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[RaduN]

Star Wars for OST
Dirty Dancing for collection of songs.

 

[Ballthyrm]

In terms of movies sountracks

• The Boat That Rocked : lots of great songs , Cream , Jimi Hendrix and David Bowie , etc. Dazed and confused is very close but I prefer this soundtrack even if Dazed and confused is the superior movie
• O' Brother Where Art Thou? : lots of classics in that one
• Pulp Fiction : the movie that really put the "soundtrack" can be just as good as an OST on the map.
• Saturday Night Fever: like or not, it's genre definining and probably the most sold movie soundtrack

In terms of movies score

• The LOTR, it's the best, PHD thesis where written about why it is the best, it is the best, what else.
• Star Wars. It's really hard to find something that come close in cinema to what Star Wars has to offer, I put LOTR above because it was written mostly in one go and so Howard shore had more occasion to really tie everything together.
  TBH John Williams is the GOAT composer, so if it was just about best overall oeuvre he would win in a landslide.
• Blade Runner, in theater it is an Experience, it's really Hans zimmer before it was close, first movie soundtrack that I remember that was more about the texture of the world and putting you in the movie that "actual music" with theme, etc.
  

 

[jonnyp]

Mostly I cannot give two shits about movie soundtracks but some exceptions which I appreciate are:
Blade Runner
The Beach (don't like the movie but the soundtrack is good)
Oblivion
Gladiator
Pretty much any movie with a Morricone score.
Of course John Williams has some fantastic ones.
Tarantino has a good taste in music and features lots of good songs but rarely are any songs original to his movies but they add something to the overall experience at least.

 

[Vick]

Maybe not the greatest, but I remember buying it on vinyl when it came out.
Very relaxing.

Well, according to 40 movie industry composers this is indeed the greatest soundtrack of all time:

‘The Mission’ tops Variety composers’ poll of the all-time greatest film scores

40 composers, from Michael Giacchino to Cliff Martinez, were surveyed.

uproxx.com

The last minute of On Earth As It Is In Heaven is legit unbelievable to me.



Also love this rarely mentioned one:

The Beach (don't like the movie but the soundtrack is good)

One of my favorite movies. Perfect soundtrack with countless bangers one after the other, but Boyle movies always feature great music. Almost mandatory:

 

[swaffles23]

I've always loved The Lost Boys OST

 

[jason10mm]

Lots of great ones posted, especially Conan. So I'll throw in some of my faves:

For animated, my two best offerings are the 70s era The Last Unicorn and the early 80s rocking Heavy Metal.

Some really great 80s soundtracks are

All with unique songs that capture their era and put you right into the movie.

Then for the more metal 90s/00s, it's

All of these have heavy rotation in my Playlist.

 

[dsp]

So far this thread has covered mostly everything that came to my mind. I'll put Jerry Goldsmith's Chinatown in the list, particularly the opening. What a movie. Bernard Herrmann was sort of covered with Taxi Driver but all of the stuff like Twisted Nerve, Psycho, etc. could be thrown in. Bernard was a genius.



Also gonna toss in Fallen Angels just for the one tune alone.

 

[N0S]

 

[John Marston]

Well, according to 40 movie industry composers this is indeed the greatest soundtrack of all time:

‘The Mission’ tops Variety composers’ poll of the all-time greatest film scores

40 composers, from Michael Giacchino to Cliff Martinez, were surveyed.

uproxx.com

The last minute of On Earth As It Is In Heaven is legit unbelievable to me.



Also love this rarely mentioned one:




One of my favorite movies. Perfect soundtrack with countless bangers one after the other, but Boyle movies always feature great music. Almost mandatory:

I did not google it or anything.
Just remembered how it made me feel

 

[BadBurger]

In my mind ... The Bodyguard soundtrack is one of the greatest...

Tim Burton's Batman soundtrack by Prince is up there, too.

Well, The Bodyguard had probably the greatest leading singer of all time belting out a classic, but beyond that I don't recall it being memorable. What other songs were good?

Oh I forgot about this movie as well

 

[BadBurger]

I've always loved The Lost Boys OST

My older brother and sister still rock this soundtrack

 

[Audiophile]

Gotta listen to the whole thing, it's creepy then haunting then gentle then ascends and becomes epic then optimistic with a wonderful lead out. Perfectly fits the final act of the movie; in fact, the entire movie is scored perfectly, everything is completely on point in terms of what score is used, when it's used and when it needs no score at all.

 

[INC]

 

[ForAcademicPurposes]

 

[Dr.Morris79]

 

[Oberstein]

Probably not the best, but it marked a whole generation.

 

[drganon]

 

[CGNoire]

So many good mentions...ill add 1492 Vangelis.

