Mike shares his list of what he thinks are the Top 10 Most Iconic movie theme songs. The most recognizable that even with just a few notes have the ability to put your right back into that movie. This list will only cover instrumentals / compositions (no lyrics!). In the movie review, Mike gives his thoughts on Creed 3, where it ranks in the franchise, was it weird to not have Rocky and how Michael B. Jordan did making his directorial debut. In the Trailer Park, Mike takes a look at yet another Disney live-action Peter Pan & Wendy and how this one might compare to other interrelations of the Peter Pan story.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hello, and welcome back to Movie Mike's movie podcast. I
am your host Movie Mike. Today I want to share
with you my list of my top ten most iconic
movie theme songs of all time. In the movie review,
one of my most anticipated films of the world every three,
my expectations in the rankings of all the other trade
and rocky movies. Yet another, Yes, another live auction remake
(00:26):
of a Disney movie. This time we have Peter Pan
and Wendy. How many more interpretations of the Peter Pan
story can they do? We'll get into all that. Thank
you for being here, shout out the song and as
the power to make a movie legendary. So I want
to share with you what I think are the top
ten most iconic movie theme songs of all time. And
(00:49):
what this means is these are the theme songs that
are the most recognizable. They are the ones that you
hear and you immediately know and can place yourself back
into that movie theater, back into that living room the
first time you watch these movies as a kid or
as an adult. These theme songs have the ability to
ignite an entire fandom, and some of these theme songs
(01:11):
even transcend Some of the movies they are attached to.
So let's get into the list and the ground rules
are all of these songs are purely instrumentals. We are
looking at just compositions made for movies. You're not going
to hear anything like my Heart Will Go On for
Titanic or Lose Yourself for eight Miles. We're just looking
at instrumentals. And what we are going to find is
(01:32):
there are some composers who just dominate movie scores and
dominate theme songs. So we're going to be very familiar
with a lot of these names by the end of this.
So what I'll do is I'll play about ten to
fifteen seconds of each of these to give you some
time to identify the movie, and of course there will
always be some honorable mentions. So let's kick it off
now here is number ten. Can't you name that movie?
(02:15):
That is from Hans Zimmer and the movie is Pirates
of the Caribbean. Hans Zimmer has done so many great
scores for films from The Dark Night to Inception. He
is known for creating very big and grand sounding scores.
Because I think with this song alone, it kind of
takes the Pirates of the Caribbean movies up to an
(02:36):
entirely different level of that entire franchise, which out of
all those movies, I was a fan of about two
point five of them, and the movies were so expensive
to make. A lot of that was to pay Johnny Depp,
which I think his charisma is really what made those
movies successful. But it was all the big ships and
the big fight sequences, and it was Hans Zimmer's music
(02:57):
at the core. That was the glue that kept that
entire movie together, whether you realize it or not. And
I think as we look at all these on this list,
you realize how important music is to movies, and not
just the music with the lyrics, but the scores themselves,
because in our life we don't really have scores to
the things we do. Imagine if we did. Imagine if
(03:18):
you going to the grocery store or trying to make
it to a doctor's appointment on time, had a movie
score to it, what would that sound like? Would it
be more inspiring? Yeah? Probably. You can make even the
more mundane things seem more exciting and grant with a
great score, and that is what these composers do. By
doing this list, I've become more fascinated with scores. So
(03:38):
if you've been watching my Instagram stories lately, I'm putting
a score on everything, and Hans Zimmer is one of
my favorite to put on my Instagram story right now.
So I'll probably get tired of this trend in another
week and a half or so, just because that's how
I do things. But Hans Zimmer is my dude. I
feel like they were just looking for some generic pirate
music when it came to this movie, but he took
it up on an entirely different level and spensive movie
(04:00):
franchise like this needs a big, expensive sounding theme song,
and that is what Hans Zimmer delivered. So I put
him at number ten with Pirates of the Caribbean. Here
is number nine. Can you name that movie? Oh? This movie?
(04:27):
This theme song hasn't me hyped. I hit that and
I instantly wanted to leap out of this chair. That
is from Danny Elfman and the movie is Batman like
that song hit different. As a kid, I didn't know
anything about compositions or composers or theme songs. I just
remember when that song came on, I was about to
(04:50):
watch something awesome. I was about to see Batman. So
even though I didn't realize it at the time, this was,
without a doubt, my first favorite movie theme song as
a kid. And what really put it into perspective is
whenever they came out with a flash trailer, they reveal
Michael Keaton coming back as Batman, and you get this
different version of this theme song, and I realized how
(05:13):
iconic those notes are. Hearing that kind of took me
back to when I first saw Batman for the first time,
so it felt so much more nostalgic. And I feel
like Danny Elfman is a musical wizard when it comes
to compositions. They just have a different sound to them,
And I think the difference in just having a generic
orchestra sound and something that's actually a theme song has
(05:36):
some real detail and something that evokes a little bit
of emotion in you with just some instrumental That is
what Danny Elfman does. So that's why I put Batman
and his theme song at number nine. Here we go
with number eight. Can you name the movie? This one
(06:10):
is unlike any other theme song on the list. It
even has me speaking in a different tone. It is
from John Williams and the movie is Harry Potter and
this theme song, it's so different than all the other
theme songs on the list. It's not as big, it's
not as epic. It's quiet, it's ominous, it is magical,
(06:34):
and it sets the tone for not only the first
Harry Potter movie, but for the entire Harry Potter franchise.
And that is what a good theme song does. And
there is just something about this being the first thing
you hear in a Harry Potter movie combined with the
nighttime scenes. So this theme song in an opening scene
are what dreams are made of. It's one that I
(06:56):
wish I could go back and experience for the first time.
So at number eight is the Harry Potter theme song
from John Williams. Now, as I'm talking in this different tone,
we'll switch it up now and move on to number seven.
Can you name this movie as a very charging sound
(07:30):
to it? It is from Alan Silvestri and the movie
is The Avengers. This theme song is huge for many
reasons that feeling it gives you. It just has that
superhero feeling to it, and the theme is huge for
Marvel and their branding. I felt like this was very
(07:51):
intentional of them always having this at the beginning of
the Avengers movies and you see their now iconic opening
sequence with all the comic book page is reminding you
of all their characters and really establishing their dominance when
it comes to superhero comic book adaptations. So there's something
about seeing those comic book sequences and this playing underneath
(08:13):
that is just engraved into my brain. And even now
going into watching a Marvel movie, even though they change
it up a little bit, even though we don't always
have this Avenger's theme song underneath it anymore, it's really
created a cohesive branding to the Marvel movies and it
gives you that feeling of like, yeah, I'm here sitting
in this movie theater and something spectacular is about to
(08:34):
come on to the screen. So props to them for
really driving that into all of their movies. And I
love how this song was used through all of the
Avengers films and it subtenly became iconic for me, and
I think it's because of the scale of all these
Marvel movies. To me, it became the best superhero music.
Sure you could argue for Superman, which is big, grand sounding,
(09:00):
but for me, it is the Avengers so I put
it at number seven. Moving on now to number six,
can you name this movie? We have another John Williams
(09:25):
entry on the list. And as we move through this list,
if I've done it to the best of my abilities
and how I set out to make this episode is
they will become more and more recognizable as we go.
You should be able to get them with and I
would say at least three notes. Some of these you
can get within that first note. This one, I would
(09:45):
say maybe the first three notes. But it's so instantly recognizable,
and this movie feels like an adventure to me. And
the movie I am talking about is Indiana Jones. When
I hear this song, I see Harrison Ford. I see
him in the get up, I see him with the whip,
I see the title sequence. I see those orange and
(10:06):
yellow letters in that glorious fun and it embodies all
the things that I look for going into a summer blockbuster.
And I can't wait to see the new Indiana Jones movie.
And much like I did in the flash trailer, I
also realized the power of the theme song in the
latest Indiana Jones trailer because you see Harrison Ford. But
there's something about hearing those notes and hearing that music
(10:29):
that really brings it all together. And as a movie fan,
I wouldn't put any of the Indiana Jones in my
top ten, not even top twenty movies of all time.
But I can respect this song. I can respect what
that franchise means to movie history. So I feel like
this song even transcends any one individual Indiana Jones movie.
(10:49):
So that is why I put it at number six.
