Movie Soundtracks....

I see what your getting at re;John Williams & its true he went off the ball years ago, probably by being over-prolific. But... Empire is a truly beautiful score as are some of the lesser known gems he scored (Dracula & Jaws 2), they're well worth checking out.:)

Just forgot some others! Hermann! Psycho/vertigo & North By Northwest...
John Barry
And Goblin, who scored for Suspiria, Deep Red & Tenebrae horror (giallo) classics.
 
I think the OP was taking about actual songs used over the credits and during the film. In that sense, I think Kick-Ass is a good recent example of a film that had excellent music choices. Also, the use of Somewhere Over the Rainbow during the shoot-out in Face/Off was good.

As for scores, I can't believe nobody's mentioned Michael Giacchino (Ratatouille, Up, Star Trek) yet. And Alan Silvestri's Back to the Future score will always be one of my favourites.
 
Yep. I've got the three Complete Recordings boxsets, they're absolutely amazing. One day I will have to sit down and listen to them all in one go, but 12 non-stop hours of soundtrack is a bit of a daunting task even for me :P

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button has a fantastic score as well, that's the most recent one that really impressed me. King Kong (2005 version) is also really brilliant. Then all the older and more obvious ones like:

Star Wars
Back to the Future
The Terminator
Psycho
Harry Potter (first film)
Indiana Jones
Jaws
Goldfinger
ET
On The Waterfront
Planet of the Apes
2001 (although that's classical music, not an original score, but still, cant knock it)

I'm something of a film music obsessive ;)
 
Agreed OP, Stan Bush rules! That CD will never leave my collection.


I love the last of the mohican soundtrack, I used to leave it on repeat whilst doing essays and revising. It is great.
 
Couldnt help but 'butt in' here...
The Three Colours trilogy by Zbigniew Preisnier AMAZING!
The Empire Strikes Back by John Williams is a truly beautiful score, from beginning to end.
Others by Williams during his 'golden period' worth mentioning...
Jaws 2
Raiders Of The Lost Ark
Dracula
CE3K
Star Wars / ROTJ

Jerry GolRABmith - Alien
 
I was going to mention the Jurassic Park theme. One of the greats - so memorable and majestic.

Every morning, just after 8am on Radio 2, Chris Evans reaRAB out messages from the listeners, but I can never concentrate on them because they play the Jurassic Park score in the background and I just listen to that.
 
John Barry - Somewhere In Time , Raise The Titanic , Body Heat , far to many others to name , but each a gem in its own right.

Angelo Badlamenti - A Very Long Engagement

Joe Hiashi - Sonatine

Ennio Morricone , to many to name , every one a gem

John Williams wouldnt be bad if where not for the fact that they all sound the same. Typical American film music , always got to sound 'big'

:)
 
Highlander - The Queen soundtrack is fantastic :)
Dirty Dancing - Sorry i really like all the 60's songs in this one....

E.T. & Jurassic Park, Star Wars, Schindlers List, Jaws are also big favourites for the music score.....John Williams is a legend ! :D
 
one of my ultimate fave soundtracks is The Notebook by Aaron Zigman. For me at least it's a very moving soundtrack, fits the movie perfectly. I have a particular soft spot for anything by James Horner as well.
 
John Debney's score for The Passion Of The Christ, as well as Thomas Newman's scores for The Green Mile, Meet Joe Black and The Shawshank Redemption are among my favourites.

The score for American History X, composed by Anne Dudley, is still my all time favourite however.
 
For me the movie soundtrack cRAB fall in to two camps with the first being a bunch of songs that make up another compilation album good or bad but still another compilation. The second is what I think of as a true soundtrack with music written for the film such as the Star Wars or Star Trek films. Somewher In Time ,Out Of Africa, or just about anything by the great John Barry is a good example. The film Murder On The Orient Express is what a soundtrack used to sound like with what was then called "Incidental Music" this would be all the bits of music that would set the feeling of a scene with no actual songs just "Mood Music". I find the music that passes itself off as a soundtrack is just another way of flogging songs that are on other albums that make up what is like a musical lucky bag. I too have some of the modern soundtracks but the old style is for me the only true soundtrack with original music not the collection of songs that we get today.
 
In no particular order:

On Her Majestys Secret Service - John Barry
Gladiator - Hans Zimmer/Lisa Gerrard
Dances With Wolves - John Barry
Schindlers List - John Williams
Star Wars A New Hope - John Williams
The Lord Of The Rings - Howard Shore
But my current favourite is
The Fountain by Clint Mansell, incredible stuff.

Oh, and another thumbs-up for Last Of The Mohicans!
 
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