BOT's Top 100 Film Scores: The Countdown Thread (2015 Edition) (#1 Revealed Page 14, Full List Page 15)

[4815162342]

33. The Incredibles (2004)

Original Music by Michael Giacchino
309 Points

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_wvb6sh71A

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CVefUBmiUso


Giacchino and Pixar tag-team for the second and final time on this countdown (Ratatouille was just outside the Honorable Mentions). For his first go-around on the Pixar wagon, Giacchino crafted a superhero film score that was superhero shock and awe than a jazzy and breezy good time. There's a lot of trumpets and saxophones in there and the unconventional style suits the film's tone and mood.

Also maybe it's me, but the main cue Giacchino uses for the film feels straight lifted from the main theme of On Her Majesty's Secret Service.

[The Futurist]

Musicals shouldn t be in the list.

Totally different artistic exercise but that s just me.

[4815162342]

Musicals shouldn t be in the list.

Totally different artistic exercise but that s just me.

 

I decided to strike a compromise. Original musicals developed for the screen I allowed in so long as you can justify their instrumental-only music as being worthy enough on their own merits.

 

Speaking of musicals, Frozen didn't get any points at all. Guess no one liked Christophe Beck's work on its own.

Edited May 2, 2015 by Numbers of Westeros

[4815162342]

32. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007)

Original Music by Nick Cave and Warren Ellis
310 Points
Top 10 Placements: 1

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CmhfY9RSuDk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vP_sPtEgwGE



Yesssssssssss. The Assassination of Jesse James is a brooding, meditative, and philosophical sort of Western, and for its music Nick Cave and Warren Ellis really hit that tone hard. The music slides along, sad, offbeat, and heavy on the thematic link between sound and onscreen events. It's nowhere near the kind of music you would expect in a Western which is why it packs such a big punch.

[4815162342]

31. Batman (1989)

Original Music by Danny Elfman
312 Points

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRZAk2rfESU


One of the forefathers of superhero music, it's no surprise to see Elfman's first big break appear on the countdown. Elfman/Burton is one of the great combos out there. Burton crafted on the screen a gothic, brooding, unique Gotham City and Elfman's music matches it, mixing between dark and shadowy tones and sweeping opera notes to capture Burton's vision of Batman as almost a wraith from another world fighting in the night with villains who aren't quite of our own world.

This is the final score from the Batman franchise to appear on the countdown. The Dark Knight: DENIED

[The Futurist]

31. Batman (1989)

Original Music by Danny Elfman

312 Points

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRZAk2rfESU

One of the forefathers of superhero music, it's no surprise to see Elfman's first big break appear on the countdown. Elfman/Burton is one of the great combos out there. Burton crafted on the screen a gothic, brooding, unique Gotham City and Elfman's music matches it, mixing between dark and shadowy tones and sweeping opera notes to capture Burton's vision of Batman as almost a wraith from another world fighting in the night with villains who aren't quite of our own world.

This is the final score from the Batman franchise to appear on the countdown. The Dark Knight: DENIED

Still the best Superhero score with Williams' Superman.

So epic !

[Goffe]

 

34. Koyaanisqatsi (1982)

Original Music by Philip Glass

306 Points

Top 10 Placements: 3

Top 5 Placements: 2

#1 Placements: 1

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jOEDsZbR6jE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZlICjvs0KIs

Koyaanisqatsi is a meditative documentary-ish film on the world falling out of natural balance. It's fitting that for the film, Philip Glass provides a musical background that stands apart from most other scores. The music is impressive, bombastic, disconcerting, fluid, and operatic, slowly building layer upon layer of prelude music before activating the power drive. A lot of it feels quite symphonic, no surprise given Glass' background.

And then the organs kick in.

 

yeshhhh

[Blankments]

LOL, you guys seriously think DKR's score is better than TDK?

 

Not that either should be on the list but lolol

[BadAtGender]

I decided to strike a compromise. Original musicals developed for the screen I allowed in so long as you can justify their instrumental-only music as being worthy enough on their own merits.

 

Speaking of musicals, Frozen didn't get any points at all. Guess no one liked Christophe Beck's work on its own.

 

I like the score Beck composed a lot, but a lot of the cues are taken from the songs. This is the issue with a lot of Disney musicals. BatB is one of the few where you can find the score cues that are separate from the song cues.

 

Besides that WDAS, especially in the modern era, isn't that great in the score department. They're solid, but rarely standout. Unlike, say, what Dreamworks tends to get from Zimmer and Powell. Ironically, I feel that as much as Henry Jackman is mostly a journeyman composer, his best work is for WDAS.

