Match Cut's Top 50 Film Scores (Stage I)

[Barty]

The Lord of the Rings, Howard Shore

Be sure to specify which of the three films it is.

[Boner M]

Has nobody else seen Elevator to the Gallows? The film is meh. The score is OMFG.

Indeedy.

btw, what's the rule with included revamped scores for silent films? (ala Nyman's Man With a Movie Camera)

[Boner M]

No one's mentioned The Holy Mountain? Insanity.

[Spinal]

Boner, you aren't reading the thread very carefully.

[Fezzik]

Be sure to specify which of the three films it is.

Gotta make me choose? Ok, my post's been edited to choose ONE of the three.

[jesse]

I have a feeling many of my picks aren't going to make it the second round.

The Age of Innocence - Elmer Bernstein
The Bad and the Beautiful - David Raksin
Barbarella - Michel Magne
Birth - Alexandre Desplat
Contempt - Georges Delerue
Don't Look Now - Pino Donaggio
Down to the Sea in Ships - Alfred Newman
Fahrenheit 451 - Bernard Herrmann (my favorite of his scores)
Forever Amber - David Raksin
Hiroshima mon amour - Georges Delerue and Giovanni Fusco
The Hours - Philip Glass
Jezabel - Max Steiner
Laura - David Raksin
Lucifer Rising - Bobby Beausoleil
A Man and a Woman (Une Homme et une femme) - Francis Lai
The Mission - Ennio Morricone
Nashville - Various
Peyton Place - Franz Waxman (probably my all-time fave score)
A Place in the Sun - Franz Waxman
Psycho - Bernard Herrmann
Red Pony - Aaron Copland
The Royal Tenenbaums - Mark Mothersbaugh (yes, I know what I'm nominating--I happen to love the underscore)
Spellbound - Miklos Rozsa
Trois Coleurs: Bleu - Zbigniew Preisner
Trouble Every Day - The Tindersticks
Umbrellas of Cherbourg - Michel Legrand
The Village - James Newton Howard

I'd be more than happy to send an mp3 to anybody who needs convincing of the greatness of any of the above scores.

Alas, I wish I was more familiar with European composers than I am.

[Boner M]

Boner, you aren't reading the thread very carefully.

Sorry, this hasn't been one of my better mornings. Thankfully, it's now afternoon. Yay!

[Bosco B Thug]

Fun! I'll second some and then throw in my own, very partial, very unqualified, very gratuitously horror-centric and myopic list of favorite movies that just happen to have memorable scores... Feel free to second any of them!

Beetle Juice (Danny Elfman)
Black Orpheus (Luiz Bonfa)
Brazil (Michael Kamen)
Candyman (Philip Glass)
Chinatown (Jerry Goldsmith)
Dawn of the Dead (Goblin)
Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind (Jon Brion)
Happiness of the Katakuris, The (Koji Endo)
Haunting, The (Humphrey Searle)
I Walked With a Zombie (Roy Webb)
Nashville (Various)
Night of the Demon (Clifton Parker)
Omen, The (Jerry Goldsmith)
Once Upon a Time in the West (Ennio Morricone)
Others, The (Alejandro Amenabar)
Pee-wee's Big Adventure (Danny Elfman)
Phantom of the Paradise (Paul Williams)
Poltergeist (Jerry Goldsmith)
Popeye (Harry Nilsson)
Psycho (Bernard Herrman)
Punch-Drunk Love (Jon Brion)
Ring, The (Hans Zimmer)
Seventh Victim, The (Roy Webb)
Tale of Two Sisters, A (Byung-Woo Lee)
Third Man, The (Anton Karas)
To Live and Die in L.A. (Wang Chung)
The Trouble With Harry (Bernard Herrman)
Vertigo (Bernard Herrman)
A Zed and Two Noughts (Michael Nyman)

[ledfloyd]

