# Best and Worst Movie Scores and Soundtracks **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 28, 2006, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-movie-scores-and-soundtracks/358517 "2006-05-28T05:15:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![koeeoaddi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/koeeoaddi/32/408_2.png) [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2006, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-movie-scores-and-soundtracks/358517/21 "2006-05-29T22:04:47Z")
_Woodstock_ has the best soundtrack _The Perfect Storm_ has the worst… The same overbearing, boring, melodramatic phrase repeated over and over and over until you almost wish that whoever wrote the score was on the boat. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2006, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-movie-scores-and-soundtracks/358517/22 "2006-05-30T00:35:47Z")
I enjoyed the themes from most of the 007 films, especially _Live And Let Die_ & _A View To A Kill_. I’m very fond of _The Incredibles_ soundtrack, which is very old-school-cool. I **hated** the music from the old _Doc Savage_ movie! It was frikkin John Philip Sousa, dammit! Made it unwatchable. ---
**Author:** ![cuauhtemoc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecb155/32.png) [@cuauhtemoc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cuauhtemoc)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2006, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-movie-scores-and-soundtracks/358517/23 "2006-05-30T01:36:18Z")
> [@vivalostwages](#): > > I have the soundtracks from… Eyes Wide Shut… Blade Runner… All different and all very good. This is funny, because I was going to post that the _Blade Runner_ soundtrack by Vangelis is one of my very favorites, while the soundtrack from _Eyes Wide Shut_ is one of my absolute least favorites. It made me want to kill. Of course, I didn’t like the movie either, so that probably didn’t help. ---
**Author:** ![Talon\_Karrde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Talon\_Karrde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Talon_Karrde)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2006, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-movie-scores-and-soundtracks/358517/24 "2006-05-30T02:11:22Z")
> [@interface2x](#): > > You might know this already, but the soundtracks for both **Troy** and **Gladiator** include vocals by [Lisa Gerrard](http://www.lisagerrard.com/). She also did the Whale Rider soundtrack. I haven’t heard it or seen the movie, but my brother’s a big fan of her and Dead Can Dance. ---
**Author:** ![Snickers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Snickers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snickers)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2006, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-movie-scores-and-soundtracks/358517/25 "2006-05-30T14:11:41Z")
The soundtrack for _The Last of the Mohicans_ (Daniel Day Lewis version - “No matter what occurs, I will find you!”) is excellent. Just sublime. When I was a young tot, I used to watch _Hogan’s Heroes_ on daytime syndicated TV. So _The Great Escape_ lost much of its impact when they used the exact same song. I know that the movie probably came first, but Steve McQueen trying to escape on his motorcycle and running into the barbwire fence loses a lot of punch when you’re hearing bouncy notes and thinking, “I see nothink!” So a not so good one there for me. ---
**Author:** ![priapus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@priapus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/priapus)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2006, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-movie-scores-and-soundtracks/358517/26 "2006-05-30T14:26:29Z")
I’ve always wondered where they got the generic action music for The Black Hole.The main theme puts me to sleep also. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2006, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-movie-scores-and-soundtracks/358517/27 "2006-05-30T14:36:10Z")
{b]The Blues Brothers\*\*–Dan Ackroyd’s Stand By Your Man is worth the price of the entire CD. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2006, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-movie-scores-and-soundtracks/358517/28 "2006-05-30T14:48:15Z")
Me, I love Bernard Hermann’s scores. He did a bunch of Alfred Hitchcock (including **North by Northwest** and **Psycho** and Ray Harryhausen ( **Seventh Voyage of Sinbad** , **Jason and the Argonauts** ) and other larger-than-life flicks ( **Journey to the Center of the Earth** , **The Day the Earth Stood Still** ink he did **Citizen Kane** I love the opening James Horner did for **The Rocketeer**. ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2006, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-movie-scores-and-soundtracks/358517/29 "2006-05-30T14:51:08Z")
The musical portions of South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut and of Team America: World Police totally make the movies. Trey Parker is a musical genius, however twisted. ---
**Author:** ![Kizarvexius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/da6949/32.png) [@Kizarvexius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kizarvexius)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2006, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-movie-scores-and-soundtracks/358517/30 "2006-05-31T18:01:04Z")
My favorite soundtracks (for non-musical films): _Henry V_, Patrick Doyle _The Piano_, Michael Nyman _Schindler’s List_, John Williams _Chariots of Fire_, Vangelis _Lawrence of Arabia_, Maurice Jarre _Much Ado About Nothing_, Patrick Doyle _Braveheart_, James Horner _Romeo and Juliet_, Nino Rota As far as worst soundtrack, I add my voice to the chorus of boos for _Ladyhawk_. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2006, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-movie-scores-and-soundtracks/358517/31 "2006-05-31T18:10:21Z")
