5 Iconic Rock Music Movie Posters.

If a movie poster hasn’t stopped you in your tracks it’s failed at its first selling point to get you interested to see it. It’s like an ad, your first glimpse at what’s to come. Often the best posters use specific colour schemes and visuals to catch your eye. Sometimes they feature a character or illustrated film scene. Sometimes they are so plain, abstract or weird that in itself is intriguing enough to further more investigation. Below are five iconic rock music movie posters that hardly need an introduction. 

School of Rock (2003).

School of Rock movie poster says it all. Front and centre is funny man Jack Black seemingly ready to unleash an electric guitar solo. Behind him are a cohort of aspiring young musicians ready to take their cue from the rocker-turned-teacher. In real life, Black is an ardent champion of rock music, so when it came to choosing the right actor for the role with comedic timing and musical ability, Black was the obvious choice. In truth, the movie was actually written with Black in mind. That said, with Black ready to shred on the poster, its safe to say schooling was about to take a back seat. Above the movie title is our first clue which reads: “We don’t need no education”. It’s a nice nod to prog rock’s greatest band, Pink Floyd and their song Another Brick in The Wall. So if you are ready to rock, come and see how Jack Black as Dewey Finn fares as a substitute teacher and his attempt at turning a bunch of uptight elementary private school kids into rock stars.

The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975).

If you haven’t seen the film and have only seen the iconic red lipstick painted lips poster and its tagline “A Different Set of Jaws”, you would be forgiven if you thought there was something very sexually suggestive about it. It’s R rating also invites conjecture about what the movie is about. The tagline was actually a parody of the poster for the film Jaws (1975). While the lips in the film’s opening are those of actress Patricia Quinn, the lips on the famous poster are those of former model Lorelei Shark. Interestingly, the red lips poster isn’t the original theatrical release poster. But it is arguably the image most associated with the movie (maybe besides tight corsets and fishnet stockings.) It was redesigned to give the movie a sensational new lease of life. 

In short, The Rocky Horror Picture Show delivers a delightful blend of glam rock, horror and humour, creating an entertaining and wholly unique cinematic experience. But it wasn’t always universally loved like it is today. In 1975 upon its release, it was under appreciated by both critics and mainstream audiences and eventually pulled from regular theatres. It found a new audience in 1976 with the midnight movie crowd first at the Waverley Theatre in New York City and then, eventually all over the world, where audience participation became the norm, allowing for singing and dressing up as characters from the movie. 

Metallica: Some Kind of Monster (2004).

There is no doubt that Metallica are one of the greatest bands in the world. But there was a time when James Hetfield and company found themselves in a really dark place in their history. Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky’s Metallica: Some Kind of Monster is that story, one of a band unravelling, creative differences and introspection, all the while trying to make a new album. (Metallica frontman James Hetfield in particular comes undone, on and off screen, something that shocked even the most ardent fan.) And so, when we take a look at the striking movie poster here what do we see? The obvious answer is a bound demon (or Lucifer himself) on his knees. But why a demon? For those familiar with Metallica, they will undoubtedly know they are an American heavy metal band. And heavy metal music, for better or worse, has always been associated with religion and Satanism. Therefore, when we view the poster’s unholy image of a bound demon seemingly struggling to get free, its a metaphor for the band and where they were at the time, all fighting their own inner demons.

Purple Rain (1984).

In the early 1980s, Prince was an unstoppable force, both creatively and in the popularity stakes. And just when people thought Prince couldn’t top the success of his album 1999, he releases the soundtrack album Purple Rain, which would accompany his new 1984 film of the same name. The one sheet movie poster, like the album artwork, is instantly recognisable. Sitting comfortably, all so cool, is Prince on a customised 1981 Hondamatic Honda motorcycle. The bike like Prince’s suit is purple to tie in with the aesthetics of the film poster. You’ll notice the film title and credits (even the smoke) also tie into the purple palette theme. The all important figure standing in the lit up doorway is none other than Apollonia Kotero, Prince’s love interest in the film. This strikingly beautiful photo was shot on an exterior set on a Warner Bros Studio backlot in Hollywood, California. The Hennesy Street backlot was specifically chosen, which was designed by Dale Hennesy for the film Annie (1984), to make it look like a New York tenement. 

While the photoshoot took place in California, the film was shot almost exclusively in Minneapolis. I’ll leave others to judge what they think of the movie. Prince plays the Kid, a character loosely based on himself. And while the story is mediocre at best, we are only really interested in watching the musician perform songs from his soundtrack. Arguably its greatest set piece comes in the form of a fifteen minute concert at the end of the movie when Prince performs Purple Rain. 

Casual fans of Prince have often wondered what’s the story behind the lyrics of the film’s title track. In an interview Prince once said, “When there’s blood in the sky – red and blue= purple. Purple rain pertains to the end of the world and being with one you love and letting your faith/god guide you through the purple rain.”

Stop Making Sense (1984).

2024 marks an important anniversary for Talking Heads. 40 years ago in 1984 the band released the seminal theatrical concert film Stop Making Sense. Still to this day it is hailed as one of the greatest music performances of all time. And still today people are dancing to it in theatre aisles. If you don’t believe me check out this segment from The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. Anyway, the idea behind the concert film is credited to director Jonathan Damme, who saw the band perform in concert in Los Angeles in the summer of 1983. When he suggested they make a film showcasing their unique show, the band was all in, raising a budget of $1.2 million themselves. The film was shot over four nights at LA’s Pantages Theatre and the rest they say is history. Well not quite. There’s a little matter of explaining that big suit on the movie poster artwork. We all know David Byrne is a loveable buffoon, well at least his alter ego is. So to see him dressed in an oversized creamy off-white suit, apparently inspired by classic Japanese theatre costuming is absolutely genius. It really captures the creative essence of Byrne as performer. In the concert film, Byrnes dons the suit for the song Girlfriend is Better. Here he clowns around dancing like a white man with zero skills. Anyway, anyone mad enough to love Talking Heads will agree they are one of the 80s quintessential bands. They really were pioneers and this concert film movie poster is both brilliant and simple in execution.