7 Best Film Scores of all Time

The cinema has been an integral part of our lives. Music, on the other hand, completes the movie-going experience since the advent of sound technology in cinema. Music gives extra meaning to an image. It can make moving images more scary, romantic and makes certain scenes more memorable. Film scores are a key part of every movie as they convey a message to the audience without any word needing to be spoken. Film scores evoke emotional responses that dialogue cannot. Here are some of the best film scores of all time.

7. Requiem for a Dream (2000)

Requiem for a Dream is the first notable film by Darren Aronofsky whose films explore surrealism and disturbing psychological elements. The film features four characters whose lives are affected by their drug addiction. Clint Mansell’s film score for the movie includes innovative combinations of electronic elements and symphonic scores to create a unique sound. The “Summer Overture” is a memorable haunting march that remains in the audience’s memory even decades after the film’s release.

6. Tron: Legacy (2010)

Tron is an American sci-fi action film layered with a traditional film orchestral score with the electronic wizardry of French electronic duo Daft Punk. With the help of American composer, arranger and producer Joseph Trapanese, Daft Punk broke ground in cinematic scoring while paying homage to the film’s original 1982 composer Wendy Carlos.

5. ET: The Extra-Terrestrial (1982)

John Williams created an unforgettable catchy film theme for an equally memorable film classic by Steven Spielberg. The film score has impacted generations of audiences and filmmakers alike. The score itself is exactly what everyone’s childhood should feel like. It relays a sense of naivety, wonder, and danger to remind us that men in Hazmat suits are scary.

4. The Mission (1986)

The film, about the experiences of a Jesuit in South America, is memorable for its beautifully haunting film score by Ennio Morricone. Most think of Morricone as the maestro for westerns. But here, Morricone showed he is more than capable than just making film scores for westerns and this is his best non-action score to date.

3. Jurassic Park (1993)

This is another joint collaboration between Steven Spielberg and John Williams and has all the hallmarks of a Williams score. The score is layered with soaring strings, dramatic bass, and a childlike sense of wonder that’s inherent to the core of the film - a fantasy adventure tale - much like the premise of ET. With just a few notes, Williams created a musical signature for the Jurassic Park franchise and one that conjures up hope, adversity, and grand adventure all in one theme.

2. Titanic (1997)

Everything about the Titanic is really about the film score by James Horner. Horner’s masterpiece conveys all the film is about. It’s grand, romantic, floats, crashes, and evokes a light and heavy emotion in our hearts as we watch the characters develop a deep relationship and in the end freeze in the depths of the Atlantic ocean.

1. The Dark Knight (2008)

Chris Nolan breathed life into the Batman franchise by making the caped crusader an anti-hero. He needed the score to match his masterpiece. The Batman series is not just a trilogy of action films but is psychologically dark and triumphant with the cape crusader finding the light at the end of the tunnel. Since the start of the trilogy, Nolan has roped in Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard to create a dark soundscape filled with throbbing bass and shrieking strings that make the remake of the Batman franchise such a success.