# Best Movie Soundtracks
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-movie-soundtracks/268502
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [October 10, 2004, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-movie-soundtracks/268502 "2004-10-10T19:36:12Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Cuthbert\_Allgood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cuthbert_Allgood)
#### Post date: [October 10, 2004, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-movie-soundtracks/268502/1 "2004-10-10T19:36:12Z")
I personaly cant think of a clear winner here but here are a few of my contenders
Highlander
The Doors
Almost Famous
Saturday Night Fever
The Lost Boys
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### Author:  [@Gadfly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gadfly)
#### Post date: [October 10, 2004, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-movie-soundtracks/268502/2 "2004-10-10T19:42:52Z")
Resevoir Dogs
The Virgin Suicides
Lost in Translation
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
NOT LOTR.
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### Author:  [@yosemite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yosemite)
#### Post date: [October 10, 2004, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-movie-soundtracks/268502/3 "2004-10-10T19:54:40Z")
My faves this time around:
_Under Fire_ by Jerry Goldsmith. How this lost the Oscar is beyond me.
_Burn!_ by Ennio Morricone. Okay, this is a weird score but damn. It’s so bizarre. Love it.
_Gui La Testa_ by Ennio Morricone. I guess I’m in a Morricone mood. Great score. Bizarre.
_Omen III: Final Conflict_ by Jerry Goldsmith. Sucky movie, _great_ score.
_Farenheight 411_ by Bernard Herrmann. Brilliant. Just brilliant.
_The Wind and the Lion_ by Jerry Goldsmith. Love it. Another “Why didn’t this win an Oscar?” moment. Goldsmith had lots of those.
_The Devil’s Own_ by James Horner. I’m not a huge Horner fan (he’s good, but not someone I collect regularly), but this is a fantastic score.
_The Ghost and the Darkness_ by Jerry Goldsmith. Another outstanding score by personal favorite Goldsmith.
_Dracula_ by John Williams. I love Williams, but so often he gets pigeonholed into doing those sweeping “Star Wars” type scores. This is a little different.
_The Missouri Breaks_ by John Williams. A pre-Star Wars score that is so unlike the John Williams you are accustomed to. Brilliant and just a little bizarre. A must-have for Willaims fans.
_The Day the Earth Stood Still_ by Bernard Herrmann. A masterpiece.
_Rambo: First Blood Part III_ by Jerry Goldsmith. Goldsmith scored a lot of bad movies, and did them exceedingly well. I’ve never seen this Rambo film (so perhaps it’s not crappy after all) but I do know that the score is quite good.
_Scent of a Woman_ by Thomas Newman. Wonderful score.
_Jaws II_ by John Williams. Speaking of bad movies—believe it or not, this is a _great_ score.
_Conspiracy Theory_ by Carter Burwell. Great jazzy score. Lots of fun.
_Frantic_ by Ennio Morricone. Insanely wonderful.
_Marco Polo_ by Ennio Morricone. Technically a TV miniseries score, but it’s so great I had to mention it.
_Time After Time_ by Miklos Rozsa. It just got under my skin.
I could go on and on and on, but I won’t. At least not until next time. 😉
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### Author:  [@yosemite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yosemite)
#### Post date: [October 10, 2004, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-movie-soundtracks/268502/4 "2004-10-10T19:55:57Z")
Ack! I spelled Fahrenheit wrong. Sorry!
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### Author:  [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)
#### Post date: [October 10, 2004, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-movie-soundtracks/268502/5 "2004-10-10T19:56:03Z")
See also the earlier thread: [Best Soundtracks](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=149511)
I personally put Elmer Bernstein’s soundtrack for THE TEN COMMANDMENTS among the greatest ever. And Howard Shore didn’t do badly on the LORD OF THE RINGS, neither.
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### Author:  [@Aitara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aitara)
#### Post date: [October 10, 2004, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-movie-soundtracks/268502/6 "2004-10-10T20:09:26Z")
I like Han Zimmer’s work quite a bit. My favourite of his are:
Black Hawk Down- It introduced me to Rachid Taha. There is also a wonderful version of _Minstrel Boy_ by Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros
Tears of the Sun
I also enjoyed these:
Pirates of the Caribbean
Braveheart
Everest- Soundtrack to the Imax movie.
Lord of the Rings-Especially _The Bridge of Khazad Dum_, _Lothlorien_, and _Helm’s Deep_. This also introduced me to Emiliana Torrini, whose music I have enjoyed since.
