Film soundtracks

Post here your favourite film soundtracks, your favourite musical composers within the industry, and - if you so wish - the reason why you feel the track accompanies the film so well. My current favourite has to be David Shire's soundtrack to Francis Ford Coppola's The Conversation from '74, a masterpiece in its own right. And to think he fashioned this number to fill the gap between the first and second Godfather films. Yikes!

The track really lends to the paranoia and solemnity of Hackman's character, as well as his removed status from society and his internal struggle with what he uncovers during the film, heard hear in the almost menacing but slight transition around the track's centre. Also, it's nice and simple, which I much prefer over the typically bombastic and overcooked compositions riddling today's mainstream.

Quite a few films borrow from existing tracks or composers, of course, and have become recurring hits for film makers the world over, such as Edvard Grieg's In the Hall of the Mountain King, or Cavalleria rusticana: Intermezzo. Of the films you've seen and heard these tracks in (or any other recurring track for that matter), which one pulls it off better than the rest?

inb4 vids of inception

I could easily list one or several fantastic soundtracks or scores, but I'm going to be awkward and mention No Country for Old Men. A pretty rare and very effective use of virtually no music whatsoever.

inb4 vids of inception

Gotta say though, Inception had some excellent music.

I've always liked the soaring orchestral themes, along the lines of Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Superman, etc. Movies with electronic scores are also quite to my liking; Ink and The Fifth Element come to mind.

I'm very open to just about any style and genre of music, so really, if the music is good, the movie itself could be complete garbage and I'd still enjoy the music as a separate entity. I remember seeing some softcore porn movie years ago with music that reminded me of the Hexen soundtrack, for instance. Sadly, I never could locate the music for it. :)

The same applies for video game music, as I have OSTs for games that I've never even played and games that I didn't like but had good music.

I thought the Rambo 4 soundtrack was pretty sweet.

The soundtrack for The Fountain was very minimal and effective.

Alexandre Desplat - New Moon
Angelo Badalamenti - City Of Lost Children
Bernard Herrmann - Jason And The Argonauts, The Seventh Voyage Of Sinbad
Brian Tyler - Timeline
Christopher Gordon - Daybreakers
Christopher Young - Hellraiser
Clint Mansell - The Fountain
Daft Punk - TRON: Legacy
Danny Elfman - Batman, Men In Black, Charlie & The Chocolate Factory, Alice In Wonderland
Dario Marianelli - V For Vendetta
David Arnold - Independence Day, Godzilla, Die Another Day, Casino Royale, Voyage Of The Dawn Treader
Don Davis - The Matrix/Reloaded/Revolutions
Elliot Goldenthal - Alien3, Interview With The Vampire, Batman Forever, The Butcher Boy, Michael Collins, Sphere, Titus, Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within, S.W.A.T.
Ennio Morricone - The Good The Bad & The Ugly, The Thing
Graeme Revell - Red Planet
Hans Zimmer - Backdraft, The Thin Red Line, Gladiator, Tears Of The Sun, King Arthur, The Ring, The Da Vinci Code, Pirates Of The Caribbean: At World's End, Angels & Demons
Harry Gregson-Williams - SpyGame, Prince Caspian
Howard Shore - Naked Lunch, Se7en, The Cell, The Return Of The King
James Horner - Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan, Aliens, Willow, Glory, Braveheart, Titanic, Flightplan, Avatar
James Newton Howard - Waterworld, Signs, Dreamcatcher, The Village, Lady In The Water
Jerry Goldsmith - Alien, Capricorn One, The Omen/Damien/Final Conflict, The Secret Of NIMH, Rambo: First Blood Part II, Legend, Leviathan, Star Trek: First Contact, Deep Rising, The 13th Warrior
John Barry - Goldfinger, Mercury Rising
John Frizzell - Alien Resurrection
John Ottman - The Invasion
John Powell - The Bourne Ultimatum
John Williams - Star Wars, Superman, Hook, Schindler's List, Amistad, Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban, War Of The Worlds
Marco Beltrami - I Robot, Underworld: Evolution
Marc Shaiman - The Addams Family
Michael Kamen - Event Horizon, Band Of Brothers
Nicholas Hooper - Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince
Patrick Doyle - Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire
Philip Glass - Naqoyqatsi
Saviour Machine - Legend II (it may as well be a soundtrack)
Thee Maldoror Kollective - Proxima
Trevor Rabin - The 6th Day
Ulver - Svidd Neger

...more or less...

