the use of music in scifi & fantasy

[MadaBidyoni]

again - how they used music there?

Mothra's song is sung by the fairies to call to Mothra.

And the tiny singing fairies are kidnapped by an evil show-biz type who forces them to perform at his night club in Tokyo, which is what triggers Mothra's attack on the city.

And more: music is occasionally used to calm the Monster in the old Universal FRANKENSTEIN movie, a schtick that was perpetuated in Mel Brook's YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN.

And didn't MIGHTY JOE YOUNG respond to "Beautiful Dreamer"?

like in the new thunder cats

 

[xortex]

Did they ever do that musical version of 'The last Starfighter'? that must have been interesting. A space opera?

 

[Jan]

The Babylon 5 episode "And the Rock Cried Out, No Hiding Place" used that song being sung at a religious service as counterpoint to a character running and trying to get away from a mob. It made for a really creepy and effective scene.

Jan

 

[RoJoHen]

I think my favorite use of music in Sci-Fi is when Scully sings "Jeremiah was a Bullfrog" to help Mulder fall asleep.

 

[gblews]

Close Encounters of the Third Kind

Awsome. No lyrics but the music was still part of the story.

I nominate that tune Maria Ospenkia(sp) played on the violin in "Frankenstein", the tune she used to soothe the monster and to make him return to the castle.

 

[Greg Cox]

Close Encounters of the Third Kind

Awsome. No lyrics but the music was still part of the story.

I nominate that tune Maria Ospenkia(sp) played on the violin in "Frankenstein", the tune she used to soothe the monster and to make him return to the castle.

Okay, forgive me, but you've got a bunch of old horror movies mixed up here.

The bit with the violin was not from the original "Frankenstein," but from the Mel Brooks parody "Young Frankenstein"--with Cloris Leachman as "Frau Blucher."

This bit was probably inspired by a similar bit of business in "Son of Frankenstein," where Ygor (played by Bela Lugosi) uses a violin to control the Monster.

Maria Ouspenkaya was not in the original "Frankenstein." She played Maleva the gypsy in "The Wolf Man" and reprised the role in "Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man."

It's possible Maleva does the violin trick in "Frankenstein Meets the Wolfman." I can't remember.

 

[Enterprise is Great]

I liked it when Sam and Dean sung Bon Jovi's Wanted: Dead or Alive. Dean's time is almost up and he's going to go to Hell. It's a nice bonding moment between the brothers as time is running out for Dean.

 

[Flying Spaghetti Monster]

[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YK-4SgpAJRs[/yt]

 

[DarthTom]

so - things like that, but not just singing... music etc as a tool for the storyline.

The most famous example is of course 2001 a Space Odyssey where music is an integral part of the opening sequence the the evolution of man from the aliens and of course the sequences in space.

 

[Bob Morton]

And, of course, there's always The Rocky Horror Picture Show.


I don't know if you're interested in books as well as movies and TV, but there are plenty of fantasy novels in which music has magical properties. Like The Armageddon Rag by George R. R. Martin or The Black Opera by Mary Gentle.

In the Trek novels, whenever the crew come across a musical species it is always the most amazing thing they have ever heard - anyone know if they have every encountered an alien race who's singing sounds like someone who has their gonads trapped in a vice?

There's the Voyager Episode where they come across the species that has never heard singing. The Doctor becomes an opera star until they make their own singer that sounds like its (holographic) gonads are trapped in a vice.

 

[Nerys Myk]

A Clockwork Orange and Lovely Ludwig Van?

 

[CorporalCaptain]

HAL sings "Daisy" while his memory is being taken out in 2001.

The Mos Eisley Cantina Band in Star Wars. The musical numbers at Jabba's Palace in Return of the Jedi. The celebrations at the end of ROTJ and TPM; IMO it's unclear whether everybody can hear the music in-universe at the medal ceremony in ANH, though. No doubt others from the Star Wars saga.

 

[gblews]

Close Encounters of the Third Kind

Awsome. No lyrics but the music was still part of the story.

I nominate that tune Maria Ospenkia(sp) played on the violin in "Frankenstein", the tune she used to soothe the monster and to make him return to the castle.

Okay, forgive me, but you've got a bunch of old horror movies mixed up here.

The bit with the violin was not from the original "Frankenstein," but from the Mel Brooks parody "Young Frankenstein"--with Cloris Leachman as "Frau Blucher."

This bit was probably inspired by a similar bit of business in "Son of Frankenstein," where Ygor (played by Bela Lugosi) uses a violin to control the Monster.

Maria Ouspenkaya was not in the original "Frankenstein." She played Maleva the gypsy in "The Wolf Man" and reprised the role in "Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man."

It's possible Maleva does the violin trick in "Frankenstein Meets the Wolfman." I can't remember.

Okay, lets just go with Frau Blucher in Young Frankenstein and Ygor in Son of Frankenstein, then.

 

[gblews]

The Mos Eisley Cantina Band in Star Wars. The musical numbers at Jabba's Palace in Return of the Jedi. The celebrations at the end of ROTJ and TPM; IMO it's unclear whether everybody can hear the music in-universe at the medal ceremony in ANH, though. No doubt others from the Star Wars saga.

But how was the music in these scenes "part of the story"?

 

[Mr. Adventure]

Another entry - Outer Limits: Music of the Spheres

 

[xortex]

A Clockwork Orange and Lovely Ludwig Van?

There's one scene in Clockwork Orange where Malcolm McDowell is actually whistling the theme of the movie itself.

 

[MadaBidyoni]

Another entry - Outer Limits: Music of the Spheres

how they used it there?

 

[CorporalCaptain]

The Mos Eisley Cantina Band in Star Wars. The musical numbers at Jabba's Palace in Return of the Jedi. The celebrations at the end of ROTJ and TPM; IMO it's unclear whether everybody can hear the music in-universe at the medal ceremony in ANH, though. No doubt others from the Star Wars saga.

But how was the music in these scenes "part of the story"?

Well, in the case of ANH, the band stopped playing when Ben sliced off the arm of the alien taunting Luke, then started up again. On the other hand, it didn't miss a beat when Han shot Greedo. No one cared that someone got shot with a blaster; that seemed normal. But pull out a lightsaber, and everyone stopped whatever they were doing. That's telling part of the story right there, since their cover was blown.

Is this sort of thing what the OP is looking for? I don't know.

---

Little Shop of Horrors, in case that wasn't mentioned. But, that was originally not a musical, so was the music really part of the story? I don't know. To me, it was.

 

[Mr. Adventure]

Another entry - Outer Limits: Music of the Spheres

how they used it there?

Come on, it's the internet age, man....
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_of_the_Spheres_(The_Outer_Limits)