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So this thread is all about the music. The impact it can have on a movie and the public reaction.
I'm going to kick off with something possibly controversial. And I'm going to rag on the latest incarnation of Superman.
Simply put, be too angst to live up to this....yeah, you know what's coming....
It's perfect. It absolutely nails Supes down to a tee.
The music inspires disbelief in his abilities, especially when the horn section kicks in, then somehow kicks in again
For us mere mortals, this encapsulates what it must be to see Superman in action. It's music fit for a truly Super hero. Just when you think he's boned, and it's all gonna got Tits up, the music comes back with ever higher triumph.
It makes you believe that Superman can do all these things.
And yet, there's certain refrains, particularly early on, which speak of an underlying gentleness to Supes. Not necessarily a frailty, but just a basic humanity. It's a piece of music which suggest he does what he does not because he can, but because he must. Because nobody else can get that particular job done.
He does it because he loves humanity. His powers and abilities raise him well above us, but he's inspired by our own shortcomings, and his determination to show us not what he is. But what we might be. One day.
It's proper inspiration music.
And of course, conducted by the composer of our lifetime, John Williams. I swear that man can do no wrong!
So tell us of your favourite soundtracks, and explain the feels,
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John Wiliams is the place to start with this one, to be sure! Superman, great, Star Wars, sublime, Harry Potter, iconic, but I think his absolute best has to be this:
Aside from being a piece of music that brings me right back to my childhood with just a few bars (the moment Jurassic World used that theme in the trailers they had me at a disadvantage! ), it's just a superb piece of composing. The slow, almost sorrowful sections set against the soaring crescendos and their wonderfully uplifting tones, it's a masterpiece.
As for his second best piece, it's got to be Hedwig's Theme:
I don't even have any particular love for the Potter films, but that music will always transport me somewhere magical (pun most definitely intended...) Again, it's the contrasting segments fitting effortlessly together that's a hallmark of Williams' work, and he's on top form here.
Then there's Hans Zimmer, who despite his ubiquity in recent years, has doubtless composed some iconic pieces over his career, but that's another post!
Hedwig's Theme is a mostly definitelt superb piece of music.
To me, it speaks of an other world....somewhere definitely magical. But far from safe. Somewhere us mere Muggles would be all too easily swept up in the rhythm, and into somewhere we really don't want to be.
Somehow it manages to centre itself around Harry, Herminoe and Ron, as the story dictates. But unlike us, they're participants and not mere spectators.
It's just works. And when one looks back at John Williams' back catalogue, that's a core theme to his music.
Consider another favourite of mine, Indiana Jones.
Just like Jones himself, there a cocksure arrogance, a swagger to the opening which is unmistakably him. Yet within that, there's a heroism.
To me, the initial horn section is Indy's opinion and view of himself. Singular. Competent. Bombastic.
But then? Then comes the string section. As music, that's far more collaborative. And to me it speaks of all those Indy has helped in his Long and Varied career saying 'no. Really. He did that. And we love him. He is the hero he claims'
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I'll ignore the bit about movie soundtracks and go with a video game one: Final Fantasy Tactics (youtube link to the whole soundtrack): Every track amplifies the game when it's needed and as a bonus quite a few could work well as background music while wargaming. A few examples that could work nicely, I focused on selecting the battle themes (try some!, tracks marked with !!! are some of my favourites):
All other of Hitoshi Sakimoto's soundtracks are also great (although the Vagrant Story and Crimson Shroud soundtracks fit more of a dungeon crawler type of game).
I love pretty much everything John Williams has put together, another favorite soundtrack of mine is Tron Legacy it just screams high tech and matches the vibe of the movie so incredibly well.
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Perhaps something a bit different: a song rather than a score.
Spoiler:
IMHO, these moments of up beat pop really made a nice contrast to the rest of the thriller, without which I don't think the movie would have worked as well as it did.
Ghorros wrote: The moral of the story: Don't park your Imperial Knight in a field of Gretchin carrying power tools.
Marmatag wrote: All the while, my opponent is furious, throwing his codex on the floor, trying to slash his wrists with safety scissors.
Bah. I've been beaten to Blade Runner twice. Still, it does as much to build the setting as the visuals do. My dad used to have a tape of Vangelis: Themes in his car, and I have ideas about the "feel" of some of the films whose scores it features, despite never having seen the films.
I also really like the soundtracks to Tron: Legacy and Miami Vice (the movie, not the series); say what you like about the films, but the soundtracks are pretty central to both films.
And finally, Brad Fiedel's Teminator theme:
. In any other film this would be strings and horns, but appropriately, here it's a synthesiser piece. It starts out as an ending, but then becomes a harbinger of something new coming - something heavy, oppressive and mechanical.
I own a few soundtracks I thought were impressive enough to get.
Last of the Mohicans (a nice soundtrack, but not sure why I got it in hindsight)
The Paino, Gattaca (both Michal Nyman) very evocative music.
Forest Gump. A great collection of music.
I think I might have a few more, but there is a limet to what I can remember on one cup of coffee when all my CDs are boxed up somewhere.
