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From the very beginning of this blog, I stated my love for both films and lists, but I’ve only compiled one list, the list. I thought it was time I expand with some others, so I compulsively compiled a compilation of my favorite film scores. A great score can add so much to a movie, increasing tension or emotion or just sheer enjoyment of the overall product. There’s no shortage of excellent scores from many talented composers. Heck, even recent movie trailers have produced some awesome music, thanks to groups like Two Steps from Hell. As a movie music enthusiast, I found culling my favorites to even fifty far from easy.
At first, I thought I would just post the full list, but for anyone who wants to actually listen to my choices, that might be daunting, since my example videos range between two and twenty minutes. Thus, to add some mystery, I’ll be breaking up the list into weekly posts of five at a time. You could settle down for some listening pleasure with the slideshows and clips (where I could find them), or do what I do and absorb them as inspiring background music, such as for writing.
I should be clear that these are my personal favorites, the scores I enjoy listening to even by themselves. There are many iconic ones that complement their respective films well but aren’t quite as enjoyable on their own (Psycho, The Godfather, Jaws, etc.). Also, I’m excluding movie musicals, since their scores often draw from the songs, so sorry to Les Miserables, Evita, and most of the Disney classics (though I was tempted to allow an exception for The Lion King). Also disqualified are scores built around previously created music, so favorites like The Right Stuff, Somewhere in Time, Babe, and 2001: A Space Odyssey are no-goes. Thus, here is part 1 of my top 50 movie scores. Let me know what you think of the choices.
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#50: Batman (1989), no Oscar nomination – Danny Elfman / The Dark Knight trilogy, no nominations – Hans Zimmer/James Newton Howard (just Zimmer for the third)
For my first film of my top 50, I’ve decided to cheat and combine two scores from similar films that are just too close in my appreciation. Danny Elfman’s perfect Batman music for Tim Burton’s first film of the franchise captured the allure of a dark comic book and continued to live on in the opening theme of Batman: The Animated Series. On the other hand, Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy required a bigger, brassier score to match the higher stakes of each film. Hans Zimmer (and Howard) combined brooding violins with a breakneck beat to provide thrilling background music. Batman Begins probably has the best score of the three, IMO.
#49: Sunshine (2007), no nomination – John Murphy
To load pathos to a doomed mission to the sun, John Murphy collaborated with electronic band Underworld. The score for Danny Boyle’s Sunshine is hit-and-miss as far as aural beauty, but “Adagio in D Minor” is the standout piece. It might remind you of Hans Zimmer’s work, such as for Interstellar, but this track reaches for deep emotions and gets them every time.
#48: Hoosiers (1986), Oscar nominee – Jerry Goldsmith
To accompany Gene Hackman’s no-nonsense training of a rural Indiana basketball team, musical master Jerry Goldsmith created this winning soundtrack. At times, it basks in pastoral tranquility, but when the film hits the court, the music gains a zeal to match. I’m not partial to basketball, but the energy of the score is more than enough to get even non-fans like me excited. Go, Hickory!
#47: Gladiator (2000), Oscar nominee – Hans Zimmer/Lisa Gerrard
While some of the music doesn’t really complement gladiatorial games and fights to the death, the score for Ridley Scott’s Oscar-winning epic is properly epic in its own right. Being a fan of Enya, my favorite tracks feature the soothing vocals of similar artist Lisa Gerrard. “Now We Are Free” in particular carries an effective ethnic beauty, sung in some truly elegant gibberish. Slight violence warning for this video:
#46: Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979), Oscar nominee – Jerry Goldsmith / Star Trek (2009), no nomination – Michael Giacchino
That’s right, I’m cheating again, but it’s my list. I couldn’t pick between these Trek favorites. The first Star Trek film was certainly a letdown for both fans and critics, with glacial pacing and a serious lack of story, but its score is hailed as one of Jerry Goldsmith’s finest works. Recycled as the theme for Star Trek: The Next Generation, Goldsmith’s music took full advantage of the brass and string sections to deliver space opera chills that the movie could not. Much more recently, Michael Giacchino did the same with J.J. Abrams’ bold reboot, just with much more bombast and grandeur to match the new film. Listen to both and tell me that’s not a hard choice.
Brilliance lies within John Nash,
Whose confidence avoids a crash
With economic innovation,
Just the thing to make a splash.
As he savors acclimation,
Mathematics his vocation,
Two new ventures enter in,
Demanding love and dedication.
