Beyond captivating our emotions and stirring our minds, movies have always served as a vibrant palette for artistic expression. One striking brushstroke often used in creating unforgettable visuals is neon light. With its ability to instantly alter a scene's mood, neon imbues films with a captivating allure and a touch of mystery.
This blog will spotlight seven movies with neon lights that have truly mastered this art; their scenes have left the audience mesmerized long after the credits roll.
The Art of Cinematic Lighting
Neon lights in the film aren't merely props; they're artists' brushes, sculpting moods and painting narratives. Their vibrant glow can illuminate faces with an otherworldly allure, bathe streets in an intoxicating ambiance, or cast ominous shadows that hint at hidden dangers lurking beneath the city's glittering underbelly.
Cinematographers, like skilled alchemists, blend neon's artificial fire with natural light, crafting atmospheres that dance between fantasy and reality.
Top 7 Movies with Neon Lights
The mind-blowing world of neon-soaked landscapes awaits! Unearth the greatest films featuring neon lights that enhance the narrative arc and provide for a hypnotizing eye feast.
- Blade Runner (1982): The first one in the list of movies with neon lights is Blade Runner. This terrifying masterwork created by Ridley Scott has Los Angeles perpetually bathed in twilight, with monumental skyscrapers displaying brilliant fluorescent advertisements which produce forbidding silhouettes upon the rain-soaked streets. In this urban jungle, each flickering sign is a reminder of humanity’s crumbling hold on civilization and its moral ambiguities.
- Drive (2011): Nicolas Winding Refn’s cool neo-noir takes us through L.A. as visions of neon lights for criminals and drifters. Carried away by the saturated color pink and blue, the film’s nighttime car chases become light-and-motion ballets. Neon signs transform into fleeting glimpses of hope and danger in the darkness.
- La La Land (2016): Being an award winning movie makes it one of the best movies with neon lights ever made. Damien Chazelle uses nostalgic neon in his love letter to Hollywood dreams. It gives rise to a Los Angeles that appears yellow and orange – a scene reflecting the lead characters’ aspirations as well as the bewitching magic of stardom itself. Neon can bring forth daydream atmospheres like no other material. We see this from Emma Stone dancing amidst sparkling streetlamps in the film’s iconic opening scene.
- Only God Forgives (2013): This particular movie is about the salvation of a man. Nicolas Winding Refn, the director, has transformed Bangkok’s underworld into a blaze of neon light, symbolizing the lead character’s dark earlier days and extreme anger. The film’s relentless neon assault creates a sensory overload, which reflects how the character spirals down to the dark side of town.
- The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014): This movie is all about neon, as depicted by Wes Anderson through his meticulously created world. Fictional European resort towns are signposted with vibrant colors and lights that break up pastel shades. Neon icons present in the movie wonderfully blend into its nostalgic aesthetics, portraying Wes Anderson’s typical idiosyncrasy.
- Tron (1982): Yet another example of movies with neon lights involved. The film was famous for introducing special effects whereby glowing circuits and pulsating grids formed an extraordinary environment full of mesmerizing beauty. This made it appear as if Tron lived inside a computer chip itself.
- Sin City (2005): This is also among the list of movies with neon lights. In Sin City, Frank Miller brought his graphic novel to life and created a garish world where neon light dominated it. The black-and-white color scheme dominates but bursts forth with color here and there. Splashes of bright pinks, reds, yellows, and other hues come from signs whose light beams are like those shining from dens of violence within Sin City's guilty underbelly.
Give Your Space a Cinematic Touch
Beyond aesthetics, neon lights in film function as a symbolic language. They can represent hope, danger, dreams, or decay, offering glimpses into the characters' desires and the hidden truths lurking beneath the city's glittery surface.
And if you're looking to bring a touch of that cinematic magic into your own space, explore the Best Buy Neon website. Our custom LED and traditional glass neon signs can transform any room, echoing the mood and style of your favorite film noir or cyberpunk dreamscape. Whether you're drawn to the classic allure of a vintage diner sign or the sleek lines of a modern LED masterpiece, we have the expertise and craftsmanship to craft your own neon story. So, unleash your inner auteur and let your walls glow with the mesmerizing power of neon.
Remember, movies and neon have a shared language, one that speaks of atmosphere, character, and story. So, let Best Buy Neon Signs help you translate that language into your haven!
