One of the most influential artists of all time, David Bowie not only marked his presence in movies with brilliant performances, but also with unforgettable needle drops. Throughout a successful 50-year career, Bowie experimented with a variety of genres, such as glam rock, soul, new wave, funk, and many more. His wide-ranging talent and multifaceted persona won over legions of fans, and his legacy lives on even after his death in 2016.
Bowie played multiple characters in fiction and in real life, from a riveting Nikola Tesla role in Christopher Nolan's The Prestige to his alter ego Ziggy Stardust, a rock star who keeps in touch with extraterrestrial beings. His appearances were certified scene-stealers, but the range of memorable needle drops from his songs is equally remarkable. Here's a list of his 10 best.
10 Mauvais Sang (1986) — "Modern Love"
Leos Carax's Mauvais Sang is a straightforward gangster movie that breathes insurgence and rebellion. With a cyberpunk moodscape, the movie takes place in a Paris infested with a deadly virus that only infects those who have sex without emotional attachment. To stop that, a group of renegades recruits a young criminal to steal a potential antidote from the hands of powerful people.
A Song That Perfectly Suits the Story
Overtaken with frustration and running away from invisible threats, the protagonist of Mauvais Sang dances across the collapsing city of Paris to the sound of Bowie's "Modern Love." The needle drop delivers a sudden change of style in the film, but those familiar with Carax's cinema will be used to it. In addition, the title "Modern Love" perfectly suits the film's premise, hinting at the fragility of contemporary relationships. Rent on Prime Video
9 Dogville (2003) — "Young Americans"
Dogville is a disturbing satire of the United States, exposing the structural evil that corrupts a society built with the blood of others. The rotting nature of men is laid open through the eyes of Grace, a mysterious newcomer in a village full of secrets. Lars Von Trier isn't slightly subtle in his criticisms, filming the movie as a stage play: the houses and stores of the village are demarcated by chalk drawings on the ground.
Lars Von Trier's Dark Sense of Humor
The atrocities that unfold are exposed in plain sight for anyone to see, but the inhabitants conceal themselves from reality within the confines of their invisible walls. "Young Americans" is a single from the album of the same name, and marks a drastic change of style in Bowie's career, transitioning from glam rock to soul and R&B. The upbeat song talks about a twisted love story, but in Dogville, it's accompanied by a montage of photos of poverty-stricken Americans, highlighting Trier's irreverent sense of dark humor. Stream on MUBI
8 The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012) — "Heroes"
The Perks of Being a Wallflower might seem like an ordinary teen movie at first glance, but it takes a dark turn halfway through. The movie effectively balances a coming-of-age story of a teenage underdog struggling to make friends with a strong trauma subtext, handling heavy subjects with remarkable sensibility.
The Iconic Tunnel Scene
"Heroes" is Bowie's most featured song in movies, resulting in a handful of unforgettable needle drops. Though it's hard to pick only one, The Perks of Being a Wallflower deserves credit for perfectly putting up a bridge between the characters and what the lyrics have to say. It also saves the song for the film's emotional peak: the characters drive through a tunnel and set themselves free as "Heroes" plays on the radio and they acknowledge how "infinite" they are. Stream on Paramount+
7 Lost Highway (1997) — "I'm Deranged"
Lost Highway plays out like an impenetrable puzzle created by surrealist genius David Lynch, centered around two interconnected storylines: the first following Fred, a jazz musician who gets tangled up in his lover's mysterious murder, and the second centered around Fred's transformation into Pete, an ordinary repairman swept into a chilling conspiracy.
Into the Depths of Darkness
For a movie with no clear beginning or end, nothing better than a never-ending highway to illustrate the disorientation of its narrative. This same road features both the opening and ending credits of Lost Highway alongside variations of Bowie's "I'm Deranged," the perfect song for a chaotic night drive to the depths of darkness. Stream on The Criterion Channel
6 Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) — "Moonage Daydream"
One of the most noticeable trademarks of Bowie's career is his interest in outer space and the unknown, devoting inventive personas and a range of rock anthems to this far-reaching subject matter. In this context, there have been many instances in which sci-fi movies took advantage of this peculiar set of songs to add flavor to their intergalactic journeys and space quests.