Moving into the top five, here is number five. Can
you name the movie we got back to back? John
(11:16):
Williams entries here, one note is really all you need
on this one, and the movie is Jaws. Even before
it gets into the vicious orchestra part, you already know
what this movie is. You know exactly the feeling you
get when you hear this song. And what I love
(11:37):
about this movie theme song is that I really haven't
seen this done in a while, and I feel like
more movies could benefit from this. But the movie theme
song itself personifies the monster in the movie, and that
is iconic in itself. When you hear this song in
the movie, you know that means you're about to see
a glimpse of Draws. He's about to kill somebody he's
about to attack. And I was watching Cane Bear recently
(12:01):
and I left that movie thinking if they would have
had that approach with the Cocaine Bear, of creating some
kind of iconic theme song or even just some iconic
sound that lets you know as the audience that you're
about to see the bear, you're about to see the monster.
I think that movie would have had a little bit
more impact on me and could have created a legacy
one like Jaws did so many years ago. It reminded
(12:23):
me of learning about music and elementary school. I remember
my third grade music teacher, Miss Barcas, and she would
make us watch Peter and the Wolf all the time,
and in that we learned about different instruments because in
that musical, all of the characters are represented by different instruments.
So it's a flute, it's a clarinet, it's a French horn,
(12:47):
and anytime you hear those different instruments, you associate it
with an animal. And maybe that's the only thing I
really retained from elementary school at all, aside from basic
reading and math, but that has always stuck with me.
So maybe that was the ration here for John Williams.
But it's an iconic sound, it's an iconic score, it's
an iconic theme song. And that's why it's at number five.
(13:07):
That is Jaws. Let's move on now to number four.
Can you name this movie? We have three in a
(13:30):
row here from John Williams. The movie is none other
than Jurassic Park. This song made me believe in dinosaurs.
And we go back to talking about wanting to place
ourselves in a position to where we could watch a
movie for the very first time and feel those same emotions,
and this is a theme song that captures that. When
(13:51):
you first hear the song in this movie, it's the
first time that you are seeing the dinosaurs in all
their glory, and it's a moment in a movie that,
as the audience, we also feel exactly what the characters
are feeling. They really hadn't seen the dinosaurs up close
and personal, and it is as mind blowing to them
as it is to us viewing the movie, and just
(14:14):
to look on their faces and Laura Dern just having
this expression of complete and utter awe and it all
goes back to that theme song of hearing that and
seeing all those dinosaurs walking along in Jurassic Park and
aside from what it does and what it means to
the movie, it's just a great piece of music. You
hear this and you don't even have to know anything
about classical music, anything about any kind of orchestra. You
(14:37):
just hear this and it's like, yeah, that's good. That
is epic. So that one we put at number four
with Jurassic Park, but it's not the last we will
hear of John Williams on this list. But here we
go now with number three. Can you name the movie?
(15:09):
This one is from John Carpenter, who also directed this movie.
He is responsible for one of my favorite movies of
all time, even transcends the horror genre, and this theme
song itself is bigger than the movie. The movie is Halloween,
so I feel like this is not only the main
theme for the movie Halloween, but I think we just
(15:31):
associate this song with the holiday, and it's just a
few chilling notes, just that piano, the bassline, and the piano.
It's one of the only songs I can actually play
on piano. So maybe that's also why I have some
bias towards this song. It's the Halloween theme song and
Rugrats that I can play on piano, but the power
(15:54):
that just those few notes in this song with such
fairly light production. Now, this movie was made on a
very low budget, it was made very quickly, but now
has sparked a franchise that has been going on for
decades now, since the seventies. And you watch Helloween without
the music, and you don't have a movie without this song.
(16:15):
This movie does not have the same impact. Michael Myers
doesn't seem scary. His subtle slow walking or getting up
or killing people doesn't have the same effect. It is
this theme song and the entire score in Halloween that
makes that movie scary. It's so subtle, it's so eerie,
but it is so iconic. And I love how they
(16:38):
have kept this theme song throughout the entire franchise. They
mixed it up here and there. John Carpenter, it's just
so great at making eerie music. He has such a
great composer. If you break it down musically, the theme
song has some really weird timing, so you have this
just obscure sounding song that works so well. I don't
think it's more iconic than when made two in one,
(17:00):
but man, it is such a great theme song. So
at number three as Halloween from John Carpenter. Moving on
to number two, Can you name the movie? This is
(17:26):
from Bill Conti and it is the theme from Rocky.
It also goes by the title of Gunna Fly Now.
And I guess I had to make a bit of
an exception for this one because it does have some lyrics,
very few lyrics, But I feel like even if you
took those lyrics out, it would still be, without a doubt,
so recognizable. You don't need the lyrics to have the
(17:47):
same impact. It's just hearing those first few notes. This
makes me want to just bust into a montage right now.
I'm gonna go have a montage. But this is the
song that inspired this entire list, this entire episode. Going
into Create three and I went back and rewatched the
(18:08):
first Rocky and I started to question whether or not
the movie theme song is dead. We still have songs
written for movies, and those songs still have a similar impact,
even though that's not as great anymore either. But when
it comes to movies just having as hard of a
theme song, like a Rocky theme song, it just doesn't
(18:29):
really happen anymore. And I started to think if my
life had a theme song. What would it be? In
my head, it's something that goes really hard, makes me
feel like I'm doing something epic. I go back to
my boy Hans Zimmer and the movie theme song I
think fits my life in my head at least is
the main theme from The Dark Knight. I picture myself
(18:53):
getting ready for work to this song, like I'm bout
to go in and do some damage, even though I'm
just to go in and produce a radio show. Or
maybe it's something like the Spider Man movie theme song,
picture of myself on a run, jumping through things, hopping
(19:18):
over fences. But in reality of my movie theme song
is probably Married Life from Pixar's Up. It's just over
here trying to live a normal life. That is probably
my life theme song. But anyway, back to Rocky, this one,
(19:39):
this should be all of our lives theme songs. We
should all want to be like Rocky, all right. So
before we get into what I think is the most
iconic movie theme song of all time, gotta throw in
some honorable mentions here. One that almost made my list,
and it almost snuck in there, but it would be
(20:01):
the Home Alone theme song, also from John Williams. I
just don't feel like this one is as recognizable. It
goes great in the movie, but I feel like if
you take this out of it, you don't hear it
and immediately think of home alone. But it just feels
like Christmas to me. It feels like snow falling on
(20:25):
the ground to me. I mentioned this one earlier, but
Superman almost made the list. I'm not the biggest fan
of the Mission Impossible franchise, but it had a great
theme song in that same vein. You also have Top Gun.
(20:49):
Another movie series I'm not the biggest fan of but
also has an iconic theme song. Is The Godfather or
movies like James Bond, And then I wanted to go
into just some of my favorite movies that I love
(21:11):
the theme songs, but I don't feel like they're that recognizable,
even though I feel they're very important to the feeling
of all these movies. So movies like Blade Runner twenty
forty nine has probably the best score in the last
ten years. There's just so many great sounds in this
movie that make it an even better sci fi movie
for me. It really takes it up an entirely different
(21:33):
notch on the old amplifier. When it comes to even
just the notification tones in that or bringing it all
full circle, the text tone in that movie is actually
from Peter and the Wolf. This is my favorite song.
I just love me some Peter in the Wolf. I
also really love the Black Panther theme. The Shaft theme
(21:58):
is iconic, just that high hat or also movies like
The Exorcist. And then one movie theme song from a
movie I did not expect to like. I don't like
period pieces whatsoever, and for some reason, I just felt
(22:21):
like I needed to watch the Favorite and I ended
up completely loving that movie and all of the classical
music throughout that entire score, like for a week straight.
This was just me and my Ford focus going hard.
(22:42):
But those are all the honorable mentions. So now number one,
What is the most iconic theme song of all time?
Think about it for a second. What do you think
would make this list at number one? You'll know it
by the first note here. It is Let's Go, composed
(23:09):
by none other than John Williams in the late seventies.
This is a theme song that not only makes this
movie the first Star Wars movie, it makes the entire franchise.