Blow Up Herbie Hancock
Dead Man Neil Young
Ghost Dog The RZA
8 1/2 Nino Rota
The Godfather Nino Rota
The Good, The Bad, The Ugly Ennio Morricone
Once Upon a Time in the West Ennio Morricone
Once Upon a Time in America Ennio Morricone
Cinema Paradiso Ennio Morricone
The Mission Ennio Morricone
The Untouchables Ennio Morricone
Elevator to the Gallows Miles Davis
Halloween John Carpenter
Taxi Driver Bernard Hermann
Psycho Bernard Hermann
Jaws John Williams
Star Wars John Williams
Chinatown Jerry Goldsmith
The Third Man Anton Karas
All The President's Men David Shire
The Conversation David Shire
JFK John Williams
Mulholland Drive Angelo Badalamenti
Raiders of the Lost Ark John Williams
Superman John Williams
Sunset Blvd Franz Waxman
To Kill a Mockingbird Elmer Bernstein
Fargo Carter Burwell
Punch Drunk Love Jon Brion
Requiem for a Dream Clint Mansell

i think that's thirty. that's pretty good. probably could've included a couple more jon brion scores. hopefully i added some new ones and didn't just repeat them all.

shit i forgot goblin's dawn of the dead score.

[Stay Puft]

8 1/2 (Nino Rota)
Akira (Shoji Yamashiro)
Blade Runner (Vangelis)
Conan the Barbarian (Basil Poledouris)
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (Tan Dun)
Dawn of the Dead (The Goblins)
Dead Man (Neil Young)
Demonlover (Sonic Youth)
Dracula (Philip Glass)
The Empire Strikes Back (John Williams)
The Fountain (Clint Mansell)
Hana-bi (Joe Hisaishi)
Hero (Tan Dun)
The Holy Mountain (Cherry/Frangipane/Jodorowsky)
In The Mood For Love (Galasso/Umebayashi)
Kikujiro (Joe Hisaishi)
The Matrix (Don Davis)
Millennium Actress (Susumu Hirasawa)
The Mission (Ennio Morricone)
Mulholland Drive (Angelo Badalamenti)
Oldboy (Yeong-wook Jo)
Once Upon A Time In The West (Ennio Morricone)
Paprika (Susumu Hirasawa)
Perfect Blue (Masahiro Ikumi)
Princess Mononoke (Joe Hisaishi)
Requiem For A Dream (Clint Mansell)
Seven Samurai (Fumio Hayasaka)
Springtime In A Small Town (Li Zhao)
Suspiria (The Goblins)
The Wild Blue Yonder (Ernst Reijsiger)

[Rowland]

Really, three noms for The Goblins' Dawn of the Dead score? Of all their scores, that's one of the last I'd place on a pedestal. It's effective and all, but it has always struck me as a relatively generic effort within their library of work.

[Watashi]

Really, three noms for The Goblins' Dawn of the Dead score? Of all their scores, that's one of the last I'd place on a pedestal. It's effective and all, but it has always struck me as a relatively generic effort within their library of work.

The score pretty much makes the film. It's such a bouncy gruesome midnight madness tune. A Top Thirty score easily.

[Rowland]

The score pretty much makes the film. It's such a bouncy gruesome midnight madness tune. A Top Thirty score easily.

*shrug* As I said, it works and all, but I can think of six Goblin scores I like more.

And you think it makes the film, really? I wouldn't go that far. Still, with that said, have you ever watched the longer Cannes cut (mistakenly labeled as a Director's Cut in the past)? It was edited together before Goblin wrote their score, so it features a bunch of generic temp music, and whew... it makes a huge difference.

[Ivan Drago]

The score pretty much makes the film. It's such a bouncy gruesome midnight madness tune. A Top Thirty score easily.

The music during the end credits is flat-out perfect.

