Top 25 Film Scores

[Photogenic]

I'm seeing John Williams in concert soon and it got me thinking as to which are the best scores put to film. Post your list here.

1. Psycho (1960) - Bernard Herrmann
2. Star Wars (1977) - John Williams
3. The Good, The Bad and the Ugly (1966) - Ennio Morricone
4. Modern Times (1936) - Charlie Chaplan
5. A Summer Place (1959) - Max Steiner
6. Lawrence of Arabia (1962) - Maurice Jarre
7. Vertigo (1958) - Bernard Herrmann
8. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) - John Williams
9. Dr. No (1961) - Monty Norman
10. The Magnificent Seven (1960) - Elmer Bernstein
11. E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) - John Williams
12. The Pink Panther (1964) - Henry Mancini
13. Once Upon a Time in the West (1968) - Ennio Morricone
14. The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938) - Erich Wolfgang Korngold
15. The Third Man (1949) - Anton Karas
16. Chariots of Fire (1981) - Vangelis
17. Gone With the Wind (1939) - Max Steiner
18. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) - James Newton Howard
19. Jaws (1975) - John Williams
20. Jurassic Park (1993) - John Williams
21. The Lion King (1994) - Hans Zimmer
22. The Godfather (1972) - Nino Rota
23. Titanic (1997) - James Horner
24. Back to the Future (1985) - Alan Silvestri
25. The Great Escape (1963) - Elmer Bernstein

[CoolRanch]

1. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
2. Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope
3. Jurassic Park
4. The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
5. Psycho
6. Jaws
7. Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
8. Coraline
9. Singin' in the Rain
10. The Wizard of Oz
11. Chariots of Fire
12. The Artist
13. Back to the Future
14. Batman
15. Up
16. True Grit (2010)
17. Raiders of the Lost Ark
18. Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows
19. The Dark Knight Rises
20. Rango
21. Spirit - Stallion of the Cimarron
22. The Princess Bride
23. The Bourne Supremacy
24. How to Train Your Dragon
25. Tron Legacy

This was hard!

[Photogenic]

By the way, my list was original music only.

[nolfoc]

No Specific Order, i really loved the scores in these movies

Batman Begins- Hans Zimmer
The Dark Knight- Hans Zimmer
The Dark Knight Rises- Hans Zimmer
The Last Samurai- Hans Zimmer
Gladiator- Hans Zimmer
How to Train Your Dragon-John Powell
Kick-Ass- John Murphy
Inception- Hans Zimmer
Transformers ROTF- Steve Jablonsky
Transformers DOTM- Steve Jablonsky
Pearl Harbor- Hans Zimmer
Thor- Patrick Doyle
Sunshine- John Murphy
True Romance- Hans Zimmer
Battle LA- Brian Tyler
District 9- Clinton Shorter
The Expendables- Brian Tyler
Miracle- Mark Isham

[CoolRanch]

Originally Posted by Photogenic

By the way, my list was original music only.

Fixed!

[mport5150]

Here's some of mine:

Star Wars/Empire/Jedi (John Williams)
Raiders of the Lost Ark/Temple/Last Crusade (John Williams)
Jaws (John Williams)
Planet of the Apes (1968) (Jerry Goldsmith)
Godfather/Godfather II (Nino Rota)
Rocky/RockyII/Rocky III (Bill Conti)
Superman/Superman II (John Williams)
Star Trek/Star Trek II, etc (Jerry Goldsmith)
Close Encounters of the Third Kind (John Williams)
Jurrasic Park (John Williams)
LOTR (Howard Shore)
Chariots of Fire (Vangelis)

[tigertron]

1. Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End - Hans Zimmer
2. Star Wars - John Williams.
3. Jurassic Park - John Williams
4. The Island - Steve Jablonsky
5. Goldeneye/Leon - Eric Serra
6. Star Trek (2009) - Michael Giacchino

Yeah, I could only list 5 composers. The list would be bigger if you counted sequels...

[Kryptonic]

Originally Posted by nolfoc

No Specific Order, i really loved the scores in these movies

Batman Begins- Hans Zimmer
The Dark Knight- Hans Zimmer
The Dark Knight Rises- Hans Zimmer
The Last Samurai- Hans Zimmer
Gladiator- Hans Zimmer
How to Train Your Dragon-John Powell
Kick-Ass- John Murphy
Inception- Hans Zimmer
Transformers ROTF- Steve Jablonsky
Transformers DOTM- Steve Jablonsky
Pearl Harbor- Hans Zimmer
Thor- Patrick Doyle
Sunshine- John Murphy
True Romance- Hans Zimmer
Battle LA- Brian Tyler
District 9- Clinton Shorter
The Expendables- Brian Tyler
Miracle- Mark Isham

You're aware that film scores existed before 2000, right?

