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Topic: Best movie soundtracks ever

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All Forums : [General] : Off Topic Forum > Best movie soundtracks ever

#1 2 FEB 2004 at 6:48pm
Deleted User	I'm very fascinated with the way music plays a part in the impression of a movie, and movie soundtracks are among the music "genres" that I buy the most of. I would like to hear your opinions on what the best movie soundtracks of all time is. To begin with I will present a top-5 list of my own current choice. There are so many more movies worth mentioning, and perhaps I will change my opinion later just because there's some I have forgot about right now. But here it is anyway: #5: John Williams - The Empire Strikes Back: John Williams has an amazing ability to create melodies that instantly stick in your head and becomes synonymous with the movies he has written them for. What would Star Wars be without the soundtrack? All movies in the original trilogy are worth mentioning and even the new ones have some really good tracks, but if there's one I have to choose I think it'll have to be The Empire Strikes Back. Watching the fleet of star destroyers majestically swoop by to the sound of his Imperial March is enough to make anyone realize that Darth Vader means serious business! #4: Nino Rota - The Godfather Coppola's timeless masterpiece about the Corleone family has been not only an inspiration to movie makers all over the world since it was released in 1972, but to real mafiosos as well... And there's nothing to get you in that "Italian mood" like Nino Rota's music for the movie. #3: Howard Shore - Return of the King At the release of the first part of Shore's magnificent three-part opera that is the LOTR soundtrack, many critical voices were heard complaining about the lack of recognizable melodies and the epic feeling the movie deserved. Even the first reviews of the Fellowship movie were hardly optimistic about the music. However, it seemed like people were expecting a bombastic John Williams sountrack. Instead we got music written to merge with the storytelling and become an intimate part with it. And soon enough people started humming the Concerning Hobbits and Fellowship themes anyway and the music became as appreciated as it deserved to be. With the TTT soundtrack Shore did not only introduce new strong themes, like the Rohan theme, but also beautifully weaved it together with the music of Fellowship. And with the Return of the King soundtrack he even exceeded all expectations. The magnificent Minas Tirith theme and the truly awesome music as the journey comes to an end is the finale of a soundtrack that is now praised beyond measure. Just like every other aspects of these movies, the music is based on cultural references to Tolkien's world compared to our own and it works beautifully. To top it off, the ending credits song "Into the West", performed by Annie Lennox, is one of the most touching songs I've ever heard! If it doesn't win an Oscar I am going to scream! #2: John Barry - On Her Majesty's Secret Service A Bond movie is almost always a guarantee of great movie music. Performing the title theme of a Bond movie is considered an honor and many of them has remained classics. And when it comes to Bond soundtracks, the measuring stick is always going to be John Barry. He has created the Bond music for the most movies and were only occationally replaced by others in the first three decades of the series for practical reasons. None of these other composers has ever been widely considered as good as Barry when it comes to capturing that true over-the-top Bond athmosphere. Big orchestras, lots of brass and strings and themes remaining throughout the movie in various brilliant arrangements to fit the scenes are the trademark of a good Barry Bond soundtrack. In my opinion, his masterpiece is definitely OHMSS, the one featuring one-timer George Lazenby as Bond. The main title theme is the only instrumental one in the series besides the original James Bond Theme of Dr. No, and it's arguably just as good. "Gumbold's Safe" played as Bond is fighting the clock to get hold of the vital documents could make anyone anxious, the magnificent "Journey the Blofeld's Hideaway" as the helicopter takes Bond to Piz Gloria is always as breathtaking and the love ballad "We Have All the Time in the World", which incidentally was Louie Armstrong's last recording ever, is one of the most beautiful and wonderfully performed melodies ever! Listen to it whenever you want to feel all warm and fuzzy inside. It works every time! #1: Vangelis - Blade Runner If there's one movie that you cannot ever separate from its soundtrack it has to be Ridley Scott's mysterious and philosophical masterpiece Blade Runner. Not even Vangelis himself has ever again managed to fully reproduce the haunting electronical sounds of the depressing future Los Angeles that he composed for this movie. The main title theme playing during the introductory fly-by sequences sends shivers down my spine every time I watch the movie. The dreamy and melancholic "Rachel's Song" and "Love Theme" always fascinates and touches me, the end titles theme is simply a classic and as the soundtrack comes to an end with "Tears In Rain", accompanied by Rutger Hauer's wonderfully ad-libbed poem that has become the movie's most famous quote, it strikes me what a strange and wonderful work of art this movie and its music is. It defies description and explanation. It's just there to induce amazing feelings and emotions that no other movie has managed to copy. It's nothing short of a mystery, and that is what makes it so fascinating...

