Movie(s) with best soundtrack?
Which movie(s) do you think has the best soundtrack?
I think American Psycho has a good soundtrack and I listen to it occasionaly.
Which movie(s) do you think has the best soundtrack?
I think American Psycho has a good soundtrack and I listen to it occasionaly.
Tron Legacy, but that's cheating as it's essentially a Daft Punk music video.
The grid. A digital frontier. I tried to picture clusters of information as they moved through the computer. What did they look like? Ships? Motorcycles? Were the circuits like freeways? I kept dreaming of a world I thought I'd never see. And then. One day. I got in...
and then it BEAMS
The Game has changed, Son of Flynn!
One of my favorite
But to be honest: Its a good music video
Sadly not a good movie, though.
The Matrix
O Brother Where Art Thou?
Forest Gump
+1 for The Matrix. I once watched the film at a theater where the music was played live by an orchestra. One of my favorite movie experiences of all time. The soundtrack is incredible.
O Brother is great for some classic folk.
More general answer than you expected, but...
I really like when the sound design in movies makes sense - it "plays" in radio, gramophone...
For example "Black hole sun" cover in first episode of Westworld is just brilliant and caught me off guard (I didn't know what it is about).
The adjective for this type of music is "diegetic". That's sound which is occurring and audible in-universe, not just to the audience.
My favourite example of this is in Grosse Point Blank, when the GNR cover of Live and Let Die is playing non-diagetically, right until the moment Martin walks into the store, and suddenly a cheesy muzak version of it is playing over the shop radio. It's beautifully done :-)
TIL, thanks.
Haven’t watched it yet, but I love Black Hole Sun. I’ll definately check it out
If you don't know anything about Westworld - don't read reviews...
The mindfuck from the first season is worth it when you go blind in to it. The soundtrack is making the vibe of it even more disturbing/disorienting.
Birdman. Just drums. Really fucking good drums. Also they appear in the middle of one scene in an excellent way.
Also: not a movie, but Cowboy Bebop. Lots and lots of great tracks.
Once upon a time the west. (Ennio Morricone)
Blade runner (Vangelis)
The Lord of the Rings
This is Howard Shore's Magnum opus. It's what distinguishes this movie as more than just a great adaptation. His use of themes to represent not only races and kingdoms but characters, objects (like the One Ring, of course), and even concepts is a level above most movie soundtracks. There are even elements of storytelling through the music!
For example, the first time we hear the theme for Gondor is when Boromir is in Rivendell. Since he's more or less alone, the theme is played by a single French Horn in a somber (almost tragic) style. In Return of the King, we see Minas Tirith, capital of Gondor, in all its glory, and so the full orchestra plays the theme.
One more: As the Fellowship begins to break down, so too does the theme. We go from heroic phrases to shorter, interrupted instances. There's a book about the soundtrack written by Doug Adams. I highly recommend it if you're interested!
+1 for Spawn. Such a great soundtrack for a such bad movie.
Yes, spawn. Amazing.
The Blues Brothers - it's stringing together performances from famous musicians, and the soundtrack was successful as an album in its own right.
I know you said movies, but a soundtrack for a show I'm hooked on currently is Legion (FX/Marvel, on Hulu). The whole entire show has an amazing cast to begin with, but Jeff Russo (Fargo, Star Trek Discovery, more) and Noah Hawley put together one hell of a score. I highly recommend it and the show.
Since you've broadened it out to TV, I'll use that as an excuse and mention that I think Nicholas Britell's score for Andor is pretty cracking too.
Could not agree more, Legion has an absolutely amazing score/soundtrack. The Bolero scene? Legendary.
I am quite fond of the recent Dune movies' soundtrack. Hans Zimmer can make a good bwowwwum, and a helping of One-Woman-Wailing :tm: also helps
Aside for that I would get into movie musical territory. A much derided subgenre that I adore.
For anyone who didn't see it, he did an interview about why and how it sounds like that.
The scene with all the bagpipes (not sure if it was the first or second movie) was badass. Up there with Mad Max guitar guy for cool film uses of instruments.
Dazed and Confused
A few not listed:
Pulp Fiction(listed elsewhere)Can't believe no-one mentioned The Crow..
It can’t rain all the time.
Reservoir Dogs, O Brother Where Art Though, Blues Brothers, From Dusk til Dawn,
I'm going to reframe this as who I think the best composers are:
Bernard Hermann, Vertigo, North by Northwest, Psycho, etc.
