I was going to write a very long in depth thoughtful post about the effects of a soundtrack but you are getting this instead.
The soundtrack is a powerful element to a movie. The use of the right song or instrumental in a scene can totally make it or break it. It is not uncommon for film buffs to refer to the soundtrack of a movie as a character in itself. It can contribute even more than some actors.
So to demonstrated I will attempt to “Keel you wit da Cute” but note how the soundtrack changes all that.
Some of the more impacting soundtracks that I felt made a movie include Prince dominating Burton’s Batman. (I consider Prince to have been “in” that movie) as well as Queen in Highlander. The 13th Warrior had a great soundtrack as well as Conan. And of course ANYTHING composed by John Williams.
On the other end of the scale, one of my favourite movies of all time has the WORST soundtrack. Ladyhawke! The movie is that good that despite the soundtrack I still love it. In its day that prancey synthesizer and drum machine sound might have been cool for a New Wave 80s dance club song, but it was a horrendous blight upon the masterpiece that was Ladyhawke. I keep hoping that one day someone will remaster that movie with an orchestrated soundtrack. It can even be the same score, just make it with real instruments.
In case you thought I was kidding:
So what are your best and worst picks for soundtrack?
55 Comments, Comment or Ping
total jiu jitsu
at the top of my head for best soundtrack:
lord of the rings (trilogy)
gladiator
rocky
the god father
superman
stand by me
does the sound of music count?
Sep 25th, 2008
Bishop
2 Soundtracks that I loved were both Robert Rodriguez soundtracks:
From Dusk Til Dawn
Desperado
Of course, then there is the whole whack of John Huston films with The Breakfast Club at the top.
Sep 25th, 2008
Bishop
Robert Rodriguez FILMS I meant.
Apologies.
Sep 25th, 2008
Robert Forest
I think, for me the main one off hand has to go to:
Halloween
followed by:
Terminator
First Blood
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Wicker Man (the ORIGINAL)
Repo Man
The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly
A Fist Full of Dollars
The Lost Boys
The Wizard of Oz
The Nightmare Before Christmas
Sep 25th, 2008
giren
My fave soundtrack:
The Lord The Rings by Howard Shore
Star Wars by John Williams
Wall-E by Thomas Newman
and any works by Hanz Zimmer.
Sep 25th, 2008
Mr. Chris
I miss the good old days of the 80’s synthesizer. It made every movie out to be more inspirational than it really was.
My personal favorites: Ghostbusters, Transformers (1986), Footloose, The Lion King, Rocky III, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Back to the Future, The Breakfast Club, Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure, Team America: World Police
Sep 25th, 2008
Mr. Chris
Almost forgot Nightmare Before Christmas. Brilliant stuff, that was.
Sep 25th, 2008
john
the best sound track?
I think this discussion starts and ends with Top Gun…
Sep 25th, 2008
john
(Type your comment here. Make sure you’ve read the commenting rules before doing so)
Sep 25th, 2008
john
Top Gun…. Discussion is ova!
Sep 25th, 2008
Kristina
NIghtmare Before Xmas has an amazingingly replayable soundtrack. I love Danny Elfman.
Anything composed by John Williams is a winner.
And it’s not the greatest soundtrack in the world by any means, but the bit of music from the last few years that just really got me for some reason is that piece of music that plays as the Autobots fall to Earth in Transformers. The rest of the soundtrack is pretty fucking disposable, but that one piece just gave me goosebumps.
Sep 25th, 2008
digital drew
Listened to the Superman Returns score before seeing the movie, then when i saw it… felt like i knew everything that was going to happen in the movie. good one though.
Batman Begins, There will be blood, Wall-E are great scores
Kill Bill had a great soundtracks, so did Tenacious D, The Pick of Destiny, And Love Sweeny Todd.
Sep 25th, 2008
Johannes
One of my all-time favourites is Hans Zimmer’s “The Rock”! It’s great music, so great in fact that you hear it all the time on commercials and trailers. Also great are “Gladiator”, Danny Elfman’s “Batman”, “The Last of the Mohicans” and Brian May’s “Furia”. The latter is the only soundtrack that I own and love to listen to without having seen the movie (I probably never will, it’s a French movie and doesn’t seem to be out on DVD).
