The more we look into a body of work by a musical artist, the more we want the people behind the music to know. What do you hear? What do they hear? Like off-stage, what are they? Are they eccentric riddles when cameras roll and modest introverts turn off, or is there no filter between the public and private? Films about music and musicians provide us an opportunity to understand how charismatic people could be, even though the stories we watch may not end up being more precise than our imagination. This article gives an insight into the top 20 best films on music that are chosen by musicians.
Whether these movies acquire the artist’s official stamp or simply somebody’s cameras and financial guesswork, better or worse musical films help humanize rock gods and hip-hop inventors and help establish their reputations. Here, Once(2007) is leading the list which is highly appreciated by its Heart touching music and film critics and hit screens. Then the list is followed by The Pianist (2002) in second place and then This is Spinal Tap (1984) in third place.
Which is the best movie about of all time streaming on Amazon Prime Video?
The Musical/Romance 2007 movie ONCE is the best movie about music that streams on Amazon Prime with 97% Rotten Tomatoes ratings.
Is there any good movie about music available on Netflix?
The Pianist (2002) is the best movie about music on Netflix with 8.2 IMDB score.
We have handpicked such Top 20 Best Movies About Music, Chosen by Musicians!
20. Notorious
| Director: | George Tillman Jr. |
| Released Year: | 2009 |
| Cast: | Terrence Howard, & Anthony Anderson |
| Genre: | Drama/Musical |
| IMDB Ratings: | 6.7 |
| Rotten Tomatoes Ratings: | 52% |
| Currently Steaming On: | Hulu, Amazon Prime Videos |
This effective biopic, headed at George Tillman Jr., describes the Notorious B.I.G.’s too short growth as one of the most experienced rappers and its terrible assassination in 1997 when he was 24. But it gets too many little things incorrect, whether Angela Bassett’s flutters like Violetta Wallace in Jamaica; or Biggie’s scenes of “Big Poppa,” which peaked at Number 1 on Billboard charts before the horrific 2Pac shooting of Quad Studios on November 30, 1994. Furthermore, rapper and first-time actor Jamal “Gravy” Woolard is not nearly skilled enough to make a full movie, but he does an appropriate job of capturing the famous charm of Biggie. That’s why it is one of the best movies about music.
19. Rock Star
| Director: | Stephen Herek |
| Released Year: | 2001 |
| Cast: | Mark Wahlberg & Jennifer Aniston |
| Genre: | Comedy/Musical |
| IMDB Ratings: | 6.3 |
| Rotten Tomatoes Ratings: | 53% |
| Currently Steaming On: | Amazon Prime Videos |
Stephen Herek directed Rock Star and aired it in 2001. It’s a comedic drama picture, even if it’s somewhat severe. We all know the many ancient bands, like yes, Journey and Judas Priest, who must locate a new vocalist and wrestle a singer from her finest album cover band. One of these singers is following this film. It has several musicians, such as Zakk Wylde and Jeff Pilson. Trust or not, this film was a box office catastrophe, losing around 37 million dollars. Six songs from the band, Steel Dragon, feature in the soundtrack. So, it is one of the best Movies about music.
18. The Runaways
| Director: | Floria Sigismondi |
| Released Year: | 2010 |
| Cast: | Terrence Howard & Anthony Anderson (Black-ish Season 7) |
| Genre: | Drama/Musical |
| IMDB Ratings: | 6.5 |
| Rotten Tomatoes Ratings: | 69% |
| Currently Steaming On: | Amazon Prime Videos |
Biopics live or die on their shows, and Floria Sigismondi has two explosive ones in the early days of Kristen Stewart’s pioneering all-female rock band Kim Fowley. Fowley gathered the group and joyously exploited their jail-bear appeal, nevertheless, Jett and her bandmates successfully took over control of the hands of Svengali. They were a fine line between exploitation and power. The movie was released before the band’s latter-day bassist, Jacqueline Fuchs a.k.a. Jackie Fox went public with allegations that Fowley had drugged and raped her; Fuchs is not a character in the film.
17. 8 Mile
| Director: | Curtis Hanson |
| Released Year: | 2002 |
| Cast: | Eminem, Brittany Murphy, Kim Basinger |
| Genre: | Drama/Musical |
| IMDB Ratings: | 7.1 |
| Rotten Tomatoes Ratings: | 75% |
| Currently Steaming On: | Amazon Prime Videos |
This film about Detroit’s young, white rapper partly reflects the real story of Eminem (actual name Marshall Mathers III), the controversial artist, who also plays the character. It’s the music in 8 miles that sells it, one of the finest to grace a soundtrack ever, although the movie is impressive. The film’s soundtrack arrived at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 when it was released, and eventually became the sixth bestseller of the year with the Academy Award for Best Original Song for the now classer Lose Yourself. That’s why we put this movie on our list to be the best movie on music.
