# movie soundtracks **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 19, 2001, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-soundtracks/65936 "2001-05-19T21:28:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![kinoons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a698b9/32.png) [@kinoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kinoons)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2001, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-soundtracks/65936/1 "2001-05-19T21:28:28Z")
as I sit here killing even more time at work… whats the best movie soundtrack you’ve ever heard? I’m not talking about those trash soundtracks that are just full of those songs that are popular at the moment, what movie soundtrack genually has good music on it that will be good for years to come? I believe its the soundtrack from “Last of the Mohicians” – that soundtrack is simply perfect. I cant put it any more clearly. Every time I listen to it I am simply moved to speechlessness. If you haven’t ever listened to this CD, and you are a fan of “classical” music. Get it, you wont be sorry. ---
**Author:** ![SPOOFE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@SPOOFE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SPOOFE)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2001, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-soundtracks/65936/2 "2001-05-19T21:33:44Z")
I really liked the soundtrack from _Aliens_, especially for the tracks _Futile Escape_ and _Bishop’s Countdown_. However, the _Star Wars_ soundtrack will always beat the pants off of everything else, for me. Even the Episode I soundtrack. ---
**Author:** ![Torgo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@Torgo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Torgo)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2001, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-soundtracks/65936/3 "2001-05-19T21:43:38Z")
I like the classic **Ennio Morricone** stuff; **A Fistful of Dollars, The Good, the Bad & the Ugly, Once Upon a Time in the West;** plus a few lesser known soundtracks of his, particularly **Navaho Joe,** a lesser known Burt Reynolds vehicle of the early 70s, **Once Upon a Time in America** and **The Untouchables** which is just begging to be used in a Super Bowl one of these years. Also the work of **Howard Shore,** particularly his work for David Cronenberg for **The Fly,** (purely operatic in my view) and **Dead Ringers.** **Bernard Herrmann’s** final work for **Taxi Driver** is appropriately scary. **Carter Burwell’s** score for the Coen Brothers’ **Miller’s Crossing.** ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2001, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-soundtracks/65936/4 "2001-05-19T21:59:35Z")
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (although it does have the obligatory bad Asian pop song at the end.) Anima Mundi Powisquatsi (That’s not even close to the right spelling) Rob Roy Glory Conan the Barbarian Last of the Mohicians (as previosuly mentioned) Gladiator (Some great stuff by Dead Can Dance’s Lisa Gerrard) 1492 Baraka A Fistfull of Dollars (Or any Eastwood/Morricone score. This is my fave, though) The Truman Show Passion (Peter Gabriel’s soundtrack to Last Temptation of Christ, and hands-down, bar-none, no-questions-about-it the best soundtrack ever recorded.) Passion Sources (Companion to aforementioned Passion, containing the music that inspired Gabriel) Last of the Mohicians (as previously noted) Amistad For more pop-oriented soundtracks, Straight to Hell (A little known western, featuring music by The Pogues and Joe Strummer) Magnolia (mostly original Aimee Mann songs) High Fidelity Grosse Point Blank (Vintage '80s stuff, much better soundtrack than the rather bland Wedding Singer) O Brother Where Art Thou? (Bluegrass/folk, simply astonishing) The Big Lebowski Pulp Fiction (although the dialogue from the movie starts to grate) Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (Oddly, the movie dialogue in this one never gets old) ---
**Author:** ![Katisha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bcef8e/32.png) [@Katisha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Katisha)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2001, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-soundtracks/65936/5 "2001-05-19T22:35:08Z")
I’m partial to Patrick Doyle’s film scores – especially _Henry V._ Torgo – Howard Shore is doing the score for _Lord of the Rings,_ so it’s nice to have a vote of confidence… 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2001, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-soundtracks/65936/6 "2001-05-19T22:42:32Z")
**Bernard Herrmann** is the greatest. Especially the Hitchcock scores. Especially _North by Northwest_ (dig that crazy fandango), _Vertigo,_ and _Psycho._ _The Devil and Dan’l Webster, Citizen Kane,_ and _The Day the Earth Stood Still_ aren’t far behind. All these stand up to listening to apart from the movies they enhance. After you acquire all his film score CDs, try his “serious” music…especially the Symphony, the String Quartet, and the Clarinet Quintet. He seems to only have written one of each. ---
**Author:** ![Tisme](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f0a364/32.png) [@Tisme](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tisme)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2001, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-soundtracks/65936/7 "2001-05-19T22:47:22Z")
For my money, the soundtrack in the movie Top Gun is the best I’ve heard in a long while. ---
**Author:** ![Agrippina](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8797f3/32.png) [@Agrippina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agrippina)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2001, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-soundtracks/65936/8 "2001-05-19T22:52:43Z")
Danny Elfman is pretty good. My favorite soundtrack from him is _Beetlejuice_. Jerry Goldsmith is good. _The Omen_ is his best, I think. As is Hans Zimmer. _The Lion King_ and _Rain Man_ are my favorites. My favorite on the _Rain Man_ soundtrack (and the reason why I got it) is for the score called “Las Vegas” which is the music playing when Charlie and Raymond enter Las Vegas. _Rain Man_ is a mixture of songs and scores composed by Zimmer. And of course, John Williams. He has numerous great works. ---
**Author:** ![TPWombat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbce88/32.png) [@TPWombat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TPWombat)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2001, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-soundtracks/65936/9 "2001-05-19T23:49:40Z")
The Big Blue The Fifth Element Blade Runner Ravenous ---