Oh, yeah, how could I forget – I love John Williams, too. I’ve got a collection of his stuff on CD. Even if he is immensely popular, his stuff is great. One soundtrack I like that most other people hate is Giorgiou Moroder’s for his restoration of **Metropolis**. There ar theaters in the Boston area that showed that film with the volume off, substituting their own soundtrack, or a live orchestra. But i love it. So , apparentrly, do some other social misfits – there’s a website devoted to it. To my extreme ire, the commercially-available soundtrack recording does _not_ use the same versions actually used in the movie. My least favorite soundtrack is one of my greatest disappointments. I’m a big Rick Wakeman fan. For years I wanted to make my own soundtrack for my copy of the silent **Phantom of the Opera** , because every version I’d heard was awful. One of the centerpieces would be “Judas Iscariot” from **Rick Wakeman’s Criminal Record** , because it _sounds_ like the creation of a psychotic organist. Far better than the overused Back **Tocatta and Fugue in D Minor** , which doesn’t deserve its reputatioon as the trademark piece favored by mad organists. So when I passed an art theater and saw that they were goinmg to show **The Phantom of the Opera** with a new electronic score by Rick Wakeman, my heart stopped. I _had_ to see (and hear ) it. It was…AWFUL. Worst soundtrack I ever heard, but made infinitely worse because my expectations were so high. Jeez – Wakeman had already done creditable soundtracks for **Lisztomania** and **White Rock**. How could he screw up so royally? ---
**Author:** ![GargoyleWB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gargoylewb/32/199_2.png) [@GargoyleWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GargoyleWB)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2006, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-movie-scores-and-soundtracks/358517/32 "2006-05-31T18:23:31Z")
**The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly** Aaahaaaahahahahhhhhh…waaa waaa waaaa… A true classic that defined an entire genre of film. Harry Manfredini was a staple of the 80’s horror movies, including incredibly brilliant and memorable scores for **House** and **Friday the 13th**. House especially is some of the creepiest music I’ve ever listened to. John Carpenter has also written some great scores, **Halloween** being the most recognized. ---
**Author:** ![Marathon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7cd45c/32.png) [@Marathon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marathon)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2006, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-movie-scores-and-soundtracks/358517/33 "2006-05-31T18:37:57Z")
The most recent movie I saw with a score that really impressed me was _Solaris_ (the Soderbergh version). Cliff Martinez did the score, and while a lot of it sounds like a more tonal Ligeti (maybe influenced by all that Ligeti in _2001_), he did a great job with it. ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2006, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-movie-scores-and-soundtracks/358517/34 "2006-05-31T19:02:25Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Me, I love Bernard Hermann’s scores. He did a bunch of Alfred Hitchcock (including **North by Northwest** and **Psycho** and Ray Harryhausen ( **Seventh Voyage of Sinbad** , **Jason and the Argonauts** ) and other larger-than-life flicks ( **Journey to the Center of the Earth** , **The Day the Earth Stood Still** ink he did **Citizen Kane** I had long known, on an intellectual level, that Bernard Hermann did many of Hitchcock’s scores. In a parallel part of my brain, I was extremely familiar with the score for Jason and the Argonauts – it was a favorite of my kids, and we watched it often. But I never connected the two until watching North by Northwest recently – and there’s a scene (on Mt. Rushmore, IIRC) where I went “hey…sounds just like Jason & the Argonauts!” So I pulled out my copy of J&theA, checked the box…and ta da! There was Bernard Hermann’s name. Gave myself double brownie points. ---
**Author:** ![Gordon\_Urquhart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/db5fbb/32.png) [@Gordon\_Urquhart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gordon_Urquhart)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2006, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-movie-scores-and-soundtracks/358517/35 "2006-05-31T19:14:08Z")
The first great soundtrack that comes to my mind is Paul Thomas Anderson’s [Boogie Nights](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0118749/soundtrack). Anderson uses music to great effect especially when introducing characters, such as the scenes featuring _Mama Told Me Not To Come_ and _Driver’s Seat_. Scorsese’s [Goodfellas](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0099685/soundtrack) (the scene with the coda to _Layla_, especially) and [Casino](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0112641/soundtrack) have soundtracks that are integral to the movie. All three of these movies are similar in that years pass from the beginning to the end of the film, and the music helps place the on-screen happenings in historical context. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-movie-scores-and-soundtracks/358517.md?page=1)