#2 2 FEB 2004 at 6:58pm
Anne Guild Master Posts : 4800 Joined: 8 MAR 2003 Status : Online	Ok.Fully agree.I thought no one knew these composers. Favourite music,Carmen and carmina birana(???)I mean those as film music.I lived through the Tubular Bells bit.
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#3 2 FEB 2004 at 7:28pm
Lucien21 Guild Master Posts : 4876 Joined: 9 JUL 2003 Location: 0 Status : Offline	Ok agree Bladerunner is the best. Would also add O Brother where art thou to that list. Just loved that soundtrack Dear Diary, My teenage angst bullsh*t now has a bodycount.
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#4 2 FEB 2004 at 7:36pm
dombrewer Guild Master Posts : 3103 Joined: 19 JAN 2003 Status : Offline	Oh boy, tough question.. I believe that the great film composers have taken the position as the classical musicians of our time - so I often think of Williams, or Barry or Morricone as being in the same field as Beethoven or Tchiakovsky or Stravinsky (in fact most of the composers of the romantic period wrote music that sounds so much like film scoring, that it wouldn't be hard to argue their influence over our film music today). I'd have to second your nods to Blade Runner (the best in every respect, surely?) [And where's our long promised three disc DVD? > ] Empire Strikes Back, OHMSS, but I'm most partial to the score for FOTR over ROTK, but I think that may just be familiarity. As for others- how could you forget the godfather of the film score, Bernard Herrmann? His scores for Cape Fear, Jason and the Argonauts, North by Northwest and Psycho are all classics. His finest hour was, I think, one of the best scores ever - Vertigo. I'm fond of Gabriel Yared's scores - his work on Betty Blue and The English Patient stand out. Maurice Jarre's Lawrence of Arabia is another landmark. There are too many to really remember sat here! I will say John Williams is a genius but he's a bit of a one-note genius. Far too many of his scores are the same - almost like he gave up trying years ago and just throws out the same kind of thing to whoever asks. His scores for the Star Wars trilogy, Jaws and Schindler's List have sealed his lasting fame though. [img]http://www.justadventure.com/public_html/yabbfiles/Smilies/detective.gif[/img][b]Playing:[/b] &&[img]http://www.justadventure.com/public_html/yabbfiles/Smilies/blahblah.gif[/img][b]Reading:[/b] &&[img]http://www.justadventure.com/public_html/yabbfiles/Smilies/whistle.gif[/img][b]Listening:[/b] &&[img]http://www.justadventure.com/public_html/yabbfiles/Smilies/indie.gif[/img][b]Watching:[/b]
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#5 2 FEB 2004 at 7:41pm
Deleted User	Excellent listing of some of the greatest original scores ever. But if we are talking soundtrack, as opposed to score.... I have to say that Almost Famous is my all-time fave.

#6 2 FEB 2004 at 8:24pm
Lucien21 Guild Master Posts : 4876 Joined: 9 JUL 2003 Location: 0 Status : Offline	What about Danny Elfman. His score for Batman was brilliant and he is a virtual certainty if you are doing a gothic movie. Although like John Williams some of his stuff is abit samey. Have to agree with BJ Amost famous great soundtrack. Also Pulp Fiction for making soundtrack albums cool again by splicing in movie quotes between the songs and good song selection. Dear Diary, My teenage angst bullsh*t now has a bodycount.
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#7 2 FEB 2004 at 8:43pm
anthony Journeyman Posts : 1270 Joined: 11 JUN 2003 Status : Offline	In addition to those mentioned: Valley Girl and The Big Chill had good soundtracks. Chariots of Fire (Vangelis) and Once Upon A Time In America (Morricone) had good original scores.
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#8 2 FEB 2004 at 8:56pm
Deleted User	Agree on Vangelis, although it can drone on a bit after a while on the BR soundtrack. Currently listening to the Lost In Translation soundtrack, which has some top ambience on it and great '80's throwback tunes. Plus who could resist an album that features Bill Murray singing More Than This as a bonus track? I went through an era of collecting soundtracks. Top ones include Get Carter (of course - don't own, but will eventually), Bullitt (au natrel - another I love but don't own), The Fifth Element, Riven (yes, really), The Mothman Prophecies (stunning, really dark and stunning), Spirited Away (better than any John Williams soundtrack), Event Horizon (how to do a horror track - scary as f*ck), The Exorcist (not really a soundtrack, but it's Tubular bells), any number of John Carpenter tunes (think Thing, Halloween, Assault on Precint 13), Kill Bill vol.1 (if only for Battle Without Honor or Humanity), the Alien films (the first is stunning), The Lion King (stop smirking), Fellowship Of The Ring (more thematic and gentle than the other LOTR films), American Beauty (only Thomas Newman I'd include here), Batman (best movie hero soundtrack there is - including Superman), Tron (early electronica!)... ... the list is endless...

