The concept of the rock opera originated in the 1960s in vinyl form, when a band called the Pretty Things released their S.F. Sorrow record. While famed rock critic Lester Bangs found the concept album to be "ultra pretentious," it struck a chord with many rock musicians, who enjoyed the fanfare of Broadway musicals and operas, and wanted a new direction in which to guide their music.
Soon after, some of the era's most popular bands, like The Who and Pink Floyd, made similar concept albums.
By the early '70s, filmmakers began to see an opportunity, wherein adapting these albums into films would have a built-in audience comprised of fans of these popular touring acts. Some of these rock opera films, like Tommy and The Wall, became so successful that they inspired the adaptation of stage musicals like The Rocky Horror Picture show into films.
In the 5 decades since, filmmakers continue to harness the rock opera genre to tell new stories and incorporate the music of epic rock bands. The following are the 12 greatest rock opera movies of all time.
12 Across the Universe (2007)
Across the Universe helped to further immortalize The Beatles' ouevre via a 'jukebox musical' romantic drama, using over 34 licensed Beatles tracks to soundtrack the film. The characters often break into song during a story that sees Jude (all the characters' names correspond to Beatles songs) leave his love, Lucy, behind when he travels to America to find his father.
The movie left a little to be wanted, especially after seeing The Beatles own musical films, A Hard Day's Night and Yellow Submarine, but where those lacked narrative Across the Universe manifests one.
The Beatles Music is So Powerful it Amplifies the Watching Experience
While Across the Universe is a bit melodramatic and lacks a certain edge, one can't help but find themselves humming along to the music and eventually becoming invested in this love story. Evan Rachel Wood is the film's biggest acting standout, and the plot's mirroring of the Beatles' own Invasion of America creates the beats necessary to overlap chronology and music in the optimistic film. Stream Across the Universe on Hoopla
11 Hedwig and the Angry Inch (2001)
Writer/director Jon Cameron Mitchell's Hedwig and the Angry Inch broke plenty of ground on screen, a few years after the off-Broadway musical became a phenomenon in the late-'90s.
While genderqueer rock stars and drag queens had made it to the big screen before in films like Velvet Goldmine, Priscilla Queen of the Desert, and the work of John Waters, Hedwig did so in a more accessible fashion. The film became a sort of Rocky Horror Picture Show for the Y2K set, with Mitchell and Michael Pitt giving daring performances in the film.
The Franchise's Popularity Continues with Broadway Runs
Where Hedwig walked, shows like Drag Race ran, after the cult popularity of the film in the DVD Era led to huge Broadway runs starring the likes of Neil Patrick Harris. At this point, Hedwig has become an institution, akin to Stephen Schwartz's musicals like Wicked, while also being a huge stepping stone for the drag community to reach its enormous popularity of today.
10 Phantom of the Paradise (1974)
Phantom of the Paradise is beyond weird, and is — without a doubt — the least like any of Brian De Palma's other films. De Palma strayed far from his comfort zone, but the critically panned 1974 rock musical/comedy/horror was lauded by some critics, including The New York Times' Pauline Kael — for its unpredictability.
In the film, the Paradise Concert Hall becomes a character in the film, while the disfigured main character Winslow Leach attempts to reach his rock star dreams after a producer steals his music to kick off the grand venue's opening.
A Rock Film Full of Allusions to Other Operatic Staples
De Palma's script references everything from The Phantom of the Opera to other rock operas like Tommy, and the wild production design and sets make Paradise eminently watchable.
While De Palma was raked over the coals and his film career put on life support after Paradise, his next two features, Obsession and the horror masterpiece Carrie, restored him to prominence. Since then, a greater appreciation for Paradise has grown, even among real-life musicians like Sebastien Tellier and Daft Punk.
9 Hair (1979)
The 1970s was the biggest decade of prominence for rock opera movies, as the Vietnam Era slowly gave way to the Disco Era, creating a weird gray area where rock operas were often shaded in either direction. Hair definitely shaded to the rock side, after the original stage musical was produced in 1968.
A decade later the film became a sonnet to the height of the Vietnam Era, after the main character, Claude, gets drafted. First, he stops in New York City, where he meets a like-minded band of hippies prone to breaking out in song.
