What is a movie? A basic definition would be a set of moving images coming together to tell a story. But without a good background score, you wouldn’t feel each and every scene that intensely while watching them. The right soundtrack at the right time makes a hell lot of difference. Take Stanley Kubrick’s “2001: A Space Odyssey” for example. It’s a classic example how the nonverbal cinematic experience does not feel dull and empty due to the use of the beautifully orchestrated classical pieces. Or “My Heart Will Go On” from Titanic which won our hearts with how it portrayed the undying love between two people. Here we list 30 Iconic Movie Soundtracks of all time that have stood out in their own way.
1. There Will Be Blood (2007):
Jonny Greenwood
The movie released in 2007 had grabbed the Oscar for Best Actor (Daniel Day-Lewis) as well as Best Cinematography (Robert Elswit). The film features an original orchestral score by Radiohead guitarist Jonny Greenwood, best described as haunting with beautiful melodies. Greenwood used his compositions ‘Popcorn Superhet Receiver ‘ and ‘Bodysong’ for the music as well as Johannes Brahms’ Arvo Pärt and Violin Concerto In D. Although widely thought of as an Academy Awards contender, it was ruled ineligible due to previously used material.
2. Psycho (1959):
Bernard Herrmann
The tense and thrilling orchestra music on this Alfred Hitchcock classic is a major reason why the audience remains glued to the silver screen while watching Psycho. Bernard Hermann’s career ranged from Citizen Kane to Taxi Driver along with Hitchcock’s Vertigo and North by Northwest. But the unconventional cutting-edge sound in Psycho gives us the chills like nothing else. In fact even Hitchcock had later admitted the same, although initially he thought of filming the shower sequence without accompaniment. As a reward he had doubled the composer’s salary.
3. Star Wars (1977):
John Williams
Composed and conducted by John Williams and performed by London Symphony Orchestra, the music for the Star Wars soundtrack can be considered quite low key until it takes flight with a magnificent thrilling melody on the high strings. Most appropriate and effective for a film like Star Wars, the composer has never failed to amaze us whether it be with his more recent works on Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkaban or Catch Me If You Can, or his older works like the theme for Jaws.
4. Pather Panchali (1955):
Ravi Shankar
Satyajit Ray‘s directorial debut Pather Panchali is a drama based on family, love and redemption. Indian Classical Music has different ragas for different times in the day or for different moods. Ravi Shankar being an exponent of Indian Classical Music, the different ragas used in the film compliments the sequences beautifully through out the different moods.
5. The Godfather (1972)
Nino Rita
Composed by Italian pianist-composer Nino Rita, The Godfather had initially been nominated for the Academy Awards. However, when they learnt that the “Love Theme” was a rewritten version of Nino Rita’s music from Fortunella (1958), they withdrew the nomination. A mix of classic as well as popular tracks, the score includes the haunting melody played on a solo trumpet at the beginning (The Godfather Waltz) and few remarkable pieces.
6. A Clockwork Orange (1971):
Wendy Carlos
One of Kubrick‘s well known classics, A Clockwork Orange uses pieces of classical and electronic music by American musician-composer Wendy Carlos. Although considered scandalous and offensive by some audience, much like the film itself, the background score appealed to the curious young minds looking for something different and relevant.
7. Lift to The Scaffold (Elevator To The Gallows) (1958):
Miles Davis
This was Davis’ first time working in films after he met director Louis Malle. The synopsis follows two pairs if lovers who fail to escape the machinations of destiny. The film features Miles’ cool jazz score which he improvised live as the sequences were projected, accompanied by a band, in an all night studio session.
8. The Wizard of Oz
Composer: Herbert Stothart. Songs by Harold Arlen / EY Harburg (1939)
A film defying genres, The Wizard Of Oz is a musical on a girl from Kansas who dreams of a better life, and lands into the fantasy world of Oz. The film uses a mix of jazz, classical and popular music including one of the most memorable anthems of the century, the song “Somewhere Over The Rainbow”. The song was No 1 in the Recording Industry Association of America’s ‘Songs of the Century’.