..also super underated Score is Final Fantasy Spirits Within.

 

[Kraz]

 

[MayauMiao]

 

[Putonahappyface]

 

[jason10mm]

This one introduced me to Rammstein

Great soundtrack. The film was kind of the beginning of the end for Schwarzeneggars dominance alas

 

[Musashipan]

Blood Sport

 

[BennyBlanco]

 

[Kraz]

Haven't seen the movie yet, but this seems great to me. Streams soon.



The only other soundtrack that struck me of great note from recent years I could think of before this was Frozen II.

 

[LimanimaPT]

Any Enio Morricone soundtrack, namely Onde Upon a Time in America.

 

[Tanus777]

 

[Dr. Suchong]

Once upon a time in the West is superb too

 

[March Climber]

The Matrix, easily.

I agree, I was going to bring this up too. Not only does The Matrix have it's own unique sound, but I'd argue just like the movie itself, it influenced quite a bit of other movie and video game soundtracks afterwards.



It does this all without really relying on too strong of a central theme, like Star Wars or LoTR. You'd just hear certain instruments played in a certain pattern and think 'This is Matrix music'.

 

[FunkMiller]

If the greatest movie soundtrack of all time is called such because it elevates the entire movie, and adds a huge amount to its overall execution, then there is no competition:

 

[dotnotbot]

No Cinema Paradiso on the first page? I'm disappointed

 

[Brigandier]

Interstellar:



Bladerunner:

 

[ResurrectedContrarian]

agreed with Blade Runner

some other notables:

 

[gpn]

Empire Strikes Back

You can just listen to the music and the whole movie will play out in your mind.

 

[Gp1]

 

[kimcorecoba]

Shame on you all. Went through so many posts before seeing this. Gets me every time.

 

[delirium trigger]

 

[jason10mm]

A couple more....
the underrated (IMHO) Wes Craven flick SHOCKER, with a really good line up of late 80's rock/metal bands

and some great 90's rock/punk/parody stuff

 

[rm082e]

I would never claim it's better than any other score or soundtrack, but the one that has stuck in my head more than any other is Solaris (2002):

 

[jason10mm]

Another early 90's feel good soundtrack

This thread has me remembering just how critical soundtracks used to be. I can't think of ANY film in the past 15? years or more that has had a soundtrack release worth a damn other than maybe just for an instrumental score. Certainly lots of movies still throw in plenty of music but the soundtrack concept is totally dead.

 

[Kraz]

Reading recently that the new Fantastic Four might be set in the 60s got me listening to stuff I'm not too familiar with but recognize from samples and name

and astonishingly good film songs that appeared in the sidebar over the years bookmarked

music described as urban romance

how strange will FF romance get? There's music to go with it.

 

[CuckooBananaNuts]

There are far too many to list, but many of you posted the ones I like.

I will mention that the new Dune movies have incredible music.

Hans Zimmer is a genius:

 

[Audiophile]

There are far too many to list, but many of you posted the ones I like.

I will mention that the new Dune movies have incredible music.

Hans Zimmer is a genius:

Saw Zimmer live in 2014 when he did his first proper run of concerts. Got the train up to London, went to see him at the Hammersmith Apollo and right after the concert, headed on over to the BFI IMAX where they had the whole Dark Knight Trilogy running from midnight until early morning in full 15/70 IMAX Film. Then headed back home right afterwards on the train (slept well the following evening). Was in part a birthday gift for my dad after I'd just started my first proper job. The show was epic, the thing that really separates him is it feels more like you're watching a normal band with a proper band ethos rather than a composer's concert.

 

[ConkerTheSquirrel.]

I like chilling with this soundtrack:

 

[Judge Magister]

Thought about Predator or Vertigo but I'm mentioning A Better Tomorrow (1986)





If Anime gets a pass

Kenji Kawai's Ghost in The Shell (1995) although Patlabor 2 The Movie (1993) is good too



And if Advent Children counts, best version of One-Winged Angel and this gem bellow, plus Kyosuke Himuro ft. Gerard Way cool song

 

[Chad Warden]

I think movies that compose an original score with no singing are better. Don't care for sound tracks using songs or singing.

Although drive gets a pass

Gattaca has a top tier sound track.

 

[kevboard]

if we allow for licenced music, then absolutely Scarface.

which is also why Flashback FM was by far my favourite radio station in GTA3. just banger after banger.




for original music I think it's a toss up between all the Star Wars movies, and Pirates of the Caribbean. music that anyone recognises in less than 5 notes. epic, memorable, perfectly fitting.

a great rendition of Duel of Fates by the BR Orchestra (german state funded TV station)