Aquarius Becomes One of the Most Operatic Rock Songs Ever
This flower child epic became most memorable for its incredible original songs by composer Galt McDermott. The medley "Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In," performed by 5th Dimension using the much-lauded Wrecking Crew studio band, had the most staying power. The song has been used in everything from Forrest Gump to The 40 Year Old Virgin, with a joyful chorus that has come to represent the hippie movement. Stream Hair on FuboTV
8 Little Shop of Horrors (1986)
Little Shop of Horrors was a confluence of incredible talent, with Frank Oz, the incredible actor who voiced everyone from Miss Piggy to Yoda and helped Jim Henson bring Sesame Street to life, jumping behind the camera as director. Backing the project was David Geffen, the record magnate who had recently crossed over to film with the hit Risky Business.
Star Rick Moranis, who plays Seymour, was at the height of his powers coming off of Ghostbusters, and Geffen helped expand the original musical into a sonic extravaganza, using an enormous budget.
An All-Star Cast Elevates an Operatic Epic
Aside from the earbug songs like "Da-Doo" and "Suddenly, Seymour," Little Shop of Horrors was bolstered by an incredible cast including Steve Martin, Bill Murray and John Candy. Still, the unsung hero of the film may have been Levi Stubbs, the little-known Motown singer who voiced Audrey II — the carnivorous singing plant who performs many of the film's most memorable numbers.
7 Hairspray (1988)
Hairspray has been called director John Waters' magnum opus, after two films and several Broadway runs of the grooving '60s Era musical proved the soundtrack's staying power.
Still, nothing beats the original film, with the requisite amount of Waters' weirdness and toe-tapping tracks, and hilarious performances from talk-show-host-in-the-making Ricki Lake, sultry chanteuse Debbie Harry, and drag queen extraordinaire Divine. The rockin' musical is, at times, grotesque, wild and hilarious, and cameos by Pia Zadora and Ric Ocasek locate it perfectly in the '80s.
With Hairspray, John Waters Crossed Over From Indie Auteur to Mainstream Appeal
In the '70s, John Waters became well known for provocative cult films like Pink Flamingos and Female Trouble. His films were too risqué for mainstream appeal at the time, but by the late-'80s he had enough of a following to cast big names in his first musical film.
While he kept to his Baltimore, Maryland roots with Hairspray, the music proved irresistible to a wider audience, allowing his signature players like Divine to become more palatable for a wider audience that wasn't used to seeing genderqueer characters on screen. Waters' and Hairspray's role in normalizing LGBTQ+ characters cannot be overstated. Rent Hairspray on AppleTV+
6 Tenacious D and the Pick of Destiny (2006)
Tenacious D and the Pick of Destiny finally brought the guitar-shredding, comedy duo of Jack Black and Kyle Gass to the Silver Screen, after their band, Tenacious D, had built a cult following through their live shows and short-lived HBO series. Their rock opera movie saw the duo set out on a journey to find Satan's pick, which would enable them to become rock legends.
Despite a Box-Office Thud, Pick of Destiny Has Many Redeeming Qualities
While it didn't become a popular phenomenon, Pick of Destiny had hilarious songs and amazing cameos by the likes of Foo Fighter Dave Grohl as Satan, Black Sabbath vocalist Ronnie James Dio playing himself, and Rocky Horror Picture Show alum Meatloaf belting it out on the track "Kickapoo." The plot is ridiculous, but that's really the band's MO, and the rock opera hearkened back to the halcyon '70s heyday of the rock opera genre, with a more '80s Metal delivery.
5 Jesus Christ Superstar (1973)
Jesus Christ Superstar (1973)
- Release Date
- August 15, 1973
- Director
- Norman Jewison
- Cast
- Ted Neeley , Carl Anderson , Yvonne Elliman , Barry Dennen , Bob Bingham , Larry Marshall
- Runtime
- 108
Jesus Christ Superstar saw director Norman Jewison adapt Andrew Lloyd Webber's incredible concept album for the screen, after Jewison had already made waves with Fiddler on the Roof. This colorful, musical interpretation of Jesus' life was even better on film, after Webber's concept album was fairly misunderstood in England. The film had incredible choral songs, like the eponymous track "Superstar," and the ballad "I Don't Know How to Love Him," sung by Yvonne Elliman.