The Perfect Marriage
Though the use of Bowie's space-related songs in ambitious sci-fi projects quickly turned into hackneyed cliches, the MCU was responsible for bringing it back to full rigor. In Guardians of the Galaxy, "Moonage Daydream" shows up as Star-Lord's spaceship flies across a space city. Stream on Disney+
5 The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004) — "Life on Mars" and Others
A truly underrated title in Wes Anderson's filmography, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou follows Bill Murray as an inverted version of Captain Ahab, seeking revenge against a rare shark that killed one of his sailors. He's accompanied by a man who claims to be his son and a variety of peculiar crew members.
A Wealth of Needle Drops
The entire soundtrack of The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou consists of David Bowie needle drops, except that only a few of them are performed by Bowie. Instead, what viewers get is a precious collection of covers by Brazillian multi-instrumentalist and pop samba singer Seu Jorge. With Anderson conducting a mosaic of high-spirited, colored images and Seu Jorge framing them in Bowie's beautiful melodies, now sang in Portuguese, a movie can't get livelier than that. Rent on AppleTV
4 Inglourious Basterds (2009) — "Cat People"
Bowie's "Cat People" was made for the big screen, created especially for Paul Schrader's movie of the same name in 1982. Over 20 years later, Quentin Tarantino decided to reuse it in a movie of his own, Inglourious Basterds, a witty revenge story set in the height of World War II, centered around a group of Jewish-American soldiers who set out to hunt down and kill any Nazi that crosses their path.
Shosanna's Swan Song
The song opens the movie's final chapter, "Revenge of the Giant Face," enveloping the character of Shosanna in an erotic aura as she prepares to carry out the final part of her revenge plan. Dressed in a burning red dress and fueled by a desire to kill, this "Cat People" needle drop evokes the same femme fatale power it had in Schrader's eponymous movie. Rent on Prime Video
3 The Martian (2015) — "Starman"
Ridley Scott's The Martian offers a good mix of comedy and space journey, telling the story of an astronaut desperately trying to get home after he's left behind by his crew on Mars. It's a pretty straightforward movie that takes advantage of an equally straightforward song, bringing up Bowie's "Starman" in the moments that precede the space crew's launch.
A Man in the Stars
What makes this needle drop so special is how well it suits the protagonist's farewell as he prepares to leave Earth, while hinting at the character's fate with lyrics such as "There's a Starman waiting in the sky." To top that, The Martian has the guts to play the full four-minute-long song. Rent on Prime Video
2 The House That Jack Built (2018) — "Fame"
As far as The House That Jack Built goes, audiences are either engaged or upset by its crude violent content and irreverent look into a serial killer's lifestyle. However, most people seem to ignore how darkly hilarious the movie can be. It revolves entirely around a self-obsessed man who gives in to his darkest impulses and decides to make a work of art out of it.
A Darkly Funny Needle Drop
When Bowie's "Fame" kicks in, The House That Jack Built reaches its comical peak, pretty much making fun of the character's obsession with accomplishing great feats, while, essentially, he's just another soul destined to be pathetically burned in the fires of hell. Stream on Hulu
1 Aftersun (2022) — "Under Pressure"
One knows a needle drop stuck the landing when one can't ever listen to the song the same way again. Although Bowie's collaboration with Queen, "Under Pressure," can be considered quite an upbeat song, the tune takes on a whole different meaning in the closing moments of Aftersun. The movie follows a woman's recollections of a trip she took with her father when she was just a kid, trying to piece together the parts of this father/daughter relationship she never quite understood.
Where Reality and Imagination Collide
"Under Pressure" shows up in the movie when reality and imagination clash in a father and daughter embrace. As the two dance away on their final night together, the main character is overwhelmed with sadness as the father she knew and the man she didn't collide with one another. Stream on Paramount+
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