I'm a massive fan of both John Williams and Hans Zimmer, the various Star Wars and Dark Knight scores being brilliant personally. Also very keen on the Lord of the Rings score by Howard Shore (a thing I was very glad for when I got an extract from the Hobbit's score in one of my old music exams). Generally, anything too with a good trumpet part is right up there in my books: good on OrlandotheTechnicoloured for the Morricone extract.
On the video game front, I'm keen on the soundtracks for TES: Oblivion and Skyrim, with Space Marine being very good too in my opinion. The real outlier to me is Toby Fox's score for Undertale - the game itself isn't one I've played, but the various battle themes and suchlike are very good (although maybe not as good as the fanbase hype it to be).
Ill say Queen of the Damed soundtrack as a whole. Its a stellar work of rock and metal for an otherwise average movie. Ill still toss that on from time to time because its just so damn good and it probably made the movie watchable because the more I think about it, the more Im sure I just watch it to hear the songs played out
If we're doing game themes, I can't get enough of Trevor Morris's Dragon Age Inquisition theme. It's epic, it's uplifitng, and it invokes the atmosphere of the game and its world perfectly. Parts of it are grandiose and powerful, parts of it are tragic and mournful, and it is just a fantastic piece of composing and performance.
Video game soundtracks? Here's my personal favorite:
The game is one of the best games I've ever played, and believe me the soundtrack is part of the reason why. My personal favorite track is at 1:07:25.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2017/07/07 02:01:24
My armies (re-counted and updated on 11/1/23, including modeled wargear options):
Dark Angels: ~15000 Astra Militarum: ~1200 | Adeptus Custodes: ~1900 | Imperial Knights: ~2000 | Sisters of Battle: ~3500 | Leagues of Votann: ~1200 | Tyranids: ~2600 | Stormcast Eternals: ~5000
Check out my P&M Blogs: ZergSmasher's P&M Blog | Imperial Knights blog | Board Games blog | Total models painted in 2023: 40 | Total models painted in 2024: 12 | Current main painting project: Dark Angels
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Miller's Crossing has an amazing score. Honestly take away the music and it's just a pastiche of gangster cliches and some fun one liners. But that score gives it heart and lifts the rest of the material.
I love the scores for Akira as well. That score, combined with imagery keeps Akira as one of my favourite movies, in spite of, you know, the actual movie.
All my other favourites have already been mentioned - Blade Runner, Last of the Mohicans, Lord of the Rings.
“We may observe that the government in a civilized country is much more expensive than in a barbarous one; and when we say that one government is more expensive than another, it is the same as if we said that that one country is farther advanced in improvement than another. To say that the government is expensive and the people not oppressed is to say that the people are rich.”
Adam Smith, who must have been some kind of leftie or something.
It may be a tad bombastic or over the top by today's standards, but when I finished watching the film Gettysburg (in an historic theater in the town Gettysburg) I immediately walked across the street to a small shop and bought the soundtrack CD. It is among my favorite movie soundtracks (several others on the list have already been mentioned) of all time and I still put it in the CD player on occasion and listen to the whole thing from start to finish.
Also, while For a Few Dollars More has been mentioned (and is fantastic) I think The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly has a marginally superior soundtrack. The main title is so iconic that some people who have never watched the film know at least some of the theme. But for my money, the best track on the album is The Ecstasy of Gold, from late in the film when our "heroes" have reached the site of the buried loot they've been double-crossing each other for for the last two hours...
Emperor's Eagles (undergoing Chapter reorganization)
Caledonian 95th (undergoing regimental reorganization)
Thousands Sons (undergoing Warband re--- wait, are any of my 40K armies playable?)
"Ecstasy of Gold" is perhaps the most perfect title and song for one of the most perfectly placed songs in any film I can think of. Consider the very next scene with the troop and the cigar. You have to have the visuals with the music or it doesn't really count. Film is a miltimodal text.
I will enter into submission, another Leone film, Once Upon a Time In the West. Watch the intro (audio recorded completely before shooting visuals, with a few changes made In post production). It is one of the best "soundtracks" you will ever hear. Listen to it and then consider why Morricone got a standing ovation in NY when he played it with sound effects guys standing in for an orchestra. That was a good night. The most positive energy I have ever seen walking out of an auditorium.
This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2017/07/07 05:58:46
), it's just a superb piece of composing. The slow, almost sorrowful sections set against the soaring crescendos and their wonderfully uplifting tones, it's a masterpiece.
Ultramarines, 3rd Co. and friends, 16k+ 
4k 
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~15000 Astra Militarum: 
~1200 | Adeptus Custodes: 
~1900 | Imperial Knights: 
~2000 | Sisters of Battle: 
~3500 | Leagues of Votann: 
~1200 | Tyranids: 
Emperor's Eagles (undergoing Chapter reorganization)
Caledonian 95th (undergoing regimental reorganization)
Thousands Sons (undergoing Warband re--- wait, are any of my 40K armies playable?) 