It is the most epic piece of music ever written
for a movie. Let me state that again so I'm
clear and on the record. It is the most epic
piece of music written for a movie ever. It's that
(23:33):
combined with a yellow letters scrolling the screen in this
crawl that we had never seen before in a movie,
but now is the recipe for a Star Wars introduction
to a movie. So that is it. That is the
(24:02):
list of what I think are the top ten most
iconic movie theme songs of all time. If you think
I miss one, if you think I messed up the ranking,
what should have been on the list, what should have
been off the list? Let me know. Hit me up
on Instagram, Twitter, or TikTok, Mike Distro on all those
or you can always find the links in the episode
notes of this podcast. I'll come back. I'll give my
(24:24):
spoiler free review of Creed three, the movie that inspired
this entire topic this week, and then in the Trailer
Park we'll talk about our first look at Peter Pan
and Wendy coming later this year on Disney Plus. Let's
get into a spoiler free movie review. Now. If you're
watching on YouTube, you can see that for this review.
(24:45):
Since we're talking about a boxing movie, I'm wearing some
boxing gloves, or maybe you're watching a clip on TikTok
or Instagram and thinking why is he wearing boxing gloves?
Because I get into my movie roles, I'm like a
method actor movie reviewer. But let's talk about Creed three,
one of my most anticipated movies of the year. I
love me so Michael B. Jordan and Jonathan Majors has
(25:05):
now probably entered my top five, if not top three
actors right now. So not of all time, but if
actors who I'm interested in watching their movies right now,
he is right up there because he is such a
dynamic actor. And I'll get into more of how I
feel about his range in movies now, But from the trailer,
going into it and seeing them too together, I thought
(25:26):
this could be the most dramatic Creed movie yet, maybe
the best one in the franchise. So we'll see what
ended up happening. But before we get into this entire review,
here's just a little bit of the Creed three trailers.
Damien's fighting the world and he's trying to hurt people.
I founse few you think you mad try spending half
(25:46):
your life in a sale. Why does somebody else live
your life. I'm coming for everything. You're threatening. Something's going
on with you. Damian was like family. Now we passed talking.
Then maybe you just have to find am. So let's
(26:07):
talk about what Creed three is about. You have Adonnas
Creed back. The movie starts with him going out on
top and then enjoying retirement, enjoying spending time with his family,
and enjoying the life he is able to live because
of what boxing has done for him. But then someone
from his past comes and knocking, and it is Jonathan
Major's character named Damien. They were friends as kids, they
(26:28):
were both up and coming and boxing, but then one
night they both get involved in a situation and Damien
ends up in jail twenty years later is where you
find him in Creed three. He gets out and he
just wants a shot at getting back into the ring,
and that's where Adonnis comes in and you really learn
more about his backstory, more about what actually happened to
(26:51):
land him in prison. So I did enjoy that you
didn't learn everything up front. I think that probably would
have wasted a little bit of time, And instead you
learn a little bit more and more about that night
as you go along, so it adds a little bit
of mystery to it. And right out of the gate,
I felt like Jonathan Majors was such a great villain,
and there's just something about the way he delivers his lines,
(27:13):
something about the way he approaches a character. Even thinking
of what he did with Kang and Aunt Man, he
just plays a villain so well, to the point to
where you almost want to trust him. You think, oh,
maybe he's not such a bad guy, but then boom,
he comes with it and he is this just utter
force that you can't help but want to root against,
(27:35):
You can't help but want to fight him and take
him out. He does that so well. So there's so
much credit that I give to Jonathan Majors and his
performance in this entire movie. I almost feel that it
overshadows anything that Michael B. Jordan did it in this movie. Now,
Michael B. Jordan's not only start in this movie, but
he also directed it, and I kind of felt that
(27:55):
it was his directorial debut, and there were some aspects
of this movie looking at it that it felt like
the first time he directed a movie. Because that's a director.
Your job is to get the best performances out of
all your actors, and I didn't really think he did
a good job at that. And I know Rocky movies,
Creed movies always have a little bit of cheesiness to them.
(28:19):
They're just the tad like cheese whiz on every single
Rocky movie, and this one. There were some lines in
this movie that would be cheesy no matter who was
delivering them. But I felt like the line they ended
up using in the movie on some of these characters,
it just sounded like bad acting. So it was bad delivery,
and maybe all they needed was to do was take
(28:39):
another take or just do something to get a little
bit better performances out of some of these actors. So
that was really the main thing I picked out on
his directing abilities. I guess after watching the trailer, I
thought they were going to step up the drama a
little bit more. And I don't know why I was
going into a movie like this expecting like some really
renowned performances from all of the actors, but like Michael B.
(29:00):
Jordan was a little bit flat. I've seen him put
more life into the Creed character in the previous two films,
and I felt like him as a Donna's Creed was
not as strong as Jonathan Majors as Damien, but overall
their relationship in the movie, their chemistry worked really well together.
Was this movie hurt by the fact that Rocky Sylvester
(29:21):
Stallone was not in this movie at all? Surprisingly, I
don't really think it was. I don't really think it
was necessary. This movie was very much the story of
a donna's Creed. It was so focused on him, his
moral dilemma, all of his past demons coming out to
the forefront in this movie. I felt like it would
have been muddied if Rocky would have been in this movie.
(29:42):
So I don't think it was hurt by the fact
that he did not have a supporting role in this movie.
It was a little reminiscent of Rocky One. There were
some references to that movie, so I feel like, if anything,
it would have only benefited from a Rocky cameo. That's
all you needed. I felt like it would have been
dragged down by the fact of Rocky doing the same
(30:04):
old thing about I don't think you should fight in this,
you know, doing that whole role, doing the old wise
guy trying to protect Creed. I don't think we really
needed that, So I don't think the movie was hurt
by the fact that we didn't have Rocky. I just
wanted something else to take it up on a bit
of a more emotional level. And going into this movie,
I was putting it at a four point five based
(30:25):
on what I'd seen, based on the fact that I
love both actors in the leading roles. It's just crazy
to me how much the Creed movies have changed over
two movies, and also just how much the entire idea
of a fighting movie like this has changed since the
original Rocky from the seventies, which I went back and
watched just because I had a feeling there would be
some kind of allusion to that movie, some kind of
(30:47):
homage to that movie, since Rocky wasn't going to be
in this one. Creed three, like all the other Creed movies,
Like all the other Rocky movies, they are known for
their montages. I thought this one was a great montage.
I think that was due to the fact that you
had a montage looking at the trading of both Creed
and Damien, so I felt like watching these two forces
and you can't wait till they come together. Create three
(31:09):
also had the best cinematography out of any Creed movie.
I don't feel like that's saying a whole lot, But stylistically,
there were some really cool shots, but there were some
cool special effects, some cool camera tricks that they did
in this movie to make it look a little bit different,
especially when it came to the final match. And by
the time we got to the final match, I realized
this movie needed more boxing moments, so would have benefited
(31:29):
with some more boxing thrown in there. The other thing
I wasn't expecting to like as much as I did
wasn't the fashion choices in this movie. And maybe that's
just because I myself and my personal life have been
trying to dress with more intention and just trying to
have my own sense of style. Not trying to be
(31:49):
fancy in any way, but I am just very drawn
to style and fashion right now. So that's all I
look at on Instagram and TikTok, and when watching this movie, like, oh,
they were a lot more intentional with the way Adonna's
Creed dressed and the way that Jonathan Major's dress kind
of opposite to him. Adonna's Creed in the movie obviously
has a lot more money, so he was in very
(32:11):
nice looking suits, he had this cool monochromatic look going on.
And then Jonathan Major's just coming out of prison. Although
I do question some of the things he was wearing
because some of that stuff looked expensive, but he had
like the car heartworn jacket, the rugged looking beanie, the
cool sweater. I really liked his style as well, So
if I were to pick one of theirs to dress
(32:32):
more like, I'd probably lean more towards Jonathan Majors. That's
actually the look I've been going for. And also, as
I sit here doing this review with boxing gloves, I
have been doing boxing classes with Kelsey and by no
means am I a boxing expert or would even say
I'm an aspiring boxer, But from doing those classes, I've
(32:52):
learned some of the basics some of the techniques, and
I found that that was beneficial to me going into
a Creed movie. Just knowing how much stamina it takes
to just do a boxing class, I can only imagine
having to do that in the ring for twelve rounds,
so not only keeping your composure and keeping up your strength,
(33:12):
but then having to take all those hits. Boxing is
just a crazy sport that you go into it, and
even if you win, you still get beat up and
are probably out at least a couple a few weeks.