**Author:** ![Edwardina](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Edwardina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Edwardina)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2001, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-soundtracks/65936/10 "2001-05-20T00:52:40Z")
**Playing God** soundtrack is very good. So are **The Matrix** and **City of Angels**. Although those might be a bit mainstream for the folks around here. I have the **Rob Roy** and **The Big Lebowski** soundtracks . . . I concur they are good. Oh, yeah, the **Empire Records** and **Pump Up The Volume** soundtracks are pretty good if you get nostalgic for the early nineties. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2001, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-soundtracks/65936/11 "2001-05-20T02:58:22Z")
Good call on Patrick Doyle, **Katisha.** For my money, my fave of his soundtracks is _Dead Again._ Also kudos to **Nimune** for _Grosse Point Blank_ and _Passion._ And in any list of pop soundtracks, _Purple Rain_ deserves an honored place. Movie’s kinda wack, but the CD has very high repeat-play value. ---
**Author:** ![dodge\_this](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e5b9ba/32.png) [@dodge\_this](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dodge_this)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2001, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-soundtracks/65936/12 "2001-05-20T04:25:59Z")
I’m partial to scores by **Michael Nyman** and **Zbigniew Preisner**. Preisner! That man can do no wrong… ‘Popular song’ soundtracks I like - **Trainspotting The Matrix Twister In the Name of the Father Platoon Stand By Me Dirty Dancing**(and**More Dirty Dancing**!) **Grease Xanadu** erm… And if it’s not too much of a hijack, I’ll add **Northern Exposure** as one of the best TV series soundtracks I’ve heard. ---
**Author:** ![yosemite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/3ab097/32.png) [@yosemite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yosemite)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2001, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-soundtracks/65936/13 "2001-05-20T04:52:41Z")
I am a **BIG** Jerry Goldsmith fan. “The Omen” is one of his best (won an Oscar for it.) “L.A. Confidential” is pretty damned good, and, believe it or not, “The Mummy” (the first Brendan Fraser film, not the one out now) is _damned_ good. Also, “Alien”, “Patton”, “The Ghost and the Darkness” and “The Shadow” are all fabulous. Though, I guess the 1985 (?) Nick Nolte film “Under Fire” is my absolute favorite. Great contribution by Pat Metheny on guitar. It just came back in print on CD too - before it was about $100 for a CD, it was that rare and that sought-after. It has this great blend of sythesizer and a South American sound. This is an absolute wonderful, brilliant soundtrack. (And Goldsmith was _robbed_ of the Oscar for it!!!) I also admire Bernard Herrmann and Ennio Morricone. (Has anyone else heard the score to “Burn” by Morricone? This has _got_ to be the weirdest score ever!) And I do love all of Herrmann’s stuff/ “Farenheit 451” is fabulous, and also “The Day the Earth Stood Still”. Of course, I really like John Williams (some of his more obscure stuff - if you ever hear “The Missouri Breaks” it will blow your mind). And Patrick Doyle, Hans Zimmer, Thomas Newman, and SO many others! ---
**Author:** ![HalberMensch242](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ecb155/32.png) [@HalberMensch242](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HalberMensch242)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2001, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-soundtracks/65936/14 "2001-05-20T05:46:27Z")
Blade Runner Blue Velvet Lost Highway Ravenous Clockwork Orange The Ice Storm The Crow American Psycho Naked Lunch ---
**Author:** ![Monstre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e274bd/32.png) [@Monstre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monstre)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2001, 7:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-soundtracks/65936/15 "2001-05-20T07:55:46Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by kinoons \* > I believe its the soundtrack from “Last of the Mohicians” – that soundtrack is simply perfect. I saw the thread title and thought, “Oh, I’ve got the perfect one to add.” And I see you’ve already started with it! Many times, I find that I start to really like a movie’s music wayyyy after having first seen the movie, which means it had to grow on me over time. Not so with this one. When I first saw it in the theater, I was in awe over this music. Absolutely wonderful! ---
**Author:** ![Monstre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e274bd/32.png) [@Monstre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monstre)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2001, 8:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-soundtracks/65936/16 "2001-05-20T08:00:21Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by dodge\_this \* > Platoon To weigh in on one more… I haven’t heard the whole soundtrack for this, but the main theme music used in this movie was Samuel Barber’s **Adagio For Strings** , which is a truly excellent piece of 20th century classical music – one of my favorites. This piece alone would make the whole thing worthwhile, regardless of what else was on it. ---
**Author:** ![robgruver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/13edae/32.png) [@robgruver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robgruver)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2001, 9:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-soundtracks/65936/17 "2001-05-20T09:21:14Z")
This really depends on my tastes at the moment. Right now the **Ghost Dog** soundtrack is playing on my computer. I am also a big fan of (belive it or not) **The Last Action Hero** soundtrack. Great rock music on that one. A couple I will give props to: **The Matrix, Braveheart** and **Les Miserables** (sp?). ---
**Author:** ![Pammipoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/87869e/32.png) [@Pammipoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pammipoo)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2001, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-soundtracks/65936/18 "2001-05-20T19:01:01Z")
Disney’s version of Beauty and the Beast. The Little Mermaid. Grease. Dirty Dancing. Save the Last Dance is good, but it’s pretty trendy right now. And my alltime favorite soundtrack, Coyote Ugly. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2001, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-soundtracks/65936/19 "2001-05-20T19:06:32Z")
I consider my taste in soundtracks to be nothing if not ecclectic. Consider, in no particular order: \*Star Wars American Beauty The Sting The Sopranos: Peppers and Eggs Risky Business \*(which I listen to only after skipping track 1) \*Grease High Fidelity The Godfather \* ---
**Author:** ![Kepi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kepi/32/7251_2.png) [@Kepi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kepi)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2001, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-soundtracks/65936/20 "2001-05-21T01:59:18Z")
I’ll second _ **Glory** _ (from way up at the top of this thread) and nominate _ **Grand Canyon** _, _ **The Rocketeer** _ and _ **Field Of Dreams** _. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-soundtracks/65936.md?page=2)