outside of Rocky 1-4, I am seeking a comprehensive list of the greatest movie montages of all time, that is to say, the points in films in which a number of short scenes were strung together during one song for the purpose of explaining a lot in a short period of time.

For me, it's this one:

[YOUTUBE]1FZ2FA-epcE[/YOUTUBE]

Towards the end of the movie Casino, culminating in the climactic

Spoiler

murder of Nicky Santoro and the car bombing of Sam Rothstein

, music master Scorsese uses The Animals' song "House of the Rising Sun" to lend a hand to months of post-Casino downfall mafia hits. A mess of guys - and an important woman - meet their untimely ends at this juncture of the film, and The Animals' classic tune really sets it off.

So I ask - what are your great musical movie montages of all time, outside of the Rocky films?

 

[Dowdsy McDowds]

First of all, apologies for the volume being quite low, kinda ruins it.

This scene instantly sprung to my mind when I read the title as it has stuck with me ever since I first saw the film 'Tell No One.' A great French thriller with a booming romantic heart, the montage is quite short but is incredibly powerful all the same. The combination of images from both the happiest and most sorrowful days of people's lives with Jeff Buckley's version of Lilac Wine playing over the visuals while the hero of the piece drowns his sorrows is a great piece of direction.

As Casino has already been mentioned, I'd say the Layla montage from Goodfellas is also worth including.

 

[Dowdsy McDowds]

I thought of this one last night after I logged off, hence the double post.

As a fan of the comic book, I thought the montage at the start was a great way to fill in some of the gaps from the original Minutemen to the present Watchmen, as well as presenting an alternative history of past occurrences. The use of Dylan's 'Times' is a perfect song choice, but the entire song catalogue in the film was essentially a given as Alan Moore either used song titles or lyrics from songs as the chapter titles to fit what was happening in the story.

The film itself still seems to be somewhat divisive between fans, but I was very impressed with Snyder's imagining of the original material and made the right call to alter the ending.

 

[Poop Master Flex]

My personal favorite is this:

[YOUTUBE]JU9Uwhjlog8[/YOUTUBE]

I'm a huge Team America fan and what's better than a montage where the song playing is about montages. Outside of it's hilarity it does what a montage is made to do, instead of showing Gary figure out how to train to be a full Team America member they did it through a montage in a minute with a catchy montage song that reminds you of Rocky.

I'm a fan of anything to do in this movie, it's definitely one of my favorites and its one of my top 5 favorite montages in a movie for no other reason its utterly ridiculous, hilarious and gets pulled together with the perfect song for the montage in question.

 

[George Steele's Barber]

Great question, every Rocky montage came to mind before I could come up with something else.

If you haven't seen the original Karate Kid movie you should smack your parents because you have suffered from abuse for not forcing you to watch this movie.

The tournament scene where Daniel LaRusso mows through the rest of the tournament field with Joe Esposito's Best Around blaring in the background is monumental montage movie making.

Honorable mention to Stan Bush's The Touch from the Transformers Movie (the one from 1986, not that Michael Bay/Shia LeBeouf ruin my childhood crap). Just an awesome song of pure cheese.

 

[Mitch Henessey]

The Departed

[YOUTUBE]V4nUFxsZqpA[/YOUTUBE]​

Scorsese can always pick the perfect songs for his film, and over the years, "Gimme Shelter" by The Rolling stones has become a signature theme for a handful of his popular films. You'll hear this song in Scorsese's crime dramas, but it never gets old. Gimme Shelter always fits within the context of his montages, and this song was a PERFECT choice for The Departed's intro. In this particular montage you get a brief history lesson on Jack Nicholson's character, and you get to see how Frank Costello groomed a young Colin Sullivan (Matt Damon's character) into his trusted protege. Jack Nicholson is just amazing in this scene, and here you will see a brief glimpse of his fantastic performance in this film.

