My Top Ten* Favorite Scores

A great movie takes a lot of work. Once the production of a film has wrapped, and all the actors and crew have gone home, the arduous task of post-production begins. This is where the film is edited and also where audio mixing occurs. Once a film is edited, the sound department works their magic on the audio portion of the film. The composer creates the score, which sets the mood for the different events in a story.

In picking my favorites, I tried not to pick scores from movies that are overplayed on TV. I also did not duplicate any composers in my list, as I would have to expand my list to top twenty or thirty. I simply picked my favorites from certain composers. That being said, these are my top ten favorites…mostly from the past decade or so. (Click on the highlighted titles to listen on youtube.)

(11.) Danny Elfman – “The Batman Theme” Batman (1989): Ok, so I had to put this on here even though I already had my top ten picked. Since this was the first movie I ever saw in theaters, how could I not? The buildup to the title screen and then the camera floating around this dark, metallic object, with sharp edges…only to realize before the opening scene, that it was one long (close-up) shot of the Batman insignia. It’s a very dark theme which fits the tone of the movie/Burton’s vision. This sounds like it should be Batman’s theme song and that is why it works so well.

(10.) Brad Fiedel – “Main Title (Terminator 2 Theme)”  from Terminator 2: Judgement Day: The opening scene from Terminator 2 consists of slow motion shots of a playground engulfed in flames, and this song. The song and imagery of the opening sequence is ominous, and gloomy. After all, what’s being depicted on screen is the extermination of the human race. And to top it all off, at the end of the sequence, one of the Terminator robots appears in the flames looking very menacing. Right up to the drum crescendo at the end of the sequence, zooming into the red eyes of the Terminator, you’re captivated.

(9.) Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross – “Hand Covers Bruise”  from The Social Network: This is probably the most simplistic composition in my list; it’s basically a droning sound with a few repeated notes played on a piano. The soft piano part, I think, represents the Mark’s demeanor throughout the film…cool and collected. The droning portion represents the underlying ruthlessness and sinister ways of that character in the movie. It’s a very foreboding piece and it sounds like it could be on a Nine Inch Nails album, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

(8.) James Horner – “A Gift of a Thistle”  from Braveheart: I haven’t seen this movie in a while, and I know it used to get played a lot on tv, but the music is one of the things I remember the most about it. This particular melody recurs, as in a lot of scores, throughout the movie on different tracks. Each time it presents itself in the movie, Wallace finds himself in love: the first time with Murron and the second time, with Princess Isabelle. This song represents pure love and it fits perfectly with this great movie. On a side note, I think it’s one of Mel Gibson’s best roles.

(7.) Jeff & Mycheal Danna – “The Blood of Cuchulainn”  from Boondock Saints: I do not care what anyone else says about this movie, I loved the story/script along with this piece. The acting (some of it) is a different story. This piece, to me, is epic and I feel deserves a lot more recognition. In the movie this song plays over shots of the two Irish brothers and it really helps show us, in a short amount of time, how close their relationship is.

(6.) Hans Zimmer – “Time”  from Inception: This movie was definitely impressive, and why not have a score to match it? Here’s an interesting fact from straight from the composer’s mouth: “All the music in the score is subdivisions and multiplications of the tempo of the Édith Piaf track (Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien). So I could slip into half-time; I could slip into a third of a time. Anything could go anywhere. At any moment I could drop into a different level of time.”

(5.) Alan Silvestri – “Cast Away Theme”  from Cast Away: This piece is one you can listen to and practically relive the whole movie in four minutes. The movie is so sad and when you hear this piece in the movie, you can feel the main character’s loss. It’s so good, it will make you cry.

(4.) Thomas Newman – “Any Other Name”  from American Beauty: I couldn’t have said it better myself, so I’ll use the words from one of the characters from the movie: “Sometimes there’s so much beauty in the world I feel like I can’t take it, like my heart’s going to cave in.” That’s what I feel when listening to this.

(3.) Mark Isham – “Sense of Touch”  from Crash: This piece accompanies the part of the movie where Don Cheadle’s character finally finds his brother, and where Ludacris’s character finds redemption. It’s an emotional song, which complements this part of the movie. I found out that the lyrics are from a Welsh folk song called ‘Fair Lisa’. Here is a description I found of the song: ‘It is a lover’s lament for the late Lisa, ending when the heartsick lover asks Lisa to guide him to where she is, so that he may be reunited with her.’

(2.) John Murphy – “Sunshine (Adagio In D Minor)”  from Sunshine: I heard this score before I even saw the movie, and I knew I had to see it. This plays when Kappa is trying to complete his mission of re-igniting the sun, though everything is going horribly wrong. The sequence is brilliant and this piece fits perfectly in the movie. I’ve also heard this used in the trailer for The Adjustment Bureau (which I have not seen) and it was also in the movie Kick Ass, when Hit Girl tries to save her father.

(1.) Clint Mansell – “Death Is the Road to Awe”  from The Fountain: Clint Mansell is probably my favorite composer, which is why it was hard for me to just pick one of his pieces. I think I picked right with this one, however. I’ll admit, I’ve only watched The Fountain once…and it was a long time ago, so I can’t remember how this song was used in the film. All I know is it is an amazing masterpiece and I cannot wait to hear what he comes out with next. Have a listen and you’ll hear why this is my number one.

These are my favorites, what are some of yours?