John Williams, E.T., Jurassic Park, Indiana Jones, Star Wars, etc.
Akira Ifukube, most of the Shōwa era Godzilla movies
Shiro Shigasu, Evangelion, Shin Godzilla
As far as new work, I'm partial to Scott Stafford on Ultraman Rising. It came out on Netflix this past June and I was really surprised how good that movie and soundtrack were.
For me the criteria is: would the movie be very different with another soundtrack. The below offerings truly elevate their movies imo.
Tron Legacy
Blade Runner
Black Panther
The Village
O Brother Where Art Thou
Amélie
Pride and Prejudice
Shutter Island
to name a few.
Amélie is a great call. That music is timeless.
The Piano too?
Akira(1988)
The soundtrack compliments the action so well.
real. Geinoh Yamashirogumi elevated that movie beyond "weird mindfuck anime" to an immersive experience.
On the same note, Ghost in the Shell's soundtrack is also a masterwork, though it doesn't have a single stand out track like Kaneda's Theme
Too much of ambience songs.
Personally I prefer more structured pieces like Battle against Clown or the OST of Tron:Legacy
I just gave it a listen through, and yes I am remembering it for Kaneda's Theme.
Seeing that scene on the big screen in '88 has not been topped as the most electric cinematic experience, for me.
The theme reminds me a bit about the Mario Kart DS/N64 race track Banshee Boardwalk.
The theme is definitely more structured but a bit too repetetive to just listen to. As a theme it's perfectly suited to support a narrative.
I quite like the Interstellar soundtrack.
Thank you. I listen to that when I need motivation. Especially “No time for caution”
The Big Lebowski deserves a mention.
The Fountain, Requiem for a Dream, or anything by Clint Mansell
Romeo and Juliet (the one with Claire Danes and Leo DiCaprio)
Pulp Fiction
Buena Vista Social Club
Help! (Or any of the Beatles movies)
Purple Rain
La Boum (French movie, 1980)
Fame and The Kids from Fame (the 1970's Original, not he reboot)
Blues Brothers
Romeo + Juliet IS a great soundtrack. And as a Beatles fan I have to agree with the Beatles soundtrack, the movies not so much.
Romeo and Juliet is my all-time favorite Shakespeare adaptation. And yes, the soundtrack is perfect.
The Matrix soundtrack is amazing
Watched Blade Runner 2049 2 days ago. Had a very good soundtrack but I wouldnt just listen to it just.
Personal favorites:
Tron: Legacy
Pacific Rim
The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou
28 Days Later
Trainspotting
Garden State....could not tell you a single thing about the film but when it was released, the soundtrack was full of my favorite artists at the time
Honorable mention: Most Wes Anderson films have pretty thoughtful soundtracks but I've never been blown away or introduced to a new band
I'm probably biased since this is my fave Pixar movie, but WALL-E, I love Eve's theme the most it's so beautiful and has this futuristic and hopeful kind of vibe to it that I really love
Just watched the whole movie. Absolutely loved it.
A Knight's Tale
Good Will Hunting has a fantastic soundtrack.
That's the movie that introduced me to Elliot Smith!
Hackers
The prodigy!
Reservoir Dogs / Pulp Fiction / Kill Bill
Stand By Me
Dirty Dancing
The Lost Boys
Forrest Gump, hands down.
Stranger Than Fiction, soundtrack by Spoon
Eraserhead, Side B
The album has been seen as presaging the dark ambient music genre, and its presentation of background noise and non-musical cues has been described by Pitchfork's Mark Richardson as "a sound track (two words) in the literal sense". -wikipedia
The mood and tone of Eraserhead and its soundtrack were influenced by Philadelphia's post-industrial history. Lynch lived in the city while studying painting at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, and was fascinated by its feeling of constant danger; describing it both as a "sick, twisted, violent, fear ridden, decaying place" and "beautiful, if you see it the right way."[8][9][1] Lynch and Splet used avant-garde approaches to recording on the soundtrack; including crafting almost every sound in the soundtrack from scratch using bizarre methods. The ambiance of the love scene in the movie, for example, was produced by recording air blown through a microphone as it sat inside a bottle floating in a bathtub.[10] Lynch and Splet worked "9 hours a day for 63 days" to produce the soundtrack and all of the sound effects in the film. Splet recalls the sound effects Lynch called on him to produce for Eraserhead as "snapping, humming, buzzing, banging, like lightning, shrieking, squealing” over the five years it took to produce the film and its soundtrack. -wikipedia
American Beauty.
