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Music enhances and elevates the quality of movies. Here, we will see about 15 iconic soundtracks of all time. This list is mainly based on popularity of the soundtracks and personal preference.
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| (Piano and music sheet. Picture Courtesy: Stevepb, Pixabay) |
1. Star Wars: Episode VI New Hope
You can just fill this list only with the soundtracks composed by John Williams alone. He has created so many iconic soundtracks throughout his career. But, the main theme of Star Wars movies is most iconic music he has ever composed. The ‘Binary Sunset’ track from the movie is equally iconic and emotional.
2. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
Sergio Leone made ‘A Fistful of Dollars’ with shoe string budget. Ennio Morricone composed the music for that movie with minimum music instruments. Yet the music was great. From A Fistful of Dollars, Morricone’s music was evolved into iconic soundtrack of The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. People from anywhere in the world can identify the main theme of this movie. ‘The Ecstasy of the Gold’ from the movie is considered as Morricone’s No.1 music by many fans and critics.
3. James Bond Theme Music
The theme music of James Bond movies is widely recognizable. It was composed by an English film composer, Monty Norman. It has been used in all the James Bond movies since Dr. No (1962).
4. The Godfather
Nino Rota’s music for The Godfather adds epicness to already epic movie. The Godfather movie has great screenplay and cinematography. Rota’s music enhances darkness and emotions of the movie.
5. Psycho
Few successful collaborations between the movie directors and composers are very famous. You may familiar with the famous collaboration between Steven Spielberg and John Williams and recently between Christopher Nolan and Hans Zimmer. Before them, collaboration between Alfred Hitchcock and Bernard Herrmann was famous and successful. They both were legends in their field of work. Herrmann composed music for Hitchcock’s Vertigo, North by Northwest and Psycho. Among those movies, music of Psycho is iconic. Bathroom scene in the movie is one of the most famous scenes in the history of movies. In the beginning, Hitchcock did not want to have background music for that scene. But, Herrmann convinced Hitchcock with demonstration of the scene with and without the background music. And rest is history.
6. Raiders of the Lost Ark
Steven Spielberg’s adventure saga, Indiana Jones movies have beautiful score from John Williams. The main theme of the Indian Jones movies is heroic and adventurous. The soundtrack of ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark’ is like reminiscent of the music of Star Wars movies. When you hear the soundtrack of the Raiders of the Lost Ark, you can feel the resemblance of Star Wars soundtracks in many places. But the soundtrack of ‘Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade’ has unique style.
7. The Lord of the Rings
The Canadian composer, Howard Shore reached the legendary status for composing music for just one trilogy. The soundtracks of ‘The Lord of the Rings’ are just as epic and iconic as the movie series. The Lord of the Rings series become the benchmark for lot of things including the movie production, CGI, music and so on. The soundtracks of this series are beautiful (Concerning Hobbits & Many Meetings), heroic (The Bridge of Khazad Dum & A Knife in the Dark) and adventurous (The Black Rider). The songs from the series are also very beautiful and emotional (May It be, Evenstar and Gollum’s Song). You can even write a book or two about the greatness of The Lord of the Rings music.
8. Schindler’s List
Schindler’s List is a very emotional movie. John Williams aptly reflect the emotion of the story in the music for this movie. Whenever you listen to the soundtrack of the Schindler’s List, it will take you to the time of holocaust and you may feel little pain in your heart.
9. Jurassic Park
Another iconic and masterpiece of John Williams is the soundtrack of Jurassic Park. Steven Spielberg redefined the ‘blockbuster movie’ with the creation of ‘Jurassic Park’. This movie is a milestone for the usage of CGI in the movies. The soundtrack of the Jurassic Park is elevating and adventurous.
10. Back to the Future
The collaboration between the director Robert Zemeckis and the composer Alan Silvestri is very unique. Zemeckis has directed variety of good movies. Music for all those movies are composed by Silvestri. ‘Back to the Future’ trilogy is the great achievement of both Zemeckis and Silvestri. It is one of the best feel-good movie series. The soundtracks of the Back to the Future series are adventurous and widely recognizable.
11. Mission Impossible
Mission Impossible is originally created as a television series in 1966. The main theme of the Mission Impossible is famous like James Bond theme. It was composed by Argentine composer, Lalo Schifrin. Mission Impossible is created as a movie in 1996 by another ‘unique’ director Brian De Palma. From then, the Mission Impossible movies are successful and enjoyed by fans as like James Bond movies. Music composers Danny Elfman and Michael Giacchino have been keeping the tradition of original Mission Impossible music.
12. Jaws
There is a story about how Spielberg overcame the difficulties while filming the mechanical shark for the original blockbuster movie, Jaws. He was inspired by the techniques Hitchcock used in his movies. He came up with the idea of showing only the ‘Point of view’ (POV) of the shark. Not the actual shark itself. It worked very well. It increases the tension and horror while audience watching the movie. John Williams music added more tension and horror to the movie. The soundtrack of the Jaws is similar in style of Psycho. You may feel the tension while just listening to the Jaws soundtrack.
13. Once Upon a Time in the West
Once Upon a Time in the West is like evolutionarily next step to Leone’s Dollar Trilogy. Many critics and fans claim that it is a best western movie of all time. Morricone’s music in this movie is grand, dark and emotional. Climax scenes of Dollar Trilogy and Once Upon a Time in the West are dramatic and emotional. Leone always gave importance to music in his movies. He set every scene based on music. So, the scenes in his movies are long and relaxed. It gives more time to build up tension. This movie is the prime example for those traits of Leone’s movies. The theme for the movie protagonist, Harmonica is haunting and mysterious. The theme for Cheyenne is playful. The climax music for this movie is very dramatic and emotional.
14. The Magnificent Seven
The Magnificent Seven is a famous western movie. American composer Elmer Bernstein composed music for this movie. The adventurous main theme of this movie is epic and masterpiece.
15. Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
The soundtrack of Pirates of the Caribbean, especially the main theme ‘He’s a Pirate’ is a modern masterpiece. The chance to compose the music for this movie went to Hans Zimmer at the last moment. At that time, Zimmer was busy with another project. He wrote few themes for this movie and requested his collaborator, Klaus Badelt to compose rest of the music. The soundtrack for this movie is adventurous and playful that matches the comic action hero, Jack Sparrow.
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