It's funny to think about how many movies out there are about music. Music's its own art form and can be enjoyed without visuals (obviously), but at the same time, there's something undeniably thrilling about seeing a story concerning music play out on-screen. As such, biopics about musicians have always been popular, as have music documentaries and fictional movies about characters who are striving towards starting - or sustaining - a music career.

The best movies about music ultimately make use of the fact that film is a visual medium, giving viewers a chance to experience the power of music in a way that goes beyond simply hearing it. The following films all demonstrate this well, as they all revolve around music or musicians while featuring dramatic visuals and dazzling filmmaking, making them essential viewing for fans of maximalist cinema and/or music-themed films.

10 'Elvis' (2022)

Elvis - 2022
Image from Warner Bros. Pictures

Elvis is bombastic and sometimes overwhelming, but in a good way. Anyone familiar with Australian filmmaker Baz Luhrmann will have likely been expecting that to be the case, seeing as he's well-known for his hyperactive editing, relentless pacing, in-your-face visuals, and overall flashy stylistic touches.

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When applied to the story of Elvis Presley's meteoric rise to fame, Luhrmann's sensibilities as a filmmaker end up working well. It's an ambitious and exhausting movie that runs for more than 2.5 hours, but it features a great lead performance by Austin Butler in the title role, and certainly stands as a film with more going for it than your run-of-the-mill music biopic.

9 'Rocketman' (2019)

Elton John adjusting his bowtie in Rocketman
Image via Paramount Pictures

It feels natural to compare Rocketman to 2018's Bohemian Rhapsody, given the former was released shortly after the latter, and both follow English rockstars who lived dramatic - and sometimes troubled - lives while achieving worldwide fame. They also shared a director (sort of), as Bohemian Rhapsody ended up being completed by director Dexter Fletcher, who then went on to direct Rocketman.

Ultimately, Rocketman succeeded and did justice to the life of times of Elton John, and didn't let him down the same way Bohemian Rhapsody did to Freddie Mercury by sanitizing his life and making it feel artificial. It's a stylish and flashy biopic that's helped immensely by its visually engaging music numbers and its refusal to sugarcoat the wild parts of the life that Elton John's lived.

8 'Moonage Daydream' (2022)

david bowie moonage daydream
Image via NEON

Viewers who approach Moonage Daydream expecting it to be a by-the-numbers music documentary about the life and career of the legendary David Bowie may come away confused at best and deeply disappointed at worst. True to Bowie's unpredictable spirit, it's an experimental and genre-defying strange film, but an engrossing one for viewers who are willing to appreciate it for what it is.

Ultimately, there is no way to condense David Bowie as a person into a single documentary. He had multiple personas throughout his career, and essentially played around with a new sound or genre on every single one of his many albums. Moonage Daydream, therefore, works to capture the essence of Bowie as a singular artist, presenting viewers with a wild kaleidoscope of images and sounds that prove as overwhelming as they are awe-inspiring.

7 'All That Jazz' (1979)

All That Jazz - 1979

A dramatic musical that's as visually dazzling as it is unrelentingly bleak, All That Jazz is among the best movies of the 1970s. It's a semi-autobiographical film from the radical Bob Fosse, with him using it as an opportunity to depict his chaotic, workaholic lifestyle. Fosse tragically passed away from a heart attack at just 60 years old, only eight years on from All That Jazz's release.

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It's an extremely stylish and amazingly edited movie, almost to the point where even if the visuals themselves were bland, the way the images are cut together would make them visually impactful anyway. Thankfully, the visuals themselves are also stunning to look at, with the final musical number (which plays in the protagonist's head) particularly standing out in this regard.

6 'Climax' (2018)

Climax 2018
Image via A24

Even though Climax ends up feeling predominantly like a horror film, it at least starts out with an emphasis on music. It follows a group of talented dancers who gather in a remote building to party, and seem to be having a pretty good time for a while. The audience might have a good time, too, given how well-choreographed and engagingly filmed the extended opening dance sequence is.

Things take a turn, however, when someone spikes the party's sangria with LSD, and things erupt into chaos and disturbing violence. It's a stylish-looking and uniquely shot movie about a group of characters who all have a passion for dancing, but will probably only appeal to those who don't mind horror movies, given that's the direction it eventually goes in.

5 'Moulin Rouge!' (2001)

Ewan McGregor, Jim Broadbent, Nicole Kidman, and John Leguizamo in Moulin Rouge
Image Via  20th Century Fox

Just over 20 years before the release of Elvis, Baz Luhrmann released one of his best films, another music-heavy movie that was similarly bombastic and visually dense. That film was 2001's Moulin Rouge!, and it centered on the titular nightclub with a particular focus on the doomed romance between the club's star attraction and a young, love-struck poet.

To call Moulin Rouge! a sensory overload would be an understatement. It's a film that just refuses to take a second to breathe, especially early on, with the film's style feeling dangerously close to too much at times. Thankfully, it's easier to adjust to the film as it progresses, but this jukebox musical with its cast of singers and entertainers certainly provides something of a shock to the senses.

4 'Pink Floyd: The Wall' (1982)

Pink Floyd The Wall - 1982 - Comfortably Numb

If any movie not currently in the revered Criterion Collection deserves a spot within it, it's Pink Floyd: The Wall. It takes Pink Floyd's iconic 1979 concept album The Wall and pairs it up with visuals that help flesh out the bold (yet somewhat oblique) narrative found in the original album's lyrics.

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As such, Pink Floyd: The Wall is extremely creative and frequently mesmerizing to look at, as it blends gritty realism, dream sequences, and animated segments to striking effect. It's a dark and disturbing rock opera about a troubled musician who's haunted by his past and slowly becomes corrupted by fame, but even if some of the images aren't pleasant to look at, it's hard to deny that they're striking.

3 'Phantom of the Paradise' (1974)

Phantom of the Paradise

Phantom of the Paradise might well stand as one of the few horror movies that's simply too unique and weird to ever remake. It tells the story of an up-and-coming musician who's betrayed by a dastardly record producer, and after a period of imprisonment, returns to exact revenge on the man for ruining his life.

It was directed by Brian De Palma in the early years of his filmmaking career and still stands as one of his best movies. De Palma has always had a singular style that inevitably leads to visually engaging films, and Phantom of the Paradise is no exception, with its wild and creative visuals effectively complementing the various tones and genres the story covers.

2 'Yellow Submarine' (1968)

yellow submarine0

Even though Yellow Submarine doesn't technically feature The Beatles outside a cameo, it's still an engaging animated film that captures the spirit of the band well. It followed animated versions of John, Paul, George, and Ringo as they battle the evil Blue Meanies, who've taken over the fantastical Pepperland and turned its citizens into stone.

For anyone who loves bizarre, psychedelic animation and Beatles music, Yellow Submarine is essential viewing, because it's really just a feature-length excuse to pair iconic songs up with crazy, out-there animation. It's a complete trip, and still proves to be visually dazzling and musically engaging more than 50 years on from its release.

1 'Whiplash' (2014)

JK Simmons yelling at Miles Teller's character as he drums in 'Whiplash.'
Image via Sony Pictures Classics

Whiplash wasn't Damien Chazelle's first feature film, but it was the one that brought him significant attention and acclaim. It follows a determined drummer who begins studying under a terrifyingly strict instructor; one who's unafraid to employ a variety of brutal methods to ensure his students achieve perfection in their musicianship.

It's a movie that functions as a psychological thriller just as much as a music/drama film. There's a flashiness and precision to much of Whiplash's cinematography that's a delight to watch, making it a fast-moving and visually dynamic movie that's as entertaining as it is inevitably anxiety-inducing.

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