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Memorable songs from forgettable movies


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Sometimes even bad movies produce good songs, and even box office bombs can yield smash hit singles. This is what this thread is about.

I'm sure you can come up with many more than this one, but I'll start things off with probably the most memorable song from a forgettable film:

"Endless Love" by Diana Ross and Lionel Richie

(from the movie, well, Endless Love)

The song was a massive hit in 1981, spending 9 straight weeks at #1, and remains highly regarded to this day. The Brooke Shields movie it came from, not so much. But all things considered, that's probably just as well. The movie stars Shields as an underage girl who falls for - and, predictably, has sex with - an older teenager. (Been there, done that, of course.) When people play the theme song at weddings and such, somehow I doubt statutory rape is what they have in mind. Apart from that, judging from the user reviews at IMDB, the movie evidently just wasn't very good to begin with. In any case, it struggled at the box office, and to this day there is no sign of a DVD release. About the only reason Endless Love is still remembered at all today is for its theme song. (The film does have one other noteworthy distinction, though, as the first major film appearance for James Spader, known as Jimmy Spader back then, as Shields's brother. Not exactly an auspicious start to his Hollywood career, but he's obviously managed to recover from it. ;) )

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The only one I can think of right now is "Iris" by the Goo Goo Dolls. It was featured in the movie "City of Angels". I felt the movie was predictable and boring, but the song is beautiful. The first verse wraps up the whole theme of the movie. All in all, this song does in a few minutes what the whole movie failed to do.

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"Against All Odds" by Phil Collins

(from the movie, well, Against All Odds)

The movie's title song is remembered less for being just that, than for being the hit that really launched Collins's solo career into high orbit in the mid-1980s, and even took his Genesis bandmates with him for one album (Invisible Touch). Ironically though, this song wasn't even written for the movie, but was a reworked version of a song Collins recorded a few years earlier but never released.

Unlike its theme song though, the movie Against All Odds itself wasn't quite so successful, grossing only around $21 million and getting merely a so-so reaction from viewers. But unlike the aforementioned Endless Love, at least its rights holders saw enough in that movie to bother releasing it on DVD.

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I concur with this blogger's comments about the song "Harmour Love " by Syreeta used in the credits of the movie Junebug (2005).

The film is more "unnoticed" than it is "forgettable". It is actually pretty satisfying.

I was unacquainted with either the former Mrs. Stevie Wonder or this unusual track. However, I still wonder what the word "harmour" might mean.

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Reading the Q&A forum made me think of this one:

"Everything I Do, I Do It For You" by Bryan Adams. It was a huuuge hit here (I know a couple who even used as their wedding song), but the movie it was from "Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves"????? Well, it's best remembered by the fact that Kevin Costner couldn't do an English accent, and by Alan Rickman's scenery chewing.

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