Ponderables: Movie Soundtracks

Watching, or rather listening to, the music of Superman Returns reminded me of how much I loved the soundtrack of the original Superman movie. I’m not just talking about an exciting title theme (like the Raiders of the Lost Ark theme), but a soundtrack where the entire album is a good listen.

In reverse order, here are my top three favorite movie soundtracks:

3. The Princess Bride
Great music, especially the title theme.

2. Superman
The title theme and Planet of Krypton theme remain two of the best movie themes ever, but the whole album is good. Heck, I even used the Planet of Krypton theme as part of my wedding music.

1. The Last of the Mohicans
The perfect movie soundtrack, from start to finish. It’s easy to picture the scenes in the movie just listening to the music, and the entire album is a good listen.

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9 Responses to “ Ponderables: Movie Soundtracks ”

  1. I love the soundtrack to Star Trek II, which was a young James Horner, I think.

  2. The Rocketeer had a great soundtrack too. I still enjoy listening to it from time to time.

  3. Last of the Mohicans is INCREDIBLE.

    It always throws me when I get to the second half of the album though. I’ve always wondered what happened that they had two separate composers doing music. I can’t think of a single other time that I’ve encountered that in a soundtrack.

  4. Star Trek VI: the Undiscovered Country.

    Watch the movie. Listen to the soundtrack. Watch the movie again.

    Tomorrow Never Dies.

    I just like the soundtrack. It’s good by itself and fit the film to boot.

  5. I’ll go with Bernard Herrmann’s “Citizen Kane” soundtrack, which combines creepiness, moodiness, and playfulness, all the while supporting the picture and the action and remaining utterly listenable.

  6. Basil Poledouris’ Conan the Barbarian. Letter-perfect for the film, and you can dance to it.

  7. I’ll go with TENMON’s music in “The Place Promised in our Early Days” (an excellent movie in all respects), but kudos to you for mentioning “The Princess Bride,” an often-overlooked great.

  8. Wow, The Princess Bride, now there’s an old great… have you seen “The Cider House Rules,” with Tobey Maguire and Michael Caine? Now there’s some great music.

  9. My fav movie and soundtrack is RENT. Princess Bride is one of my favs too!
    But RENT still holds the highest onmy list. HAIL JONATHAN LARSON!

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