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The Godfather Trilogy. Others have mentioned this earlier. The music is a key in setting the atmosphere and runs the gamut from the suspenseful, dramatic and romantic.
Planet of the Apes. Another film where the music adds so much to the atmosphere. Goldsmith proves why he was one of the top composers ever with this blend of unusual instruments including rams horns to create this special world. I like the other soundtracks to the classic series and would love to own that new compilation that came out in 2019. Leonard Rosenmann's military march in Beneath always comes up when I think of that film and Goldsmith's return in Escape is a nice blend of suspenseful and light.
The Omen. I'm amazed this was Goldsmith's only Oscar win. I saw this film at age 9 when it was released and that score has never left my mind since. If it's dark and ominous, this is the music that comes into my head.
Dr. Zhivago. Not even one of my favorite films, but just a great example of making music relatable to the location and just beautiful. Lara's theme is an all-time classic and shows up in various forms throughout.
2001: A Space Odyssey. Kubrick was right to scrap an original score for the classics. Who can hear the "Blue Danube Waltz" and not think of this? Kubrick is another director whose soundtracks are always interesting. As a student filmmaker, I once used a military rap from Full Metal Jacket on one of my short films that got a great reception.
The Empire Strikes Back. Just as I find this second entry in the Star Wars series still the best film (I refuse to identify these by episodes), I find John Williams' score the best. He already set a high bar with the first SW film, but took the best of those themes and added the Empire March, Yoda's theme, the chase music through hyperspace, etc. I've found myself exceeding the speed limit on the highway while this soundtrack played without even noticing it. Williams is a master with all of the blockbuster scores he's done in the past half century.
The Rocky series. Again, a composer who got the subject matter and created a classic. Bill Conti is underrated; I happen to really like his FYEO soundtrack whereas most fans seem to not like it as much. These were the soundtracks I used to work out to in the '80s. The later Rocky soundtracks got more involved in hip hop and modern sounds, but it's the classic theme along with "Eye of the Tiger" that never gets old, like the James Bond and Mission: Impossible themes.
Scorsese and Tarantino. I can't rank one above the other, so they have to go equally in being the two masters of using pop and rock music on their soundtracks, matching a song to its scene. Others have mentioned some of Scorsese's such as Goodfellas with its key moments (sadly, the official CD lacks so many of the key songs from the film).
Likewise, Tarantino got it from the beginning. Who can hear "Stuck in the Middle with You" without thinking of Mr. Blond in Reservoir Dogs torturing Marvin the Cop or "Little Green Bag" during the credits that has been parodied and memed since along with "Miserlou" from Pulp Fiction. His latest, Once Upon a time in Hollywood, is another exemplary reflection of this with everything from pop songs of the day along with songs from soundtracks of old Hollywood. That CD has been on a constant loop in my car for the last few months.
Mission: Impossible series. I just picked up the MI:III soundtrack by Michael Giacchino and have I and Rogue Nation. While most of the incidental music is reflective of the current trend of just music that has no identity and just beats that affects the most recent Bond soundtracks, there are moments when they burst to life, especially when the classic MI theme or The Plan from the original series kicks in. I get as big a rush out of the MI theme as I do the Bond theme these days.
In general, I personally think older music (pre 90's) was of much better quality than what we get today. That very much goes for film scores as well. I can like the occasional modern and/or ambient score, just to make that clear, but in general it falls flat. Incomparable to the quality of scores from past decades.
That Goodfellas official soundtrack was woefully missing so many great tracks.
I cobbled together my own soundtrack to the film from downloads and have a pretty much complete soundtrack. Even got 'The Bells of St Mary's' by the Drifters and the shortened version of 'Atlantis' by Donovan on it! 👍
Anyway, I'd like to mention a lovely, easy and appropriate soundtrack for the movie Chocolat. As an aside, I've used this soundtrack as background music for preschool and elementary age students as we've done art and craft or even during some reading time. It's great background music, played softly. I enjoyed this film - does anybody else remember it?
MIKLOS ROZSA-Thief of Bagdad, Ben-hur, Quo Vadis, King of Kings.
