Source: Bill Murray eye to eye with a gopher in a scene from the film ‘Caddyshack’, directed by Harold Ramis, 1980. (Orion Pictures/Getty Images)
Music and movies have gone hand-in-hand since before the movies themselves had any audio. A soundtrack can make or break a movie, and a great song can immortalize an entire scene or even the movie itself forever, if it’s used just right.
RELATED STORY: 25 Forgotten Hair Metal Songs That are Awesome
RELATED STORY: 25 Rock Songs to Add to Your Summer Playlists – June
RELATED STORY: Grab Your Popcorn: 25 Iconic Rock Songs Made for the Movies
Rock music has had a place in movie soundtracks for decades, with songs from the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s finding their way into mainstream movies to this day. On this least, we look at 40 rock songs that made iconic movies better:
1. ‘Born to Be Wild’ – Steppenwolf
Movie: Easy Rider (1969)
Set during the opening of Easy Rider, as the bikers head out on the open roads across some beautiful American landscapes, Born to Be Wild sets the tone the movie strides for immediately. Steppenwolf’s gritty track helps solidify the movie’s rough, rebellious and counterculture tone that was synonymous with the movement of the 1960s.
2. ‘I’m Alright’ – Kenny Loggins
Movie: Caddyshack (1980)
As Kenny Loggins embarks on his quest to dominate movie soundtracks of the 1980s with Caddyshack‘s I’m Alright. The song is a laid-back, smooth, seemingly-worry-free track, dancing gopher and all, that helps the opening scenes portray the message that this risqué comedy is not your dad’s classic sports movies.
3. ‘Eye of the Tiger’ – Survivor
Movie: Rocky III (1982)
Need a motivating track for an ’80s training montage? Survivor’s Eye of the Tiger may be the best of any choices, which is clear when watching Rocky III. The song perfectly compliments the title character’s drive and motivation to train to be the best boxer he can be.
4. ‘Kashmir’ – Led Zeppelin
Movie: Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982)
First dates in high school can be extremely awkward for a variety of reasons, and the close confines of a car don’t help that fact. Nothing portrays that tone better than the tension and emphasis on awkwardness provided by Led Zeppelin’s opening riffs of Kashmir during Mark Ratner and Stacy Hamilton’s date in Fast Times at Ridgemont High.
5. ‘Old Time Rock & Roll’ – Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band
Movie: Risky Business (1983)
Few movie scenes have had the endurance like Risky Business‘ with Tom Cruise’s Joel Goodsen sliding into frame in only a shirt, sock and underpants to the tune of Bob Seger’s Old Time Rock & Roll. It has been replicated and parodied endlessly ever since, and 42 years later, we still love this scene just as much as we did when we first saw the film.
6. ‘Don’t You (Forget About Me)’ – Simple Minds
Movie: The Breakfast Club (1985)
In one of the most famous movie closings ever, The Breakfast Club‘s conclusion carries a ton of emotional weight, as our main characters depart the school after a newfound sense of comradery and friendship brought upon by the events during their time spent in detention. Simple Minds’ Don’t You (Forget About Me) perfectly encapsulates the fear the new friends feel about having their high school roles and social division return upon first bell Monday morning. The moment is capped off by the forever-iconicly-defiant fist pump in the air from Judd Nelson.
7. ‘Danger Zone’ – Kenny Loggins
Movie: Top Gun (1986)
Top Gun was a major boom for the U.S. Navy’s recruitment in the mid 1980s, and its likely Loggins’ Danger Zone played a major role in helping the film achieve the effect. The opening sequence of jets flying around aircraft carriers, landing on the decks as the naval crews are hard at work is fantastic cinema, bolstered by the legendary high-octane track’s instrumental. It’s the perfect way to introduce the audience to the adrenaline fest they’ll experience over the next couple hours.
