So as I am watching Inception for the millionth time I am really reminded that one of the things I love about the movie more than anything else is how much the music really compliments the movie. The loud horns and the sense of urgency that the strings provide in the background really makes the movie a million times better than it would be without. What other movies would you guys say is made much better because of the music?
A Clockwork Orange. Everything is better with the old Ludwig Van.
Also, the classic example of music really making a scene is this one from Jaws, demonstrated here both with and without the score.
The soundtrack music in the theatrical version of Michael Mann’s The Last of the Mohicans was incredibly moving and exciting. I have heard that it was altered for the DVD releases.
Dario Marianelli’s Oscar-nominated score for 2005’s Pride & Prejudice really is fantastic, and captures the quiet charm and romance of the film perfectly. Here’s the opening song, “Dawn”:
Whenever I think of movie soundtracks, the first two movies that always jump into my mind are Blow and Goodfellas.
Star Trek II’s score makes a good movie a great one. And enough can’t be said about Vangelis’ work for Blade Runner.
In fact, I always notice the music. If a movie scene can make me cry, it’s because of the music. The series finale of Babylon 5 works that way.
To me, the music in the Non nobis, Domine scene is even more powerful.
(To those who haven’t seen the movie - see if you can spot Christian Bale).
The Lord of the Rings trilogy.
The score for The Right Stuff is terrific.
All of the LOTR movies benefit greatly from the music.
The Social Network.
The main title for The Stunt Man. So good that for years it was used for movie trailers whenever the score wasn’t complete.
I recently watched ‘Die Hard’ for the first time, and when the bad guys were getting into the vault, I immediately noticed a very familiar musical theme. At first I was thinking it might be a well-known Christmas tune, given the holiday setting of the film, and then I recognized it as being from Beethoven’s ninth symphony. (The ‘Ode to Joy.’)
It does work surprisingly well once you recover from the surprise of recognizing it.
There are also soundtracks that are too good for their movies, like the “Duel of the Fates” from the Phantom Menace, or the entire *Conan the Barbarian *soundtrack (not that it’s a bad film; it’s just that few movies in history have ever been good enough for Basil Poulidaris’s score).
Anton Karas’s zither score from The Third Man has rightly become iconic:
As with The Stunt Man, James Horner’s score for the Civil War drama Glory has also been used in trailers for a lot of other movies:
Cliff Martinez’s score for Solaris complemented the movie perfectly. Here’s First Sleep. Like most of the sound track it’s somehow hypnotic and mellow yet dissonant and filled with tension all at the same time.
The work The Dust Brothers did for *Fight Club* was also excellent. This Is Your Life,with it’s utterly compelling and propelling bass line, is one of my all-time favorite songs, in fact.
Not sure you can beat the original “electronic” score for Blade Runner by Vangelis…
But probably the first thing that popped into my head when I read the OP was the terrific music for *Team America: World Police* that Trey Parker wrote.
That “Team America” soundtrack is great. The vocal songs are hilarious and the orchestral stuff is better than what you get in most non-puppet movies.