The Greatest Films by Musicians and Bands Ever.

Rock stars are really wannabe actors. Those who are big enough usually make the leap from stage to screen at some point in their glittering careers.

Look back over the years and you will find a whole host of them from rappers portraying cops through to pop stars trying to perform an Oscar worthy musical.

So lets delve into some of the great films out there that need to be remembered due to the musician or the band pulling off some brilliant on screen moments. 

In no particular order Muzebitez have selected the following movies as some you should watch before you croak.

The Song Remains The Same 1976
Led Zeppelin

A weird dream like nightmare of a movie, where the band are all their own heroes within their own scenes when not on stage together. This is one of those films you can put on late at night to slowly drift off into slumber land to. Robert Plant is the Viking type warrior who rescues the damsel, Jimmy Page is the mystical loner, John Paul Jones is the family man, and a highway man, whilst John Bonham is the wild farmer who strolls around in his flash cars. 

The movie seems to represent the music business sharks who operate the industry with their greed and gangster like approach to ripping off the musicians, where Peter Grant the bands real manager comes in with his heavy mob to rid the world of these men.  

Whilst the movie was released in 1976, the live show footage was recorded 3 years earlier, but still captures the band at their best on stage.

I am sure there is a lot more to this movies story and plot that you can read between the lines, but overall its still a pleasant viewing which the lack of dialogue has helped preserve its class

Performance 

Mick Jagger 1970

Mick Jagger has been in several movies throughout his colourful and highly successful career as the front man of the Stones. However this 1970 movie where he co stars with James Fox is something you should check out. A movie that captures the real and raw essence of London's underbelly at that time. 

Jagger who's screen name is Turner lives in a large Bohemian squalid house where very unusual people congregate. Jagger's character is  a reclusive Rock star and has given up on making hit songs.

The basic story is a gangster called Chas who is played by James Fox has to go on the run for a murder, and by chance he over hears someone say that a room is available for rent at Jaggers house in Notting Hill. So he heads over and pretends to be acquainted to the performing world and so Jagger lets him reside there until he can get a fake passport to leave the country. 

However the story takes a turn when Chas takes some psychedelic drugs and Turner and his girlfriend Pherber start to unravel Chas and the world in which he lives. Meanwhile the gangster bosses are trying to locate Chas, which they eventually do and all hell breaks loose. The movie is a stunning visual and is an unusual tale of two performers who cross over into each others world. It has many different twists and turns, but overall it captures Jagger at his most androgynous until he turns into a gangster himself and the transformation is remarkable. Again another movie that has many hidden meanings and subtle hints throughout.  

It Couldn't Happen Here 

Pet Shop Boys 1988

The dynamic duo of Pop were at the height of their fame in the late 80's. As Neil Tennant once referred to this era in the groups history as their Imperial Phase, where they could do no wrong.

They produced this dream like movie with director Jack Bond, which also features some iconic British actors aswell, with Barbara Windsor and Joss Ackland who both perform wonderfully throughout,.

The movie is a surreal dreamlike art house film where the group have very little script to work with,.Instead they are performing many of their hit songs from that period. Whilst travelling around a seaside town and eventually into a war zone. The movie has a strange dummy who is something of a psychopathic killer. Also there is a Biggles like pilot who is obsessed with time and is hell bent on trying to kill the pair as they drive into the countryside in the vintage car they purchased from the same actor Neil Dickson who does double performance duties as a dodgy car salesman. 

This is one of those films that was completely misunderstood for its surrealism and its depth. Something that mainstream media do not appreciate. But nevertheless in the eyes of those who do appreciate such art, this film is certainly one that requires some open mindedness. A great movie as a whole which again in classic PSB style goes against the grain of the cliche Rock movie format. 

Also this movie has never seen a DVD release, so for now you have to find it on You-Tube, unless you like watching old VHS tapes.

The Man Who Fell To Earth

David Bowie 1976

The space oddity himself was one the 1970's most glamorous and talented stars during the hey day of rock stars entering the acting world. By the time this movie came to be, David Bowie had conquered the pop charts and had already washed his hands of the Ziggy character. But here he plays an intelligent alien in human form who finds himself on planet earth and becomes a leading expert in technology by bringing his planets tech to earth and making millions of dollars from it.

He is looking for a way to transport water back to his planet as there is a severe drought there and with his new technological inventions on earth he hopes to achieve this.

However he soon meets a woman and begins to discover the vices this planet has to offer such as drugs alcohol and sex. Bowie's character soon becomes addicted to such things and becomes imprisoned on earth and ultimately unable to get back to his home planet. David Bowie plays the lead role very well and the movie itself has a minimal looking theme and is has some great cinematography throughout.

 Pink Floyd's The Wall 1982

Bob Geldof

Another monster movie which featured Bob Geldof as the main character called Pink Floyd who is a depressed rock star in a hotel room who is reflecting on his childhood and the loss of his father during the second world war. The film goes back and forth from his school days and into the present where he is leading a crowd as some kind of Nazi like dictator. The film is basically a biography of Pink Floyd song writer Roger Waters.

Geldof at this period in his career was fading as a rock star himself and this film gave him the lift he probably needed at that time. A few years away from when he would rocket to world fame with his band aid project, here in the movie he plays the character very well and even though he could not swim and the fact that he also cut his hand quite badly for real on the blinds in the hotel scene, it demonstrated his desire to pull off the best role he possibly could. 

The Harder They Come 1972

Jimmy Cliff

Reggae music was fast becoming a force to be reckoned with by the early to mid 1970's and this movie epitomized its sudden rise in popular culture. Jimmy Cliff was a relatively unknown singer up until this period until this film blew up all over the world on the silver screen, and demonstrated just how good his acting skills were. 

He plays the protagonist called Ivan, who moves to Kingston from the countryside of Jamaica in search of his dreams as a superstar singer. He moves into a house with the preacher and starts to form a relationship with one of the preachers girls. He has an altercation with another worker and cuts him in a knife attack, putting himself in serious trouble. After a whipping he is dismissed from the preacher. After finally succeeding to record his song, he realizes the corrupt world in which the local record company operates by not paying their artists and this leaves him with no record deal, at this time he also gets caught up in the local drug rackets and falls out with the boss of the drug gang. This leads him to shooting a police officer and he then becomes a wanted man.

This then leads to him being on the run and going on a one man army mission against the establishment. As he travels around Kingston, his record becomes a hit on the local radio and everywhere he goes the police are soon trailing behind him. They finally meet in a big battle and the police are there in force to bring him down. This movie is a magical piece of cinema and is sun drenched with a great soundtrack from some great acts of the time. But also it proved that Reggae was here to stay and that Jimmy Cliff could do more than just sing.