In the past few years, I've developed a deep appreciation for soundtracks. When done right, music can give the audience a whole new outlook on the original work, and can invoke deep emotions. Not that I have any experience with composing, but being a composer is one of my "dream jobs". At the very least, I'd like to share the music that's already out there. And that's why I made this thread. Share your favorite soundtracks from movies, games, or shows. As always, be respectful, and use spoilers/warnings for explicit material. Whether other people post or not, I'd like to try and share as many soundtracks as possible, so I'll shoot for one show/movie/game/composer per day until I run out (which isn't likely to happen) or forget about the thread. I'll kick this off with some John Williams. He's one of the most well-known soundtrack composers out there, and he's done tons of hit movies. So many, in fact, that I'll probably end up posting more later on. Here are just a few of my favorite pieces: As some random person put it, Jurassic Park's soundtrack could have just been action-based, but instead JW gives the sense of wonder a child would feel upon seeing dinosaurs. I think the combination of mischief and Christmas atmosphere sums up the movie perfectly. Something about the trumpets gets me every time. I really don't get why JW only scored the first 3 films, but what he did do is pure magic.
so much yes to this. Soundtracks get me going. A mediocore movie that I felt really had a good soundtrack backing is Armageddon. I love this movie, but I feel like I would love it a whole lot less without this theme. OMG how is this not here already
Cinematic soundtracks have to be my favourite kind of music, they have a lot more meaning than just general music. Have to say Hans Zimmer writes some very good music. But my favourite soundtrack would have to be from Broadchurch. Skyfall has a pretty good soundtrack too
Often, a soundtrack will use the same basic melody over and over, only changing tempo and small details to suit the mood. Sometimes it's pretty repetitive (Phantom of the Opera, Super Smash Bros Brawl), but Howl's Moving Castle pulls it off because the main theme is so fitting for the movie's lighthearted, ball-room-like atmosphere: Here's a fun fact: George Lucas originally approached Frank Zappa to score Star Wars instead of John Williams, but Zappa declined, possibly because of his friendship with Jack Kirby, who felt Star Wars was copying from his ideas.
Time for another big-time composer: Danny Elfman. He has become closely affiliated with Tim Burton, and has also scored several superhero movies. But perhaps his best known composition is the intro for the Simpsons: Edward Scissorhands: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=04q2Ozr-WYA&list=PL90E20CAC6D637D98 Nightmare before Christmas: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=scNZPQG7nFk&list=PLB22011EFF3876594 Spider Man: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cAjVp-7DMNM&list=PL957169DFCD629472 Mission Impossible 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9L_faxo4D2A&list=PLDmdF1ma6cZo2TL_JWKVd3OsYoGAIlAAB
Watched Gravity last night, and it makes great use of a soundtrack. Because of it's setting in space, and sounds doesn't travel is space, they tried to make it as realistic as possible, and instead used music to fill in times when there was no sound.
Say what you will about the quality of Michael Bay movies, but Steve Jablonsky sure knows how to compose for them. The man is way underrated. Hans Zimmer, on the other hand, is a name everyone should know. He's done a lot of soundtracks, but Broken Arrow still stands as one of my all-time favorites.
one of the best soundtracks to a movie was for this movie called Eye Of The Beholder it was probably the last time I saw a movie and felt like the music really made the movie. if that movie had a bad soundtrack it would've been horrible. other soundtracks I like: Million Dollar Hotel The End of Violence Empire Records and song that had a huge impact that was part of the soundtrack.... In Your Eyes by Peter Gabriel from Say Anything and going further on the theme of 80s movies... here are songs that are synonymous with the movies they appeared in:
Back in the 90s, Nintendo had two competing RPG-making companies: Square (with the Final Fantasy series) and Enix (with the Dragon Quest series). Eventually, in 2003, the two merged into Square Enix. This new powerhouse of a company became one of the greatest 3rd party developers of all time, and is responsible for countless amazing soundtracks. Koichi Sugiyama has scored almost all the games in the Dragon Quest series, including the monster-breeding spin-offs. The atmosphere of the games, as well as the soundtracks, have remained very traditional and fantasy-based (with a tell-tale playfulness) since the beginning. This has inspired several symphonic suites with large-scale orchestras, like this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mTBdkw4m6jY Some of the best pieces from the early games are included as boss-level themes in Dragon Quest Monsters on the Gameboy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RqLbcsrXftQ&list=PL7B960AC7912BCC31 The Final Fantasy series has been composed primarily by Nobuo Uematsu. While the musical style has varied dramatically throughout the different games, the battle themes and fanfare remain easily recognizable. Final Fantasy 6 features a more traditional "SNES-tastic" fantasy soundtrack: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDLgr321qS8&list=PL1908FF1F127876AA while Final Fantasy 8 is more modern, with an ambient (though occasionally militaristic), almost hypnotic feel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RNdGoENQNQ4&list=PLAC6CCD5897973D5D Square Enix has published many other successful games, almost all of them RPG's. Some noteworthy ones include Golden Sun 1 and 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rl16-7wZmFY&list=PLCD5E70634946E090 Chrono Trigger: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eDZ2W0GpP_E&list=PL21BAA7C6EDEB63A3 Kingdom Hearts: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ExsP_nCOiJY&list=PL2FFE386842EA290F Secret of Mana: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NFN0GLAMJ3k&list=PL30CA5500906F0A4B Illusion of Gaia: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OCC-fxMCKuM&list=PL638D31F3CA69B1D1 Terranigma: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rHM_nLvYAc8&list=PL04067EB703ECEDD0 and The World Ends with You: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LF7iL9_vu1Q&list=PLDF20E8398211D2E4 There are many more not listed here. That's just how awesome Square Enix is. I'd also like to share my personal favorite track from Chrono Trigger called "Wind Scene", which is the theme for the 600 AD overworld: If you like single player RPG's at all, I highly recommend you try as many of these games as possible.
Okami's Soundtrack always seems to hit me every time I hear it... Probably one of the best songs I've ever heard below Edit: But oh my god the Last of Us is beautiful as well, it has so much feeling. My poor heart can't take it ; - ;
Time for one of my personal favorite soundtracks: Samurai Champloo. This series combines feudal Japanese culture with modern hip-hop, and the result works better than you might expect. Most of the soundtrack was made by Japanese hip-hop artist Jun Seba, under the name Nujabes. Tragically, he passed in a traffic incident in 2010, but his music lives on. If you don't like hip-hop, still give the soundtrack a listen; Nujabes has some of the most relaxing music I've ever heard. Here's a playlist with all the songs in the soundtrack: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ugPmsMNEOI&list=PL3E1DD4F30F9D8923 You can watch Samurai Champloo on Netflix. I recommend Japanese audio with English subtitles.
Bastion has some of my favorite video game music of all time in it. This song is beautiful, and its dual meanings work so well in Bioshock: Infinite.
Today's spotlight is Michael Giacchino. He commonly works with Pixar and JJ Abrams. He also scored the new Star Trek movies, Super 8, John Carter, Ratatouille, the two most recent Mission Impossible movies, and more.
