Your Favorite Movie Score?

[thenagamancer]

Long story short I'm going to go see the new Avatar movie today, and it got me thinking about a video on the first movie's 'ironic' soundtrack and movie soundtracks in general. (It's a good watch and the channel has some other really good videos that I recommend)

So what's your favorite movie score? Or one you remember moreso than any other?

Mine are Jurassic Park and Knives Out. The Jurassic score is just so iconic to me (of course, setting aside I watched the movies a ton as a kid) and I think Nathan Johnson did a pretty campy but engaging score that just really fits the atmosphere of that movie.

[Stardusk]

I have two. One is John Carpenter's Halloween. It's such a simplistic little diddy on the ole ivories but holy crap it just makes your skin creep and your hairs stand on end and when the heavy strings come in it just lends this feeling of hopelessness while the keys almost lend a feeling of being pursued.

The other one that I love is the Harry Potter score. Every time I hear that, I can easily picture all the flying buttresses and all the gargoyles and stained glass of Hogwarts. It just fits it so well.

[Inkidu]

Never thought about this one before. There are individual songs I would like from movies, but as a full soundtrack I think I would enjoy in its entirety would be Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 1 and 2, including the non-licensed tracks.

[thenagamancer]

I have two. One is John Carpenter's Halloween. It's such a simplistic little diddy on the ole ivories but holy crap it just makes your skin creep and your hairs stand on end and when the heavy strings come in it just lends this feeling of hopelessness while the keys almost lend a feeling of being pursued.

The other one that I love is the Harry Potter score. Every time I hear that, I can easily picture all the flying buttresses and all the gargoyles and stained glass of Hogwarts. It just fits it so well.

OOO John Carpenter's Halloween is such a good choice, though guiltily whenever John Carpenter is mentioned I always think of The Thing, which is one of my favorite horror movies. But I do think Halloween's soundtrack stands out to me more lmao

Never thought about this one before. There are individual songs I would like from movies, but as a full soundtrack I think I would enjoy in its entirety would be Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 1 and 2, including the non-licensed tracks.

OO good choice, I personally love the second movie the most but the way it set up the music in Vol 1 cemented the tone perfectly.

[Callie Del Noire]

Never thought about this one before. There are individual songs I would like from movies, but as a full soundtrack I think I would enjoy in its entirety would be Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 1 and 2, including the non-licensed tracks.

For me it’s been the Legend Soundtracks. Tangerine Orange did amazing work on it

[Lilias]

I'm a big fan of soundtracks, especially of the score variety, as opposed to the song compilation. The LOTR trilogy (Extended, of course) is a perennial favourite, but so are Bram Stoker's Dracula (the first commercial CD I bought), The Three Musketeers (1993) and Rogue One - Expanded Edition.

Honourable mention to The Red Violin, which is absolutely haunting paired with the movie, but doesn't stand so well on its own.

[RedRose]

Dating myself
Aaaliyah's Lestat
5th element
Buffy
Gossip girl
Love bites
JURASSIC PARK

[Rinzler]

John Williams' score for Superman. In particular, the Krypton theme which tracked the despolate yet majestic opening shot of Supes' homeworld: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_6A80nnQV4

First heard (and saw) this as a kid on the big screen at my local, beautiful Art Deco cinema (now gone, inevitably) - and God, I was utterly transported.

Also, Forbidden Colours by Ryuichi Sakamoto, which was used in the film Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence (which Sakamoto also starred in). Never heard a piece of music that fitted the themes of a film as perfectly as this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kf0HYeQp760

[Revelation]

O Brother, Where Art Thou stands out the highest as far as movie scores go, to me.

[HannibalBarca]

Howard Shore's Lord of the Rings
Basil Pouledouris' Conan The Barbarian
Vangelis' Blade Runner
Hans Zimmer's Inception
Hans Zimmer's/Benjamin Wallfisch's Blade Runner 2049
John Williams' The Empire Strikes Back

[Shekinah]

Inception
Lord of The Rings
Pirates of the Caribbean 
ChiBi (Redclif)
Gladiator
Kimi no Nawa
Studio Ghibli movies in general
Soul

[RedRose]

Lord of The Rings
Pirates of the Caribbean 

Gladiator

Gangs f New York

[Rinzler]

Somehow I managed to forget Flash Gordon.

[Eggyweggs]

Is this only like the background instrumentation I think everyone who has seen Drive says that Drive is one of their favorite musical experience, it's all so haunting and spacey

[Martee]

Vangelis' Blade Runner

Vangelis!  Good grief, there's a name I've not heard in a long, long time.

There are quite a number of excellent scores/soundtracks listed already, but I would add Zimmer's Interstellar to the list.  It's almost too good, as I find myself paying attention to the music as much as I do what's happening on screen.

I'll echo Jurassic Park as well.  It's absolutely iconic.