Some boxers take even up to months to recover from
a fight. It's just knowing that physical strain that they
put their bodies through, almost like voluntarily asking to be
(33:34):
put into a car wreck. So I would say I
had a little bit more understanding or could just pick
up on some of the techniques. And I'm like I
we learned a little bit of that in class. So
if you're a fan of the first two Creed movies,
would you be a fan of this one? I would
say yes, unless you were only watching those movies because
of Rocky, then you would not be happy whatsoever. How
does it compare to the other two Creed movies. I
(33:56):
would say that the first one is still the best
to me. The second one took a step down, So
I would go one to three, two. And the ranking
of the Creed movies I went into this in my
head it was a four point five. I was needing
it to go up on an emotional level, on a
dramatic level, to give me to that five. That's just
how much I love these movies, how much I think
(34:18):
they're great for film right now. The theater was packed,
and it brings together a lot of different film fans.
The more casual fan, you'll find it a Creed movie.
So I enjoy that aspect of it getting people out
into the theater because it's a spectacle, and it's a
different kind of spectacle. It's a boxing match, it's sports.
This reminded me of how my family some of the
(34:41):
only things we would bond over as not just with
my immediate family, but with my aunts and uncles. We
would all go in and pay for a pay per
view and there's just some fun bonding experience that comes
along with watching two people battle it out who's gonna win.
That's what makes these movies so fun to me. So
in my head it was a four point five. I
wanted to take it up to a five. Didn't quite
(35:02):
get there because I felt it was a little bit
cheesier than I was expecting. Maybe it's just because I
have like a crush on Jonathan Major's right now, but
he was my favorite character in this movie. I just
needed something a little bit more to have me invested
in Adonis Creed and his story and his journey throughout
this entire franchise with that performance from him. Judging his
(35:25):
directing abilities on his first film, I had to go
down another point five. So for Create three, I would
give it four out of five boxing gloves. It's time
to head down to movie Mike Traylor, Paul Let's take
a look and yet another Disney Live action adaptation remake.
(35:49):
There have been so many, so many lately now with
Disney plus that they are kind of just, at least
in my eyes, going after some cash grabs. I think
the entire movie industry right now, at least the more
mainstream studios, they're just banking on something that is familiar
to audiences, so it feels like less of a risk.
(36:11):
And I don't know why there have been so many
Peter Pan movies. I love the original one, I love Hook,
but when it comes to just a story I want
to see told over and over again without really changing
a whole lot. I don't know why filmmakers keep going
back to this story. There's not one thing about a
Peter Pan movie, one scene, one sequence that I think
(36:33):
I need to see this interpretation done so many different times.
I just don't really feel that it's just been around forever.
We just keep making them from Peter Pan in two
thousand and three, finding never Landing the animated Tinkerbelt movie
Pan in twenty fifteen. There was a darker Windy movie
in twenty twenty. So the movie has been done over
and over again, and I was willing to give it
(36:53):
another chance. I do think there's something magical about a
Peter Pan movie. Maybe that's it. It's just a little
bit magical. It's fun for kids. So I wasn't excited,
but I was interested in it, And after seeing this trailer,
I think, oh man, this is gonna be bad. But
before I get into more of my thoughts on Peter
Pan and Wendy and what they should actually do, here's
(37:13):
just a little bit of the new trailer. It's coming
to Disney Plus next month on April twenty eighth. Here
you go, How did you come to Neverland? You boys?
Every last one of us. She's not old boys? So
where is this place? That's hard? She's like a found us.
(37:37):
Wendy Moira, Angela Darley. Where is Peter Pan? So in
this movie, you have Jude Law as Captain Hook, you
have Jim Gaffagan as me, and you don't even get
a glimpse of him in the trailer upsetting to me
because he's probably the one I want to see most
in this movie. You have some new stars Alexander Maloney
(37:59):
as Peter Pan and Ever Anderson as Wendy, and when
they're reviving this classic yet again, I wanted something that
looked different, that felt different. So this trailer let me
down and I now think it's going to be exactly
like what the Pinocchio remake was with Tom Hanks, just
the reinterpretation of the original story that we all know
(38:20):
done live action. You put it on a Disney Plus
and you know they started out strong with Disney Plus
putting out Yes they were remakes, but I felt like
they were a lot better in the beginning. And now
they're just kind of slapping things on there, and it
very much feels like back in the day when they
used to have straight to DVD Disney movies like The
Lion King two, Lion King one and a half, Like
(38:40):
those movies are now just kind of becoming the Disney
Plus movies. And how we as the viewer lose out
on that is we are still getting some A list
names as some of the stars, but what they are
scaling back on is how much money they are putting
into the visual effects. This movie looked completely lifeless and
(39:03):
a movie as magical as Peter Pan. I want some
high quality production in there. I want it to look
like these people are actually flying. I want some big,
grand set design, costume design. That is what makes a
movie like this great. But we are just getting much
of the same quality here with Disney Plus, and with
them losing subscribers for the first time, I don't feel
(39:24):
like this is going to be a title that's going
to make you think, oh, I should keep my Disney
Plus subscription or I should renew it after canceling it.
So I feel like this is a step back for
them and trying to get more people to come over
to Disney Plus. I think it will maybe appease the
people who already have it. I'll end up watching it
and probably hating it by the end of it. It'll
be a movie that I watch and probably writt p
(39:46):
strats and I hope they proved me wrong on that
it really just looks like a low budget Pirate of
the Caribbean movie, and I felt like they should have
put more money into making this movie look more expensive
looking more sleek and made it an actual theatrical release
so very much, giving me those straight to VHS vibes,
and with characters that have had so many interpretations. They
did it best with Hook in ninety one and of
(40:06):
course the original in nineteen fifty three, And I guess
what I wish this movie would have been. Probably wouldn't
have been a kids movie at all, so probably why
they would never do this, But they should explore the
darker timelines of Peter Pan, like a grittier Peter Pan
or a grittier Hook. I've seen a lot of fan
theories online that would make for a much better Peter
(40:28):
Pan movie, and these are stories you probably wouldn't want
your kid watching. They don't feel as Disney. But why
not go with something a little bit off the wall,
with something that's been done so many times. I would
like to explore the dark Disney theory that Peter Pan
is actually the Angel of Death and all of the
kids in the movie that he is guiding along or
actually dead. Yes, it's a little bit dark, but that
(40:50):
would be a lot more interesting. Or you explore a
storyline where Captain Hook is actually the good guy and
Peter Pan is the one kidnap kids, and all Hook
is trying to do is stop Peter Pan. If you
look at the original Peter Pan movie, he's not really
trying to mess with the kids. He's not trying to
hurt them. He's just going after Peter Paine. He hasn't
(41:12):
vendetta against Peter Pan and wants to take him down.
That is the relationship they have, So maybe there's a
little bit something to that. I like it when you
can look at villains and heroes and kind of shift
a perspective on it on who is actually the bad
person here, So you explore a story where Hook is
actually trying to save the children from Peter. There you go,
that's an adaptation I would spend my money on. But
(41:35):
if you're just a diehard Peter Pan lover, you can
look forward to that coming to Disney Plus on April
twenty eighth edition. And that is gonna do it for
another episode here of the podcast. But before I go,
I gotta give my listener shout out of the week.
This week we are shouting out Amber Stiffler, who is
(41:58):
a Stiffler Underscore on Instagram who left this comment on
my Cocaine Bear movie review, and she wrote, I have
just started listening to your movie podcast, starting at episode
one December eighth, twenty nineteen. I've listened to five of
them already. Thanks for giving me something interesting to listen to.
Not a lot catches my interest fire emoji. One of
(42:18):
my favorite things that I love in life are new listeners.
So welcome Amber to the podcast. If you're going back
that far, I praise you if we're listening to my
early episodes, because I feel like I was just getting
used to speaking into a microphone at that time. I
actually went back recently and listened to the first ever
trailer I did for this podcast, and I cruise a
(42:41):
little bit. But I think with anything that you start
in life, you should look back at those early things
and think, oh man, that wasn't very good. So I
feel like I've grown a lot. So you've gotten through
five episodes so far. I hope I continue to get
better as you listen along, so don't let the early
versions of the podcast keep you from listening to more.
So thank you, Amber. You are the listener of the
(43:03):
week and I officially name you a member of the
movie crew. Thanks everyone for listening. I hope you have
a great rest of your week. We have a lot
coming up with the Oscars this weekend. I'll do a
normal episode on Monday and also break down all the
winners and see what I got right what I got wrong.
Movie Wise, we are stacked with Scream six coming out
this week, John Wick four, after that Dungeons and Dragons,
(43:26):
so a lot of great movies to look forward to.
