I'm only listing scores that have not just a great main theme, but work great as a soundtrack album CD in terms of the whole CD listening experience from start to finish, too:

ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE (John Barry) - Has superb action as well as superb romantic music and at the same time avoids the usual by-effects of being deafening resp. overly sweet.

THE BOURNE SUPREMACY (John Powell) - my favourite spy movie thriller score of the last 20 years. Well, my favourite score of the last 20 years.

RUSSIA HOUSE (Jerry Goldsmith) - Goldsmith's best romantic work and an incredibly well assembled CD at 70 minutes.

ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST (Ennio Morricone) - Morricone's epic "oil painting" ;-)

These are my instant recommendations. Just four, but I didn't want to just make up a fifth - right now I cannot find another one that seems so obvious to me.

Have a nice listen! :-)

Urs

handstand, December 8, 2008; 3:36 PM

The five greatest scores that I've heard (in any order)

Superman (the movie) - John Williams
Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring - Howard Shore
Battlestar Galactica (Season 1) - Bear McCreary
Romeo and Juliet - Nino Rota
Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl - Klaus Badelt

Non-Film / Non-Television
Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty - Harry Gregson-Williams
Walt Disney World Millenium Celebration - Gavin Greenaway


immortal74205, December 8, 2008; 3:36 PM

The old classic "Bride Of Frankenstein"(Franz Waxman) is on my list.

No one who's interested in film music should live without hearing "Klute" (Michael Small).

A few others would be...

"Affliction" (Michael Brook)

"Patty Hearst" (Scott Johnson)

"Swept Away" (Piero Piccioni)

"The Shock" (Libra aka Goblin)

"The Grifters" (Elmer Benstein)

It goes on and on. I'm not sure how important any of these are but each one seemed to have burned their own little hole in different parts of my brain over the years.


victoravalentine, December 8, 2008; 5:09 PM

Maybe not the greatest scores ever, but for some reason these stayed with me over the
years;

Nami no Bon (Toru Takemitsu)

The Sailor who Fell from Grace with the Sea (Johnny Mandel)

Far from the Madding Crowd (Richard Rodney Bennett)

To Kill a Mockingbird (Elmer Bernstein)

Brideshead Revisited (Geoffrey Burgon)

Apollo, Atmospheres & Soundtracks (Brian Eno)

Deep Blue (George Fenton)

Islands in the Stream (Jerry Goldsmith)

The Ghost and Mrs Muir (Bernard Herrmann)

Fahrenheit 451 (Bernard Herrmann)

Jesus of Nazareth (Maurice Jarre)

L'Adolescente (Philippe Sarde)

Bride of Frankenstein (Franz Waxman)

The Nun's Story (Franz Waxman)

However, I may have a bit of an a-typical taste, just to let you know before you run to the
shop.

chris, December 8, 2008; 5:59 PM

Hello,


There are many more, But the first ten that came to mind are:


1. "El Cid" - Miklos Rozsa
2. "Lawrence of Arabia" - Maurice Jarre
3. "Masada - Jerry Goldsmith
4. "Once Upon a Time in America" - Ennio Morricone
5. "The Magnificent Seven" - Elmer Bernstein
6. "The Hustler" - Kenyon Hopkins
7. "Young Sherlock Holmes" - Bruce Broughton
8. "Anastasia" - Alfred Newman
9. "The Omega Man" - Ron Grainer
10. "Ben Hur" - Miklos Rozsa


Best Regards,
David Phoenix, AZ.





deg63iami, January 1, 2009; 2:24 PM

For me it would be ( not in a special order ...) :

- "The Mission " Ennio Morricone
- " Gloria " Bill Conti
- "E.T." and "Empire Strikes Back" John Williams
- "Explorers" Jerry Goldsmith
- "Lonely Are The Brave" Jerry Goldsmith
- "Gattaca" and "The Piano" Michael Nyman
- "Greystoke" John Scott

Not to mention thousand others ...

michel, December 8, 2008; 7:57 PM

(michel) I see "Lonely Are The Brave" on your list. That's a great film as well.

victoravalentine, December 9, 2008; 12:21 AM

Following the stream-of-conscious method above (in no particular order):

The Empire Strikes Back
Chinatown
Diamonds are Forever
On Her Majesty's Secret Service
Wind and the Lion
Lost in Space (TV series)
Escape from New York
Towering Inferno
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Midnight Run

and then 10-20 others :)

whyaduck, December 9, 2008; 1:15 AM

One of my very favourite, working with knives ! Dalton Trumbo wrote the very end of the
western to me ! And the guy who wrote Rambo must have liked it as well !