Jesus Christ Superstar Actually Filmed in the Holy Land
Most of the rock operas on this list were filmed on studio back lots using extravagant sets.Jesus Christ Superstar, by contrast, used 20 locations in the Holy Land, with basecamps in Israel and Palestine, and locations including the Dead Sea and Jesus' Nazareth stomping grounds. This would obviously never happen today, given the exorbitant costs and the current Israel-Hamas War making such an effort next to impossible.
4 Quadrophenia (1979)
Quadrophenia was a powerful follow-up to The Who's more famous rock opera, Tommy, this time using the band's eponymous album for another 'jukebox musical,' featuring a young Sting and an almost unrecognizably-spry Ray Winstone.
The songs are the epitome of '70s rock 'n' roll, with radio hits like "The Real Me" and "Love Reign O'er Me" interweaving with a plot about mod rebellion in 1964 London. Rarely has a soundtrack comprised of tracks not originally intended for the movie been so profoundly inter-weaved into a film's plot.
First The Who Lived the Mod Era, Then the Film Immortalized It
The Who were formed the same year the film takes place, and the Mods and Rockers gangs are fictionalizations of an era rife with Triumph motorcycles, matted hairdos and tight-fitting leather. The Who's guitarist, Pete Townshend, actually co-wrote the script, adding authenticity and helping fashion an engaging story that has earned an absurdly-high 100% critical rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Stream Quadrophenia on Max
3 Pink Floyd - The Wall (1982)
Pink Floyd—The Wall caught the mind-bending band during their strange second-coming, as New Wave was dawning, but they were still moving deeper into their trippy late-'60s sound.
Matching the anti-establishment narrative of their songs was a film that starred Bob Geldof, a large figure in British pop culture thanks to his work in the Boomtown Rats, and later philanthropy as a promoter and player in the Live Aid concerts. Geldof plays Pink, a depressed rock star who reaches into his family's tragic past to make sense of his present-day existentialist nightmare.
The Wall Had a Highly-Stylized Presentation
Using a film that combined Francis Bacon-like animated segments with a narrative film directed by Sir Alan Parker (of Midnight Express fame), The Wall had a stark, anti-war sentiment that echoed the band's politics. It had some easter eggs for hardcore Pink Floyd fans too, including the track "When Tigers Broke Free," which wasn't included on the album. Pink Floyd - The Wall unavailable for streaming
2 The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)
The Rocky Horror Picture Show taught us how to do the Time Warp, introduced us to Susan Sarandon and Meatloaf, and proved that Tim Curry could pull off a pair of fishnets like few of his counterparts.
The film became a phenomenon, inspiring many a late night revival, even decades after its release, with Rocky Horror fans donning the characters' costumes and singing along to "Dammit Janet" and "Sweet Transvestite." The film combined drag, Halloween horror and hyperbolic performances that proved worthy of inclusion in the National Film Registry of the U.S. Library of Congress.
The Waverly Theater Made Rocky Horror the Queen of Midnight Movies
While the film was initially panned by critics after its theatrical release, it quickly developed a cult following, with late night showings at New York City's Waverly Theater. The tradition spread like wildfire, with theaters like the Nuart in Los Angeles following the trend with regular Saturday showings that gradually made the film iconic. Rent The Rocky Horror Picture Show on AppleTV+
1 Tommy: The Movie (1975)
Tommy is, quite simply, the most important of all the rock opera movies, catching The Who, Elton John and Tina Turner at the peak of their powers, with a technicolor presentation of zany characters like the Acid Queen and the Pinball Wizard.
The Who's frontman Roger Daltrey showed his acting chops as Tommy, a boy born deaf, mute and blind — who somehow rises to messianic status as he battles one rock god after another. The music is unmatched, after the original 1969 album spelled out the film's entire premise 6 years earlier.
A Stellar Supporting Cast of Heavyweights Bolstered Tommy's Film Version
Aside from the generation-defining musicians in the film, actors like Jack Nicholson (Dr. Quackson), Oliver Reed and Ann-Margret gave great performances in the film. Still, the film was mostly a reminder of the quartet's enormous sound, long before the overdose death of iconic drummer Keith Moon and a tragedy at a Cincinatti concert brought the band back down to Earth. Rent Tommy on AppleTV+
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