#9 2 FEB 2004 at 10:09pm
MissB Schattenjger Posts : 2217 Joined: 15 OCT 2002 Status : Online	My all-time favorite is "Last of the Mohicans". I love to get in the car at night those rare moments I'm alone and crank it up. My name is Bethany and I'm the daughter of Gamergal/Michelle.
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#10 2 FEB 2004 at 10:12pm
Aya Grand Inquisitor Posts : 7277 Joined: 16 OCT 2002 Status : Offline	i generally don't listen to soundtracks (or maybe just selected songs)... one soundtrack i really love though is sleepless by goblin You have gotten the attention of the mysterious lady. She turns to face you. Her face is devoid of any flesh. You are frozen with horror as she begins ripping your body into a bloody mess.
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#11 2 FEB 2004 at 10:12pm
Deleted User	I just realized I've messed up scores with soundtracks. I was referring to scores in my original post. I don't even own a copy of the #5 and #4 soundtracks. Some scores deserves a better soundtrack. Blade Runner is a good example of an official soundtrack that is far from satisfactory. I also hope that they will release extended soundtracks to LOTR sometime, since there's new music in the extended versions of the movies. They probably will... : EMI recently released new, remastered versions of the Bond soundtracks. I'm not 100% sure all of them have been remastered (yet?) but the new collection is the best one you can get your hands on really. Some of the movies, including OHMSS has been treated a way that has been looong overdue. It contains no less than 10 tracks that haven't even been released before! Also, the design is stylish and uniform. I know there are a few complaints about some of the discs, but it's only minor details. Personally, I would buy all of them if I had the money to prioritize it. But I would recommend you to do yourself a favor and at least buy the You Only Live Twice, OHMSS and Diamonds are Forever soundtracks. For me, these three consecutive soundtracks representes the peak of Bond music brilliance. You should also consider the earlier soundtracks, like From Russia with Love and Goldfinger. Pure John Barry bliss! Barry has made lots of great movie music besides Bond. E.g. the following Barry titles speaks for themselves: Out of Africa, Midnight Cowboy, Mary Queen of Scots, Born Free, Dances with Wolves, Chaplin, The Cotton Club

#12 2 FEB 2004 at 10:26pm
dombrewer Guild Master Posts : 3103 Joined: 19 JAN 2003 Status : Offline	*Originally Posted By Petter_Holmberg (2 FEB 2004 10:12pm)* Some scores deserves a better soundtrack. Blade Runner is a good example of an official soundtrack that is far from satisfactory. Really? I think the current CD is pretty fine (especially considering the best we had for years and years was the unofficial CD which was just new (and bad)orchestrations. At least the new one has most of themes that you could want in a complete form, with a number of juicy clips from the film (not least the entire "tears in rain" speech, and Deckard and Rachel's opening duologue in Tyrell's office.) I'm talking about this version by the way - there have been a few over the years... http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&uid=UIDCASS80311111325480885&sql=A41e67uw080jh According to All Music there is a 3 CD bootleg version out there though... [img]http://www.justadventure.com/public_html/yabbfiles/Smilies/detective.gif[/img][b]Playing:[/b] &&[img]http://www.justadventure.com/public_html/yabbfiles/Smilies/blahblah.gif[/img][b]Reading:[/b] &&[img]http://www.justadventure.com/public_html/yabbfiles/Smilies/whistle.gif[/img][b]Listening:[/b] &&[img]http://www.justadventure.com/public_html/yabbfiles/Smilies/indie.gif[/img][b]Watching:[/b]
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#13 2 FEB 2004 at 10:36pm
szcax Journeyman Posts : 935 Joined: 12 OCT 2002 Status : Online	Requiem for a Dream. This is high quality music that sends shivers down my spine even then the movie isn't accompanying it. Black holes are where God divided by zero
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#14 3 FEB 2004 at 12:02am
Deleted User	*Originally Posted By dombrewer (2 FEB 2004 10:26pm)* Really? I think the current CD is pretty fine (especially considering the best we had for years and years was the unofficial CD which was just new (and bad)orchestrations. Yes, that looks like the one I have too. It's not bad actually. It's just that this is rather like a regular Vangelis album than a full movie soundtrack. There are pieces missing, yet there are pieces that are only partly heard in the movie that you get to hear in its entirety. Also, the dialogue pieces from the movie interferes with the music. In one point of view this is rather nice. The album takes you right back to the movie. But some people like to complain that this means you won't hear the original music as-is. I wouldn't want to be without this album for my life, but it would be nice with an additional, non-bootleg version containing the full score. They would complement each other beautifully. Note: The original soundtrack was something different than this album, and lacked many of its themes. And I'm also annoyed that the alleged definitive DVD set hasn't come yet. Ideally, they'd release both versions of the movie in the same pack. I can only guess that the delay once again has something to do with Ridley Scott and Warner arguing again... BTW: That note about movie composers being the classical composers of our time; that's something I've also thought a lot about. While "serious" classical composers might feel that this is unfair, I think what matters is what reaches the public. Some movie scores truly are classical music in all respects. And classical music makes good movie music too. I would have mentioned the score to Barry Lyndon (imo one of the best movies of all time) here as well, but I hesitated since it's using actual classical pieces from the time peroid of the movie. Stanley Kubrick (the greatest movie director of all time if you ask me) used classical music in most of his movies to great effect. Who can argue that the scores to movies like 2001 and A Clockwork Orange are anything short of brilliant? John Williams is a good example of a famous movie composer that also writes and performs classical-type music for other occasions. Like the last Olympic games if I'm not mistaken...

