Counting Down the Top 5 Soundtracks of All Time

Soundtracks are what make film perhaps the greatest medium of artistic expression. There is nothing so moving as a stirring score playing over stunningly shot scenes. This combination of the visual and the auditory makes film a unique experience.

Join us as we count down the top 5 soundtracks of all time:

5) “Gladiator” 2000. This sword and sandal epic is a triumph for director Ridley Scott. But it is Hans Zimmer’s emotional and uplifting score that really made the film great. From the ending, when Maximus dies in the coliseum, and the emperor’s sister gives a rousing speech, to the moment when his slave friend says goodbye, the score is positively emotive and griping. This truly is a beautiful piece of music, conveying the height of greed and decadence, but also the inspiration of one man.

4) “Gone with the Wind” 1939. Max Steiner’s score is as epic as the movie itself. The main theme, “Tara’s Theme” conveys the sweeping, stirring drama of the greatest movie of all time. As the words “Gone with the Wind” move across the screen, the music thunders. The result is an impressive moment in film. The most compelling scene in the movie is when Scarlett vows to never starve, and as the film comes to intermission “Tara’s Theme” triumphantly echoes her emotional resolve.

3) “The Last of the Mohicans” 1992. Composers Trevor Jones and Randy Edelman contributed to the score. Edelman’s synthesizer music is very good, but it is an obvious rip-off of Vangelis ala “Blade Runner” and “Chariots of Fire.” It is Jones’ stringed instrumentation that really carries the score into greatness. Interpolating Scottish tune “The Gael” into the soundtrack, the tension between the fiddles reach crescendos that match the romance of the film, and the breathtaking vistas of the Blue Ridge mountains. The last 10 minutes or so of the movie feature just standout track “The Promontory” playing, with little or no dialogue, as the film reaches its beautiful and devastating climax. A contribution by Enya’s former group Clannad, “I Will Find You,” makes a montage of the group pursuing the villainous Magwa absolutely affecting.

2) “The Piano” 1993. Michael Nyman constructed a gorgeous score for Jan Campion’s Oscar winning film. Relying on the eponymous piano, Nyman’s score manages to make the piano sound like an orchestra unto itself. The piano is the voice for the mute main character, and thus the songs in the movie have many moods. Stand out tracks are “The Promise” and “The Heart asks Pleasure First,” which convey the romance and drama of the forbidden relationship and the mystical danger of New Zealand.

1) Star Wars 1977-2005. John Williams took the sublime creation of visionary George Lucas to a whole other level with his score. Both profound and moving, Williams and Lucas made a risky decision to use a classical score for a science fiction movie made at a time when the electronic sounds of disco ruled the airwaves. Who can forget the sweeping majesty of Luke looking at the twin suns while “The Force Theme” plays? Or the rollicking Cantina band playing to a crowd of otherworldly patrons? The “Imperial March” is synonymous with “Star Wars” itself. More recently, the prequel trilogy featured memorable songs like the chant-heavy “Duel of Fates,” the exuberant “Augie’s great Municipal Band” during the parade and the romantic “Across the Stars.” And nothing is so amazing as the main theme. Whether thundering in a theatre or in your living room, the main theme is unparalleled. 2009’s Star Wars: In Concert was a privilege for this blog to have seen. Truly iconic.

(Note: all clips and posters are property of their respective owners/copyright owners.)