 

(I've heard that Zootopia is going to get John Powell to do his first WDAS score since Bolt. I'm really looking forward to that, if so.)

Edited May 2, 2015 by DamienRoc

[Goffe]

LOL, you guys seriously think DKR's score is better than TDK?

 

Not that either should be on the list but lolol

It is better.

TDKR has 3 really good musical themes (Gotham's Reckoning, Mind if I Cut In and Transfiguration), that aren't quite as good as BB and TDK's themes, that's true, but TDK good sutff is done way better in TDKR (Risen of Darkness, Rise, Why do We Fall and No Stone Unturned), resulting in a better score.

Edited May 3, 2015 by Goffe

[The Futurist]

Lots of obscure and old scores I know nothing about.

This list was obviously made by soundtrack enthousiasts and specialists.

[4815162342]

You could have submitted a list you know. You had plenty of time.

[4815162342]

30. Gone with the Wind (1939)

Original Music by Max Steiner
314 Points
Top 10 Placements: 1

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLADBpbx4BI


One of the Telemachos Ancients of the list, Gone with the Wind was the first explosive period romantic epics ever made and Max Steiner's music matches it with powerful, belting main themes for the Tara estate and Scarlett O'Hara. The music is definitely done in that old-timey style, but you can definitely catch the framework for the modern epic movie score. It's a landmark in film music evolution.

[4815162342]

29. The Social Network (2010)

Original Music by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross
318 Points
Top 10 Placements: 3
Top 5 Placements: 1

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9SBNCYkSceU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2vvs4__2XRI


One of the new film scores to make the countdown, The Social Network kinda snuck up on everyone with its music. Reznor and Ross compose a score that is uncomfortable, quirky, offbeat, daring, and without grace, a perfect match for the main character of the film. Even if you're not a fan of the music, it's hard not to admire the effort and twist put into it.

[4815162342]

28. The Godfather: Part II (1974)

Original Music by Nino Rota and Carmine Coppola
324 Points
Top 10 Placements: 1

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BRGOEdzYLwE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zGQB7Nj1-0


The Godfather: Part II isn't one of those movies that instantly comes to mind when you think "film score," but when you dig into its material you find there's a lot to love. The film has a lot of sentimental, feeling music which acts as a nice dramatic counterpoint to the main story of a man losing his soul and family. Rota and Coppola also work in some lush, vibrant marches into the music, especially in the young Vito storyline.

[4815162342]

27. Titanic (1997)

Original Music by James Horner
330 Points
Top 10 Placements: 2
Top 5 Placements: 2

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4NESWIAp3Tg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=slxY2jiCWho


The second-biggest film in the world has the music to match such epic and proud proceedings. I'm not really a fan of the movie itself, but I still acknowledge the wonderful work Horner puts into the music. Incorporating plenty of woodwinds and Celtic stylings into the music, along with quite the present choir of backup vocals, Horner's music goes for emotion and goes for it hard, not shy about seeking to manipulate how you're feeling about everything onscreen.

[4815162342]

26. The Lion King (1994)

Original Music by Hans Zimmer
338 Points
Top 10 Placements: 1

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOcP3i-zm-s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uq4exEb_2II


When I realized that Hans Zimmer did the music to one of the Disney Renaissance films, my mind was fairly blown. Because the score to The Lion King doesn't really follow much of what we now call Classic Zimmerisms. There's woodwinds for God's sake!!! Anyways, the non-song music to the film has a lot of soft pieces to it, particularly that one woodwind cue that reaches for the naturalism themes of the film. It also does a great job of slowly building drama and power through progression and repetition.

[The Panda]

Lion King and Beauty and the Beast despite being musicals are definitely deserving. The instrumental themes are strong and show how musicals should incorporate their score

[Kalo]

King of Pride Rock Right at 4:20... it's just so incredible.It's also the most non-Zimmer Zimmer score. and his best imo.  

[4815162342]

25. Halloween (1978)

Original Music by John Carpenter
338 Points
Wins Tiebreaker over Lion King due to Number of Votes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BI0QNdIi508

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BSjBwln3AKc
 

 

 

 

I sure didn't. One of the surprising things about scoring for the list was how many people got onboard the Halloween train. It never scored super high on a list, but it plugged away and slowly amassed points to sneak into the Top 25. One of John Carpenter's best known films, let alone one of the best known horror films of all time, Halloween features a disconcerting minimalist score that hits on tones of eerie, ominous, and sitting on needles. Carpenter bases a lot of his music around a single piano with synth instruments in the background at times. It's one of the best ways to do music for a horror/thriller film.