It's the most autumn sounding OST I know, super moody.
The Third Man has that fantastic zither theme.
Rogue One. First time I saw it I was sure no one could hold a candle to John Williams. Then I watched it again and the way Michael Giacchino uses a half-step to underline the theme of hope gives me chills just remembering it.
Lots of good ones here, I'll add some that haven't been mentioned: Sahara, Rango, both Sherlock Holmes movies, Scott Pilgrim vs The World, the JJ Abrams Star Trek's, The Incredibles, Godzilla 2014, The Road to El Dorado
There's probably other's, but that's what immediately comes to mind.
The blade runner soundtrack is my go to relax soundtrack. Have listened to it thousands of times by now.
Godzilla 1998
Varsity Blues
Conan the Barbarian
Resident evil
Dred 2012
Redline
This is an old one, but:
The Mission, scored by Ennio Morricone.
I was just watching Tenet last night and the music kind of took me out of it sometimes because I was like, “Fuck, that music sounds awesome”, though not sure how well it will stand on its own, I’ve not tried that yet.
Desparado https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0112851/
Amazing soundtrack!
Tombstone and Almost Famous for me
No one mentioned Donnie Darko yet? Fantastic soundtrack.
I don't know that I could pick one, but Joe Hisashi's Studio Ghibli sound tracks are done of my favourites
Pretty in Pink - Pure 80s.
Yeah American Psycho does have a good soundtrack. Eyes Without a Face is great.
My vote is for Interstellar or some of the other Hans Zimmer ones
Swingers has a great oldies/crooner soundtrack.
Monsoon Wedding
Lord of the Rings
I'm not seeing Oppenheimer mentioned , perhaps I'm in the minority here.
Into The Wild
Bohemian Rhapsody
When I think of exquisite sound design, two of my favorite movies spring to mind: Stalker (1979) and The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly.
The former has such a subtle soundtrack that it's almost like it's not there, but without it so much of the atmosphere of a movie that is heavily atmospheric would be lost.
The latter is just a perfect western with a perfect western soundtrack. The theme is well known, but L'estasi Dell'oro gives me chills every time it starts playing.
interstellar, interstella5555, gladiator
Easy rider
Batman Forever
Oh just my thing.
I have a lot of these on my shortlist. More series and even way more videogames
Judgement Night - some of the greatest hip-hop & metal crossover songs ever made.
Atomic Blonde
The Scream 3 soundtrack is one of my favorites and was my introduction to System of a Down.
yup! and finger eleven
The wackness - iconic 90s hip hop songs
28 days later - introduced me to post rock vibes
The Decline of Western Civilization
Shrek 2, unironically
Also Sucker Punch and Tron Legacy
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen has a fantastic soundtrack. Can really push a system to its limits.
The Abyss really does something for me, can’t quite put my finger on it
The Last of the Mohicans Once heard, you cannot escape its beauty.
Buried.
Banger after banger
Garden State
Baby Driver, The Third Man, anything by John Williams
Ransom is underrated IMO.
Thank you for so many suggestions! Honestly, I didn't know most of them.
For anyone who are too bothered to read the entire comment section, here's the list
::: spoiler List
Let me know if I'm missing something
2001: A Space Odyssey
Just epic classical music.
Spirited Away
Joe Hisaishi fits the fantastical setting perfectly. Lots of bittersweet, exciting, and meditative moods, each placed in the perfect scene.
Tarantino's movies usually have a great song selection.
Full Metal Jacket
Hearing "Bird is the Word" juxtaposed with the Vietnam War is just a crazy choice that paid off.
Nobody (2021)
Turned me on to Luther Allison. Not a "best soundtrack" but it definitely stands out.
Most people, as evidenced by the comments, don't know the difference between soundtrack and score. Either that or they DO know the difference and are choosing to answer as if they didn't.
Then give us some of your pieces as comparison
The music Howard Shore wrote for Lord of the Rings is the score; Into the West is soundtrack. The music Basil Poledouris wrote for Starship Troopers is the score; Fade into You (the song played during the fight scene between Rico and Zander) is soundtrack.
Dumb and Dumber