8. ‘Twist and Shout’ – The Beatles
Movie: Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986)
No better moment in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off captures the sheer magnetism, charisma and carefree personality of the film’s title character like when he hops on a parade float in downtown Chicago and dances and lip-syncs to the Beatles’ Twist and Shout, setting the crowd into a dancing frenzy. Ferris Bueller oozes “cool,” and this scene cements that.
9. ‘In Your Eyes’ – Peter Gabriel
Movie: Say Anything (1989)
In Say Anything, John Cusack’s Lloyd Dobler uses Peter Gabriel’s In Your Eyes blaring from his boombox to say everything to Ione Skye’s Diane Court. This one of the most iconic and parodied movie scenes ever, and its enduring legacy is solidified by the impact of the song. Gabriel’s track is used perfectly to facilitate Lloyd’s intentions at wanting to rekindle their relationship, as his love is something he can’t even put into words – yet it’s so real that this grand gesture needed to be made.
10. ‘Bad to the Bone’ – George Thorogood & the Destroyers
Movie: Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1992)
Nothing sets the tone for a cyborg from the year 2029, who just emasculated a group of bikers in a bar, like George Thorogood’s Bad to the Bone. Donning clothes from one of the unlucky bikers, the T-800 steps out of the bar as the gritty track begins to play, as he systematically scans his surrounds for a ride to get away. The songs helps the movie land the plane on this fact: The Terminator is a total badass, and not to be messed with by any “puny humans.”
11. ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ – Queen
Movie: Wayne’s World (1992)
Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody and Wayne’s World both needed each other to fully cement their legacies in pop culture. Nothing brings the viewer into the wackiness of fourth-wall-breaking Wayne’s World like the film’s main characters singing along to the iconic track as they cruise through town in their AMC Pacer.
12. ‘Stuck in the Middle With You’ – Stealers Wheel
Movie: Reservoir Dogs (1992)
Michael Madsen’s Mr. Blonde is not a very nice guy, but his actions set to the tune of Stuck in the Middle With You displays the pure evil of his character in shocking fashion. Mr. Blonde mocks and dances around a helpless beaten and bound police officer, turns on Stealers Wheel, and proceeds to slice off the officer’s ear with a straight razor in horrifying fashion. This scene but the movie goers on notice about what to expect from a Quentin Tarantino film.
13. ‘Dude (Looks Like a Lady)’ / ‘Shut Up and Dance’- Aerosmith
Movie: Wayne’s World 2 (1993)
Aerosmith had reached an all-time high by 1993 after a string of highly commercially-successful releases, so it was only fitting they’d make the transition from the airwaves to the silver screen. The band performs their 80s mega hit Dude (Looks Like a Lady) and new single Shut Up and Dance at a backyard party, with plenty of Steven Tyler’s showmanship.
14. ‘School’s Out’ – Alice Cooper
Movie: Dazed and Confused (1993)
Alice Cooper’s School’s Out may be a little on the nose when it comes to finding a song for a 1970s last day of school scene like in Dazed and Confused, but I dare anyone to find a better song to back this scene. It perfectly captures the excitement of the kids as they embark on the next three months without responsibilities, while also devolving into the incoming freshmen’s frantic escape from the upperclassmen armed with paddles who are looking for a good hazing.
15. ‘All Along the Watchtower’ – Jimi Hendrix
Movie: Forrest Gump (1994)
There’s just something so fitting about dark-toned ’60s and ’70s music backing scenes and films based in Vietnam, just like in the case of All Along the Watchtower and Forrest Gump. As Forrest and his company trudge through the Vietnamese jungles carefully, the haunting tone set by Jimi Hendrix’s guitar is perfect to show the anxiety and uncertainty U.S. soldiers must’ve been experiencing during one of America’s most controversial wars.
16. ‘Humans Being’ – Van Halen
Movie: Twister (1996)
The last great track of Van Halen’s “Van Hagar” era is perfect for supporting a scene in Twister where a group of ragtag storm chasers frantically set out to chase a developing system. Humans Being, a gritty and heavy hard rock track, is perfect for the rough Oklahoma backroads our heroes traverse as they chase the deadly storm.