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### Author:  [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)
#### Post date: [October 10, 2004, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-movie-soundtracks/268502/7 "2004-10-10T20:11:37Z")
**Shrek** is quite the toe tapper.
**The Commitments** has faithful play in my CD player after all these years.
**Chocolat** is fantabulous.
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### Author:  [@ccwaterback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ccwaterback)
#### Post date: [October 10, 2004, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-movie-soundtracks/268502/8 "2004-10-10T20:13:46Z")
Easy Rider
Rollllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll another one, just like the other one.
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### Author:  [@Rayne\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rayne_Man)
#### Post date: [October 10, 2004, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-movie-soundtracks/268502/9 "2004-10-10T20:28:47Z")
**The English Patient** t especially that Hungarian music which is like nothing I have ever heard before. I sends shivers up my spine.
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### Author:  [@vl\_mungo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vl_mungo)
#### Post date: [October 10, 2004, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-movie-soundtracks/268502/10 "2004-10-10T20:29:21Z")
**The Good, The Bad & The Ugly** - Morricone
**Repo Man** - Iggy Pop, Suicidal Tendencies, Circle Jerks etc.
**Straight To Hell** - The Pogues, Pray For Rain, Joe Strummer
**Rock n’ Roll High School** - Ramones
**Apocalypse Now** - Coppola/Mursch
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### Author:  [@Rayne\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rayne_Man)
#### Post date: [October 10, 2004, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-movie-soundtracks/268502/11 "2004-10-10T20:30:06Z")
> [@Rayne Man](#):
>
> **The English Patient** t especially that Hungarian music which is like nothing I have ever heard before. I sends shivers up my spine.
And for some reason effects my ability to spell!
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### Author:  [@Roberta\_Plant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roberta_Plant)
#### Post date: [October 10, 2004, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-movie-soundtracks/268502/12 "2004-10-10T20:37:53Z")
To Live and Die in LA
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### Author:  [@Caprese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caprese)
#### Post date: [October 10, 2004, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-movie-soundtracks/268502/13 "2004-10-10T21:50:02Z")
Mark Knopfler’s soundtrack for **Local Hero.**
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### Author:  [@Guy\_Incognito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guy_Incognito)
#### Post date: [October 10, 2004, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-movie-soundtracks/268502/14 "2004-10-10T22:12:39Z")
Three of my favorite soundtracks:
“The Shawshank Redemption” - Thomas Newman
“Blade Runner” - Vangelis
“Passion” (Soundtrack for the movie “The Last Temptation of Christ”) Peter Gabriel
Of these three, I favor Peter Gabriel’s soundtrack the most with Thomas Newman’s a close second.
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### Author:  [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)
#### Post date: [October 10, 2004, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-movie-soundtracks/268502/15 "2004-10-10T22:15:48Z")
Once Upon A Time In the West (Ennio Morricone)
Pulp Fiction
Kill Bill, Volume 1
Grosse Pointe Blank
Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels
The Virgin Suicides (and I wasn’t even a huge fan of the movie!)
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### Author:  [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)
#### Post date: [October 10, 2004, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-movie-soundtracks/268502/16 "2004-10-10T22:21:52Z")
> [@](#):
>
> **C.K. Dexter Haven** : I personally put Elmer Bernstein’s soundtrack for THE TEN COMMANDMENTS among the greatest ever.
Me too, **Dex**. But I traded it for a copy of _The Vikings_ at a time when both were hard to find.
Other favorites off the top of my head:
_Havana
Spellbound
Heat and Dust
The Shadow of Your Smile
Dances with Wolves
Out of Africa
The Shadow of Your Smile
The Pink Panther_
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### Author:  [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)
#### Post date: [October 10, 2004, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-movie-soundtracks/268502/17 "2004-10-10T22:28:57Z")
**Hedwig and the Angry Inch**
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### Author:  [@ccwaterback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ccwaterback)
#### Post date: [October 11, 2004, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-movie-soundtracks/268502/18 "2004-10-11T00:22:11Z")
The Exorcist.
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### Author:  [@well\_he\_s\_back](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/well_he_s_back)
#### Post date: [October 11, 2004, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-movie-soundtracks/268502/19 "2004-10-11T00:33:27Z")
I’m no expert, like some of you guys posting herein. I have no idea wheter the LOTR soundtracks will hold up as some of the best ever, but they are my favorites.
Other great ones have already been mentioned -
Good Bad and Ugly
Magnificent Seven
Exorcist
also
The Great Escape
To Kill a Mockingbird
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### Author:  [@supervenusfreak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/supervenusfreak)
#### Post date: [October 11, 2004, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-movie-soundtracks/268502/20 "2004-10-11T01:17:54Z")
> [@twickster](#):
>
> **Hedwig and the Angry Inch**
So very glad you mentioned that one twickster. I second **The Commitments Vol 1 & 2**. As for a guilty pleasure, well there is always **Dirty Dancing**.
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