[Lux12]

Honestly I find most film scores to be painfully dull on their own and not something I'd go out of my way to listen to. It's a lot of uninventive symphonic ambience that seldom does more than simply help maintain a mood. However, when they actually do manage to grab my attention on their own...

Lord of the Rings (I think it truly is one of the finest film scores ever made)

Soul (probably helped by the fact that it was composed by the dynamic duo that is Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross where the new agey electronic stuff is concerned and jazz pieces by Jon Batiste, who seriously, if this man has not released a solo album yet, he should)

Akira (this may come as no surprise that I put it here considering that I am the sort who thinks anime's peak was in the late eighties up through 2007, but I love the eerie, experimental mixture of traditional Japanese music, modern ambient/electronic, Buddhist chants, and western classical music. It seems as if they used to employ such mixtures more readily back then. It's a shame it seems to have fallen out of fashion)

Paprika (Of course I had to put one Satoshi Kon flick on here. It's a surreal, predominantly electronic score for a surreal film and it's glorious)

Rocky Horror Picture Show (Are we including movie musicals? I don't care! It's banger upon banger, upon banger.)

Oh Brother Where Art Thou (A fine collection of old school country and bluegrass that never disappoints. Seriously. I think I fell in love with the soundtrack before I ever saw the movie proper. In fact I think I love the soundtrack more than the film it's attached too.)

Bladerunner (Vangelis is great and if you want someone who compose a synth driven soundtrack for your eighties cyberpunk fever dream, there are few better)

It Follows (Another masterclass in using electronics to create an unsettling atmosphere)

The Thing (One of my favorite scores from one of my favorite horror flicks of all time. The subtle bassy thrum of the opening track still sticks in my head and comes back to me time and time again after all these years)

Garden State (I'm a bit of a sucker for that early 2000s indie rock sound and this has plenty of it. Another movie where I like the soundtrack more than the film itself.)

Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny (Look, I can see how some people might find it shocking that I like such a "broish" stoner comedy film that happens to be a movie musical, but this is Tenacious motherfucking D we're talking about and the music fucking slaps!)



Now the one I have complicated feelings about...

The Harry Potter films...It's not the music itself I take issue with. The film score is incredible...But unfortunately, for reasons I'd have to take further discussion of to the politics section of the forum, I find it increasingly hard to enjoy related media and it's tainted some otherwise fun childhood memories.

[GloomCookie]

I used to be able to pick out the subtle parts of the Star Trek II Wrath of Khan soundtrack and know precisely what scene it's to. James Horner is a wonderful composer and did a masterful job.

Alan Silvestri also did an amazing job with the Back to the Future theme. I love it.

[RperSeeker69]

The Lord of the Rings trilogy by Peter Jackson. Peter Jackson of course was the director of these three iconic movies but the one behind the score of the movie is none other than Howard Shore, a John Williams of Fantasy. From sweeping mountains to wonderful character moments he was a master at his craft. The swelling tempo and the moving moments from darkness to light, ah man it hits you in the feels each time.

A close runner up is John Williams for his tireless dedication to Star Wars from working with George Lucas to working with, well, the Empire itself Disney under Kennedy herself. Either way Star Wars has some captivating music that has you on the edge of your seat.

[elwick]

I love the score for Interstellar.  I think it so perfectly fits the story, the atmosphere, and the tone of the entire film. In particular, I love the use of ticking in the score itself to indicate time passing. I listen to it whenever I need to focus or feel something deeply when I write. 

[ingridguerci94]

Mine is Last of the Mohicans. There are others I really like, such as Gettysburg, The Hunt for Red October, The Pirates of the Caribbean. But Last of the Mohicans is my all time favorite. It conjures up something in me that is drawn to the Appalachian Mountains, and a time that is long past. One of my favorite trips was visiting Chimney Rock Park in North Carolina where a lot of the film was shot. I even got to hike down the Cliff Trail with my wife and a baby in a backpack. Sadly, the Cliff Trail is closed now, but I'm glad I got to do it while it was open. And the whole time, the score from the movie was playing in my head…

John Williams' score for Superman.
In particular, the Krypton theme which tracked the despolate yet majestic opening shot of Supes' homeworld: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_6A80nnQV4phima1
First heard (and saw) this as a kid on the big screen at my local, beautiful Art Deco cinema (now gone, inevitably) - and God, I was utterly transported.

Also, Forbidden Colours by Ryuichi Sakamoto, which was used in the film Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence (which Sakamoto also starred in). Never heard a piece of music that fitted the themes of a film as perfectly as this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kf0HYeQp760

Honestly, my favourite part of the entire score for this movie, just the way he builds it keeping that long sustained bassline note. The horns building, that little hint of the Daily Planet motif.... building and building...and then... it comes, the bassline keychange, dropping down, again, and again, as the strings soar and rise above, brass now blowing full blast..all to that almighty crescendo at the end.  Perfection.  John Williams, you are timeless sir.