So when there are good movies out, I feel like
it makes this podcast even better. So tell a friend
who also loves movies to come check out the podcast,
and until next time, go out watch good movies and
I will talk to you later.
Hello, and welcome back to Movie Mike's movie podcast. I
am your host Movie Mike. Today I want to share
with you my list of my top ten most iconic
movie theme songs of all time. In the movie review,
one of my most anticipated films of the world every three,
my expectations in the rankings of all the other trade
and rocky movies. Yet another, Yes, another live auction remake
(00:26):
of a Disney movie. This time we have Peter Pan
and Wendy. How many more interpretations of the Peter Pan
story can they do? We'll get into all that. Thank
you for being here, shout out the song and as
the power to make a movie legendary. So I want
to share with you what I think are the top
ten most iconic movie theme songs of all time. And
(00:49):
what this means is these are the theme songs that
are the most recognizable. They are the ones that you
hear and you immediately know and can place yourself back
into that movie theater, back into that living room the
first time you watch these movies as a kid or
as an adult. These theme songs have the ability to
ignite an entire fandom, and some of these theme songs
(01:11):
even transcend Some of the movies they are attached to.
So let's get into the list and the ground rules
are all of these songs are purely instrumentals. We are
looking at just compositions made for movies. You're not going
to hear anything like my Heart Will Go On for
Titanic or Lose Yourself for eight Miles. We're just looking
at instrumentals. And what we are going to find is
(01:32):
there are some composers who just dominate movie scores and
dominate theme songs. So we're going to be very familiar
with a lot of these names by the end of this.
So what I'll do is I'll play about ten to
fifteen seconds of each of these to give you some
time to identify the movie, and of course there will
always be some honorable mentions. So let's kick it off
now here is number ten. Can't you name that movie?
(02:15):
That is from Hans Zimmer and the movie is Pirates
of the Caribbean. Hans Zimmer has done so many great
scores for films from The Dark Night to Inception. He
is known for creating very big and grand sounding scores.
Because I think with this song alone, it kind of
takes the Pirates of the Caribbean movies up to an
(02:36):
entirely different level of that entire franchise, which out of
all those movies, I was a fan of about two
point five of them, and the movies were so expensive
to make. A lot of that was to pay Johnny Depp,
which I think his charisma is really what made those
movies successful. But it was all the big ships and
the big fight sequences, and it was Hans Zimmer's music
(02:57):
at the core. That was the glue that kept that
entire movie together, whether you realize it or not. And
I think as we look at all these on this list,
you realize how important music is to movies, and not
just the music with the lyrics, but the scores themselves,
because in our life we don't really have scores to
the things we do. Imagine if we did. Imagine if
(03:18):
you going to the grocery store or trying to make
it to a doctor's appointment on time, had a movie
score to it, what would that sound like? Would it
be more inspiring? Yeah? Probably. You can make even the
more mundane things seem more exciting and grant with a
great score, and that is what these composers do. By
doing this list, I've become more fascinated with scores. So
(03:38):
if you've been watching my Instagram stories lately, I'm putting
a score on everything, and Hans Zimmer is one of
my favorite to put on my Instagram story right now.
So I'll probably get tired of this trend in another
week and a half or so, just because that's how
I do things. But Hans Zimmer is my dude. I
feel like they were just looking for some generic pirate
music when it came to this movie, but he took
it up on an entirely different level and spensive movie
(04:00):
franchise like this needs a big, expensive sounding theme song,
and that is what Hans Zimmer delivered. So I put
him at number ten with Pirates of the Caribbean. Here
is number nine. Can you name that movie? Oh? This movie?
(04:27):
This theme song hasn't me hyped. I hit that and
I instantly wanted to leap out of this chair. That
is from Danny Elfman and the movie is Batman like
that song hit different. As a kid, I didn't know
anything about compositions or composers or theme songs. I just
remember when that song came on, I was about to
(04:50):
watch something awesome. I was about to see Batman. So
even though I didn't realize it at the time, this was,
without a doubt, my first favorite movie theme song as
a kid. And what really put it into perspective is
whenever they came out with a flash trailer, they reveal
Michael Keaton coming back as Batman, and you get this
different version of this theme song, and I realized how
(05:13):
iconic those notes are. Hearing that kind of took me
back to when I first saw Batman for the first time,
so it felt so much more nostalgic. And I feel
like Danny Elfman is a musical wizard when it comes
to compositions. They just have a different sound to them,
And I think the difference in just having a generic
orchestra sound and something that's actually a theme song has
(05:36):
some real detail and something that evokes a little bit
of emotion in you with just some instrumental That is
what Danny Elfman does. So that's why I put Batman
and his theme song at number nine. Here we go
with number eight. Can you name the movie? This one
(06:10):
is unlike any other theme song on the list. It
even has me speaking in a different tone. It is
from John Williams and the movie is Harry Potter and
this theme song, it's so different than all the other
theme songs on the list. It's not as big, it's
not as epic. It's quiet, it's ominous, it is magical,
(06:34):
and it sets the tone for not only the first
Harry Potter movie, but for the entire Harry Potter franchise.
And that is what a good theme song does. And
there is just something about this being the first thing
you hear in a Harry Potter movie combined with the
nighttime scenes. So this theme song in an opening scene
are what dreams are made of. It's one that I
(06:56):
wish I could go back and experience for the first time.
So at number eight is the Harry Potter theme song
from John Williams. Now, as I'm talking in this different tone,
we'll switch it up now and move on to number seven.
Can you name this movie as a very charging sound
(07:30):
to it? It is from Alan Silvestri and the movie
is The Avengers. This theme song is huge for many
reasons that feeling it gives you. It just has that
superhero feeling to it, and the theme is huge for
Marvel and their branding. I felt like this was very
(07:51):
intentional of them always having this at the beginning of
the Avengers movies and you see their now iconic opening
sequence with all the comic book page is reminding you
of all their characters and really establishing their dominance when
it comes to superhero comic book adaptations. So there's something
about seeing those comic book sequences and this playing underneath
(08:13):
that is just engraved into my brain. And even now
going into watching a Marvel movie, even though they change
it up a little bit, even though we don't always
have this Avenger's theme song underneath it anymore, it's really
created a cohesive branding to the Marvel movies and it
gives you that feeling of like, yeah, I'm here sitting
in this movie theater and something spectacular is about to
(08:34):
come on to the screen. So props to them for
really driving that into all of their movies. And I
love how this song was used through all of the
Avengers films and it subtenly became iconic for me, and
I think it's because of the scale of all these
Marvel movies. To me, it became the best superhero music.
Sure you could argue for Superman, which is big, grand sounding,
(09:00):
but for me, it is the Avengers so I put
it at number seven. Moving on now to number six,
can you name this movie? We have another John Williams
(09:25):
entry on the list. And as we move through this list,
if I've done it to the best of my abilities
and how I set out to make this episode is
they will become more and more recognizable as we go.
You should be able to get them with and I
would say at least three notes. Some of these you
can get within that first note. This one, I would
(09:45):
say maybe the first three notes. But it's so instantly recognizable,
and this movie feels like an adventure to me. And
the movie I am talking about is Indiana Jones. When
I hear this song, I see Harrison Ford. I see
him in the get up, I see him with the whip,
I see the title sequence. I see those orange and
(10:06):
yellow letters in that glorious fun and it embodies all
the things that I look for going into a summer blockbuster.
And I can't wait to see the new Indiana Jones movie.
And much like I did in the flash trailer, I
also realized the power of the theme song in the
latest Indiana Jones trailer because you see Harrison Ford. But
there's something about hearing those notes and hearing that music
(10:29):
that really brings it all together. And as a movie fan,
I wouldn't put any of the Indiana Jones in my
top ten, not even top twenty movies of all time.
But I can respect this song. I can respect what
that franchise means to movie history. So I feel like
this song even transcends any one individual Indiana Jones movie.
(10:49):
So that is why I put it at number six.