#15 3 FEB 2004 at 1:12am
Deleted User	*Originally Posted By Petter_Holmberg (3 FEB 2004 12:02am)* John Williams is a good example of a famous movie composer that also writes and performs classical-type music for other occasions Has anybody mentioned Henry Mancini yet? He was also a great movie/classicist.

#16 3 FEB 2004 at 10:22pm
dombrewer Guild Master Posts : 3103 Joined: 19 JAN 2003 Status : Offline	*Originally Posted By Petter_Holmberg (3 FEB 2004 12:02am)* And I'm also annoyed that the alleged definitive DVD set hasn't come yet. Ideally, they'd release both versions of the movie in the same pack. I can only guess that the delay once again has something to do with Ridley Scott and Warner arguing again... I try to keep up to date on the info, and the last I heard it was legal wranglings that were preventing the release. It was due late 2003. Ridley Scott wanted to make it as definitive a package as possible - representative of the massive fan base the film has - by releasing it with three different cuts of the film - the original work print (apparently quite different), the original cinema release with voice over and happy ending, and the re-released director's cut. There are meant to be a load of cut scenes that are to be included in addition to a horde of other extras found in the archives. (Luckily Scott seems to be a fan of the thorough directors commentary, so that's a dead cert too.) Just crossing the fingers and waiting.... BTW: That note about movie composers being the classical composers of our time; that's something I've also thought a lot about. While "serious" classical composers might feel that this is unfair, I think what matters is what reaches the public. Some movie scores truly are classical music in all respects. And classical music makes good movie music too. I would have mentioned the score to Barry Lyndon (imo one of the best movies of all time) here as well, but I hesitated since it's using actual classical pieces from the time peroid of the movie. Stanley Kubrick (the greatest movie director of all time if you ask me) used classical music in most of his movies to great effect. Who can argue that the scores to movies like 2001 and A Clockwork Orange are anything short of brilliant? Of course early film scores were written by the classical composers of the day - so that snobbery would be misplaced by modern classicists. And as you rightly point out - what would many modern film classics be without the use of great existing classical music. 2001 without Strauss? (famous anecdote - they used the classical music in the rough cut so Kubrick could get an idea of what he wanted, but ended up keeping the music because he knew no composer could replace that music and do a better job) Apocalypse Now without Wagner? Hard to concieve of. [img]http://www.justadventure.com/public_html/yabbfiles/Smilies/detective.gif[/img][b]Playing:[/b] &&[img]http://www.justadventure.com/public_html/yabbfiles/Smilies/blahblah.gif[/img][b]Reading:[/b] &&[img]http://www.justadventure.com/public_html/yabbfiles/Smilies/whistle.gif[/img][b]Listening:[/b] &&[img]http://www.justadventure.com/public_html/yabbfiles/Smilies/indie.gif[/img][b]Watching:[/b]
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#17 3 FEB 2004 at 10:36pm
Deleted User	Tubelar Bells - Mike Oldfield Once upon a time in the west - Enio Morricone Batman - Prince [img]http://www.autographsmovieposters.com/Nicholson_Joker.jpg[/img]

#18 3 FEB 2004 at 11:00pm
Bob_the_Builder Journeyman Posts : 956 Joined: 25 APR 2003 Status : Online	The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly NO SOUP FOR YOU!
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#19 3 FEB 2004 at 11:15pm
Deleted User	*Originally Posted By Daryl (3 FEB 2004 1:11am)* Has anybody mentioned Henry Mancini yet? He was also a great movie/classicist. Aargh... How could I have forgot about him?!