The Departed- Pick #2

[YOUTUBE]xrc1prw96-Y&feature=related[/YOUTUBE]​

A bit shorter than my first pick, but I still love this montage. "I'm Shipping Up To Boston" by The Dropkick Murphys is the name of the song used in this montage, and in this clip, you get to see Leo's time in jail, as he prepares to infiltrate Costello's gang. This song really compliments the rough, gritty side of prison. Also, this track can bring out strong feelings of Boston pride (an important factor, because Boston is used as the setting for this film), and Scorsese proves to be a master of music again with this choice.

Teen Wolf

[YOUTUBE]Yjff7tS8MxY[/YOUTUBE]​

Teen Wolf receives a lot of undeserved hate. It's a fun and unique comedy, but I won't defend the shitty sequel.

"Win In The End" by Mark Safan is the name of the song used here. Michael J. Fox drops his wolfman alter ego here, and he becomes a team player in the process. The Beavers rose to the occasion, and "Win The End" really enhances the feel-good vibe here, while providing some great 80's nostalgia.

Scarface

[YOUTUBE]vT8OU5WtfkQ&feature=fvwrel[/YOUTUBE]​

If I remember correctly, IC isn't the biggest fan of Scarface, but I couldn't leave this one out!

Refreshing. That's the one word I would use to describe this montage. Throughout this film, Tony is a raging asshole, but he's actually happy in this montage. You get to see Tony's rise to power here, and Paul Engemann's "Push It To The Limit" fits with Tony's crazed determination to be the #1 guy in the drug business. In this montage you'll see some foreshadowing for Gina and Manny's relationship, the peaceful business relationship between Tony and Sosa, and Elvira's troubles as a junkie/alcoholic. A good amount of material is showcased during this montage, but everything flows so smoothly, and I can watch this one over and over again.

I love this montage, but that fat fuck Rick Ross (or Ricky Rozay) almost ruined this song for me. His remix version is shit, the music video is shit, and his poor attempt at paying homage to this montage is just laughable.

Fight Club

Video here: http://blip.tv/digitalpolyphony/fightclubmontage-2438259​

Definitely one of the more unique movie montages, and you can thank David Fincher for that.

"Homework" by The Dust Brothers is the song used here, and this track was a wonderful choice for this montage, especially when you consider the bleak, gloomy atmosphere of Fight Club. I LOVE Fight Club, and this montage is one of the true highlights of this film. This montage gives you a perfect blend of chaos, mayhem, and humor. Like the majority of Fight Club, the cinematography looks amazing in this scene. The visuals are beyond impressive here, and you get to see some of the superb chemistry between Edward Norton and Brad Pitt.

 

[LigerBomb]

As already mentioned by XP, you have to also include the
following montage from Goodfellas:

Spoiler

[youtube]BbwFXngs9Lw[/youtube]

It's something of a stylistic prequel to IC's Casino entry. The
brutality of the scenes mixed with the beauty of the music is
excellent. Rather than directly enhancing the effect, as the
use of House of the Rising Sun does in Casino, the outro to
Layla creates a similar build in tension via its obvious incongruity.
Pretty awesome.

So awesome, in fact, that it's parodied in the season one
episode of NBC's Community, Contemporary American Poultry
–itself being a masterfully executed Goodfellas send-up.

Can't find a clip

Oh, and I can't leave without mentioning another (relative)
oldie but goodie:

Spoiler

[youtube]iBktYJsJq-E[/youtube]

This is probably the epitome of 80's cheeze. Yet some how
it works brilliantly. That you could even be so earnest with
such drek is really a testament to the times and definitely
something to miss these days. This whole, ironic hipster
post-sarcasm era could never create something as good.

Homage (HD has better music):

Spoiler

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[Death Before Disco]

I can't find a short clip of it, but the house cleaning montage from The Revenge of the Nerds is classic. I especially like when the robot traps Poindexter in the corner and makes him scream. What is it with the 80's and shitty robots?! LOL. The song is also classic 80's cheese.

