100 People On The Greatest Movie Soundtracks And Scores Of All Time

1. duce_

The Good The Bad And The Ugly. Ennio Morricone created an amazing soundtrack for that movie, for any of you wondering it’s called The Ecstasy of Gold. Gives me goosebumps every time I hear it.

2. nikstlitslepmur

The Last of The Mohicans.

3. wandering12th

Amelie is my absolute favorite. It’s not necessarily the greatest soundtrack ever made, but it’s one of the movie soundtracks in which every track is fantastic. It fits the movie so well.

4. Scarlet_Ethereal

In my opinion it’s Princess Mononoke. It takes you in right at the very beginning all the way to the end. Joe Hisaishi is a genius.

5. tippyvontippytappy

Film composer here! There is no greatest soundtrack; only countless great soundtracks. Here are my favorites and why.

How to Train Your Dragon (John Powell): The best soundtrack to ever come out of the Hans Zimmer/DreamWorks Animation style of composing. The themes are fantastic and used in ways that really draw out the storyline. For instance, there’s one theme that you don’t hear in the overture with the other main themes. This is because it represents the boy’s relationship with the dragon and you hear it progress throughout.

Atonement (Dario Marianelli): Listen to “Briony”, a perfect piece of music. It captures the creative impulse brilliantly. A rich romantic score that matches picture wonderfully.

Psycho (Bernard Herrmann): Truly terrifying in its time. No score has been ripped off more (the high violin shrieks in the shower scene!). If you analyze the placement of recurring themes, you’ll see it’s built like a brick house. For instance, the “city” theme heard over the shots of Phoenix represents voyeurism. In this case, the audience is the voyeur looking into the hotel room.

SeaHawk (Erich Korngold): The original John Williams! The second theme of the overture sounds a lot like the theme from ET. Written basically as a complete opera. Amazingly complex and listenable.

LOTR Fellowship (Howard Shore): Some of the most memorable and fitting themes ever written. How can you hear it and no be immediately taken back to middle earth?

King Kong (James Newton Howard): Personal favorite of mine. Really great action adventure music mixed in with a very emotional “love” theme between King Kong and Anne.

Up (Michael Giacchino): Such an emotional score with only two themes! Every note is completely emotionally driven yet always fits exactly the narrative seamlessly.

Basic Instinct (Jerry Goldsmith): I’ve analyzed every scene, and the music constantly commented on the dialogue. Every word that’s spoken, the music adds meaning to it and does so without stepping on it’s toes or getting cluttered. A true masterpiece in how much music can add to a film.

Any of the classic scores of John Williams: Jaws, Star Wars, Harry Potter, etc. Truly the last great Golden Age of Hollywood composer. Just some of my favorites!

6. fuckaduckmagoo

Oh, Brother Where Art Thou has a fantastic soundtrack.

7. ErikGordier

Blues Brothers.

8. gtatlien

The Highlander, it was just basically a Queen album.

9. InHocus

Dazed and Confused was awesome. Really brought back the feel of the 70’s with its soundtrack.

10. young7ae

Star Wars!!! A lot of people recognize the theme songs even if they have never watched the movies.

11. JJKeys

Blade Runner, without a doubt.

12. ThisWebsiteIsNeat

The Lion King.

13. Nubia_Nonsense

I personally love the Garden State soundtrack and 500 Days of Summer soundtrack. Those are probably the only movies that after I saw them I had to look up the songs to download them.

14. I_choose_not_to_run

Forrest Gump.

15. Hiddenexposure

Jurassic Park.

16. pretension

Office Space has a soundtrack that cannot be matched.

17. chunkydunk

IMO 2001: A Space Odyssey has a phenomenal soundtrack.

18. DrEnrique

Probably not the best soundtrack ever, but the music from Drive is amazing.

19. awesome_Craig

Gross Point Blank.

20. amimimi

Gladiator. Sucker Punch. Inception.

21. weirwood_of_gondor

Singles. Can’t believe it hasn’t been mentioned. Getting too damn old for Reddit.

22. chewie2006

I always thought Clerks had a really solid soundtrack.

23. the_masked_cabana

Trainspotting.

24. prep20

Tron Legacy. Even the remixes are great! The soundtrack was done by Daft Punk.

25. willbill182

Pirates of the Caribbean.

26. kerrypacker

Pulp Fiction.

27. tortila

Into the Wild, soundtrack by Eddie Vedder. So…complete.

28. TheDusey

Rocky Horror Picture Show.

29. BloodOrangeBitters

Hanna.

30. th3bluejay

Once Upon A Time In The West and The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. Ennio Morricone’s music just fits perfectly with both movies, that man is a musical genius.

31. Cursedbythedicegods

Conan The Barbarian and Back to The Future are two of the all-time greatest instrumental soundtracks IMO.

32. Shodan74

The Fountain.

33. horseboy1010

Sunshine (2007).

34. Electric_Guitar

Space Jam.

35. captjackhaddock

Eternal Sunshine of The Spotless Mind.

36. Bossman759

The Fight Club soundtrack is amazing. Most people seem to think that it is only made up of “Where Is My Mind” but there are plenty of good tracks like “Chemical Burn,” “This Is Your Life,” etc.

37. allthatsleftisblack

American Beauty.

