2. Flash Gordon/Iron Eagle/Highlander Queen
Although Queen is featured on all of these soundtracks (which in turn actually helped cement and define the legacy of all three films), I thought I would try to focus on just one of these as the main point. Tom Cruise and Tony Scott (R.I.P.) get a ton of cred for the movie Top Gun and is generally conceived as the film that shot Tom to superstardom, but in all honesty I never understood why it was so popular. It's badly acted, has the worst soundtrack (for a film anyway), cringeworthy dialogue and the less said about the volleyball scene, the better. I like to compare it to Bruce Springsteen's Born in the USA - it was great for about 5 seconds until I realised how c**p it was (it is nothing but a riff on loop & a snare drum for 4 damn minutes straight). Even at the age of 7 I knew this was a dud, for I was a fan of the GREATEST United States air force film of the 80's, "Iron Eagle". It absolutely leaves Top Gun in its jet exhaust fumes. It is well balanced, well directed, well acted (Lou Gossett Jnr, enough said), not so over the top, hasn't aged as badly as Top Gun and the soundtrack was spectacular. It not only complemented the film perfectly but unlike Top Gun, didn't go for that schmaltzy romantic vibe, but opted to include the music as a way to complement and enhance the scene showing on screen, rather than just added post mix to try & sell the record (yes, records). And Queen was thrown to the forefront with their classic One Vision as the main theme for the entire film, accompanying Doug Masters attempts at Top Gun level flying as his own personal soundtrack on his own portable tape deck. This movie made me want to be a fighter pilot (dream unfulfilled), made me want to become a patriotic American and made me fall in love with Queen and the amazing once in a lifetime voice of Freddie Mercury. Every time I heard that song as a child I would pretend to be shooting down Russkies. Now add to that the fact that their song "Princes of the Universe" was the current theme for another favourite film from childhood, Highlander. Well, let's just say that even at a young age, I was totally enamoured with Queen. And if you have never heard the original soundtrack to Flash Gordon, completely written by the band itself, you are missing out on a definitive classic. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVpjqT0pX5c
Brad Lee
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Passions in life: Movies, Music and Wrestling....My childhood was spent growing up in the "Outback" of Australia (I'm a little bit country) and my adulthood resided within the city limits (I'm a little bit rock and roll), so you could say that I am the best (or worst) of both worlds. A 6 foot 7 ex wannabe pro wrestler (whose career was cut short due to a busted back, NOT caused by wrestling) & muso who has a precocious cat & a habit of doing the wrong thing but for the right reasons. The story of my life????
All demos, no albums ;)
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