Since you mentioned Queen’s music in “Highlander”: I also love how “Highlander III” used the songs of Loreena McKennitt. Everyone thought there could be no Highlander without Queen, and now “Bonny Portmore” is as important to Highlander as “Princes of the Universe”. :-)
Sep 25th, 2008
Vidsub
Back to the future is one of my favorites.
Sep 25th, 2008
Robert Forest
How did I forget about:
Jaws
Poltergeist
Close Encounters of the Third Kind
Not to mention:
Reservoir Dogs
Sep 25th, 2008
Dirty-Sanchez
Rodney,
I couldn’t agree with you more on Ladyhawke. When I originally saw it in the theater, I guess I was so wrapped up in the adventure that I was unaware of how awful the score was. If there was ever a film that I would love to re-score it would be Ladyhawke. As far as great scores, I would say: Raiders of the Lost Ark, Fargo, and Punch-Drunk Love.
Sep 25th, 2008
Sound Designer Dan
The most underrated soundtracks IMO:
Gattaca
My favorite soundtrack of all time. The last 20 minutes of that film with its music and images are pure poetry. And its the only score to give me goosebumps upon every listen.
AND
Children of Dune
Can you say average film but tremendous soundtrack? This is the best soundtrack of the 21st century. Yes, even beating Howard Shore’s amazing score for the LOTR trilogy.
Sep 25th, 2008
leeloo
coppolas dracula - by wojciech kilar
alien 3
interview with a vampire - both by elliot goldenthal.
the last temptation of christ - by peter gabriel
Sep 25th, 2008
Chris
Best:
Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back
“The Imperial March” has to be one of my favorite movie scores of all time and one of my favorite tracks of all time even. Just so fitting and perfect for the movie and the moment.
and there are so many Bad Ones.
Sep 25th, 2008
Bishop
I just thought of another one.
Anything by Tangerine Dream.
Synth soundtracks done awesome! Risky Business?
Sep 25th, 2008
Rodney
Dave (”Of course, then there is the whole whack of John Huston films with The Breakfast Club at the top.”)
I think you meant John Hughes.
His musical choices were appropriate seeing as how many of his films in the mid 80s were revolving around teen/young adult life and the culture they exist in. So yes, VERY good stuff.
So good in fact that online radio source Iceberg Radio has an 80s channel subtitled “Like listening to a John Hughes movie”
Sep 25th, 2008
Rodney
Risky Business is most remembered for the song “Old Time Rock and Roll” by Bob Seager. No synth there.
But I don’t recall much else about the soundtrack to that!
Sep 25th, 2008
Josh Brunsting
All Tarantino Films, but my favorite of his is the Kill Bill 1 soundtrack. That flute song when she gets the Hanzo sword…god damn that’s a amazing scene…
For simply the use of music…the opening of Zodiac or Stranger Than Paradise when they use I Put A Spell on You…both amazing scenes…
Sep 25th, 2008
JimYahoo
I am also a soundtrack collector! (What do you mean I’m the only one here?)
Anyway I don’t really have any favorite soundtracks, that’s like picking one of your favorite children (If I had any!).
So in general, most soundtracks by veteran composers like;
Ennio Morricone
Hans Zimmer
John Williams
James Horner
Alan Silvestri
Jerry Goldsmith
John Barry
Then there are some “up and coming” composers like:
Steve Jablonsky
Marco Beltrami
Harold Kloser
Klaus Badelt
Bryan Tyler
(To name a few)
If your wanting to get into soundtracks that is just a flavor of whom to search for!
Sep 25th, 2008
Brutus
The Mission
Lawrence of Arabia
Bladerunner
English Patient
Matrix
Alien
Dracula
Requiem for a Dream
Wish I had more recent movies in my list, not sure if they just don’t stand out to me as much now or I just don’t have the time to listen any more.