[csdot]

this is gonna be tough.

1. Alan Silvestri - Predator
2. Ennio Morricone - The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
3. John Williams - Raiders of the Lost Ark
4. John Carpenter - Halloween
5. Goblin - Suspiria
6. Brad Fiedel - The Terminator
7. Bernard Herrmann - Vertigo
8. John Williams - Jaws
9. Lalo Schifrin - Dirty Harry
10. Hans Zimmer - The Dark Knight
11. Randy Edelman & Trevor Jones - The Last of the Mohicans
12. Ennio Morricone - The Bird with the Crystal Plumage
13. John Carpenter - Escape From New York
14. Hans Zimmer - Inception
15. Nora Orlandi - The Strange Vice of Mrs Wardh
16. Goblin - Tenebre
17. Tangerine Dream - Near Dark
18. Angelo Badalamenti - Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me
19. Basil Poledouris - Robocop
20. Elliot Goldenthal - Heat
21. Howard Shore - Videodrome
22. Geinoh Yamashirogumi - Akira
23. Basil Poledouris - Conan the Barbarian
24. John Carpenter - The Fog
25. Howard Shore - The Fly

[fgomike]

1. Star Wars Saga (Original Trilogy) - John Williams
2. Henry V - Patrick Doyle
3. Lord of the Rings Trilogy - Howard Shore
4. Superman - John Williams
5. Godfather - Nino Rota
6. Rocketeer - James Horner
7. Gladiator - Hans Zimmer
8. Kingdom of Heaven - Harry Gregson-Williams
9. Miller's Crossing - Carter Burwell
10. Apollo 13 James Horner
11. Glory - James Horner
12. Hunt for Red October - Basil Polordous
13. Close Encounters of the Third Kind - John Williams
14. Halloween - John Carpenter
15. Inception - Hans Zimmer
16. Back to the Future Trilogy - Alan Silvestri
17. Captain America - Alan Silvestri
18. Rocky - Bill Conti
19. The Right Stuff - Bill Conti
20. Tron Legacy - Daft Punk

[VaporX94]

1. Jurassic Park
2. The Thin Red Line
3. Star Wars The Empire Strikes Back
4. Jaws
5. The Lord of the Rings The Two Towers
6. Halloween
7. Dances with Wolves
8. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
9. The Last of the Mohicans
10. The Dark Knight
11. Batman 1989
12. Terminator 2
13. Tron Legacy
14. The Fountain
15. Conan the Barbarian
16. Braveheart
17. E.T.
18. Gladiator
19. Superman
20. Memento
21. The Abyss
22. The Prestige
23. The Descent
24. Star Wars Revenge of the Sith
25. Interview with the Vampire

[fgomike]

Originally Posted by csdot

this is gonna be tough.

1. Alan Silvestri - Predator
2. Ennio Morricone - The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
3. John Williams - Raiders of the Lost Ark
4. John Carpenter - Halloween
5. Goblin - Suspiria
6. Brad Fiedel - The Terminator
7. Bernard Herrmann - Vertigo
8. John Williams - Jaws
9. Lalo Schifrin - Dirty Harry
10. Hans Zimmer - The Dark Knight
11. Randy Edelman & Trevor Jones - The Last of the Mohicans
12. Ennio Morricone - The Bird with the Crystal Plumage
13. John Carpenter - Escape From New York
14. Hans Zimmer - Inception
15. Nora Orlandi - The Strange Vice of Mrs Wardh
16. Goblin - Tenebre
17. Tangerine Dream - Near Dark
18. Angelo Badalamenti - Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me
19. Basil Poledouris - Robocop
20. Elliot Goldenthal - Heat
21. Howard Shore - Videodrome
22. Geinoh Yamashirogumi - Akira
23. Basil Poledouris - Conan the Barbarian
24. John Carpenter - The Fog
25. Howard Shore - The Fly

I agree Heat is good, but to me the best parts are the music from Moby.