9. Trainspotting (1996)
Music Compilation by Danny Boyle
Based on Irish Welsh‘s novel of the same name Trainspotting redefined the face of British cinema. The film follows a group of heroin addicts in an economically depressed area of Edinburgh and their passage through life. The soundtrack includes work from eminent artists like David Bowie, Iggy Pop, Lou Reed and even Blur.
10. Blade Runner (1982):
Vangelis
Ridley Scott‘s 1982 science fiction noir film Blade Runner jazz scores of classic film noir as well as Middle Eastern texture and neo-classical elements to paint its idea on futurism with a synthesizer based sound. One of the best works by Greek electronic musician Vangelis, the film was nominated in 1983 for a BAFTA and Golden Globe for best original score.
11. The Good, The Bad And The Ugly (1966):
Ennio Morricone
A frequent choice in Sergio Leone‘s movies, Morricone’s soundscape for this classic consists of distinctive original compositions, containing gunfire, whistling, and yodeling. The soundtrack album was on the charts for more than a year, reaching No. 4 on the Billboard pop album chart and No. 10 on the black album chart.
12. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968):
Music Compilation by Stanley Kubrick
This Kubrick classic uses a number of well orchestrated classical pieces such as Johann Strauss II‘s 1866 Blue Danube Waltz, Richard Strauss‘ symphonic poem Also sprach Zarathustra, and György Ligeti’s Atmosphères. Since the film did not rely on usual techniques of narrative cinema, music was of special importance to portray different moods.
13. Titanic (1997):
James Horner
A film which is on the list of the most number of Oscars won, the music for Tiatnic, James Horner was behind the Titanic soundtrack. The film’s soundtrack includes Celine Dion‘s chartbuster all time classic “My Heart Will Go On” which bagged the 1997 Academy Award for Best Original Song as well as the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song in 1998. The soundtrack sold over 27 million copies worldwide, making it one of the top 100 best-selling albums in the United States. It was also one of the best-selling albums of all time, and the highest-selling primarily orchestral soundtrack ever.
14. Paris, Texas (1984):
Ry Cooder
Winner of the Palme d’Or at Cannes in 1984, Ry Cooder’s signature slide guitar sound was a gift to many other music directors in US who followed. The twanging sound inspired by American bluesman ‘Blind’ Willie Johnson is synonymous to Harry Dean Stanton’s open road spaces which resonates with his clear soul.
15. La La Land (2016):
Justin Hurwitz
The soundtrack uses multiple genres , most predominantly jazz to emote a beautiful story. A masterpiece of a soundtrack, the album peaked at number 2 on the US Billboard 200 and number 1 on the UK Albums Chart. The film also won the Academy Awards for Best Original Score and Best Original Song for “City of Stars”. If you watch the musical, you will fail to notice how the music compliments each scene. It’s like the music has been written according to he scenes, while the scenes are also directed to the movie.
16. Despicable Me (2010)
Pharrell Williams & Heitor Pereira
Composed by Pharrell Williams & Heitor Pereira and produced by Hans Zimmer, “Despicable Me” soundtrack includes performances by Destinee & Paris, The Sylvers, Robin Thicke, The Bee Gees, and David Bisbal. Two of the songs that appeared in the film, “Despicable Me” and “Prettiest Girls”, appeared on the Best Original Song shortlist for the 83rd Academy Awards.
17. Joker (2019)
Hildur Guðnadóttir
Todd Philips’ orchestra -led unconventional background score for Joker won numerous awards, including the Premio Soundtrack Stars Award at the 76th Venice International Film Festival, a Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score, a BAFTA Award for Best Original Music, and an Academy Award for Best Original Score. According to Hildur, the score for Joker was “completely different” than her other works.
18. Dune (2021)
Hans Zimmer
For Dune’s soundtrack, Hans Zimmer followed a choir sound with mostly female vocalists. Zimmer used percussion, strings as well as acoustic and wind instruments. His work earned him a second Academy Award for Best Original Score. Zimmer worked for the second instalment (2023) in the series as well where he used a similar soundscape.