38. leif827

Moonrise Kingdom. Fits the movie perfectly.

39. jollyholliday

The Royal Tenenbaums.

40. HarcourtFMudd

Blow. No question.
1. Can’t You Hear Me Knocking – Rolling Stones
2. Rumble – Link Wray
3. Glad And Sorry – Faces
4. Strange Brew – Cream
5. Black Betty – Ram Jam
6. Blinded By The Light – Manfred Mann
7. Let’s Boogaloo – Willie Rosario
8. Keep It Comin’ – KC, The Sunshine Band
9. Yellow World – J Girls
10. That Smell – Lynyrd Skynyrd
11. All The Tired Horses – Bob Dylan
12. Can’t You See – Marshall Tucker Band
13. Push & Pull – Nikka Costa

41. HRHRed1131

The Big Chill. You can’t always get what you want…

42. BatmansNygma

The Breakfast Club. Why the fuck has no one mentioned this yet?

43. whiteworld

Requiem For A Dream.

44. ThemBastards

I’m going to go with Donnie Darko.

45. fmos3jjc

Almost Famous.

46. minusthelela

Marie Antoinette. New Order, The Radio Dept., Joy Division? It’s a shoe gazer’s dream.

47. DatKnewKnew

Little Miss Sunshine.

48. piscator2406

High Fidelity has a great soundtrack too.

49. redefine19

Boogie Nights has a great soundtrack. Ironically, it doesn’t feature the song ‘Boogie Nights’ by Heatwave.

50. rubberfucky

The Lost Boys! How has this not been mentioned yet?!

51. Voltron_McYeti

How to Train Your Dragon.

52. MouthStool

Hackers!

53. elliotravenwood

Shawshank Redemption. The music underscores the movie’s emotional beats so, so well.

54. coleworld92

The 8 Mile soundtrack is pretty awesome if you like hip hop.

55. trippywatercolors

The Social Network.

56. kornholyoyo

Empire Records really hit that early 90’s vibe.

57. Paradoliak

Django Unchained.

58. SpaceCitySigma

I thought Slumdog Millionaire‘s track was just awesome. Very different. It won a lot of awards and did very well on the charts.

59. hellacopterz

Reservoir Dogs.

60. chronometron

Natural Born Killers has the best soundtrack in my opinion.

61. Arsenal_ATX

Amadeus. Hands down.

62. RozTron

Lost Highway.

63. godisafantasy

Lawrence of Arabia.

64. seanpackage

Judgement Night.

65. arsenal_is_the_best

Top Gun is pretty great.

66. KeyserHSoze

How is Purple Rain not on this list yet? Just because the movie was awful?

67. eldestructo3

Cinema Paradiso.

68. judcito

The Pianist.

69. graywolf0026

I would say Wayne’s World. I could pop that CD in at any time (especially while driving), and watch the hours go by…

70. drowsy1

The Fifth Element.

71. LordElrondd

The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Still gives me chills whenever I listen to it.

72. Pelala29

Boogie Nights is up there. Perfect for the movie, it works so well. “Boogie Shoes,” “Ain’t No Stoppin’ Us Now,” “Jessie’s Girl” during the coke scene. Brilliant.

73. jakeputz

If you love 80’s punk, then it has to be Repo Man.

74. Sykotik

The original Batman. Entire soundtrack done by Prince, it’s great.

75. KilowogTrout

Surprised I haven’t seen Snatch mentioned anywhere.

76. TheAmazingYant

Superfly. The soundtrack stands as one of the greatest soul albums, and in 2003 was listed at #69 on Rolling Stones’s 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. Saturday Night Fever probably counts, too.

77. theleastresistance

Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back. It’s perfect.

78. TimothyRedburn

The only movie sound track I have ever purchased, Lost In Translation. It pairs so perfectly with the film.

79. reggaeinmyhead

The Big Lebowsky.

80. wolftwang

Vanilla Sky.

81. rabid_spidermonkey

Now and Then.

82. ChristPanda

The Wackness.

83. Habitsihate

Dumb And Dumber.

84. hey_look1

Romeo And Juliet.

85. Qixm

The Shining.

86. RelevantToBacon

The soundtrack to Traffic doesn’t get the appreciation it deserves.

87. Obvious_Troll_Accoun

Interstellar 555, so good it could be its own stand alone album.

88. KeanuReavers

The Holiday had a great soundtrack by Hans Zimmer. Maybe you’ve heard of him.

89. PerfectLeeloo

Little Women (the one from the 90s) has a beautiful original score.

90. grhovane

Deadman. Music by Neil Young.

91. outfoxthefox

Gladiator. I don’t care what anyone says or that it’s in a made up language. It’s so good.

92. Z7Z7Z

How has no one mentioned Easy Rider?

93. obobeau

Spirited Away is one of my top favorite soundtracks. Pretty much anything Joe Hisaishi does is perfect to me.

94. ThatGuy773

Serenity. Every song gives me chills.

95. laziebones

Jackie Brown, and Lost Highway.

96. futuredrew

The South Park Movie.

97. leahdawg

An American Werewolf in Paris. Oh my God.

98. mpiz

The Truman Show (Philip Glass).

99. someday-later

Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.

100. katomatt

The Graduate. I’m surprised I haven’t seen this one mentioned yet.