Sep 25th, 2008
Phil Gee
Superman the movie is, for my money, the greatest film score ever. Every single cue is a masterpiece and John Ottman’s score for Superman Returns is almost as good. The guy honours the Williams music completely while having the balls to create his own distinct melancholy and beautiful score and his own Superman theme to go with it.
Empire Strikes Back runs a close second for me; Conan the Barbarian by Basil Poledouris is amazing, and Rocky IV has the best collection of empowering songs ever assembled.
Sep 25th, 2008
Jano
Hi there:
On the Ladyhawke issue, I guess I am one of the few (if not the only one) who, as a kid, loved the movie so much that even its “flawed” score reminds me of those years. I know it is just nostalgia but I wouldn’t change the movie one bit.
There is a beautiful Italian movie that won the 1996 Oscar for best music (original dramatic score): Il Postino. For those who remember it, here is its music:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EtXowOvD4Qs&feature=related
Sep 25th, 2008
Ross Miller
- The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
- Any David Lynch film from Blue Velvet onwards (particularly Mulholland Drive), scores done by the great Angelo Badalamenti
- There Will Be Blood
- Pulp Fiction
- Blade Runner
- American Beauty
- Juno
Sep 25th, 2008
Justin
Dazed and Confused
American Psycho
Sep 25th, 2008
spence
gladiator
lord of the rings
top gun
star wars
Sep 25th, 2008
Robert Forest
@ JUSTIN:
FUCK YES! American Psycho… good choice!
Sep 25th, 2008
Brandon
Eternal Sunshine of Spotless Mind.
I love Jon Brion’s score to that..just awesome.
I also love Cameron Crowe’s wife, Nancy, who scores all of his movies. The scores to Vanilla Sky and Almost Famous are among my favorites.
Also, I love all the scores in each of the Rocky movies. Fantastic.
Sep 25th, 2008
Darren J Seeley
First of all, Rodney—let me say the Alan Parsons score to Ladyhawke was without question, one of the worst soundtracks/music made for that film, let alone any film. What was even more shocking to me is that Alan Parsons did it; I actually liked or loved most of the stuff he did with ‘the Project’ (aka The Alan Parsons Project’) in the late 70s to mid 80’s. (the ‘I.Robot’ concept album featuring “I Wouldn’t Want To Be Like You” was a cool as hell rock tune, I always thought)
Anything that says John Williams, be it ‘Superman’, ‘Star Wars V Empire Strikes Back’, ‘Jurassic Park’, ‘Raiders’ etc. No brainer.
But now, you have, in the same post, given praise to one of my pet peeves, and I’m sorry, but I can’t let you off the hook with this.
PRINCE! Blasphemy!
Okay, I can kind of see “Purple Rain” as being a great soundtrack, but never, never, ever, ever the soundtrack for Tim Burton’s Batman. Let’s get one thing out of the way: only a few soungs from that were actually in the film. I automatically discount anything in a “soundtrack” that has songs or music that is “inspired” by the film. Not to mention the fact that the only three songs from that are heard in the film itself. The true soundtrack to that film, is the Danny Elfman score. That, and only that, is what is truly remembered from the ‘Batman’ score.
Only three songs from the Prince shit made it into the film. One was a snippet in the end credits and forgettable. The other two are in Jack’s Joker scenes- with ‘Trust’ having more vibe and pump up than the lame ‘Partyman’.
I consider any “soundtrack” that has “music inspired by” or just thrown in for filler to *not* be an actual film’s soundtrack. I loved Bon Jovi’s “Blaze Of Glory”, for Young Guns II, for example. Other than that song? Nothing else from him musically in the film.
********
As for me putting up a list, it’s a toughie. It seems we cannot distinguish a score (say, done by John Williams) from a vocal track of original or pre recorded material (such as ‘Pulp Fiction’ or ‘Footloose’) or what happens if the film has a good set of both (such as ‘The Crow’, both the Greame Revell score and the more known vocal materials w/The Cure and Stone Temple Pilots, among others)
And then there’s the unthinkable in this post. Yes, Rod, you mention how a bad score can ruin a good movie. But that door sadly swings both ways! How about a great score for a bad film? like Hans Zimmer scoring Pirates Of The Carribbean: At World’s End? I know not everyone loved Ghost Rider, but Christopher Young’s score for the film is really hauntingly good.