16. Walk the Line
| Director: | John Landis |
| Released Year: | 2005 |
| Cast: | Joaquin Phoenix, Reese Witherspoon, Ginnifer Goodwin, Robert Patrick |
| Genre: | Musical/Drama |
| IMDB Ratings: | 7.8 |
| Rotten Tomatoes Ratings: | 82% |
| Currently Steaming On: | Amazon Prime Videos |
In Walk the Line, a biography of the life and time of one of country music‘s most strong voices, the early days of Johnny Cash are represented beautifully. The film focuses mostly on Cash’s ascent to stardom, with an insight into the man in black and many of his most classical compositions, as he sets out Joaquin Phoenix as Cash and Reese Witherspoon (who won the Academy award for Best Actress) as his wife and friend, June. It is one of the good movies on music.
15. Hustle & Flow
| Director: | Craig Brewer |
| Released Year: | 2005 |
| Cast: | Terrence Howard, & Anthony Anderson |
| Genre: | Drama/Romance |
| IMDB Ratings: | 7.3 |
| Rotten Tomatoes Ratings: | 82% |
| Currently Steaming On: | Amazon Prime Videos |
Hustle & Flow was released in 2005, which was advertised as a Coming 2 America director Craig Brewer drama picture. There are numerous other actors and rapers include Taraji P. Henson, Ludacris, Isaac Hayes, Haystack, JuicyJ. It has received a large number of prizes and nominations, including the Best Actor, that it cannot be enumerated. The sequences you see the group creating a song from the ground up are very great, including the beat development. The entire film is fantastic, and only for the sequences, particularly when you are a musician or have been composing rap songs, it’s worth seeing.
14. The Blues Brothers
| Director: | John Landis |
| Released Year: | 1980 |
| Cast: | John Belushi, Dan Aykroyd |
| Genre: | Musical/Comedy |
| IMDB Ratings: | 7.4 |
| Rotten Tomatoes Ratings: | 84% |
| Currently Steaming On: | Netflix |
The Blues Brothers accompany comedians Dan Aykroyd and John Balushi as Jake and Elwood Blues, two mischief-makers who have set out to earn money in order to rescue their orphanage from foreclosure. A famous Saturday Night Live skit turned full-length as in the movie. Although the primary characters are imaginary, a person who is one of the best-known musicians from several eras, featuring guest performances by legendary artists, such as James Brown, Cab Calloway, Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles and Chaka Khan. Overall, it is one of the most worth watching 80s movies.
13. A Mighty Wind
| Director: | Christopher Guest(Space Force Season 2) |
| Released Year: | 2003 |
| Cast: | Christopher Guest, Eugene Levy, Michael McKean, Catherine O’Hara |
| Genre: | Musical/Comedy |
| IMDB Ratings: | 7.2 |
| Rotten Tomatoes Ratings: | 87% |
| Currently Steaming On: | Amazon Prime Videos |
This movie is only one of Christopher Guest’s several musical mockumentaries. Returning to the film, Guest directed a hiloquent mockumentary series, including A Mighty Wind in 2003, with 1996 Waiting for Guffman. The narrative presents three diverse groups of folk artists, inviting them to celebrate the passing of a folk producer on stage. Eugene Levy and Catherine O’Hara, the erstwhile lovebird couple, are the primary cast of the movie. The film is an exercise of American folks and has many hippie-like features; yet, it is the clear admiration and enthusiasm of the audience for the genre that makes it stand out. In A Kiss’s performance at the end of the Rainbow, viewers may perceive the truth in this Statement in the concluding moments. This is really one of the most wonderful movies about music.
12. Sid and Nancy
| Director: | Alex Cox |
| Released Year: | 1986 |
| Cast: | Gary Oldman (Mank), Chloe Webb, David Hayman |
| Genre: | Musical/Drama |
| IMDB Ratings: | 7.0 |
| Rotten Tomatoes Ratings: | 88% |
| Currently Steaming On: | Amazon Prime Videos |
Sid and Nancy is one of the first major films to take on the genre of punk rock and give Gary Oldman his first-ever lead. This film takes viewers through the love story and deaths of legendary Sex Pistols bassist Sid Vicious (Oldman) and girlfriend Nancy Spungen (Chloe Webb). We watch as Sid and Nancy meet for the first time in London, fall in love (and heroin), and embark on a United States tour. We also learn that Sid has failed to begin a solo music career (Oldman is worth the great version of Frank Sinatra’s My Way alone). In each of its individual roles, Oldman and Web are the wonderful combinations for a strong, complicated, and apocalyptic romantic story.