Moving into the top five, here is number five. Can
you name the movie we got back to back? John
(11:16):
Williams entries here, one note is really all you need
on this one, and the movie is Jaws. Even before
it gets into the vicious orchestra part, you already know
what this movie is. You know exactly the feeling you
get when you hear this song. And what I love
(11:37):
about this movie theme song is that I really haven't
seen this done in a while, and I feel like
more movies could benefit from this. But the movie theme
song itself personifies the monster in the movie, and that
is iconic in itself. When you hear this song in
the movie, you know that means you're about to see
a glimpse of Draws. He's about to kill somebody he's
about to attack. And I was watching Cane Bear recently
(12:01):
and I left that movie thinking if they would have
had that approach with the Cocaine Bear, of creating some
kind of iconic theme song or even just some iconic
sound that lets you know as the audience that you're
about to see the bear, you're about to see the monster.
I think that movie would have had a little bit
more impact on me and could have created a legacy
one like Jaws did so many years ago. It reminded
(12:23):
me of learning about music and elementary school. I remember
my third grade music teacher, Miss Barcas, and she would
make us watch Peter and the Wolf all the time,
and in that we learned about different instruments because in
that musical, all of the characters are represented by different instruments.
So it's a flute, it's a clarinet, it's a French horn,
(12:47):
and anytime you hear those different instruments, you associate it
with an animal. And maybe that's the only thing I
really retained from elementary school at all, aside from basic
reading and math, but that has always stuck with me.
So maybe that was the ration here for John Williams.
But it's an iconic sound, it's an iconic score, it's
an iconic theme song. And that's why it's at number five.
(13:07):
That is Jaws. Let's move on now to number four.
Can you name this movie? We have three in a
(13:30):
row here from John Williams. The movie is none other
than Jurassic Park. This song made me believe in dinosaurs.
And we go back to talking about wanting to place
ourselves in a position to where we could watch a
movie for the very first time and feel those same emotions,
and this is a theme song that captures that. When
(13:51):
you first hear the song in this movie, it's the
first time that you are seeing the dinosaurs in all
their glory, and it's a moment in a movie that,
as the audience, we also feel exactly what the characters
are feeling. They really hadn't seen the dinosaurs up close
and personal, and it is as mind blowing to them
as it is to us viewing the movie, and just
(14:14):
to look on their faces and Laura Dern just having
this expression of complete and utter awe and it all
goes back to that theme song of hearing that and
seeing all those dinosaurs walking along in Jurassic Park and
aside from what it does and what it means to
the movie, it's just a great piece of music. You
hear this and you don't even have to know anything
about classical music, anything about any kind of orchestra. You
(14:37):
just hear this and it's like, yeah, that's good. That
is epic. So that one we put at number four
with Jurassic Park, but it's not the last we will
hear of John Williams on this list. But here we
go now with number three. Can you name the movie?
(15:09):
This one is from John Carpenter, who also directed this movie.
He is responsible for one of my favorite movies of
all time, even transcends the horror genre, and this theme
song itself is bigger than the movie. The movie is Halloween,
so I feel like this is not only the main
theme for the movie Halloween, but I think we just
(15:31):
associate this song with the holiday, and it's just a
few chilling notes, just that piano, the bassline, and the piano.
It's one of the only songs I can actually play
on piano. So maybe that's also why I have some
bias towards this song. It's the Halloween theme song and
Rugrats that I can play on piano, but the power
(15:54):
that just those few notes in this song with such
fairly light production. Now, this movie was made on a
very low budget, it was made very quickly, but now
has sparked a franchise that has been going on for
decades now, since the seventies. And you watch Helloween without
the music, and you don't have a movie without this song.
(16:15):
This movie does not have the same impact. Michael Myers
doesn't seem scary. His subtle slow walking or getting up
or killing people doesn't have the same effect. It is
this theme song and the entire score in Halloween that
makes that movie scary. It's so subtle, it's so eerie,
but it is so iconic. And I love how they
(16:38):
have kept this theme song throughout the entire franchise. They
mixed it up here and there. John Carpenter, it's just
so great at making eerie music. He has such a
great composer. If you break it down musically, the theme
song has some really weird timing, so you have this
just obscure sounding song that works so well. I don't
think it's more iconic than when made two in one,
(17:00):
but man, it is such a great theme song. So
at number three as Halloween from John Carpenter. Moving on
to number two, Can you name the movie? This is
(17:26):
from Bill Conti and it is the theme from Rocky.
It also goes by the title of Gunna Fly Now.
And I guess I had to make a bit of
an exception for this one because it does have some lyrics,
very few lyrics, But I feel like even if you
took those lyrics out, it would still be, without a doubt,
so recognizable. You don't need the lyrics to have the
(17:47):
same impact. It's just hearing those first few notes. This
makes me want to just bust into a montage right now.
I'm gonna go have a montage. But this is the
song that inspired this entire list, this entire episode. Going
into Create three and I went back and rewatched the
(18:08):
first Rocky and I started to question whether or not
the movie theme song is dead. We still have songs
written for movies, and those songs still have a similar impact,
even though that's not as great anymore either. But when
it comes to movies just having as hard of a
theme song, like a Rocky theme song, it just doesn't
(18:29):
really happen anymore. And I started to think if my
life had a theme song. What would it be? In
my head, it's something that goes really hard, makes me
feel like I'm doing something epic. I go back to
my boy Hans Zimmer and the movie theme song I
think fits my life in my head at least is
the main theme from The Dark Knight. I picture myself
(18:53):
getting ready for work to this song, like I'm bout
to go in and do some damage, even though I'm
just to go in and produce a radio show. Or
maybe it's something like the Spider Man movie theme song,
picture of myself on a run, jumping through things, hopping
(19:18):
over fences. But in reality of my movie theme song
is probably Married Life from Pixar's Up. It's just over
here trying to live a normal life. That is probably
my life theme song. But anyway, back to Rocky, this one,
(19:39):
this should be all of our lives theme songs. We
should all want to be like Rocky, all right. So
before we get into what I think is the most
iconic movie theme song of all time, gotta throw in
some honorable mentions here. One that almost made my list,
and it almost snuck in there, but it would be
(20:01):
the Home Alone theme song, also from John Williams. I
just don't feel like this one is as recognizable. It
goes great in the movie, but I feel like if
you take this out of it, you don't hear it
and immediately think of home alone. But it just feels
like Christmas to me. It feels like snow falling on
(20:25):
the ground to me. I mentioned this one earlier, but
Superman almost made the list. I'm not the biggest fan
of the Mission Impossible franchise, but it had a great
theme song in that same vein. You also have Top Gun.
(20:49):
Another movie series I'm not the biggest fan of but
also has an iconic theme song. Is The Godfather or
movies like James Bond, And then I wanted to go
into just some of my favorite movies that I love
(21:11):
the theme songs, but I don't feel like they're that recognizable,
even though I feel they're very important to the feeling
of all these movies. So movies like Blade Runner twenty
forty nine has probably the best score in the last
ten years. There's just so many great sounds in this
movie that make it an even better sci fi movie
for me. It really takes it up an entirely different
(21:33):
notch on the old amplifier. When it comes to even
just the notification tones in that or bringing it all
full circle, the text tone in that movie is actually
from Peter and the Wolf. This is my favorite song.
I just love me some Peter in the Wolf. I
also really love the Black Panther theme. The Shaft theme
(21:58):
is iconic, just that high hat or also movies like
The Exorcist. And then one movie theme song from a
movie I did not expect to like. I don't like
period pieces whatsoever, and for some reason, I just felt
(22:21):
like I needed to watch the Favorite and I ended
up completely loving that movie and all of the classical
music throughout that entire score, like for a week straight.
This was just me and my Ford focus going hard.
(22:42):
But those are all the honorable mentions. So now number one,
What is the most iconic theme song of all time?
Think about it for a second. What do you think
would make this list at number one? You'll know it
by the first note here. It is Let's Go, composed
(23:09):
by none other than John Williams in the late seventies.
This is a theme song that not only makes this
movie the first Star Wars movie, it makes the entire franchise.
It is the most epic piece of music ever written
for a movie. Let me state that again so I'm
clear and on the record. It is the most epic
piece of music written for a movie ever. It's that
(23:33):
combined with a yellow letters scrolling the screen in this
crawl that we had never seen before in a movie,
but now is the recipe for a Star Wars introduction
to a movie. So that is it. That is the
(24:02):
list of what I think are the top ten most
iconic movie theme songs of all time. If you think
I miss one, if you think I messed up the ranking,
what should have been on the list, what should have
been off the list? Let me know. Hit me up
on Instagram, Twitter, or TikTok, Mike Distro on all those
or you can always find the links in the episode
notes of this podcast. I'll come back. I'll give my
(24:24):
spoiler free review of Creed three, the movie that inspired
this entire topic this week, and then in the Trailer
Park we'll talk about our first look at Peter Pan
and Wendy coming later this year on Disney Plus. Let's
get into a spoiler free movie review. Now. If you're
watching on YouTube, you can see that for this review.