17. ‘Sister Christian’ – Night Ranger
Movie: Boogie Nights (1997)
Alfred Molina’s Rahad Jackson is a doped-up local drug dealer who Dirk Diggler, Reed Rothchild and their friend, Todd Parker, are going to attempt to rip off with fake cocaine. Desperate for money, and aware they’re in a dangerous setting, the trio sit uneasily as Rahad raves about Night Ranger’s Sister Christian, as gunshots elsewhere in the house can be heard, spooking the soon-to-be scammers. The track contrasts perfectly with the reality of the scene, and raises the fear Molina’s character inspires.
18. ‘I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing’ – Aerosmith
Movie: Armageddon (1998)
After the events of Armageddon, Ben Affleck’s A.J. Frost miraculously makes it home, after a successful mission to save Earth, despite the loss of several in his crew, and weds Liv Tyler’s Grace Stamper. Aerosmith’s I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing plays as a montage of the pair’s wedding and the lost heroes’ memorial is portrayed. The song is perfect as the movie comes down from the anxiety-riddled heights of the climax, and captures the emotion of being reunited with a distant loved one after quite an ordeal, while balancing the emotions of having just lost beloved friends and family.
19. ‘The Man in Me’ – Bob Dylan
Movie: The Big Lebowski (1998)
There’s no better way to be introduced to the world of The Dude in The Big Lebowski like slow-motion bowling, backed by Bob Dylan’s The Man in Me. The song is laid-back, soulful and has the line “The man in me will do nearly any task…” This foreshadows the events of the film, where despite The Dude’s laziness and zero relation to the cast of characters that are about to pull him into their conflict, The Dude is a part of every event and task the film presents.
20. ‘Dreamer’ – Supertramp
Movie: The Adventures of Rocky & Bullwinkle (2000)
Throughout the first half of the film, the long out-of-action Rocky wrestles with the loss of his ability to fly, which was his claim to fame. Rocky regains his ability to fly through necessity, as he saves Piper Perabo’s Karen Sympathy as their biplane begins to drop from the sky. In comes Supertramp’s Dreamer, an uplifting song that portrays the return of Rocky’s confidence and ability to fly. The song carries the pair to New York City, as they go to stop Robert De Niro’s Fearless Leader.
21. ‘Hip to Be Square’ – Huey Lewis & the News
Movie: American Psycho (2000)
Christian Bale’s Patrick Bateman’s mental state is beginning to spiral quickly as he’s about to kill Jared Leto’s drugged Paul Allen. Bateman begins his spiel about Huey Lewis & the News’ music, set to Hip to Be Square, preparing to dispatch with his victim. The upbeat and positive ’80s tune contrasts with the reality of Allen’s impending doom, making Bateman seem like an even more frightening and deranged character.
22. ‘Tiny Dancer’ – Elton John
Movie: Almost Famous (2000)
As the fictional band Stillwater sits on their bus after the fallout of the previous night’s events, the group and their entourage appear distant, worn out and strained. Elton John’s Tiny Dancer breaks through the cloud hanging over the group, as the bus riders break into song together, dispelling the tension and beginning a path toward healing. It’s a great heartfelt moment in the film.
23. ‘All Star’ – Smash Mouth
Movie: Shrek (2001)
Movie goers were introduced to the animated ogre named Shrek to the tune of Smash Mouth’s All Star. The title character goes about his daily ogre routine, giving a sense of fun that the film is about to embark on. All Star‘s smug tone also gives a little insight to the self-centered lifestyle and personality of Shrek, which compliments his introduction perfectly.
24. ‘Fat Lip’ – Sum 41
Movie: American Pie 2 (2001)
Jim, Oz, Kevin and Finch are about to leave home during their first summer back from college to spend it at a lake house. As they’re backing up Oz’s Ford Bronco, Finch realizes the quartet, even with summer jobs, can’t afford the lake house, leading to Kevin having to break the news to the gang on how they will afford the summer. You don’t hear what Kevin’s solution is, as instead the audience is treated to Steve Stifler’s obnoxious shouting from the back of the Bronco as they’re on the road. Punk hit Fat Lip plays to add to the sense of immaturity and reckless chaos the viewers are about to experience. The song captures the feel of the very early 2000s and teenage angst.