Sorry, just a word "out of topic" !

michel, December 9, 2008; 5:20 AM

Time and time again played...
1...How the West Was Won...Newman..love this soundtrack to bits.
2...Lady Caroline Lamb...Bennett...evocative
3...Arsene Lupin....Wiseman...pumping score
4...The Lion In Winter...historical Barry at his best...Arrival of Elenore is stunning
5...OHMSS.....Barry....favourite Bond
6...Cast A Giant Shadow....Bernstein
7...Sodom and Gomorrah...Rosza
8...Masada.....Goldsmith
9...Frankenstein....Doyle
10...Nostromo....Morricone
Oops....double the ask...well these soundtracks keep spinning.

tanemahuta, December 9, 2008; 5:46 AM

- VERTIGO (Bernard Herrmann)
- PLANET OF THE APES (Jerry Goldsmith)
- BEN-HUR (Miklós Rózsa)
- SUPERMAN (John Williams)
- SPARTACUS (Alex North)

angeldibujo, December 9, 2008; 11:46 AM

1. The wild bunch (Fielding)
2. The sea hawk (Korngold)
3. Obsession (Herrmann)
4. Alien (Goldsmith)
5. The machinist (Banos)

peter-anselm, December 9, 2008; 3:22 PM

ZULU-john barry - a minimal amount of music that drives the film forward
PLANET OF THE APES-jerry goldsmith - groundbreaking because he exposed the masses to a completely different type of score
ALEXANDER NEVSKY-prokofiev-the first big budget action score
SEVEN SAMURAI-hayasaka-like a novel in music
THE BIG GUNDOWN-morricone - along with Death Rides a Horse and Navajo Joe, these post-Leone scores made the "spaghetti western" sound one that would carry on into modern film, and gave this genre legs - people still actively pursue and collect the soundtracks 40 years later


fswric, December 9, 2008; 5:58 PM

ravenous - nyman
braham stoker's dracula - kilar
altered states - corigliano
frankenstein - doyle
solaris - martinez
safe - tomney
lord of war - pinto
gohatto - sakamoto
gummo - v/a
irreversible - bangalter
monster's ball - v/a

bugoobiga, April 17, 2009; 1:32 AM

"...the GUY that wrote Rambo..."

REALLY?!?!

Anyway:

Conan the Barbarian - Basil Poledouris
The Empire Strikes Back - John Williams
Ben-Hur - Miklos Rozsa
The 13th Warrior - Jerry Goldsmith
Signs - James Newton Howard
LOTR: Return of the King - Howard Shore
Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within - Elliot Goldenthal
A.I. - John Williams
The Adventures of Baron Munchausen - Michael Kamen
Star Trek: The Motion Picture - Jerry Goldsmith

...I'm sure I could rattle off a dozen more, but I'm tired and nothings jumping out at me at the moment! :)

shehan23, December 10, 2008; 9:41 AM

I couldn't list five...only three are cemented as the "best I've ever heard in my life!"..they are:

Once Upon A Time In The West (Ennio Morricone)
Obsession (Bernard Herrmann)
Dances With Wolves (John Barry)

Each one feeling organic to the film, destined to be there, unthinkable without it, and transporting listens in their own right. They each make me shake my head in awe.

Best to all,
James - Toronto
www.furisdead.com

johnbarryisgod, December 10, 2008; 9:18 PM

Im with James here regarding the Barry and Morricone scores, I would also add Cinema Paradiso (Morricone), Planet of the Apes (Goldsmith) and Doctor Zhivago (Jarre).

thomas.scallan, December 11, 2008; 6:03 PM

1. The Egyptian (Newman/Herrmann)
2. El Cid (Rozsa)
3. Our Mother's House (Delerue)
4. To Kill a Mockingbird (Bernstein)
5. The Wild Bunch (Fielding)

powley, December 15, 2008; 2:51 PM

1) The Empire Strikes Back - John Williams
2) E.T. - John Williams
3) Battlestar Galactica 2003 Miniseries - Richard Gibbs

jared, December 22, 2008; 11:35 AM

Of course, this is a matter of personal taste and preferences, so, everyone is right, I guess. Here are the ones I listen to over and over when I want to make sure I spend a very good time:

Angelo Badalamenti - The Straight Story
Elliot Goldenthal - Interview with the vampire
Gabriel Yared - The Lover
Jerry Goldsmith - The Russia House
Jerry Goldsmith - Under Fire
John Barry - Cry the Beloved Country

micjo197, January 12, 2009; 1:02 PM