[Belloche]

Off the top of my head

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly - Ennio Morricone
Conan the Barbarian - Basil Poledouris
The Mission - Ennio Morricone
The Fury - John Williams
The 7th Voyage of Sinbad - Bernard Herrmann
A Fistful of Dollars - Ennio Morricone
Superman - John Williams
Inception - Hans Zimmer
The Exorcist Part II: The Heretic - Ennio Morricone
Suspiria - Dario Argento/Goblin
Get Carter - Roy Budd
The Empire Strikes Back - John Williams
The Fountain - Clint Mansell
The Phantom Menace - John Williams
Taxi Driver - Bernard Herrmann
Blade Runner - Vangelis
Requiem For a Dream - Clint Mansell
The Omen - Jerry Goldsmith
Aliens - James Horner
Batman - Danny Elfman
Once Upon a Time in the West - Ennio Morricone
Raiders of the Lost Ark - John Williams
Lifeforce - Henry Mancini
Speed - Mark Mancina
Commando - James Horner

[Belloche]

Originally Posted by csdot

this is gonna be tough.

1. Alan Silvestri - Predator
2. Ennio Morricone - The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
3. John Williams - Raiders of the Lost Ark
4. John Carpenter - Halloween
5. Goblin - Suspiria
6. Brad Fiedel - The Terminator
7. Bernard Herrmann - Vertigo
8. John Williams - Jaws
9. Lalo Schifrin - Dirty Harry
10. Hans Zimmer - The Dark Knight
11. Randy Edelman & Trevor Jones - The Last of the Mohicans
12. Ennio Morricone - The Bird with the Crystal Plumage
13. John Carpenter - Escape From New York
14. Hans Zimmer - Inception
15. Nora Orlandi - The Strange Vice of Mrs Wardh
16. Goblin - Tenebre
17. Tangerine Dream - Near Dark
18. Angelo Badalamenti - Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me
19. Basil Poledouris - Robocop
20. Elliot Goldenthal - Heat
21. Howard Shore - Videodrome
22. Geinoh Yamashirogumi - Akira
23. Basil Poledouris - Conan the Barbarian
24. John Carpenter - The Fog
25. Howard Shore - The Fly

Completely forgot about Tangerine Dream. I would choose Sorcerer

[pitmosher]

Can't believe no one has posted more than 25 yet. Every single list people always go over the limit set by the OP. By the way, to anyone who starts a thread in the future, don't set a limit cuz people break it anyways. It's really annoying(not by the OP, but by the posters who exceed the limit). It really doesn't take skill to list everything you like, As opposed to selecting your personal top few.

[El_Jay]

Too many to list... I'll just say basically anything by John Williams and Ennio Morricone comprises the whole Top 25, the rest fight over scraps. Also everything I would have listed has been covered by other posters.

[Buddy Ackerman]

Originally Posted by Photogenic

18. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) - James Newton Howard

That was Howard Shore

And, to me, his work on the Lord of the Rings trilogy is unparalleled. I love film scores and have a huge collection of them but nothing (for me) can rival what he achieved with those scores. The world and theme building, the storytelling, the cultures, the motifs, building and overlaying and developing over three films - it's such a incredibly layered set of scores that tell the whole story as an (almost) instrumental opera. It's just wonderful. It can't be over emphasised how much the films owe his score for their effect.

P.S. Good call on The Lion King. It's a brilliant score and often gets missed out from discussions on both the film (everyone remembers the songs) and Zimmer's back catalogue.

[Nordmann]

No specific order;
Lord Of The Rings
Star Wars
The Rock
Pirates Of The Caribbean
Indiana Jones
Gladiator
Madagascar
Schindler's List
The Lion King
Titanic
Saw
Batman(Nolan's Trilogy)
Transformers
South Park:P
Braveheart
Requiem For a Dream
Chronicles Of Narnia
Shrek

[Buddy Ackerman]

Originally Posted by Nordmann

South Park:P

True - that's got a great score and it never gets mentioned!

[octagon]

I'm not going to make a list (most of the stuff I would include have already been mentioned anyway) but two observations...

Star Wars is a flat-out incredible achievement. There are a lot of good scores on these lists and some really iconic music but thirty-five years later I find myself humming bridges and cues...that really is amazing to me.

Second...if I did a list I'd probably find room for Halloween. It's not the most involved score and beyond the title theme it's really not that memorable but it played a huge part in setting mood and tone. For me it would be right up there with Psycho or The Third Man in that 'right place, right time, right everything' sense.