25. ‘Don’t Stop Me Now’ – Queen
Movie: Shaun of the Dead (2004)
Need a song with a break-neck pace to lead the momentum of a scene where characters are trapping a bar surrounded by zombies? Look no further than Queen’s Don’t Stop Me Now, which captures the adrenaline and comedy of Simon Pegg and company’s fight to stay alive as they take on a wave of the undead.
26. ‘Heat of the Moment’ – Asia
Movie: 40-Year-Old Virgin (2004)
Steve Carell’s Andy has come to terms with how he feels for Catherine Keener’s Trish, and frantically takes off after her car on his bike to tell her how he feels. Asia’s Heat of the Moment backs Andy’s chase, displaying his intentions to finally be completely open and vulnerable about the reality that he is a virgin, balancing the over-the-top comedy of the situation with a genuine heart-felt moment.
27. ‘What I’ve Done’ – Linkin Park
Movie: Transformers (2007)
Optimus Prime’s speech at the end of Transformers has become an iconic movie moment for younger millennials and older the Gen Z as the film approaches 20 years since its release. Prime’s message to surviving Autobots across the galaxy is backed by Linkin Park’s What I’ve Done, making it an effective time capsule of 2000s pop culture. The film cuts to credits to the rocking track, setting up what appears to be a hopeful future for our heroes in the fight against the evil Decepticons.
28. ‘Back in Black’ – AC/DC
Movie: Iron Man (2008)
How do you introduce fans to one of the greatest characters and franchises in movie history? To the sound of AC/DC of course. Back in Black sets up the personality of Robert Downey Jr.’s Tony Stark that you’re about to experience right off the bat. The song subverts the tradition of heroic intros and musical scores we had come to expect from super hero movies of the 2000s, portraying Stark as a cocky, self-confident man who is no hero – yet.
29. ‘For Whom the Bell Tolls’ – Metallica
Movie: Zombieland (2009)
Metallica’s For Whom the Bell Tolls welcomes the audience to Zombieland, which despite the comedic situations displayed during the movie’s opening credits, grounds the reality that while the movie is a comedy, Zombieland itself is a very dangerous world full of death and despair.
30. ‘Tops’ – The Rolling Stones
Movie: Adventureland (2009)
James and Joel are operating one of the games at Adventureland, when theme park “it girl” Lisa P. strolls over to meet the pair. The Rolling Stones’ Tops plays as one of the park employees frantically goes around to the other operators shouting that “Lisa P. is back. Joel fills in James on how Lisa P. is the most-attractive employee at the park, and how everyone has a crush on her. The song helps put Lisa P. on a pedestal, as the song talks about a woman set for great heights and importance. It also adds to the effect of the longing characters like Joel have for their beautiful coworker.
31. ‘Shoot to Thrill’ – AC/DC
Movie: Iron Man 2 (2010), Avengers (2012)
Iron Man 2 opens with Tony Stark, as Iron Man, falling from the sky and dodging fireworks to Shoot to Thrill as he flies into the Stark Expo. Given AC/DC’s use in the previous film, the band’s tracks have become the theme songs for Stark, as he is a non-traditional hero with an edge who also doesn’t follow the rules. The song appears again in 2012’s Avengers, as Stark flies in to fight Loki in Germany.
32. ‘What is and What Should Never Be’ – Led Zeppelin
Movie: Silver Linings Playbook (2012)
Bradley Cooper’s mentally-ill Pat, still obsessed with his ex-wife, is frantically searching his parents’ home for his wedding video in the middle of the night. Clearly disturbing his parents and worrying them, they try to get Pat to forget about the video and go back to bed, only causing Pat to spiral further and become increasingly agitated. The slow burn of Led Zeppelin’s What is and What Should Never Be times perfectly with Pat’s growing agitation and spiraling out of control.