(24:45):
Since we're talking about a boxing movie, I'm wearing some
boxing gloves, or maybe you're watching a clip on TikTok
or Instagram and thinking why is he wearing boxing gloves?
Because I get into my movie roles, I'm like a
method actor movie reviewer. But let's talk about Creed three,
one of my most anticipated movies of the year. I
love me so Michael B. Jordan and Jonathan Majors has
(25:05):
now probably entered my top five, if not top three
actors right now. So not of all time, but if
actors who I'm interested in watching their movies right now,
he is right up there because he is such a
dynamic actor. And I'll get into more of how I
feel about his range in movies now, But from the trailer,
going into it and seeing them too together, I thought
(25:26):
this could be the most dramatic Creed movie yet, maybe
the best one in the franchise. So we'll see what
ended up happening. But before we get into this entire review,
here's just a little bit of the Creed three trailers.
Damien's fighting the world and he's trying to hurt people.
I founse few you think you mad try spending half
(25:46):
your life in a sale. Why does somebody else live
your life. I'm coming for everything. You're threatening. Something's going
on with you. Damian was like family. Now we passed talking.
Then maybe you just have to find am. So let's
(26:07):
talk about what Creed three is about. You have Adonnas
Creed back. The movie starts with him going out on
top and then enjoying retirement, enjoying spending time with his family,
and enjoying the life he is able to live because
of what boxing has done for him. But then someone
from his past comes and knocking, and it is Jonathan
Major's character named Damien. They were friends as kids, they
(26:28):
were both up and coming and boxing, but then one
night they both get involved in a situation and Damien
ends up in jail twenty years later is where you
find him in Creed three. He gets out and he
just wants a shot at getting back into the ring,
and that's where Adonnis comes in and you really learn
more about his backstory, more about what actually happened to
(26:51):
land him in prison. So I did enjoy that you
didn't learn everything up front. I think that probably would
have wasted a little bit of time, And instead you
learn a little bit more and more about that night
as you go along, so it adds a little bit
of mystery to it. And right out of the gate,
I felt like Jonathan Majors was such a great villain,
and there's just something about the way he delivers his lines,
(27:13):
something about the way he approaches a character. Even thinking
of what he did with Kang and Aunt Man, he
just plays a villain so well, to the point to
where you almost want to trust him. You think, oh,
maybe he's not such a bad guy, but then boom,
he comes with it and he is this just utter
force that you can't help but want to root against,
(27:35):
You can't help but want to fight him and take
him out. He does that so well. So there's so
much credit that I give to Jonathan Majors and his
performance in this entire movie. I almost feel that it
overshadows anything that Michael B. Jordan did it in this movie. Now,
Michael B. Jordan's not only start in this movie, but
he also directed it, and I kind of felt that
(27:55):
it was his directorial debut, and there were some aspects
of this movie looking at it that it felt like
the first time he directed a movie. Because that's a director.
Your job is to get the best performances out of
all your actors, and I didn't really think he did
a good job at that. And I know Rocky movies,
Creed movies always have a little bit of cheesiness to them.
(28:19):
They're just the tad like cheese whiz on every single
Rocky movie, and this one. There were some lines in
this movie that would be cheesy no matter who was
delivering them. But I felt like the line they ended
up using in the movie on some of these characters,
it just sounded like bad acting. So it was bad delivery,
and maybe all they needed was to do was take
(28:39):
another take or just do something to get a little
bit better performances out of some of these actors. So
that was really the main thing I picked out on
his directing abilities. I guess after watching the trailer, I
thought they were going to step up the drama a
little bit more. And I don't know why I was
going into a movie like this expecting like some really
renowned performances from all of the actors, but like Michael B.
(29:00):
Jordan was a little bit flat. I've seen him put
more life into the Creed character in the previous two films,
and I felt like him as a Donna's Creed was
not as strong as Jonathan Majors as Damien, but overall
their relationship in the movie, their chemistry worked really well together.
Was this movie hurt by the fact that Rocky Sylvester
(29:21):
Stallone was not in this movie at all? Surprisingly, I
don't really think it was. I don't really think it
was necessary. This movie was very much the story of
a donna's Creed. It was so focused on him, his
moral dilemma, all of his past demons coming out to
the forefront in this movie. I felt like it would
have been muddied if Rocky would have been in this movie.
(29:42):
So I don't think it was hurt by the fact
that he did not have a supporting role in this movie.
It was a little reminiscent of Rocky One. There were
some references to that movie, so I feel like, if anything,
it would have only benefited from a Rocky cameo. That's
all you needed. I felt like it would have been
dragged down by the fact of Rocky doing the same
(30:04):
old thing about I don't think you should fight in this,
you know, doing that whole role, doing the old wise
guy trying to protect Creed. I don't think we really
needed that, So I don't think the movie was hurt
by the fact that we didn't have Rocky. I just
wanted something else to take it up on a bit
of a more emotional level. And going into this movie,
I was putting it at a four point five based
(30:25):
on what I'd seen, based on the fact that I
love both actors in the leading roles. It's just crazy
to me how much the Creed movies have changed over
two movies, and also just how much the entire idea
of a fighting movie like this has changed since the
original Rocky from the seventies, which I went back and
watched just because I had a feeling there would be
some kind of allusion to that movie, some kind of
(30:47):
homage to that movie, since Rocky wasn't going to be
in this one. Creed three, like all the other Creed movies,
Like all the other Rocky movies, they are known for
their montages. I thought this one was a great montage.
I think that was due to the fact that you
had a montage looking at the trading of both Creed
and Damien, so I felt like watching these two forces
and you can't wait till they come together. Create three
(31:09):
also had the best cinematography out of any Creed movie.
I don't feel like that's saying a whole lot, But stylistically,
there were some really cool shots, but there were some
cool special effects, some cool camera tricks that they did
in this movie to make it look a little bit different,
especially when it came to the final match. And by
the time we got to the final match, I realized
this movie needed more boxing moments, so would have benefited
(31:29):
with some more boxing thrown in there. The other thing
I wasn't expecting to like as much as I did
wasn't the fashion choices in this movie. And maybe that's
just because I myself and my personal life have been
trying to dress with more intention and just trying to
have my own sense of style. Not trying to be
(31:49):
fancy in any way, but I am just very drawn
to style and fashion right now. So that's all I
look at on Instagram and TikTok, and when watching this movie, like, oh,
they were a lot more intentional with the way Adonna's
Creed dressed and the way that Jonathan Major's dress kind
of opposite to him. Adonna's Creed in the movie obviously
has a lot more money, so he was in very
(32:11):
nice looking suits, he had this cool monochromatic look going on.
And then Jonathan Major's just coming out of prison. Although
I do question some of the things he was wearing
because some of that stuff looked expensive, but he had
like the car heartworn jacket, the rugged looking beanie, the
cool sweater. I really liked his style as well, So
if I were to pick one of theirs to dress
(32:32):
more like, I'd probably lean more towards Jonathan Majors. That's
actually the look I've been going for. And also, as
I sit here doing this review with boxing gloves, I
have been doing boxing classes with Kelsey and by no
means am I a boxing expert or would even say
I'm an aspiring boxer, But from doing those classes, I've
(32:52):
learned some of the basics some of the techniques, and
I found that that was beneficial to me going into
a Creed movie. Just knowing how much stamina it takes
to just do a boxing class, I can only imagine
having to do that in the ring for twelve rounds,
so not only keeping your composure and keeping up your strength,
(33:12):
but then having to take all those hits. Boxing is
just a crazy sport that you go into it, and
even if you win, you still get beat up and
are probably out at least a couple a few weeks.
Some boxers take even up to months to recover from
a fight. It's just knowing that physical strain that they
put their bodies through, almost like voluntarily asking to be
(33:34):
put into a car wreck. So I would say I
had a little bit more understanding or could just pick
up on some of the techniques. And I'm like I
we learned a little bit of that in class. So
if you're a fan of the first two Creed movies,
would you be a fan of this one? I would
say yes, unless you were only watching those movies because
of Rocky, then you would not be happy whatsoever. How
does it compare to the other two Creed movies. I
(33:56):
would say that the first one is still the best
to me. The second one took a step down, So
I would go one to three, two. And the ranking
of the Creed movies I went into this in my
head it was a four point five. I was needing
it to go up on an emotional level, on a
dramatic level, to give me to that five. That's just
how much I love these movies, how much I think
(34:18):
they're great for film right now. The theater was packed,
and it brings together a lot of different film fans.
