the most beautiful soundtracks in filmhistory!

Any of the OT Star Wars, Superman I, Schindler's List, Shawshank Redemption, Unbreakable, ST:TMP, Last of the Mohicans ....

Terminator 2

One. Trick. Pony.

My suggestions:

- The Mission - Ennio Morricone
- Schindler's List - John Williams (actually, I would say most of the scores Williams has done - the horn work in Star Wars - A New Hope should be enough to justify the purchase of the headphones on its own)
- Platoon - if only for the Addagio for Strings piece.
- Last of the Mohicans - the only track I liked enough to recommend was the piece played at the ending climax of the movie (I believe it's simply called Fin on the disk).

If you are looking for some lighter stuff:

- Run Lola Run - catchy pop tunes that sound quite good in the 'phones.
- Anything Danny Elfman (especially Edward Scissorhands and Bettlejuice, not so much Spiderman).
- The Crow (first movie) - both soundtracks have stuff worth listening to (the Orchestral one and the Rock one)

Not sure if this belongs or not but i've been itching to get a best of Kurosawa themes soundtrack compilation. Great stuff in these flicks.

My favorites:

Local Hero - Mark Knopfler
Betty Blue - Gabriel Yared
The Shining - Wendy Carlos, Rachel Elkind, Gyorgy Ligeti et al
Blue Velvet - David Lynch, Angelo Badalamenti et al
Blade Runner - Vangelis
Mishima - Philip Glass

005's most thoughtful selections reminded me of another one of my favorites:

My Neighbor Totoro - Joe Hisaishi

Soundtracks that sound great on their own?

Peter Gabriel - Passion (soundtrack to The Last Temptation of Christ)

Basil Poledouris - Conan the Barbarian

Both require a great set of headphones to fully appreciate.

Soundtracks that stand solo, huh? Okay....

-- Conan the Barbarian by Basil Poledouris

-- The Dark Crystal by Trevor Jones

-- Edward Scissorhands by Danny Elfman

-- A.I. by John Williams

-- The Fellowship of the Ring/The Two Towers by Howard Shore

AWESOME picks, Poxy. I know Glory is a favorite of yours, too, so I wanted to mention that one.

Also, having just re-watched Jacob's Ladder I forgot how beautiful THAT score was. Not much depth in it, but beautiful nonetheless.

The Time Machine - by Klaus Baldelt
The Dark Crystal - Trevor Jones
The Land Before Time - James Horner

The Thin Red Line - by Hans Zimmer (and others)

A.I. by John Williams

Poxy, just out of curiousity, what did you think of the vocal work done for that movie? John Williams doesn't often incorporate song lyrics into pieces, and I am not a big fan of the Josh Gorban piece.

DragonHeart-- Danny Edelmen
Ghostbusters-- Elmer Bernstien
The Usual Suspects-- John Ottman
Finding Forrester-- Various Artists, but it's an awesome jazz compilation

TERMINATOR 2's soundtrack was as high-pitched and annoying as John Connor's just-starting-puberty voice.

My picks:
GOJIRA (1954) by Akira Ifukube
GOJIRA (1984) by Reijiro Koroku
DR. NO by Monty Norman, Byron Lee
ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE by John Barry
STAR WARS by John Williams
GHOST IN THE SHELL by Kou Ohtani
PRINCESS MONONOKE by Joe Hisaishi
CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON by Tan Dun

A movie that gets pissed on, but has an awesome score is "Independance Day".

Also glad to see some love thrown towards "Star Trek: The Motion Picture", Goldsmith's best work imho.

Other picks:
E.T.
Star Trek II: WOK
The Good, the Bad & the Ugly
The Magnificent Seven
The Rocketeer
Episode 2: AOTC
The Secret of Nimh
The Patriot
Planet of the Apes (68)
Poltergeist
LOTR/Fellowship

Casualties of War - Ennio Morricone

Morricone's best work bar none. And I mean NONE!

All of the Star Wars, naturally.
Conan the Barbarian
Fellowship of the Ring/Two Towers
Once Upon A Time in The West
One Upon A Time in America
Blade Runner (as the goddess yt also pointed out)
Star Trek: First Contact
Gladiator
Crimson Tide

Amelie by Yann Tiersen (incendently how do I make that litte slash above the first e in the title to appear on these boards?).

The Music of Candyman by Philip Glass (has the soundtrack of both movie 1 and 2, even though 2 is basicly just a remix).

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon by Tan Dun (Backing up 005's choice).

