Punk rock music goes against the mainstream, circumvents the established order, and overthrows the system with a counterculture attitude. The genre turns the corporate mentality on its head to create a path of resistance and change. Power to the people, anarchy, and individuality are the calling cards of punk rock.
Beyond radical thinking, the riotous sounds form an alternative way of life more tolerable, resilient, and empowering. These balls-to-the-wall punk rock songs are the right needle drops in movies that lay down the strife, take it behind the barn, and put it out of its misery.
10 The World's End (2013) - "Loaded" by Primal Scream
The World's End follows five childhood friends who return to their hometown to complete a bar crawl they never finished. Gary King (Simon Pegg) is found at a rehabilitation session, while his friends have established themselves later in life with successful careers. He reminisces about the glory days over the highly sampled song "Loaded" by Primal Scream.
The track is a revolutionary anthem and a mishmash of voices. Gary decides to get the gang back together, but their challenge is complicated further as their town faces an alien invasion.
9 Marie Antoinette (2006) - "Natural's Not In It" by Gang of Four
Marie Antoinette is a historical drama about the last queen of France of the same name. She breaks tradition, delaying her marriage into royalty and giving birth to a future heir. She spends most of her time enjoying her luxuries, as her attempts to marry remain fruitless. The Gang of Four song "Natural's Not In It" emphasizes the gluttonous, hedonistic love Marie has for materialism.
8 The Faculty (1998) - "The Kids Aren’t Alright" by The Offspring
The Faculty is a science fiction horror film where a group of students discovers that their teachers have been compromised by aliens. The teens have to work together to save the school from the spread of the aliens' infectious breeding. When authorities think they're crying wolf, "The Kids Aren't Alright" by The Offspring kicks in. It's the perfect song about how adults fail the kids and how kids grow up too fast.
7 Repo Man (1984) - "Circle Jerks" by Coup D’état
Universal Pictures
Repo Man is about punk rocker Otto Maddox, who works at a repossession agency in Los Angeles. He is tasked with collecting a hard-to-find Chevrolet Malibu that may belong to aliens. Leading up to the assignment, Otto meets up with his fellow punks to get rowdy while "Circle Jerks" by Coup D’état blasts in the background.
6 24 Hour Party People (2002) - "No Fun" by The Sex Pistols
24 Hour Party People is a biopic about the music scene taking place between 1976 and 1992 in Manchester, England. The film explores up-and-coming punk rock bands under the popular Factory Records label, such as Joy Division and New Order. The head of Factory Records, Tony Wilson, relays their history and discovery of these breakout bands as The Sex Pistols perform "No Fun" via archive footage.
5 Trainspotting (1996) - "Lust for Life" by Iggy Pop
Trainspotting follows the squalor of heroin addicts growing up in Edinburgh, Scotland. Surrounded by poverty and unemployed, the young men are listless and hopeless, falling into the comfort of their vices. The temporary release and prison that drugs create for them is epitomized in the song "Lust for Life" by Iggy Pop.
4 Clerks (1994) - "Supernova" by Chewbacca
Clerks is an independent film about the day in the life of store clerks. Two drug dealers named Jay and Silent Bob idle their time talking about the last two films in the Star Wars trilogy, The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. First, the conversation begins with a simple which-do-you-like-better question.
It escalates to a hypothetical yet reasonable discussion about how innocent contractors were hired to build the second Death Star only to die. The clever use of the fanfare song "Chewbacca" by Supernova goes along with Jay's fan theory.
3 Goodfellas (1990) - "My Way (Frank Sinatra Cover)" by Sid Vicious
Goodfellas utilizes music, like most Martin Scorsese films, with glorious subtext. The cover of the Frank Sinatra song "My Way" by Sid Vicious (a member of the Sex Pistols) captures the alternative lifestyle of crime family member Henry Hill. Henry's days in the mafia come to an end, as did the life of Sid Vicious with this swan song.
2 SLC Punk! (1998) - "I Love Livin’ in the City" by Fear
SLC Punk! is a wayside day in the life film about punk Stevo who graduates from college in Salt Lake City. The backdrop of SLC next to the stark contrast of Stevo's punk debauchery is highlighted with the signature song "I Love Livin' in the City" by Fear. He is caught up in the chaos while revolting against a sea of sameness.
1 Ten Thousand Saints (2015) - "Sixteen Blue" by The Replacements
Ten Thousand Saints is a coming-of-age story about a punk kid and his dysfunctional upbringing. The song "Sixteen Blue" by The Replacements emphasizes the vague, uncertain, and lonely times of being a teenager. Jude is exposed to ten thousand saints, or sidewalk philosophers, taking and leaving advice while trying to become an adult.
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