So, for me, a 15 random order:
1) Empire Strikes Back - John Williams [well, okay, that IS no#1]
2) Blade Runner -Vangelis
3) To Live & Die In L.A. - Wang Chung
4) Dragon : The Bruce Lee Story - Randy Edelman
5) Batman - Danny Elfman
6) Streets Of Fire - various artists (The Fixx, Blasters, Ry Cooder, Maria McKee, Dan Hartman and others)
7) Raiders Of The Lost Ark- John Williams
8) Aliens- James Horner
9) Ghost Rider - Christopher Young
10) Speed - Mark Mancina
11) Raiders Of The Lost Ark- John Williams
12) Footloose (var. artists, Kenny Loggins, Shalamar etc)
13) Heavy Metal (var. artists, Sammy Hagar, in specifics)
14) Total Recall- Jerry Goldsmith
15) The Hunted- Kodo
Sep 25th, 2008
jrob
I have to say that the score for Last of the Mohicans is my alltime favorite. But if you haven’t heard Thomas Newman’s score for The Road to Perdition, it fits perfectly for the film. You can mentally see the movie when listening to the score by itself. That, to me, is the mark of a good score. Other score I really enjoy include: LOTR trilogy, the rock, gattaca, I am legend, gladiator, requiem for a dream, black hawk down, king arthur, pan’s labyrinth, sunshine, shawshank redemption, braveheart, and glory. My favorite composers are: Hans Zimmer, Thomas Newman, Harry Gregson-Williams, James Newton-Howard, John Williams, John Murphy, Steve Jablonsky, Klaus Badelt, Danny Elfman, Michael Nyman, and James Horner (Glory and Braveheart are phenomenal)
Sep 25th, 2008
Maximo
I think this conversation can be extended to include discussing the score of the movie, not just the soundtrack.
And in that regard, I thought the score was second only to Heath Ledger among the best things about The Dark Knight. A good score is like a good referee in that you never notice it if it’s done its job, but The Dark Knight was a notable exception for me, and I thought it was used expertly
Sep 25th, 2008
Rodney
The score IS part of the soundtrack.
Sep 25th, 2008
Andrew James
Leaving Las Vegas
Brokeback Mountain
Singles
Once
O Brother, Where Art Thou
Sep 25th, 2008
GeneSiskelsGhost
Passing over the obvious greats, I’m going with the more obscure:
Regarding Henry - Hans Zimmer - All-time favorite
Miracle Mile - Tangerine Dream
Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story - Randy Edelman
And the greatest soundtrack that wasn’t really a soundtrack:
“The album of the soundtrack of the trailer of the film: Monty Python and the Holy Grail” This wasn’t a soundtrack or a score but all new Python bits and sketches with some audio clips of the movie scattered within it. Totally hilarious.
*Special mention - As a child, I had a two-record set which was basically a recording of the entire film “The Empire Strikes Back”
Sep 25th, 2008
Mose
The original Terminator had a pretty bad soundtrack. Even watching it in the theater back in the day, the cheesy techno-synth soundtrack bugged me.
Best soundtracks would be a tie for The Blues Brothers and O Brother, Where Art Thou?
Sep 25th, 2008
nevada smith
In my mind I’m thinking of 2 different things when it comes to soundtracks-movies that have great songs as part of their soundtracks:
Cat People, Kill Bill (any Tarantino movie really), Breakfast Club, Some Kind of Wonderful (I love the use of Dr. Mabuse by Propaganda to start the movie with Mary Stuart Masterson playing the drums), Mean Streets (Be My Baby as the opening) Goodfellas (Monkey man/Jump Into the Fire) and then I guess movies with great scores/background music etc; Godfather I & II, any John Williams, some Danny Elfman and I agree with anything done by Tangerine Dream (Thief, Sorcerer, The Keep, Legend, Risky Business), Departed etc.