Suspiria by Goblin (If you like soundtracks with strange vocals and such. Creepy and good If you can find it.)

Spirited Away and Castle in the Sky by Joe Hisaishi (heck just about any soundtrack with this composer's name on it is worth a listen to)

And finaly you might also want to check out some of the great video game soundtracks. The Final Fantasy series has produced music that is easily better than 90% of film the soundtracks out there. Here's a <a href="http://chud.com/board/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=59;t=000950;p=" target="_blank">link</a> to a thread about the best video game soundtracks.

Well, the fact that the first time I heard "For Always" over the end credits it had me in tears should tell you I loved that aspect of it. There I was, already pretty much an emotional wreck from the film, when that ethereal voice begins to sing -- no lyrics, just vocalizing -- and it tore me apart. Heartbreakingly beautiful, although I don't much care for the version on the CD with actual lyrics.

While I don't think it's his best work, it certainly is one of the most beautiful scores i've ever heard.

FOTR/Two Towers -- Howard Shore
Legends Of The Fall -- James Horner
Braveheart -- James Horner
Gladiator -- Hans Zimmer

Daywalker, check PMs.

THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK.

Best. Soundtrack. Ever.

Um.....Jaws?

Marine March from Aliens!
Halloween?

The Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers--Howard Shore

Conan The Barbarian--Basil Poledouris

Excalibur--Trevor Jones (with rearrangments of classic Wagner themes)

Braveheart--James Horner

Exorcist II: The Heretic--Ennio Moriccone

If we're talking sheer beauty, I have to go with Cliff Martinez' work on Solaris - though I love everything about Bill Conti's soundtrack for The Right Stuff as well.

Once Upon a Time in the West (Ennio Morricone)

Somewhere in Time (John Barry)

Koyaanisqatsi (Phillip Glass)

Baraka (not sure who did this... it was a mixture of different tunes)

Above the Law (David Michael Frank)

For pure adrenaline rush...

Aliens- James Horner

When you need adrenaline and kookiness...

Total Recall - Jerry Goldsmith

For Beauty...

Gladiator - Zimmer

Can I still play? I don't know the composers offhand, but these are my favorite soundtracks:

1. The Stand - Soundtrack to the miniseries. Great, atmospheric sound and some terrific guitar picking.

2. Heat - Kronos quartet is always worth a listen. Add some intense work from Moby and that guy who did the music to "Interview" and you have a cold, sleek, beautiful soundscape

3. The Usual Suspects - Worth it for the "duh-duh duh-duhduhduh" melody line alone. Ottman rocks.

4. North by Northwest - oldie but a goodie

Rudy - Jerry Goldsmith

Spirited Away - Jo Hisaishi

Ex.

Done

The Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers soundtracks are amazing.

Dune (Toto)
Glory
Cutthroat Island
Dragonheart
Hero (Tan Dun)
The Terminator - Definitive Edition
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Brotherhood of the Wolf
Les Miserables (Basil Poledouris)
1492 (Vangelis)
Blade Runner
The Last of the Mohicans
The 13th Warrior (Jerry Goldsmith)
Total Recall
The Ghost and the Darkness
Willow
Stargate
Crimson Tide
The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly
The Mission
Gattaca
The Big Blue
Conan the Barbarian

Let's not forget one of the greatest, most majestic scores in history:

Lawrence of Arabia - Maurice Jarre

Some for

12 Monkeys
2001: A Space Odyssey
Amadeus
Goodfellas
Interiors (Just kidding)
Manhattan
Minority Report
Sweet and Lowdown
The Third Man!!! (I almost forgot)

I'm not one for soundtracks away from the film myself.

But back in the day I remember loving the BACKDRAFT and DYING YOUNG soundtracks. Both sappy. Very dramatic. I loved them.

Those are just some of the titles I recommend. I actually discovered <a href="http://www.filmtracks.com/" target="_blank">this site</a> while searching for info on some of these soundtracks. It's a website with in-depth reviews of tons of soundtracks.

