A great score has more power to make a film great than almost anything. Think about Spielberg’s masterworks: Jaws, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Jurassic Park. The odds are pretty good that music popped into your head. Think about the shower scene in Psycho, a scene so iconic that it only needs those three words to appear in your head. Now think about the music that goes with it. That’s what makes a score great- when it transcends its role and becomes an essential part of the viewing experience. Here are some such scores, ranked in objectively correct order (except probably not).
Really quickly- an honorable mention to Nicholas Britell’s score for If Beale Street Could Talk, the best score of last year. Completely robbed of the oscar. Also a best picture nod. Go watch this film.
10- Jurassic Park (John Williams)
John Williams is gonna be pretty represented on this list. 4 out of the 10 entries are his scores (and 4 out of the 6 scores on the list composed by people named John). His Jurassic Park score is as iconic as the rest of them- the theme song is perfect for the atmosphere of wonder Spielberg conjures up in the beginning of the film. It’s one of Williams’ best themes, which as you’ll see, is saying a lot.
9- Halloween (John Carpenter)
Creating one of the most iconic and terrifying villains in horror movie history is no small feat, and it probably couldn’t have been done without the brilliant theme that director/composer John Carpenter cooked up. Extra points for the fact that Carpenter himself did it, he’s done a lot of his own scores throughout his career. The most notable exception is probably The Thing, which was scored by Ennio Morricone, who makes this list multiple times and very nearly made it for his truly excellent Thing score. Said score, by the way, was nominated for a razzie award. Wild.
8- Raiders of the Lost Ark (John Williams)
One of the most legendary action and adventure films of all time holds that position because of its score. Try to imagine the boulder scene with any other music. You can’t. Physically impossible. It’s around this point that I’m realizing that my argument for Morricone being better than Williams in terms of film score composers is in bad shape.
7- The Untouchables (Ennio Morricone)
Here he is! The legendary Ennio Morricone’s career has spanned decades, culminating in his long-overdue first Oscar win for The Hateful Eight in 2016. One of his career highlights is the 1987 Brian De Palma film The Untouchables. Morricone uses his score to add excitement to action sequences, menace to Robert De Niro’s indelible Al Capone, and overall further one of the greatest gangster films of all time.
6- The Godfather (Nino Rota)
Speaking of all time great gangster movies, here’s The Godfather, a film that certainly needs no introduction. It’s one of the most perfect films of all time, right down to the ionic theme music. Watching The Godfather for the first time, you realize that the hype is all true the moment that theme kicks in for the first time.
5- Jaws (John Williams)
Jaws has to be one of the most well-known films of all time, and yet the thing it’s most known for, the most ubiquitous aspect of it in popular culture, is the theme. It’s the go-to for any situation in which something is approaching something, or something scary is about to happen. It’s as used as the Jeopardy theme. It wouldn’t be a bad bet to say that like 90% of the world’s population knows it. When I write “Duuuuh nuh” the odds are good you think of Jaws, and that’s why it’s an all time great score.
4- There Will be Blood (Johnny Greenwood)
There Will be Blood is a film about greed and its destructive power over people. Director Paul Thomas Anderson conveys this through haunting imagery, brilliant writing, and a career best performance by one of the greatest actors of all time. But none of it would really work without Radiohead guitarist Johnny Greenwood’s score. Famously ineligible for an oscar nomination, the score is unique among ones on this list in that there’s no one piece of music that jumps to mind. It works because it’s perfectly suited to the film, it complements it incessantly and continuously drives it forward. It’s an overpowering score, creating an atmosphere so totally essential to one of the greatest films of the 21st century.
3- Star Wars (John Williams)
HEEEEEEERE’S JOHNNY! Williams’ highest entry on this list is his only listed one not in collaboration with Steven Spielberg. It gets this ranking simply because of how linked it is to such an iconic film. In short, without this score, there is no Star Wars as we know it today. And without Star Wars as we know it today, the movie world (and actually, probably, real world would be quite different. Nobody tell Danny Boyle.
2- Psycho (Bernard Herrmann)
There are no words for how hard is was not to put this at number one. This score changed everything. It was the first time music was fully entwined with drawing emotion out of the audience. The shrieking strings in the shower scene are legendary, featuring prominently in every one of the many (many) parodies of it. The theme that plays over the opening credits is iconic. It’s the best work the legendary Bernard Herrmann ever did, and he did the scores for Citizen Kane, Vertigo, and Taxi Driver, among other things. He also did the score for Twisted Nerve, which is only notable because the theme is the song that Elle Driver whistles in Kill Bill. So the guy is a legend. And Psycho still stands out as his greatest achievement.
1- The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly (Ennio Morricone)
Ennio Morricone’s legendary score for Sergio Leone’s masterpiece The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly gets the top spot on this list for a few reasons. It’s the only score on this list that I felt absolutely required two videos, and it’s the only score ever that I have listened to on spotify (it came up as suggested and I decided to go with it). It completely makes the film, which would be great otherwise but not nearly on the same level. The legendary final scene (one of the best ever) wouldn’t be the same without it. It features The Ecstasy of Gold (second video above), which is one of the rare pieces of film music to transcend its film and become used regularly in other ways. The theme is absolutely iconic. The whistles are so famous that hearing them reveals to anyone what movie is being watched. It’s impossible to imagine the film with any other score, and that’s why it’s number one.
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