“Honeymoon in Vegas”, which features numerous big country music stars covering Elvis’ songs.
There’ll always be a special place in my heart for the original scores of Tangerine Dream. Sorcerer and Legend spring immediately to mind…
BASIC INSTINCT by Jerry Golsdmith was always a favorite of mine – very cold and elegant.
A lot of people like the Conan the Barbarian music, and it is very good, but I always thought it was a bit too manipulative and “trying too hard” for my tastes. I prefer the Poledouris scores for CHERRY 2000 and FLESH+BLOOD.
If you like the Tangerine Dream style, BUIO OMEGA (an Italian horror film, released here on video as BURIED ALIVE) by the band Goblin is a great soundtrack.
Anything done by John Williams, and a few songs off of the Gone in Sixty Seconds soundtrack are good. Gladiator had a great soundtrack too. (Was that by JW?)
my contributions, in no particular order:
*Philadelphia
*Magnolia
*Good Will Hunting (Elliott Smith is a god)
*Rushmore
*Shawshank Redemption
and absolutely The Nightmare Before Christmas
Had to put in a word for Mark Knopfler’s film work, especially the music for Local Hero. He’s also responsible for the soundtracks to The Princess Bride, Cal, Last Exit to Brooklyn, Wag the Dog, and Metroland.
Of course, everyone’s taken mine by now, basically, but I’ll say em anyway:
Jurassic Park, Star Wars, Jaws, Schindler’s List, and anything by John Williams
Edward Scissorhands, Batman 1, Beetlejuice, Men In Black, everything else by Danny Elfman
The Mission, by Ennio Morricone…and the theme to The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, too
Chariots of Fire, by Vangelis
Braveheart, by James Horner
The old 007 movies, Dances with Wolves, by John Barry
The Truman Show, by I-don’t-know-who (I think there’s some Philip Glass in there)
Lola Rennt, by the director of the movie, I forget his name (aka Run Lola Run to Americans)
and I think that about wraps it up.
i just thought of two more:
Gattica
Ravenous(really…really…unique instrumentation)
John Barry is the greatest. Out of Africa, Dances With Wolves, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, King Kong (1976), and Moonraker are my favorites of his.
Also:
Jerry Goldsmith–all of his Star Trek Work, Under Fire, Alien, Outland, Gremlins.
Ennio Morricone–The Untouchables, The Mission, Exorcist II.
Gabriel Yared–City of Angels, The English Patient.
Vangelis–Blade Runner, The Bounty.
John Williams–the Star Wars series, Schindler’s List, Born On the Fourth of July, Jaws, the Indian Jones trilogy.
Anton Karas’ zither score from The Third Man.
“Batman: Mask of the Phantasm” had an excellent musical score. I don’t know if it was all written by Elfman but they did give him credit for the opening theme.
Marc
Star Wars - one of my early favorite records. Still have the original vinyl.
Ravenous - I keep meaning to get this, but keep forgetting. If you let some musicians from the 1850s listen to some electronic music and then try to recreate it with their own instruments, it would be something like the score to Ravenous.
Blade Runner - took electronic music in new directions. Fit the movie perfectly.
Office Space - another one I keep meaning to get, and I’m not much of a rap fan.
“Henry V”
I second “The Mission”
I third “The Last of the Mohicans”
Do we count the soundtrack as stand-alone or should we factor in how well it supports the movie ?
Never mind, I nominate Queen’s soundtrack to Highlander. Fan-friggin’-tastic.
S. Norman
Gotta go with…
[li]Repo Man[/li][li]Flash Gordon (yes, the one by Queen)[/li][li]Passion (Gabriel’s Last Temptation of Christ score)[/li]Miller’s Crossing
Passion & Birdy - Peter Gabriel
The Big Night - Various
Pulp Fiction & Resevoir Dogs - Various (can’t belive I’m the first to mention them)
All the rest I think have been mentioned.
I’ve considered buying the DVD just for the music. Good call!
I don’t know if these are the “best”, but they are some of my favorites to listen to (in no particular order):
Grand Canyon - James Newton-Howard
The Natural - Randy Newman
The Rocketeer - James Horner
Glory - James Horner
Field of Dreams - James Horner
How about great collaborations? Let’s get the obvious one out of way:
Alfred Hitchcock/Bernard Herrman
Everything they did together was great, but Vertigo was a masterpiece. 'nuff said.
also,
Tim Burton/Danny Elfman
Elfman’s large orchestral flourishes with darkly comic undertones perfectly compliment Burton’s wonderful visual style. Batman, Pee Wee’s Big Adventure, Sleepy Hollow.
Coen Bros./Carter Burwell
In Fargo, moments of quiet beauty such as the chiming chords at the opening title often build to thunderous crashing only to be cut short, leaving the viewer unsettled
as the scene shifts. Also, Raising Arizona, Miller’s Crossing.
Mychael Danna/Atom Egoyan
Such sadness and regret in the sweet hereafter, the medieval procession sound with the flutes reinforce the themes of fate and the Pied Piper fairy tale. Also, Felicia’s Journey, Exotica.
Peter Greenaway/Michael Nyman
Greenaway’s rigid formalism meshes well with Nyman’s minimalism. The insistently thrumming strings in The Cook, The Thief, His Wife, and Her Lover builds wonderful sexual tension as the wife & her lover exchange glances across a gaudy restaurant. Also, The Draughtsman’s Contract, Prospero’s Books.
Cheers,
Hodge
THANK YOU for mentioning Flash Gordon. That gets my #1 vote.
The Mission ranks up there. I also liked Witness. Highlander, as well. I searched for it in vain for years; now I see they have released a “concept album” that has 3-4 songs from each of the Highlander movies.