<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00003XACV" target="_blank">American Beauty (Score) - Thomas Newman</a>

<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000004286/qid%3D1060028091" target="_blank">Braveheart - James Horner</a>

<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0000041NZ" target="_blank">More Music from Braveheart - James Horner, etc.</a>

<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00004STPT" target="_blank">Gladiator - Hans Zimmer</a>

<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000000WH5/qid=1060027801" target="_blank">Glory - James Horner</a>

<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00003CLV2" target="_blank">The Green Mile - Thomas Newman</a>

<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000000OEM" target="_blank">Il Postino - Luis Bacalov, etc.</a>

<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00005QZWI" target="_blank">The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Rings - Howard Shore, etc.</a>

<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00007BH5C" target="_blank">The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers - Howard Shore, etc.</a>

<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000002O4X/qid=1060027672" target="_blank">Out of Africa - John Barry</a>

<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00000J28V" target="_blank">The Red Violin - John Corigliano feat. Joshua Bell</a>

<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000068D1A" target="_blank">Road to Perdition - Thomas Newman</a>

<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00008BLBS" target="_blank">Sex and Lucia - Alberto Inglesias</a>

<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000002AUQ" target="_blank">The Shawshank Redemption - Thomas Newman</a>

<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000034CZA" target="_blank">The Talented Mr. Ripley - Gabriel Yared, etc.</a>

<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00000IGF3" target="_blank">Chants from The Thin Red Line - Melanesian Choirs</a>

<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00001OH1S" target="_blank">The Thomas Crown Affair (1999) - Bill Conti, etc.</a>

<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00008WI90/qid=1060027893" target="_blank">Varèse Sarabande: A 25th Anniversary [BOX SET]</a>

<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00008VAJF" target="_blank">Whale Rider - Lisa Gerrard</a>

<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00000762Z" target="_blank">Willow - James Horner</a>

well i think the obvious ones LOTR, SW...

but i like the theme titles more anyways.. like the forrest gump theme at the end or such...

While it's not technically a soundtrack, E.S. Posthumus's first CD is amazing. It sounds like a soundtrack and you'll recognize a lot of the music from various movie trailers.

At <a href="http://www.esposthumus.com" target="_blank">www.esposthumus.com</a> the group has posted some of its music so you can listen before buying.

And I second the recommendation of Gattaca.

Gladiator

Insider

Gone With the Wind

Truman Show

Last of the Mohicans

Out of Africa

Ooooppps!! Bladerunner is a must!!

I am a big Hans Zimmer fan, so I'll put my stack of favorites from him first:

The Rock
Gladiator
Black Hawk Down
Crimson Tide
Pearl Harbor

Beyond Zimmer, here are some of my other favorites

Joe Hisaishi - Spirited Away (especially track 16, The Sixth Station)
Klaus Badelt - Pirates of the Carribean
James Newton Howard - Signs

I suggest:
The Good, the Bad, the Ugly
The Year of Living Dangerously
Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon
Rocky
Last of the Mohicans
Run Lola Run
The Crow
Forces of Nature
The Thomas Crown Affair
And last but not least any movie soundtrack done by Goblin

Beautiful? Nothing beats Schindler's List.

The soundtrack as a whole is nothing special, but the second track of The Sum of All Fears is incredible. It's called The Mission, for you evil file-sharing types.

I'm gonna have to toss out a mention for Bruce Broughton's brilliant work on SILVERADO. Great, great stuff.

2001: A Space Odyssey

American Graffiti

Back To The Future

Blade Runner

Boogie Nights

A Clockwork Orange

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

Do The Right Thing

The Empire Strikes Back

E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial

The Fifth Element

Fight Club

The Godfather

Gone With The Wind

The Good, The Bad And The Ugly

GoodFellas

The Graduate

Grease

The Great Escape

Harold And Maude

Jackie Brown

Jaws

JFK

Jurassic Park

Léon

The Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship Of The Ring

Magnolia

North By Northwest

O Brother, Where Art Thou?

Once Upon A Time In The West

Psycho

Pulp Fiction

Raiders Of The Lost Ark

Requiem For A Dream

RoboCop

Rocky

Rushmore

Signs

Singin' In The Rain

The Sound Of Music

South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut

Star Wars

The Sting

Superman

Terminator 2: Judgment Day

Unbreakable

The Untouchables

Vertigo

The Wizard Of Oz

Edited by Barry Woodward - 6/22/11 at 2:57am

I would like to add a diamond in the rough here....

Mighty Morphing Power Rangers: The Movie Original Score by Graeme Revell. A truely magical score.

Die Hard (the original film score, not the remixed versions used in the sequels). It's very operatic sounding.

I just bought this soundtrack, and I'm not seeing this track on it. Is it perhaps named something else? There is a track called "The Trio" with awesome horns, so maybe that's it.

Also, I tried tracking down the soundtrack for Conan, and no luck. It appears to be out of print. Is there anyone here with a copy and a cd-burner that wants to make a trade or work something else out? PM me if interested.