The more casual fan, you'll find it a Creed movie.
So I enjoy that aspect of it getting people out
into the theater because it's a spectacle, and it's a
different kind of spectacle. It's a boxing match, it's sports.
This reminded me of how my family some of the
(34:41):
only things we would bond over as not just with
my immediate family, but with my aunts and uncles. We
would all go in and pay for a pay per
view and there's just some fun bonding experience that comes
along with watching two people battle it out who's gonna win.
That's what makes these movies so fun to me. So
in my head it was a four point five. I
wanted to take it up to a five. Didn't quite
(35:02):
get there because I felt it was a little bit
cheesier than I was expecting. Maybe it's just because I
have like a crush on Jonathan Major's right now, but
he was my favorite character in this movie. I just
needed something a little bit more to have me invested
in Adonis Creed and his story and his journey throughout
this entire franchise with that performance from him. Judging his
(35:25):
directing abilities on his first film, I had to go
down another point five. So for Create three, I would
give it four out of five boxing gloves. It's time
to head down to movie Mike Traylor, Paul Let's take
a look and yet another Disney Live action adaptation remake.
(35:49):
There have been so many, so many lately now with
Disney plus that they are kind of just, at least
in my eyes, going after some cash grabs. I think
the entire movie industry right now, at least the more
mainstream studios, they're just banking on something that is familiar
to audiences, so it feels like less of a risk.
(36:11):
And I don't know why there have been so many
Peter Pan movies. I love the original one, I love Hook,
but when it comes to just a story I want
to see told over and over again without really changing
a whole lot. I don't know why filmmakers keep going
back to this story. There's not one thing about a
Peter Pan movie, one scene, one sequence that I think
(36:33):
I need to see this interpretation done so many different times.
I just don't really feel that it's just been around forever.
We just keep making them from Peter Pan in two
thousand and three, finding never Landing the animated Tinkerbelt movie
Pan in twenty fifteen. There was a darker Windy movie
in twenty twenty. So the movie has been done over
and over again, and I was willing to give it
(36:53):
another chance. I do think there's something magical about a
Peter Pan movie. Maybe that's it. It's just a little
bit magical. It's fun for kids. So I wasn't excited,
but I was interested in it, And after seeing this trailer,
I think, oh man, this is gonna be bad. But
before I get into more of my thoughts on Peter
Pan and Wendy and what they should actually do, here's
(37:13):
just a little bit of the new trailer. It's coming
to Disney Plus next month on April twenty eighth. Here
you go, How did you come to Neverland? You boys?
Every last one of us. She's not old boys? So
where is this place? That's hard? She's like a found us.
(37:37):
Wendy Moira, Angela Darley. Where is Peter Pan? So in
this movie, you have Jude Law as Captain Hook, you
have Jim Gaffagan as me, and you don't even get
a glimpse of him in the trailer upsetting to me
because he's probably the one I want to see most
in this movie. You have some new stars Alexander Maloney
(37:59):
as Peter Pan and Ever Anderson as Wendy, and when
they're reviving this classic yet again, I wanted something that
looked different, that felt different. So this trailer let me
down and I now think it's going to be exactly
like what the Pinocchio remake was with Tom Hanks, just
the reinterpretation of the original story that we all know
(38:20):
done live action. You put it on a Disney Plus
and you know they started out strong with Disney Plus
putting out Yes they were remakes, but I felt like
they were a lot better in the beginning. And now
they're just kind of slapping things on there, and it
very much feels like back in the day when they
used to have straight to DVD Disney movies like The
Lion King two, Lion King one and a half, Like
(38:40):
those movies are now just kind of becoming the Disney
Plus movies. And how we as the viewer lose out
on that is we are still getting some A list
names as some of the stars, but what they are
scaling back on is how much money they are putting
into the visual effects. This movie looked completely lifeless and
(39:03):
a movie as magical as Peter Pan. I want some
high quality production in there. I want it to look
like these people are actually flying. I want some big,
grand set design, costume design. That is what makes a
movie like this great. But we are just getting much
of the same quality here with Disney Plus, and with
them losing subscribers for the first time, I don't feel
(39:24):
like this is going to be a title that's going
to make you think, oh, I should keep my Disney
Plus subscription or I should renew it after canceling it.
So I feel like this is a step back for
them and trying to get more people to come over
to Disney Plus. I think it will maybe appease the
people who already have it. I'll end up watching it
and probably hating it by the end of it. It'll
be a movie that I watch and probably writt p
(39:46):
strats and I hope they proved me wrong on that
it really just looks like a low budget Pirate of
the Caribbean movie, and I felt like they should have
put more money into making this movie look more expensive
looking more sleek and made it an actual theatrical release
so very much, giving me those straight to VHS vibes,
and with characters that have had so many interpretations. They
did it best with Hook in ninety one and of
(40:06):
course the original in nineteen fifty three, And I guess
what I wish this movie would have been. Probably wouldn't
have been a kids movie at all, so probably why
they would never do this, But they should explore the
darker timelines of Peter Pan, like a grittier Peter Pan
or a grittier Hook. I've seen a lot of fan
theories online that would make for a much better Peter
(40:28):
Pan movie, and these are stories you probably wouldn't want
your kid watching. They don't feel as Disney. But why
not go with something a little bit off the wall,
with something that's been done so many times. I would
like to explore the dark Disney theory that Peter Pan
is actually the Angel of Death and all of the
kids in the movie that he is guiding along or
actually dead. Yes, it's a little bit dark, but that
(40:50):
would be a lot more interesting. Or you explore a
storyline where Captain Hook is actually the good guy and
Peter Pan is the one kidnap kids, and all Hook
is trying to do is stop Peter Pan. If you
look at the original Peter Pan movie, he's not really
trying to mess with the kids. He's not trying to
hurt them. He's just going after Peter Paine. He hasn't
(41:12):
vendetta against Peter Pan and wants to take him down.
That is the relationship they have, So maybe there's a
little bit something to that. I like it when you
can look at villains and heroes and kind of shift
a perspective on it on who is actually the bad
person here, So you explore a story where Hook is
actually trying to save the children from Peter. There you go,
that's an adaptation I would spend my money on. But
(41:35):
if you're just a diehard Peter Pan lover, you can
look forward to that coming to Disney Plus on April
twenty eighth edition. And that is gonna do it for
another episode here of the podcast. But before I go,
I gotta give my listener shout out of the week.
This week we are shouting out Amber Stiffler, who is
(41:58):
a Stiffler Underscore on Instagram who left this comment on
my Cocaine Bear movie review, and she wrote, I have
just started listening to your movie podcast, starting at episode
one December eighth, twenty nineteen. I've listened to five of
them already. Thanks for giving me something interesting to listen to.
Not a lot catches my interest fire emoji. One of
(42:18):
my favorite things that I love in life are new listeners.
So welcome Amber to the podcast. If you're going back
that far, I praise you if we're listening to my
early episodes, because I feel like I was just getting
used to speaking into a microphone at that time. I
actually went back recently and listened to the first ever
trailer I did for this podcast, and I cruise a
(42:41):
little bit. But I think with anything that you start
in life, you should look back at those early things
and think, oh man, that wasn't very good. So I
feel like I've grown a lot. So you've gotten through
five episodes so far. I hope I continue to get
better as you listen along, so don't let the early
versions of the podcast keep you from listening to more.
So thank you, Amber. You are the listener of the
(43:03):
week and I officially name you a member of the
movie crew. Thanks everyone for listening. I hope you have
a great rest of your week. We have a lot
coming up with the Oscars this weekend. I'll do a
normal episode on Monday and also break down all the
winners and see what I got right what I got wrong.
Movie Wise, we are stacked with Scream six coming out
this week, John Wick four, after that Dungeons and Dragons,
(43:26):
so a lot of great movies to look forward to.
So when there are good movies out, I feel like
it makes this podcast even better. So tell a friend
who also loves movies to come check out the podcast,
and until next time, go out watch good movies and
I will talk to you later.
Host
Mike D
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