My Top 10 Film Scores of All Time

There are so many different ways to play a great film score. Maybe they seamlessly blend with the material, and you aren’t even aware of their presence. Maybe their thunderous resonance grabs you right away and never let’s go. Maybe they chill, maybe they encourage – whatever the case, few things are better than a fitting piece of original movie score.

I have tens of thousands of songs on my iTunes playlist, 65 percent of which are film scores. Most of the scores below cracked my top 10 because I can write to them so fluidly. I write to music, and I never write to songs containing actual lyrics. I write a lot, so, as a byproduct, I listened to a shitload of movie scores. Some picks are based on writability, others on nostalgia – all, however, are rated chiefly by inspiration.

10. Shame (2011)

Score by Harry Escott

Escott’s contribution to Shame lasts for a little over 19 minutes, but my god, how effective those minutes are. Anyone who has seen Steve McQueen’s masterpiece knows that Escott’s music is as much a character as any person in the film. Even though the score appears only twice in the film (and over the end credits) it propels the story in ways many contemporary scores simply do not. Since December 2011, I have not gone one week without listening to Escott’s work from this film.

Top Three Tracks: Unraveling; Brandon; End Credits

9. Beetlejuice (1988)

Score by Danny Elfman

Danny Elfman’s “Main Title” track to Beetlejuice is my childhood. I hear it, and I’m immediately thrown back to the countless afternoons I spent sitting in front of the television, letting Tim Burton and Co. transport me to a PG-friendly world of macabre.

Top Three Tracks: Main Title; The Fly; The Incantation

8. 25^th Hour (2002)

Score by Terence Blanchard

I’m a huge fan of Terence Blanchard’s contribution to Spike Lee’s films over the years. It’s as fine a composer/director collaboration as we currently have, and nothing of their work captivates me more than Blanchard’s haunting cues for 25^th Hour. These tunes are big, eerie, confident, and, most importantly, angry.

Top Three Tracks: Open Title; 25^th Hour Finale; Fu Montage

7. Babel (2006)

Score by Gustavo Santaolalla

Gustavo Santaolalla holds a rare distinction of winning two consecutive Oscars for Best Original Score. His first was for his iconic and much parodied music for Brokeback Mountain, followed by his melancholic tracks for Babel. I love them both, but there’s something about the isolation of Babel that Santaolalla’s guitars suit so well. The music just feels lost, but in all the best ways.

Top Three Tracks: Tazarine; Deportation/Iguazu; Prayer

6. There Will Be Blood (2007)

Score by Jonny Greenwood

I knew from the beginning that this was going to work. When the announcement was made that Radiohead’s lead guitarist/keyboardist was going to score a Paul Thomas Anderson film, I expected greatness. And damn if he didn’t deliver. Odd, captivating, and utterly enthralling.

Top Three Tracks: Henry Plainview; Future Markets; Open Spaces

5. The Thin Red Line (1998)

Score by Hans Zimmer

Hans Zimmer is a busy guy. He is credited with more film scores than any musician on this list, and is known for cranking out big scores for big movies rather quickly. But for me, picking a favorite among Zimmer’s body of work is no contest. I can’t think of a better, more telling opening shot in recent cinema: as a massive crocodile slowly descends into the murky depths of a dirty pond, Zimmer’s “The Coral Atoll” cues up terrifyingly, in perfect unison with the image on screen. It’s as if we’re descending into hell, without a chance at getting out.

Top Three Tracks: The Coral Atoll; Journey to the Line; Beam

4. E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial (1982)

Score by John Williams

John Williams’ music is grandiose. We can all hum his most legendary tracks; many of which are synonymous with the film art form. There are many Williams scores to choose from, but I’ll always love his work for E.T. the most. Again, I hear the “End Credits” track for this film, and it’s as if I’m 4-years-old again. It’s just heavenly.

Top Three Tracks: End Credits; Escape, Chase, Saying Goodbye; Main Titles

3. The New World (2005)

Score by James Horner

The film score I have written to the most is James Horner’s whimsical, transcendental music for Terrence Malick’s The New World. I’m typically not a fan of composers fusing natural sound elements into their music, but Horner’s seamless use of birdcalls and other voices from nature work perfectly here. When this music plays, it’s as if my mind becomes relaxed and focused, and my fingers want nothing more than to dance. The crescendo of the soundtrack’s best song, “Of the Forest,” is otherworldly.

Top Three Tracks: Of the Forest; The New World; Pocahontas and Smith

2. Psycho (1960)

Score by Bernard Herrmann

This one really has it all. It’s loud and purposeful, restrained and subtle, frightening and iconic – it’s as faultless and well known a film score as we’re ever going to have. Psycho screenwriter Joseph Stefano told a funny story about the first time he screened Psycho. He watched a rough cut, which was void of musical score, in the presence of Alfred Hitchcock and a few studio executives. When the film was done, Stefano looked mortified. Hitch leaned over, patted him on the knee and said, “Don’t worry, it’s just a rough cut.” The next time Stefano saw the film, Herrmann’s strings were there to motivate it. I think it’s safe to assume that Stefano liked the picture much better after that.

Top Three Tracks: Prelude; The Murder; The Rainstorm

1. Taxi Driver (1976)

Score by Bernard Herrmann

Who better to occupy the top two spots of this list than Bernard Herrmann? The man was a pure legend, and, in my opinion, his finest achievement was also his last. I have a difficult time putting Herrmann’s work for Taxi Driver into words. Its drums foreshadow the clouded depths of hell while its horns suggest a hidden beauty. It’s as schizophrenic as the man in which the film chronicles, and it works to thrilling results. Although Herrmann died mere days after he concluded the score for Martin Scorsese’s urban nightmare of a film, you can be sure its legacy will outlive us all.

Top Three Tracks: Main Titles; The .44 Magnum is a Monster; Assassination Attempt/After the Carnage

Click here for more lists from And So it Begins, including:

My Top 10 Films of All Time

My Top 10 Directors of All Time
My Top 10 Screenplays of All Time
My Top 10 Male Performances of All Time
My Top 10 Female Performances of All Time

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