Undercover jobs begin;
A woman’s heart he learns to win,
But when the two get too entwined,
His sanity is spread too thin.
Some parts of life, he’s shocked to find,
Are only in his gifted mind.
Within his mind, the struggles start
Before he’s forced to be confined.
Discernment’s more than being smart,
And though the phantoms won’t depart,
The measure of a brilliant man
Lies in the constant of the heart.
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Love begins across a room
With eyes that lock and smiles that bloom
But will not leave the stricken pair
When time to end the brief affair,
For love endures a year apart,
And patient is the waiting heart.
They love their spouses too in spite
Of seeking yearly to unite.
For love endures for decades too,
The changes they must suffer through,
And even when it nears its end,
It will not leave a lifelong friend.
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(Can be sung to “The Devil Went Down to Georgia”)
Travolta went down to Houston,
He was lookin’ for a job to take.
He was young and dumb, just a country bum,
And he was waiting for his big break,
When he came across this young girl
Dancin’ round in a honky-tonk,
A promised land of beer and band
With a metal bull or bronc.
When the misfit pair were married,
Things at first were going well,
But some stubbornness made a jealous mess
And the marriage quickly fell.
While the two just boozed and pined away
And rode that bucking bull,
I began to think that this movie stinks
And was near unbearable.
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The earth is getting dusty,
And our crops are less than trusty,
And our history is rusty,
And all life is soon to end.
Farmer Coop is in frustration
Till suspicious gravitation
Sends him to a NASA station
To encounter an old friend.
Dr. Brand suggests spacefaring
On a certain wormhole bearing
Will reward the pilots’ daring
With a new potential Earth.
Leaving son and loving daughter,
Coop departs to be the spotter
On new worlds of ice and water,
Where time carries greater worth.
Though he carries on with yearning,
Many dangers are concerning.
Complex choices stem from learning
He may not end up returning.
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A lonely hotel is a dangerous thing,
At least in the works of an author named King,
For no one can know what occurs in the mind
When volatile men are annoyed and confined.
They say, like Jack Torrance, the winter caretaker,
That past tragedies are no sign or deal breaker.
He’s simply too sane for such things to occur;
His wife is the same, and he’d never hurt her.
But get them alone in a desolate maze
And watch them get worse with the passing of days
And cringe as the dread and the wickedness weave,
For those at the Overlook may never leave.
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With S.H.I.E.L.D. out of service,
At least on the surface,
Six awesome Avengers defend the world still.
Since HYDRA arose,
They’ve empowered new foes,
Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch, twins with ill will.
Once Tony Stark’s had
An epiphany bad,
He then starts preparing for “peace in our time,”
But Ultron’s created
And quickly upgraded,
Equating true peace with a murderous crime.
Against these new threats
And alarming skill sets,
Our heroes must deal with their goals and their fear,
And when all agree
To save Earth mightily,
The smackdown is epic and worth a good cheer.
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Surgeries happen every day,
Routine and clean, so doctors say.
You simply go to sleep and then
They ought to wake you up again.
What’s that? You’ve heard, through some mistake,
That sometimes people never wake?
That’s possible, but don’t dismay;
It’s very rare, so doctors say.
You need not worry of a coma;
Trust the doc and his diploma.
Never fear about foul play
That can’t occur, so doctors say.
Statistics prove how safe you are;
The surgeon’s been ideal so far.
He’ll deftly take the pain away,
And you’ll be fine, so doctors say.
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In District 13, Katniss Everdeen waits,
Unsettled by District 12 citizens’ fates.
Deep under the ground with her saved family,
She worries for Peeta interminably.
Both Plutarch and resolute President Coin
Are eager for her to recover and join.
Insisting that Peeta be rescued someday,
Poor Katniss agrees to be their Mockingjay,
The hero for all districts, sure to inspire
The masses and light an unquenchable fire.
Since staged propaganda does not work as well,
She heads to the war zones to get mad as hell.
Her anger at Snow for the cruel devastation
Extends to the people who rise from privation.
Yet who should appear on the Capitol screens
But Peeta, denouncing the riotous scenes?
The boy’s brain seems washed, but he still tries to warn
The rebels of sudden barrages that morn.
When Capitol power is violently cut,
The rebels move in ere the window is shut.
The three captive tributes that Snow has been holding
Are surely a part of his scheme still unfolding.
Though Katniss is eager for Peeta’s return,
She’s shocked at the lesson Snow wants her to learn.
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