What are your favorite pieces of music in film?

My favorite part of "Brothers in Arms" starts at 3 minutes in.

 

Really kicks in for me around 2:38

 

Especially when it kicks in at :48.



And this one at :45

 

Oh, and this one was cool:

 

It totally captures Catwoman (no pun).

 

Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence


Prelude: Cloud Atlas

 

John Williams is my number one composer of all time. IMO Nothing beats this:



To me this march has a soaring feeling of adventure and heroism, really perfect for Superman.

I remember these credits from 40 years ago, and they still give me chills. Seeing Superman the movie as a litle kid, with its soaring theme music....I remember coming out of the cinema feeling like I could fly.


The other great musical opening of my childhood was this:



Wow ! What a cinematic experience, seeing this as a 7 year old, to say that it was mind-blowing is an understatement.

There are many terrific musical moments from the original Star Wars trilogy that I still remember after 30 years.



This one, where the Emperor is killing Luke, but Vader intervenes...that was heavy, probably the most intense use of the "The Force" theme in the trilogy. And of course Vader's death...


a wonderful variation on the Imperial March, which is also such a great piece of music.



It's like someone said to John Williams, "Okay, we want an impressive and intimidating march which embodies tyrrany and overwhelming might"

I find the music from the prequels and new films very "generic star wars" if there is such a thing, but nowhere near as memorable as the original trilogy. I can hear a little of the original movies' score and visualize the scene from the film. Such was the genius of John Williams.

And of course there's this little gem.....



And this.....



Williams really was the great musical genius of my childhood.

When I was a little older I discovered another genius, Hans Zimmer.

This was my introduction to him.....



Like Williams he has too many amazing movie scores to mention but there are a couple of faves of mine:





And of course

( we've all heard it before, so here's an interesting live version).

What I liked about Zimmer's take on the Superman theme was that it was different, unlike Williams it starts out softly and builds to a big finale. If Snyder had taken his cues from the music that Zimmer wrote, the tone of the film would be much more uplifting.


I'm not a big fan of Vangelis, but there are a couple of his works that really struck me:



From Chariots of Fire.



From 1492: The Conquest of Paradise



And Blade Runner.

IMO since original Star Wars, no epic film saga has had such a memorable score as Lord of the Rings.

Like @Schlosser85 I absolutely loved this piece of music:



Atlhough to get the full effect you need to hear Theoden's speech, as they prepare to charge to certain death.

Another really soaring piece from ROTK, that I really enjoyed was " The Lighting of the Beacons"



At 1:57 I still get chills. It's incredibly dramatic, but even moreso in the film against the majesty of Mount Gunn and the mountains of the South Island.



This one was also very emotional as the Fellowship are running for their lives from a horde of goblins and then have to confront the Balrog, which ends in Gandalf's fall into darkness. I remember after he fell, hearing people start to sob in the cinema around me - the music is so powerful, at 4:56 it's hard not to get a little teary.

While this film struggled, I thought Michael Giacchino nailed the soundtrack, and the ending is quite emotional - in part due to his wonderful scoring.



If you like the music, watch the actual clip from the film, it's intense (and a bit trippy).


One that always gets me is......



Great movie, "About a Boy"

 

The music here has so much emotion to it, gives me chills. I love it so much.

Danny did such a great job with his Batman music.

 

Not sure if anybody else has this problem. But my Laptop will not load this page because of all the videos so had to check on my phone lol.

Here are a few of mine anyway

Star Wars: Duel of the Fates
The Matrix: Neodammerung
Seven Brides For Seven Brothers: Bless Your Beautiful Hide
O Brother Where Art Thou: Go To Sleep
Braveheart: Braveheart Theme
Van Helsing: Burn It Down

 

Oh boy!

Scene De Amour from Vertigo has got to be the best combination of image and score I've ever seen.

Lawrence of Arabia has music about as good as the movie. That's saying something.

Ennio Morricone is known for his rousing works, but his scores for The Mission and Cinema Paradiso are also among cinema's best. Ecstasy of Gold is probably the best track in The Good the Bad and the Ugly, and that is saying a lot.

Empire Strikes Back is an exceptional score, but the highlight to me is the ending credits. *Force theme in a downer note.* Binary Sunset might just be the best track of the Star Wars series, though.

Dragonheart is not one of the best movies, but has one of the best scores of all time (To the Stars/Wonders of an Ancient Glory stand out). Speaking of Dragons, no great movie score is complete without How to Train Your Dragon-Test Drive and Forbidden Friendship are great, but the most powerful track for me has got to be "Romantic Flight." It really is film music at its best.

Rounding out the obvious, The Lord of the Rings should earn Howard Shore a Lifetime achievement award. From the rousing cues of the "Fellowship theme" to the warm-hearted Hobbit theme, the music is as much a part of the movie experience as the visuals and dialog. "King of the Golden Hall" and "Samwise the Brave" are arguably the best tracks in the trilogy.

In American animation, Alan Menken crafts the "Disney sound" and the late Howard Ashman really hit it home. For my money, Beauty and the Beast has the best lyrical music of all the Disney movies. In terms of pure scoring, I would put Zimmer's The Lion King at the very top of the list. This Land and King of Pride Rock are downright masterful, incorporating slow builds and contrasting melodies to produce a deep sense of melancholy and triumph. The Prince of Egypt is almost as good...(heck..this is going to be my controversial statement)..the farther you get down 2003, the more Zimmer's stuff is a bit..dissonant. I just think the guy needs to find his "quiet" voice..and I don't really know how that will happen.

You also can't go wrong with Jerry Goldsmith. Star Trek has one of the coolest musical cues of all time, with finger snapping.

Henry Mancini and Quincy Jones are also good artists.

For my money, To Kill a Mockingbird by Elmer Bernstein might just be the best movie theme of all time. Lyrical and soulful, it captures a sense of Americana through slow movements, building to a melancholy ending that should leave at least a tear to one's eye.

 

There are so many fantastic pieces presented here, I feel like my list needs to avoid including them.

Spoiler

It's time to prepare yourselves, and test your might.

Spoiler

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8t4vnmTyono[/spoiler]
Don't forget about the mean green fighting machine

Spoiler

The protagonist aptly describe my feeling of this music piece and the film itself, at least three of them

Why do we fall? So we can get back up

Spoiler

He fell, and knew how to stand back on his feet

Spoiler

 

Spoiler: Candyman Helen's Theme

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Spoiler: Batman Overture

Spoiler: Conan the Barbarian

 

Yeah, loved the opening music from Conan - really intense stuff that captured the feeling of the character.