What movies have Both?? Top Gun? probably. Others…??? What do you guys think.
Sep 25th, 2008
.sebastian.
I always remember, and I consider it to be the “perfect” soundtrack, the marvelous piece that Klaus Doldinger & Giorgio Moroder composed for The Neverending Story!
As for worst, I think that it should be “21 Grams” by Gustavo Santaolalla. I really hated that soundtrack (I think that the movie didn’t help either)
Sep 25th, 2008
Bobsyeruncle
The cheesy synth underscore in “Planes, Trains & Automobiles” as Steve Martin regrets his harsh treatment of John Candy, is just pathetic.
Sep 25th, 2008
790
The power of a soundtrack,,,
1 Star Wars
2 Close Encounters of the 3rd Kind
3 Jaws
Next,,,
Sep 25th, 2008
Obi-wan kubrick
Forrest Gump.
Sep 25th, 2008
BobaFett
From Wikipedia…(Which means it must be true!)
In the soundtrack genre there are three types of recordings:
1. Musical film soundtracks which concentrate primarily on the songs (Examples: “Grease”, “Singing in the Rain”)
2. Film scores which showcase the background music from non-musicals (Examples: “Star Wars”, “”Exodus”)
3. Albums of pop songs heard in whole or part in the background of non-musicals (Examples: “Sleepless in Seattle”, “When Harry Met Sally”)
I’m fairly partial to the second type with Jerry Goldsmith (Legend), James Horner (Braveheart, STII: Wrath of Khan, Aliens, Titanic), Michael Kamen (Die Hard) and of course John Williams (Jaws, E.T. SW IV ANH and SW V ESB and Raiders of the Lost Ark)
Sep 25th, 2008
Daniel
I can’t believe only a few people said this one..
Pulp Fiction.
Then there’s my other favorite, Garden State. Great soundtrack that just fit perfectly with every scene. It was an immediate buy because of how well it played into everything at all times.
Pulp Fiction & Garden State are the two I remember the best out of any movies I’ve ever seen.
Sep 25th, 2008
D. Golovko
Just so people know…Hans Zimmer doesn’t write his music…he kind of stopped doing that a while ago.
Sep 25th, 2008
tonguecutsparrow
Hands down, no contest: John William’s Empire of the Sun.
After that, probably Princess Mononoke…
Sep 25th, 2008
Justin
@Daniel
I agree with Pulp Fiction, forgot to mention that in my previous post. Garden State was good as well.
Closer had some good stuff in it too.
Sep 26th, 2008
Gutpunch
The soundtrack in the Night of the Living Dead remake is horrendous. So much so that I almost can’t watch that film which is a shame since it’s quite a successful remake.
Sep 26th, 2008
Sahil
I like the following composers and the following soundtracks…
Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova (Once)
Michael Giacchino (Lost, Ratatouille, The Incredibles)
John Powell (Bourne Trilogy, Italian Job, X-Men 3)
Marco Beltrami (3:10 to Yuma)
Howard Shore (The Departed)
Carter Burwell (In Bruges)
Thomas Newman (Road to Perdition)
Steve Jablonsky (Transformers)
Sweeney Todd
Angel-A
Dario Marianelli (V for Vendetta and Atonement)
Sep 26th, 2008
gJACK
Clint Mansell ( Requiem for a Dream, The Fountain)
Tim Delaughter ( Thumbsucker)
Sep 26th, 2008
NORBERTO
The worst I remember is Iron man, the soundtrack never fitted in, it lacked so much punch when the ocassion required, it was overall very weak.
Sep 26th, 2008
Krazie835
In recent memory one of the worst scores I’ve heard was Transformers. Steve Jablonsky is a young talent, but it was nothing but re-hashed material from previous Hans Zimmer works.
I’ve always enjoyed the music by Jerry Goldsmith. Have to love his work on Star Trek, The Omen, and Rambo franchises.
Sep 26th, 2008
Dragonslayer
Titanic has the best score EVER! Same with Pan’s Labyrinth
Sep 27th, 2008
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