[Watashi]

Back to the Future - Alan Silivestri
Batman - Danny Elfman
Blade Runner - Vangelis
Cinema Paradiso - Ennio Morricone
Dawn of the Dead - Goblin
Days of Heaven - Ennio Morricone
Empire Strikes Back - John Williams
Fountain, The - Clint Mansell
Glory - James Horner
Hana-bi - Joe Hisaishi
Hook - John Williams
Land Before Time - James Horner
Last of the Mohicans - Trevor Jones
Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring - Howard Shore
Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King - Howard Shore
Mission, The - Ennio Morricone
Nightmare Before Christmas, The - Danny Elfman
Once Upon a Time in the West - Ennio Morricone
Passion of Joan of Arc: Voices of Light - Richard Einhorn
Pleasantville - Randy Newman
Prince of Egypt - Hans Zimmer
Raiders of the Lost Ark - John Williams
Signs - James Newton Howard
Schindler's List - John Williams
Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith - John Williams
Superman - John Williams
Thin Red Line, The - Hans Zimmer
Third Man, The - Anton Karas
Umbrellas of Cherbourg, The - Michel Legrand
Vertigo - Bernard Herrmann

[MacGuffin]

Camille 2000, Piero Piccioni
The Great Escape, Elmer Bernstein

[balmakboor]

In the spirit of seconding things and/or being reminded of stuff I forgot:

Out:
Good Morning
It's Alive
Rumble Fish (Copeland)
Saturday Night Fever (Bee Gees)

In:
The Last Temptation of Christ -- Peter Gabriel
Lucifer Rising - Bobby Beausoleil
To Live and Die in L.A. (Wang Chung)
This is Spinal Tap -- Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, Rob Reiner, Harry Shearer

[balmakboor]

I'm surprised that nobody has mentioned:

Invocation of My Demon Brother - Mick Jagger

[

Show Spoiler

Just kidding.

]

Speaking of Jagger though: If anyone else mentions Performance, I'll second it in a second.

[jesse]

I'm surprised that nobody has mentioned:

Invocation of My Demon Brother - Mick Jagger

[

Show Spoiler

Just kidding.

]

Speaking of Jagger though: If anyone else mentions Performance, I'll second it in a second.

I'm glad to see you were joking--I was just going to reply that I thought it was unlistenable.

Thanks for seconding Beausoleil's work.

[Torgo]

Alexander Nevsky, Prokofiev
Blade Runner, Vangelis
Blue Velvet, Badalamenti
Casualties of War, Morricone
Cinema Paradiso, Morricone
Dances With Wolves, Barry
The Draughtsman's Contract, Nyman
E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial, Williams
Femme Fatale, Sakamoto
Fireworks, Hisaishi
The Fountain, Mansell
The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly, Morricone
Jaws, Williams
Koyaanisqatsi, Glass
Kundun, Glass
The Last Emperor, Sakamoto
The Last of the Mohicans, Edelman & Jones
Lawrence of Arabia, Jarre
North by Northwest, Herrmann
Once Upon a Time in America, Morricone
Princess Mononoke, Hisaishi
Prospero's Books, Nyman
Raiders of the Lost Ark, Williams
Stalker, Artemyev
Star Trek: The Motion Picture, Goldsmith
Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, Rosenman
Star Wars, Williams
Taxi Driver, Herrmann
Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me, Badalamenti
Vertigo, Herrmann

[MacGuffin]

In:

The Great Escape, Elmer Bernstein

[jesse]

Silly me, how could I forget?

In: The Magnificent Seven - Elmer Berstein (about as iconic as you can get)

Out: A Place in the Sun - Franz Waxman

[Barty]

Since I want to get some more entries, you are welcome to post 10 more scores...

[balmakboor]

Since I want to get some more entries, you are welcome to post 10 more scores...

My pleasure. This is my personal favorite list idea I've seen so far.

Chinatown (Goldsmith)
Brazil (Michael Kamen)
Nashville (Various)
Saturday Night Fever (Bee Gees)
Berlin Alexanderplatz (Raben)
Alexander Nevsky (Prokofiev)
Blue Velvet (Badalamenti)
E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial (Williams)
Hook (Williams)
The Fountain (Mansell)

[Barty]

Edward Scissorhands - Danny Elfman
Jurassic Park - John Williams
Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers - Howard Shore
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End - Hans Zimmer
Prince of Egypt - Hans Zimmer
Signs - James Newton Howard
Star Wars - Return of the Jedi - John Williams
Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith - John Williams
The Great Escape - Elmer Bernstein
The Untouchables - Ennio Morricone