The other thread seems to be sticking to musical play soundtracks; hence, different thread. By “orchestral” I mean primarily orchestral, so some vocal solos or exotic instruments do not disqualify a soundtrack.
By standbys are definitely The Lord of the Rings and Children of Dune, the latter of which definitely deserves a higher profile, IMHO. I’ve also recently discovered the Braveheart soundtrack, which is not quite up to that standard but is still quite good. Gladiator’s pretty nice too.
I’ve noticed that I tend to like the more mainstream, bigger-budget soundtracks better; this is probably due to the availability of larger orchestras and more time for the composer to do his thing. Nevertheless, the élites are free to label me an unwashed plebian
I really like orchestral soundtracks - I can listen to them while working without being distracted by the lyrics. My favorites include Lord of the Rings and Gladiator (already mentioned), Last of the Mohicans, The Incredibles, Pirates of the Caribbean, and Chocolat.
I also have a two-disc set of “John Williams Greatest Hits”, with the most famous movie themes he’s composed (including Star Wars, ET, Indiana Jones, Jaws, Empire of the Sun, Jurassic Park and Schindler’s List, among others).
I’ve always enjoyed John Williams’ scores to Star Wars, Indiana Jones and other Spielberg/Lucas flms. I also enjoy Alan Sylvestri’s work (Back to the Future, the Abyss).
Conan the Barbarian, anyone? It’s sort of a bridge between Excalibur and LotR. (Incidentally, probably the most influential piece of music on orchestral soundtracks has got to be O Fortuna. Not only the above three but just about all fantasy soundtracks borrow heavily from it.)