#20 4 FEB 2004 at 1:03am
Deleted User	*Originally Posted By dombrewer (3 FEB 2004 10:22pm)* Of course early film scores were written by the classical composers of the day - so that snobbery would be misplaced by modern classicists. And as you rightly point out - what would many modern film classics be without the use of great existing classical music. 2001 without Strauss? And how interesting that no classical pianist back in the 1890s would give the time of day to Strauss, as he rightfully is sort of dismissed by pianists in our modern era as being too 'obvious' and not worth the effort to play. He was the Janet Jackson of his era, listened to and dismissed as being really banal. Too bad he didn't have a boob and million dollar promotions. Well, glad he didn't. Hey, they have more in common than I knew. Both have overly obvious chord changes, trite passage work, bad skills and and a populace willing to think it is art................ But Dom, I am not dismissing the version of Straus in 2001, the Space Oddysey. It is the greatest interpretation of his art ever, and I agree with you.

#21 4 FEB 2004 at 6:19am
Stammer Guild Master Posts : 3894 Joined: 5 JAN 2003 Status : Online	*Originally Posted By sir Funkenstein jr. (3 FEB 2004 10:36pm)* Once upon a time in the west - Enio Morricone This one is most certainly in my top 10! Awesome movie, and I got the DVD about a month ago Resistance is not futile, we're gonna win this thing, humankind is too good, we're not a bunch of under-achievers! We're gonna stand up, and we're gonna be human beings. We're going to get fired up about the real things, the things that matter! Creativity, and the dynamic human spirit that refuses to submit.
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#22 4 FEB 2004 at 6:48am
Allanon Journeyman Posts : 1322 Joined: 19 JUN 2003 Status : Offline	*Originally Posted By Stammer (4 FEB 2004 6:19am)* This one is most certainly in my top 10! Awesome movie, and I got the DVD about a month ago Not to be one with an opinion ... I'd vote for " Cat People " . Cheers ! You only live once , but , if you live right , once is enough . Being happy takes work ...
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#23 4 FEB 2004 at 6:58am
Caroline JA+ Overseer Posts : 16552 Joined: 28 JAN 2007 Location: AU Status : Offline	Well Allanon You and I are in an elite group here then. I don't know zilch about music - I only know what I like. And what I like is Strauss. Sorry Daryl. I love dancing around my living room to his waltzes. I'd dance with a man if I had one who could dance. : Let me see..... last time I went dancing with hubby would be November 1979 - and it wasn't ballroom dancing either I don't know anything about the technicalities of music and you obviously do but I do know what makes my feet itch to move and what makes me smile and puts me in a happy mood. And the only movie soundtracks I have are The Big Chill and Bridget Jones' Diary and hey, guess what? I listen to them a fair bit. Guess you and Gail will need those ear-plugs for the trip in Ricci's firebird.
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#24 4 FEB 2004 at 7:52am
Allanon Journeyman Posts : 1322 Joined: 19 JUN 2003 Status : Offline	Must say , Caroline , good call on Strauss . David Bowie was pretty good with that " Cat People " soundtrack , though . His best , in my opinion . You only live once , but , if you live right , once is enough . Being happy takes work ...
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#25 4 FEB 2004 at 1:44pm
Caroline JA+ Overseer Posts : 16552 Joined: 28 JAN 2007 Location: AU Status : Offline	You know what Daryl, Strauss didn't write his music to impress intellectuals 100 years after his death. He wrote music for people to dance to, to have fun with, to enjoy. He wasn't trying to be clever. Perhaps his music is the musical equivalent of paperback novels compared to Shakespeare but to put it down and rubbish it and decry it for its popularity is just plain daft. He was hugely popular and there's a reason for that. And it isn't because the people at the time were stupid. It was good music - well-liked and still being performed today. I don't care if it is simple and repetitive. Being snobby about music is daft. It's all different. But stuff that is popular and lasts has to be more successful than stuff that gets forgotten. I like his tunes. I sing along to them. I wish I could dance to them in Vienna in January when they have all those public waltzes. People decry the Beatles because of their popularity and yet others use that popularity to prove their greatness. I reckon we should at least be able to say what we like without it being considered 'dumb'. Caroline - Strauss lover
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