Good thread idea. I'll try to think of some more tonight

 

[Dowdsy McDowds]

I was going to make a post about this film in Mitch's 'Chase Scenes' thread, but in the end I think it's montage deserves more of a mention. After finally out-running their pursuers, Butch and Sundance then decide to start anew and plan to travel to Bolivia, stopping at some east coast places along the way.

The sepia tinted still images coupled with the music provides such an obvious break from what has gone on before and gives the audience a chance to re-group after observing what has essentially been a prolonged chase sequence. The mix of classic photos with photos of the trio taken with an old camera is such a great idea too.

 

[Alex]

My favourite music montages seem to come from the 80s. (Seriously can't think of any good ones later than that)

[YOUTUBE]Q8UGAbAPPkk[/YOUTUBE]

So Bill and Ted have left their historical figures at the mall alone and hijinks ensue. I've always loved this scene ever since I was a kid, its funny because what each historical figure does is related to what their famous for (Genghis Khan destroying stuff, Joan of Arc rallying people, Beethoven playing etc) and the neo classical track playing over the top is brilliant.

 

[Mitch Henessey]

Donnie Brasco

[YOUTUBE]Ld3o8r81GCQ[/YOUTUBE]​

Yeah, I know what you're thinking....the song doesn't fit. "Happiness" by The Pointer Sisters might seem like an odd choice. After all, this montage showcases Sonny Black's (Michael Madsen) rise to power, as a brutal crime lord. But celebrating good times is one of the more important themes during this montage, so when you stop and think about it, this song really is the perfect choice.

This is one of my favorite crime drama montages. The dancing scenes are pretty funny, you'll see Johnny Depp struggle with the lifestyle of an undercover FBI agent, and you also get to see the cold-blooded side of Madsen's character, as he rises to the rank of a boss.

Back To School

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Back To School is hilarious, and I'm tempted to choose this film as my favorite #1 comedy of all time. Anyway, Danny Elfman provides the score for this montage, and in this clip, you'll see Rodney Dangerfield's determination, as he prepares for the big final exam, and a crucial one-on-one showdown with the pesky Dr. Phillip Barbay. This montage is packed with plenty of funny moments, and this montage never reaches the cheesy, clichéd levels of other 80's "training montages." You can appreciate Thornton Melon's (Dangerfield) hard work, and laugh at the same time. In a lot of ways, this montage pokes fun at the serious nature of all those other training montages, and I actually enjoy this approach.

 

[Wolf Pac]

[youtube]4R3ywUSqrn8[/youtube]

This is where Peter Parker decides to give up being Spiderman. Watching Peter going about his business all happy and smiling to Raindrops Keep Falling On My Heads just makes me burst out laughing but it also gives me the feeling that the world will be actually better off without Spiderman, that is until the next scene in the film where some old lady is getting mugged in an alley then it makes me beg for Peter to become Spiderman again.

Some other good montages that come to mind are the Lord Of The Rings opening scene, that one gives me the chills just watching it; Kickboxer & Bloodsport have a few good ones; Arnie's character preparing to battle the alien in Preator; A training montage of Tom Hardy & Joel Edgerton's characters in Warrior; White Men Can't Jump, which is my favourite film of all time, has some good Basketball montages; The intro to Bronson, not really sure if it counts as a montage though; And Dumb & Dumber, where Harry & Lloyd are preparing for the ball, which is pretty funny; A montage in the Hurricane, where Rubin Carter is training to "turn himself into a weapon" as he puts it, in prison.

 

[Starcaller_Nasath]

Great question, every Rocky montage came to mind before I could come up with something else.

If you haven't seen the original Karate Kid movie you should smack your parents because you have suffered from abuse for not forcing you to watch this movie.

The tournament scene where Daniel LaRusso mows through the rest of the tournament field with Joe Esposito's Best Around blaring in the background is monumental montage movie making.

Honorable mention to Stan Bush's The Touch from the Transformers Movie (the one from 1986, not that Michael Bay/Shia LeBeouf ruin my childhood crap). Just an awesome song of pure cheese.

This!

That part was always my favorite. The song really just fit it so well, and to think it was originally written (and rejected) for Rocky III.