11. Rocketman
| Director: | Dexter Fletcher |
| Released Year: | 2019 |
| Cast: | Taron Egerton, Jamie Bell, Richard Madden |
| Genre: | Musical/Drama |
| IMDB Ratings: | 7.3 |
| Rotten Tomatoes Ratings: | 89% |
| Currently Steaming On: | Netflix |
While some may label Rocketman a biography, Taron Egerton who plays Sir Elton John in the movie, labels the picture “a fantasy musical.” Film creators blur the trends between reality and fiction shamelessly since Elton John fans should not be loaded with fresh facts as the objective of the movie. Rocketman covers the highs and the lowest things in the life of his subject through John’s decades of hits. For instance, when performing I Want Love, you experience the shattering loneliness of the singer’s childhood home. Rocketman is a great, forceful and over-the-top homage to one of our finest living singer-songwriters.
10. Love & Mercy
| Director: | Bill Pohlad |
| Released Year: | 2014 |
| Cast: | John Cusack, Paul Dano, Elizabeth Banks |
| Genre: | Drama/Music |
| IMDB Ratings: | 7.4 |
| Rotten Tomatoes Ratings: | 89% |
| Currently Steaming On: | Amazon Prime Videos |
This movie is a must-see for lovers of the musical masterminds of the Beach Boys, Brian Wilson. Love & Mercy is the mental breakdown and restoration of the singer and songwriter, after Wilson’s younger (played by Paul Dano) and middle-aged (Cusack) portions in the sixties and eighties. The 1960s revisit Wilson’s well-known tactics with the recording of Pet Sounds, showing the forward-looking sense of one of the most fascinating talents of pop music. That’s why we put this movie on our list of best movies about music.
9. Straight Outta Compton
| Director: | F. Gary Gray |
| Released Year: | 2015 |
| Cast: | O’Shea Jackson Jr., Corey Hawkins, Jason Mitchell |
| Genre: | Drama/Crime |
| IMDB Ratings: | 7.8 |
| Rotten Tomatoes Ratings: | 89% |
| Currently Steaming On: | Netflix, Amazon Prime Videos |
Rapper Ice Cube’s son, O’Shea Jackson Jr., plays his father in this visceral portrayal of the formative years of West Coast gangsta rap pioneers NWA. The movie inspired the group with many of the legendary snaps of Dr. Dre’s third studio album, Compton. The film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Origer Screenplay in 2015 as a tournament that chronicles the fascinating chemistry behind some of the most emblematic musicians in Hip Hop.
8. Almost Famous
| Director: | Cameron Crowe |
| Released Year: | 2000 |
| Cast: | Billy Crudup, Patrick Fugit, Kate Hudson |
| Genre: | Drama/Music |
| IMDB Ratings: | 7.1 |
| Rotten Tomatoes Ratings: | 89% |
| Currently Steaming On: | Amazon Prime Videos |
It is a semi-autobiographical narrative based on a fascinating and funny sight of the chaotic ‘70s rocky scene by Cameron Crowe’s adolescent Rolling Stone journalist, who embeds him in an up-and-coming classical rock band. It’s the soundtrack is great, as predicted, for the film including a classical person, from Simon & Garfunkel to Led Zeppelin. Indeed, the 2000s movie received the Grammy Best Soundtrack Compilation in 2001. Overall, it is one of the best movies on music.
7. A Star Is Born
| Director: | Bradley Cooper (Guardians of the Galaxy 3) |
| Released Year: | 2018 |
| Cast: | Lady Gaga, Bradley Cooper, Sam Elliott |
| Genre: | Romance/Musical |
| IMDB Ratings: | 7.6 |
| Rotten Tomatoes Ratings: | 90% |
| Currently Steaming On: | Netflix |
The premise of Star Is Born is not new. It is the third restoration of the love drama of 1937 but the directorial debut of Bradley Cooper demonstrates that it is not the tale that matters. This is how you say it. Like Ally, a young singer-songwriter who is a hard-to-drink country-music player, 80s music artist Lady Gaga proves she can hang out with veterans such as Cooper and Sam Elliott and won the Academy Prize for Best Original Song, while Shallow, one of the biggest music performances ever performing in Oscar history, has won a breakout film.
6. High Fidelity
| Director: | Stephen Frears |
| Released Year: | 2000 |
| Cast: | John Cusack, Iben Hjejle, Todd Louiso |
| Genre: | Romance /Comedy |
| IMDB Ratings: | 7.5 |
| Rotten Tomatoes Ratings: | 91% |
| Currently Steaming On: | Amazon Prime Videos |
High Fidelity is another masterpiece of Cusack, who revives his former love relationships by the Gregarius actor as a musical obsessive discotheque owner in Chicago. An amazing ensemble, supplemented by performers such as Lisa Bonet and Jock Black, includes classical works of great songwriters like The Kinks and Bob Dylan but also spotlights lesser-known bands like the 13th Floor Elevators and the Beta Band (but highly adored). Its overall story makes it a good movie with music.
