I caught the new Superman movie when it came out, and when it was done I said to my wife, as she was getting up to leave “Just hold on, I want to see who did the score.”
Sure enough, it was Zimmer. I thought it very familiar as I’d only just watched the DVD for The Dark Knight Rises a few days earlier. Unfortunately, I think Zimmer was a bit stuck in his Dark Knight theme, unless he was asked to create something very similar.
Because it was very similar.
First ones that come to mind:
“The Right Stuff”
“Patton”
“Lawrence of Arabia”
“Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” +1
“Princess Mononoke”
“2001”
“Blade Runner” +1
“Last of the Mohicans” +1
“Crash” (Mark Isham, composer)
The score for Kenneth Branagh’s Henry V is very stirring, especially the music for the St. Crispin’s Day speech.
Tangerine Dream did quite a few good scores in the 80s; I especially like the one for Thief.
Not necessarily moving, but the most fun score for me was that for The Stunt Man; the music was used in movie trailers for years afterwards.
ET: the strings swell at just the right time during the farewell scene.
Curse you, John Williams. I swear I will NOT cry next time!
Last of the Mohicans
Gladiator
Sunshine (Adagio In D Minor is used extensively in other media)
Legends of the Fall
Dragonheart (also used extensively in other media)
The Lord of the Rings trilogy
Elizabeth: The Golden Age (used in the Superman trailer)
The Island
Armageddon
The Dark Knight trilogy
I was in a Japanese restaurant a few months ago where they were playing Taiko drums over the PA system. It felt like at any moment they were going to start clearing tables so they could launch Vipers.
Just watched Das Boot last week for about the dozenth time.
The soundtrack fits very well with the action and it sure gets the blood moving while one is (surprisingly) rooting for the German submariners as they go to sink British ships.
Dmitri Tiomkin’s The High and the Mighty, performed by the Victor Young Orchestra.
Oh, and of course What’s Opera, Doc?
I just watched The Snowtown Murders and I loved the score. Kinda trancy but ominous. Can’t get it out of my head.
The opening scene in 1986’s Top Gun is a classic scene matched with great music: first, we see fighter jets taxiing to take off from the USS Enterprise’s carrier deck while Harold Faltermayer’s “Top Gun Anthem” is playing, then when the F-14s go to full afterburner and take off the music transitions right into Kenny Loggins’ “Danger Zone”.
If that doesn’t get you jazzed up, I don’t know what will.
Howard Shore did very well at invoking strong feelings in the Lord of the Rings trilogy.
I thought the music was really the best part of Schindler’s List.
I sort of fell for Bear McCreary the first time I saw Battlestar Galactica.
The first soundtrack I bought was for the film Heat. I love the way the music mirrors the tension as they move through the hotel.
For a more modern feel, the soundtrack to The Crow actually works pretty well.
“Melancholic” is also pretty much how I’d describe the score to 1979’s The Black Hole, by John Barry. Actually, how I’d pretty much sum up the whole movie. It was what I grew up with instead of Star Wars, and I think that explains a lot.
The score to Star Trek III, by James Horner, is also his usual swashbuckling cheer…though not without it’s heartwrenching moments. Any sci-fi fan tell me with a straight face that just hearing this cue doesn’t choke you up, even a little.
The Way We Were is one of my favorite movie soundtracks. Marvin Hamlisch did a very powerful and moving composition. I still get choked up listening to parts of it.
Dirty Dancing is another must have movie soundtrack. Its so perfectly sets the tone for that movie and time period.
The Sting rounds out my top three. Another great Marvin Hamlisch soundtrack.
Here’s a collection of great Soundtracks on youtube. They play in random order.
Great way to sample and see what you like.
Theres forward/back arrows at the top right corner of the video window. Just hit forward to skip past a track you don’t like.