Music to My Ears: 50 Likeable Film Soundtracks

Until I met my friend Craig, I didn't give film soundtracks much consideration. Obviously, I had grown up enjoying film scores; appreciating how they enhanced the stories told by motion pictures; making that discovery which (I believe) every young person does that "gee, those John Williams movies sure sound a lot alike." I also grew up in a musical family and would watch many musicals; to this day, my family members will occasionally burst into a number from Camelot or Oliver!. But whether the film scores contained lyrics or not, some scores were etched into my permanent memory at a young age because I truly loved the films in which they were heard. That, to me, was the epitome of a great film score: an excellent movie which also has excellent music.

Then I befriended Craig and discovered he was a film score enthusiast. Craig certainly enjoys a good movie all the more if the score is up to snuff, but he is quite capable of separating the two experiences. Ergo, to Craig it didn't matter if Wing Commander stank, what mattered was the film score sounded terrific. Craig, I learned, would collect film scores based on their composers. He might purchase a film score to a movie he outright disliked; he might purchase film scores to pictures he hadn't seen, nor had any intent of ever seeing. Craig has helped me to judge film scores on their own merits and on the careers of the composers. I still prefer listening to scores of films I've seen - and liked! - but a good score is a good score.

To that end, here is a list of 50 film scores which I rather like, starting from my favourite. Much of my criteria is based on how well the score supports the picture, but some scores are so much better than their accompanying films that they truly stand apart.

1. The Dark Knight by Hans Zimmer & James Newton Howard
2. Tron: Legacy by Daft Punk
3. Avatar by James Horner
4. Glory by James Horner
5. Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan by James Horner
6. The Third Man by Anton Karas
7. The Adventures of Robin Hood by Erich Wolfgang Korngold
8. Vertigo by Bernard Herrmann
9. Psycho by Bernard Herrmann
10. How to Train Your Dragon by John Powell
11. The Sea Hawk by Erich Wolfgang Korngold
12. Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country by Cliff Eidelman
13. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Rings by Howard Shore
14. The Empire Strikes Back by John Williams
15. Star Wars by John Williams
16. Rocky by Bill Conti
17. Star Trek: First Contact by Jerry Goldsmith
18. North by Northwest by Bernard Herrmann
19. Mad Max: Fury Road by Junkie XL
20. X2: X-Men United by John Ottman
21. Raiders of the Lost Ark by John Williams
22. Return of the Jedi by John Williams
23. Star Trek: The Motion Picture by Jerry Goldsmith
24. Serenity by David Herman
25. Dark City by Trevor Jones
26. The Great Dictator by Charles Chaplin
27. The Thin Blue Line by Philip Glass
28. The Mission by Ennio Morricone
29. Aliens by James Horner
30. Planet of the Apes by Jerry Goldsmith
31. Hellboy by Marco Beltrami
32. The Avengers by Alan Silvestri
33. Die Hard by Michael Kamen
34. Superman by John Williams
35. The Great Escape by Elmer Bernstein
36. The Thing by Ennio Morricone
37. Skyfall by Thomas Newman
38. Captain Blood by Erich Wolfgang Korngold
39. Casablanca by Max Steiner
40. Tombstone by Bruce Broughton
41. Conan the Barbarian by Basil Poledouris
42. Being There by Johnny Mandel
43. Pete Kelly's Blues by David Buttolph & Ray Heindorf
44. Godzilla: King of the Monsters by Akira Ifukube
45. Terminator 2: Judgement Day by Brad Fiedel
46. Bullitt by Lalo Schifrin
47. The Untouchables by Ennio Morricone
48. Casino Royale by David Arnold
49. Patriot Games by James Horner
50. The Matrix Reloaded by Don Davis