19. Gravity (2013)
Steven Price
The score for Alfonso Cuarón‘s masterpiece Gravity was recorded in small groups with single instruments instead of the conventional method of a collective orchestra. This helped each sound to be electronically processed and mixed individually to create a layered and surrounding effect. Price’s work was widely acknowledged in Gravity. He won a BAFTA Award, a Satellite Award and an Academy Award, as well as a Golden Globe Award nomination.
20. The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014)
Alexandre Desplat
This movie by Wes Anderson was his third collaboration with music composer Alexandre Desplat. For this film, Desplat had to create a music that spoke of the Republic of Zubrowka, a fictional country of central Europe, representing the countries Czechia, Hungary, Poland, Russia and Germany. Desplat used the balalaika particularly for this film to highlight the folk influence.
21. The Social Network (2010)
Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross
The Reznor/Ross collaboration bears a resemblance to their previous work Ghosts I-IV, also featuring two reworked tracks from the album. The score won nine major awards, including the 2010 Golden Globe award for Best Original Score – Motion Picture and the Academy Award for Best Original Score at the 83rd Academy Awards.
22. Oppenheimer (2024)
Ludwig Göransson
At the 66th Annual Grammy Awards, Oppenheimer won Best Score Soundtrack For Visual Media. At the 96th Academy Awards, it won Best Original Score. The violin forms the basis of the score for Oppenheimer. The hauntingly beautiful sound quality (or timbre) to a screeching descending melody to an intimate whispery tone – every sound draws us into Oppenheimer’s intense inner dilemma.
23. Life Of Pi (2012)
Mychael Danna
The score for this intense adventure drama by Ang Lee consists mainly of instrumental music, blending Western orchestral sounds with traditional Indian instrumentation (sitars, bansuris, kanjiras, among others) and minor French influences (accordions). The album won a number of awards, including the Academy Award for Best Original Score.
24. Slumdog Millionaire (2008)
A.R. Rahman
Edgy upfront music “mixing modern India and the old India” is how we would like to describe Rahman’s work in this film. The soundtrack received a Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score, BAFTA Award for Best Film Music, and two Academy Awards, one for Best Original Music Score and the other for Best Original Song for “Jai Ho”.
25. Pulp Fiction (1994)
Music Supervised by Karyn Rachtman
A mix of American rock and roll, surf music, pop and soul, music from the all time classic Pulp Fiction had reached No 21 on Billboard 200. The much popular Urge Overkill’s cover of the Neil Diamond song “Girl, You’ll Be a Woman Soon” peaked at No. 59 on the Billboard Hot 100.
26. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
Howard Shore
The score for this 2003 epic fantasy adventure film was composed, orchestrated, and conducted by Howard Shore, and performed by the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the London Voices, and the London Oratory School Schola. The Return of the King won the Academy Awards for Best Original Score and Best Original Song (“Into the West” by Annie Lennox), the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score, and the Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack Album.
Also read: Visuals – Designing the sound for Dune 2: with Hans Zimmer and Richard King
27. The Lion King: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (1994)
Hans Zimmer
Composed by Hans Zimmer, the film contains songs composed by Elton John and Tim Rice. The album found huge commercial success, bagging the Academy Awards for Best Original Score. “Can You Feel the Love Tonight” got Elton John and Tim Rice an Academy Award for Best Original Song.
28. Jaws (1975)
John Williams
Another widely acclaimed soundtrack composed by John Williams, Steven Speilberg‘s Jaws soundtrack is particularly notable for the 2-note ostinato which represents the shark. The soundtrack was critically well received, having earned the Academy Award for Best Original Score and several other awards.
29. Aladdin (1992)
Various Artists
One of the best-selling soundtrack albums as far as animated films are concerned, “A Whole New World” is currently the first and only Disney song to win Song of the Year at the Grammy Awards. The album also received a Best Original Score at the Academy Awards.
30. Pink Panther (1963)
Henry Mancini
The soundtrack album for Pink Panther entered Billboard magazine’s pop album chart on April 25, 1964, peaked at No. 8, and remained on the chart for 41 weeks. The much popular Pink Panther Theme featuring Plas Johnson’s distinctive tenor sax was released as a single. It reached the Top 10 on the U.S. Billboard adult contemporary chart.