5. Inside Llewyn Davis
| Director: | Ethan Coen, Joel Coen |
| Released Year: | 2013 |
| Cast: | Oscar Isaac, Carey Mulligan, John Goodman |
| Genre: | Drama/Music |
| IMDB Ratings: | 7.5 |
| Rotten Tomatoes Ratings: | 92% |
| Currently Steaming On: | Amazon Prime Videos |
This movie depicted the story of a folk singer who died in 1961. With great scripts, wonderful performances and exquisite live recordings of traditional people’s singing, this musical film became famous. The star of the performance is Oscar Issac, with musicians like Justin Timberlake, Chris Thile and Marcus Mumford. This film (like other Coen brothers’ efforts) was highly criticized, resulting in the nominations for Best Sound Mixing Oscar and Best Original Song Golden Globe. But overall, it is one of the best music movies.
4. Amadeus
| Director: | Milos Forman (One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest) |
| Released Year: | 1984 |
| Cast: | F. Murray Abraham, Tom Hulce, Elizabeth Berridge |
| Genre: | Drama/Epic |
| IMDB Ratings: | 7.5 |
| Rotten Tomatoes Ratings: | 93% |
| Currently Steaming On: | Amazon Prime Videos |
In this production of Peter Shaffer’s play of the same name, the story of musical prodigy Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart receives a large dosage of drama. This highly praised picture earned eight Academy Awards and 32 other prizes in different categories – including the Grammys – when it was released by Mozart (Tom Hulce) and the former Italian musician Antonio Salieri (F. Murray Abraham). The inspirational movie Amadeus performs well in several of Mozart’s pieces performed perfectly by the Fields Chamber Orchestra by the St. Martin Academy of London. Overall, it is one of the best movies on music.
3. This is Spinal Tap
| Director: | Rob Reiner |
| Released Year: | 1984 |
| Cast: | Rob Reiner, Michael McKean, Christopher Guest, Harry Shearer |
| Genre: | Musical/Comedy |
| IMDB Ratings: | 7.9 |
| Rotten Tomatoes Ratings: | 95% |
| Currently Steaming On: | Amazon Prime Videos |
Spinal Tap is an American movie co-composed by Rob Reiner on his cinema debut in 1984. Spinal Tap is widely considered as one of the greatest (if not one of the very best) mockumentary movies in the fictional British heavy metal band. The entire album was created with original content, and it was played afterward. Tonight I’m Gonna Rock You Tonight and Gimme Some Money did not so subtly dig into the generic condition of big-label rock in the early 1980s. The movie satirizes rock band behavior, musical pretensions, and hagiographical inclinations.
2. The Pianist
| Director: | Roman Polanski |
| Released Year: | 2002 |
| Cast: | Terrence Howard, & Anthony Anderson |
| Genre: | War/Drama |
| IMDB Ratings: | 8.2 |
| Rotten Tomatoes Ratings: | 95% |
| Currently Steaming On: | Netflix |
You need not be aware much about his celebrated career as a concert pianist in the Holocaust, Wladyslaw Sziplman, to become touched by his terrible portrayal of his survival in the Warsaw ghetto. Directed and based on Roman Polanski’s late Jewish autobiography, Adrien Brody embodies Polish composer’s struggle to preserve his artistry in years of terrible scenes, from his family’s desperate observation of a work camp to his gifts as a pianist to try, even when he trembles of malnutrition and jaundice, to convince a Nazi officer to spare his life. Brody’s haunting portrait won him Best Actor’s 2003 Oscar. The pianist may not display much current music, but he still is one of the greatest movies ever made in classical music.
1. Once
| Director: | John Carney |
| Released Year: | 2007 |
| Cast: | Glen Hansard, Markéta Irglová, Hugh Walsh |
| Genre: | Musical/Romance |
| IMDB Ratings: | 7.8 |
| Rotten Tomatoes Ratings: | 97% |
| Currently Steaming On: | Amazon Prime Videos |
Once (2007) was a Romantic Irish music theatre film by John Carney, written in 2007. The film performs in Dublin, Ireland, as two artists fighting against Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová. The first music of Hansard and Irglová as the Swell Season, composing and playing the original songs of the film. A romantic musical about a busking songwriter who works as a vacuum repairman, Once was the darling of both music and film critics when it hit screens, helping to launch the careers of real-life musicians/co-stars Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová. Shot on a shoestring budget, the film earned an Academy Award for Best Original Song in 2008 for Falling Slowly.
Conclusion!
These films, of course, are considerably more than spin-offs: a decent biography or documentary can revive the songs and enlighten their composers’ tribulations. Music biopics are a true genre, and there is no hint that they are becoming more or less popular. So we’re counting down our choices for the 20 Best movies about music which are chosen by Musicians. You can stream these movies even on Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, or on Disney+.