I actually didn't like Inception very much. It's quite below Zimmer's potential, and while I realize what he was getting at, redundancy is still redundancy. Oddly, I think the two best tracks are the internet-only downloads. In fact, I often wonder why some of the best cuts never make the commercial release. The film music industry is a strange one.

As for borrowed music, it's a hands-down win for Kubrick's selection of Penderecki's material for The Shining.

The 28 Days Later soundtrack is the only movie soundtrack I've ever bought and it was partially because of this:

Of course, there's also the obligatory:

The 28 Days Later soundtrack is the only movie soundtrack I've ever bought and it was partially because of this:

And some other honourable mentions.

Howard Shore's soundtrack in the Lord of the Rings:

40oz said:

inb4 vids of inception

i would like to point out that zimmer reused his own stuff from the thin red line in inception. that said, the journey to the line is the shit, one of the best movie themes ever written. zimmer is a walking god, you gotta respect his work on anything he touches... the rock, the dark knight, black hawk down, gladiator.. even the last samurai or the lion king. for all the immortal themes john williams made, he can only wish he was this consistent.

also props to bucket for mentioning the fountain so i don't have to do it myself. and of course the works of ennio morricone, perhaps the greatest artist in the genre. it's only fitting that the academy never gave him an oscar except a shitty 'lifetime' recognition after they realized they'd kept fucking up year after year for what, four decades?
now for something completely different that i think might not appear here otherwise...

craig safan - thief - confrontation. it was _supposed_ to sound like tangerine dream (they made the rest of the soundtrack and couldn't finish the final piece because of a tour), but it ended like a pink floyd track. god bless. i link to a vid with unrelated visuals to avoid spoilers present in all other vids.


basil poledouris - conan the barbarian. i've linked the subtlest theme intentionally, because people rarely realize this movie has perhaps the _best_ soundtrack in history. it ranges from epic through melancholic to romantic and it can truly bring you to tears. by the way - i like reading the lord of the rings to conan soundtrack. shore's lotr osts become laughable in comparison.


john murphy - kick-ass - big daddy's death. now this might seem like an odd pick, especially since it's an edited version of the surface of the sun from sunshine, but the execution scene was easily my best cinematic experience of year 2010 and that has to count for something.

oh.. and the climax of the last of the mohicans, that's beyond epic.


i'll stop now because i could go for hours.

Just what I can think of off the top of my head:
Nick Glennie-Smith/Hans Zimmer/Harry Gregson-Williams - The Rock
Trevor Rabin/Harry Gregson-Williams - Armageddon
Harry Gregson-Williams/Trevor Rabin - Enemy of the State
John Williams - Star Wars
James Horner - Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
Jerry Goldsmith/Joel Goldsmith - Star Trek: First Contact
Brad Fiedel - Terminator 2: Judgment Day
Jerry Goldsmith - Air Force One
Craig Armstrong - Plunkett & Macleane (The song leading up to and the song during the escape sequence, the rest was out of place and generally poor.)

and the Garden State soundtrack.

movie soundtracks don't really stick out in my head except for really popular movies. That said i guess my favorite would have to be the one from Deus Vult MAP01

Philnemba said:

[[burly brawl]]

This was the piece that really made me understand how The Matrix series' musical score was made - what really gets me is how it switches styles according to the flow of the fight, with Don Davis' orchestral work and Juno Reactor's electronics having as much a fight as the action on screen.

It also helps that this is pretty damn awesome to listen to during a game of Doom. =P

As for me, a few honorable mentions come to mind like John Powell's score for Evolution, but you can't argue with the greats - Ennio Morricone's The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly is one of the most recognizable pieces out there, even among younger audiences who have no idea where it comes from - they'll likely know if if they heard it.

And then there's my personal favorite James Bond opening theme:

(Throwing these in here because I can)

2001: A Space Oddysey

DUH

Cool topic!

I'm quite fond of the soundtrack-genre, because there's an element of story or setting that's ever more present than in other music.

My brain is kinda lazy right now, so I'll just list a few:

Edward Scissorhands (The grand-finale) : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pIhh-iVsTgE

Death Rides A Horse (Mystic and severe) : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MqD6gHLDqYc

Drunken Master 2 (To come on proudly): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Moc1MBqZ9r4&feature=related (begin the track from the 0:25 mark)

(Not really part of a movie soundtrack, but I love it. The guitar is ear-sex to me.)