33. ‘Sweet Emotion’ – Aerosmith
Movie: We’re the Millers (2013)
It was probably a dream come true for many fans of Jennifer Aniston to watch the ’90s and 2000s sex symbol portray the stripper Rose in We’re the Millers. It pays off in a big way when, in an effort to save her fake family from drug lord Pablo Chacon, Rose distracts the man by performing a dance for him. The scene is bolstered by Aerosmith’s Sweet Emotion, as the songs lends its swagger and hypnotic sound to mesmerize the audience along with the drug lord. The dance ends for Chacon right when Joey Kramer beats the drums and Rose blasts him in the face with hot steam from a nearby hose.
34. ‘Free Bird’ – Lynyrd Skynyrd
Movie: Kingsman: The Secret Service (2014)
Freebird‘s legendary guitar solo pairs perfectly with the situation of escalating violence taking place in a Kentucky church amongst a gathering of a religious hate group. The people in the church, including Colin Firth’s Harry Hart, are all being controlled by cell phone chips that lead those affected to committing violent acts. The wailing of guitars and the song’s frantic pace seemingly drive Harry’s massacre of those around him, giving us one of the best one-take action scenes ever.
35. ‘Go All the Way’ – Raspberries
Movie: Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)
Guardians of the Galaxy‘s soundtrack is perhaps one of the greatest in pop culture history, and proves that classic tracks are more than worthy to have a place in today’s movies. One such great classic track is Go All the Way by Raspberries, which helps to further introduce us to Chris Pratt’s Starlord, his ship and its built-in earthly tape deck. Spaceships were meant to fly off to the tune of great ’70s rock!
36. ‘Brighton Rock’ – Queen
Movie: Baby Driver (2017)
Ansel Elgort’s Baby and Lily James’ Debora are on the run from Jon Hamm’s Buddy, who’s out on a war path for revenge after the death of his wife, Darling. A car chase in a parking ensues once Buddy corners Baby and Debora, as Queen’s Brighton Rock plays in the background. The rapid tempo of the song infuses anxiety and desperation into the pair’s adrenaline-fueled attempt to escape from the deranged killer.
37. ‘Immigrant Song’ – Led Zeppelin
Movie: Thor: Ragnarok (2017)
The mighty Thor gains the true power of a god of thunder, following his sister Hela’s attack on Asgard and losing his eye to her, to free himself and go on the counteroffensive to the tune of Led Zeppelin’s Immigrant song. There’s just something so perfect about Thor electrifying undead enemies to Jimmy Page’s electrifying riffs.
38. ‘Mr. Blue Sky’ – Electric Light Orchestra
Movie: Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017)
Marvel went two for two with Guardians of the Galaxy movie soundtracks the moment ELO’s Mr. Blue Sky begins playing, thanks to Baby Groot, who proceeds to dance around to the music despite the chaos ensuing around him. The choice of putting the melancholy and dream-like track to reintroduce us to the heroes and their latest adventures was perfect.
39. ‘Crazy On You’ – Heart
Movie: Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023)
The Guardians of the Galaxy series makes a third entry on the list, this time thanks to Heart’s Crazy On You. The song creates a growing sense of suspense as Adam Warlock flies across the galaxy to find the Guardians, culminating in him flying through a wall and attacking a clueless Rocket Raccoon.
40. ‘Thunderstruck’ – AC/DC
Movie: Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023)
Super Mario Bros. Movie was a surprise hit in 2023, thanks in part to its soundtrack and use of fan-favorite elements from the video game series. One such great moment is when Mario, Peach and Toad begin to build their karts prior to heading off with Donkey Kong and his army to fight Bowser. With the karts clearly representing the popular Mario Kart series, the anticipation Thunderstruck builds for the silver screen debut of everyone’s favorite video game race cars achieves the effect once they’re revealed.