ALAN SILVESTRI-Predator. Van Helsing.
HAROLD FALTERMEYER- Beverly Hills Cop 1&2, Running Man, Tango & Cash.
MICHEL COLOMBIER & JOHN BARRY- The Golden Child
ENNIO MORRICONE-The Dollars Trilogy, Once Upon a Time in the West, A Fistful of Dynamite.
JOHN BARRY- Game of Death, The Specialist.
JAMES HORNER-Commando, Deep Impact, Braveheart, Titanic, A Beautiful Mind, Spiderman.
These are very good scores.
Always loved his scores for Blow Out and Body Double.
This is certainly another brilliant soundtrack from the movie "the mission" and While I am totally in awe with his other stuff this soundtrack beats all his other work for me.
Agreed. I also like his scores for Joe Dante's two films, Piranha and The Howling.
P.S.: This thread appears to be in the wrong category.
I have always liked this particular score to another Christie adaption, the theme at 2:10 has always stuck with me, I found it incredibly sinister as a child.
The title sequence is by Robert Brownjohn. Those cuts back and forth between the "normal" shots and those with the distorted aspect ratio are brilliant, as are all the images we're shown: boots, medals, gloves, eyes, stockings, the breaking lightbulb...
Here are two more selections of the score:
The demented waltz heard at 0:56 in this piece from La caduta degli dei (The Damned) is somewhat reminiscent of the one heard in The Night of the Generals.
Jarre transitioned smoothly into electronic scores in the eighties. Surely, that contributed to the longevity of his career.
The Ipcress File - John Barry
Once Upon A Time In The West - Ennio Morricone
Dirty Harry - Lalo Schifrin
La Scoumoune - François de Roubaix
Le Professionnel - Ennio Morricone
Once Upon A Time In America - Ennio Morricone
The Untouchables - Ennio Morricone
Jackie Brown - Various Artists
Two more compositions from the score:
Only last month I purchased two of my very favourite scores:
Nikita by Eric Serra
Le grand bleu by Eric Serra
Other favourites include:
Le clan des siciliens by Ennio Morricone
Exorcist II: The Heretic by Ennio Morricone
Tenebre by Goblin
Suspiria by Goblin
Alexander by Vangelis
The Bounty by Vangelis
La notte by Giorgio Gaslini
L'eclisse by Giovanni Fusco
Incidentally, Hans Zimmer referenced Goblin's music for Suspiria in his score for Hannibal. 1:47 is a pretty clear example:
Very good! I don't know that much Vangelis music, but I love most of what I know. I wish we'd get a full, proper album of the 1492: Conquest of Paradise score. The 1992 album is a "re-recording", and it lacks a considerable amount of music from the film, including some lovely synth-augmented choral pieces.
Le Samouraï - François de Roubaix
The Godfather Part II - Nino Rota
If you like the Godfather movies, Part II's soundtrack is as good as 1, with it seems like even more music. It's not just a repeat of the music from the first film, but a lot of other Oscar-worthy music but does include the classic Godfather theme mixed in there. You'd expect and want to hear it like Bond fans like to hear the Bond theme now and then.
Both excellent scores!
Morricone recycled this for his Oscar-winning The Hateful Eight score.
You're quite right about 1492,it really deserves a better release.
Great catch! I haven't seen Hannibal since the year the film came out—and that was well before I saw Suspiria so I never would have caught the reference, but there it is note-for-note, clear as day. I'm guessing this is the scene where Giancarlo Giannini gets gruesomely shown out the window. The connection must simply be Italy. I don't believe Giannini ever did a film with Argento, but he did at least one giallo: Black Belly of the Tarantula with Claudine Auger, Barbara Bach, and Barbara Bouchet. Must see that one some day.
It's a fine giallo. Not the genre's greatest effort, but serviceable nonetheless. As a fan of both Bond and giallo, the 007 alumni are great additions of course :)
It also features a fine Ennio Morricone score:
I saw the movie and I know this music but I don't remember where it played. It has a quintessential Morricone touch to it.
It is played somewhere at the beginning over a shot of the carriage being driven through a snowy landscape :)