Recommended movie soundtracks

[Roysen]

Hi guys,

I was a huge fan of the Harry Person Super Disc List which he used to relase with irregular intervals in TAS in the good old days. HP started from fresh with this concept when he opened his first webpage project www.hpsoundings.com but that website has now merged with another one I don't remember the name of and HP seems to be lost in action.

What I particularly liked about the HP Super Disc List was his recomendations for movie sound tracks. Not many other places offer really high quality audiophile recomendation for movie soundtracks and over the years the HP list has not been updated the number of great movie soundtracks worth checking out has probably been quite a few. So I suggest we start our own thread here because I can see no other place more qualified to come with such recomendations outside HP himself. So please bring forward your recomendations if you have any.

I have a couple I would like to present. Those are:

Apocalypto (James Horner)
Batman Begins (Hans Zimmer)
The Dark Knight (Hans Zimmer)
The Dark Knight Rises (Hans Zimmer)
Sherlock Holmes (Hans Zimmer)
Sherlock Holmes - A Game Of Shadows (Hans Zimmer)
300 (Tyler Bates)
Kingdom Of Heaven (Harry Gregson-Williams)
Avatar (James Horner)
Pirates Of The Caribbean - The Curse Of The Black Pearl (Ramin Djawadi)
Pirates Of The Caribbean - On Stranger Tids (Hans Zimmer)
Pirates Of The Caribbean - Dead Man's Chest (Hans Zimmer)
Pirates Of The Caribbean - At World's End (Hans Zimmer)
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (Tan Dun)
The Lord Of The Rings - The Fellowship Of The Ring (Howard Shore)
The Lord Of The Rings - Two Towers (Howard Shore)
The Lord Of The Rings - The Return Of The King (Howard Shore)
The Matrix (Don Davis)
The Matrix - Reloaded (Don Davis)
The Matrix - Revolutions (Don Davis)
Master & Commander - The Far Side Of The World (Christopher Gordon)
Casper (James Horner)
Hellboy (Marco Beltrami)
Hellboy II - The Golden Army (Danny Elfman)
War Of The Worlds (John Williams)
Apollo 13 (James Horner)
Dinosaur (James Newton-Howard)
Hero (Tan Dun)
Hook (John Williams)
Back To The Future (Alan Silvestri)
Jurassic Park (John Williams)
Indiana Jones - Raiders Of The Lost Arc (John Williams)
Himalaya (Bruno Coulais)
American Beauty (Thomas Newman)
Braveheart (James Horner)
House Of Flying Daggers (Shigeru Umebayashi & Kathleen Battle)
TRON Legacy (Daft Punk)
Black Hawk Down (Hans Zimmer)
Gladiator (Hans Zimmer & Lisa Gerrard)
Gladiator - More Music From The Motion Picture (Hans Zimmer & Lisa Gerrard)
Thin Red Line (Hans Zimmer)
The X-Files (Mark Snow)
Schindler's List (John Williams)
Patriot Games (James Horner)
Rabbit Proof Fence (Peter Gabriel)
Mishima (Phillip Glass)
Titanic (James Horner)
Sneakers (James Horner)
Star Wars - The Empire Strikes Back (John Williams)
Jaws (John Williams)
The Gift (Christopher Young)
Toys (Hans Zimmer)
Erin Brockovich (Thomas Newman)
Snow Falling On Ceedars (James Newton-Howard)
Missouri Breaks (John Williams)
Symphonic Star Trek (Erich Kunzel & Cincinnati Pops Orchestra)
The Village (James Newton-Howard)
The Last Samurai (Hans Zimmer)
Harry Potter - The Half Blood Prince (Nicolas Hopper)
Angels & Demons (Hans Zimmer)
Lincoln (James Horner)
City Of Angels (Gabriel Yared)
Body Of Lies (Marc Streitenfeld)
Inception (Hans Zimmer)
King Arthur (Hans Zimmer)
1492 (Vangelis)
Man Of Steele (Hans Zimmer)
Son Of God (Hans Zimmer & Lisa Gerrard)
Winter's Tale (Hans Zimmer)
The Lone Ranger (Hans Zimmer)
The Da Vinci Code (Hans Zimmer)
The Mission (Ennio Morricone)
Whale Rider (Lisa Gerrard)
Casino Royale (Burt Bacharach)
Hannibal (Hans Zimmer)
The Hurt Locker (Marco Beltrami and Buck Sanders)
How To Train Your Dragon (John Powell)
The Incredible Hulk (Craig Armstrong)
Transformers (Steve Jablonsky)
Transformers - Revenge Of The Fallen (Steve Jablonsky)
Transformers - Dark Of The Moon (Steve Jablonsky)
Transformers - Age Of Extinction (Steve Jablonsky)
Hobbit - An Unexpected Journey (Howard Shore)
Hobbit - The Desolation Of Smaug (Howard Shore)
Crimson Tide (Hans Zimmer)
Iron Man (Ramin Djawadi)
Iron Man 2 (John Debney)
Iron Man 3 Brian Tyler)
The Rock (Hans Zimmer)
Con Air (Trevor Rabin)
Ratatouille (Michael Giacchino)
The Book Of Eli (Atticus Ross)
Bladerunner (Vangelis)
Dances with Wolves (John Barry)
The Artist (Ludovic Bource)
Batman Returns (Danny Elfman)
Up (Michael Giacchino)
Exodus (Ernest Gold)
First Knight (Jerry Goldsmith)
Poltergeist (Jerry Goldsmith)
Star Trek (Jerry Goldsmith)
Battle of Neretva / Naked & Dead (Bernard Hermann)
Citizen Kane (Bernard Hermann)
The Kentuckian/Williambsgurg - Story Of A Patriot (Bernard Hermann)
Farenhet 451 (Bernard Hermann)
North by Northwest (Bernard Hermann)
Psycho (Bernard Hermann)
Vertigo (Bernard Hermann)
Brainstorm (James Horner)
Lawrence Of Arabia (Maurice Jarre)
Between Two Worlds (Erich Wolfgang Korngold)
Kings Row (Erich Wolfgang Korngold)
The Prince And The Pauper (Erich Wolfgang Korngold)
The Sea Hawk (Erich Wolfgang Korngold)
The Sea Wolf (Erich Wolfgang Korngold)
Breakfast At Tiffany's (Henry Mancini)
The Pink Panter (Henry Mancini)
Ben Hur/Quo Vadis (Miklos Rozsa)
The Adventures Of Mark Twain (Max Steiner)
The Charge Of The Light Brigade (Max Steiner)
King Kong (Max Steiner)
The Fall Of The Roman Empire (Dimitri Tiomkin)
Rebecca (Franz Waxman)
Sunset Boulevard (Franz Waxman)
Taras Bulba (Franz Waxman)
A.I. (John Williams)
E.T. (John Williams)
Far and Away (John Williams)
Star Wars - Return Of The Jedi (John Williams)
The Adventures Of Tintin (John Williams)
War Horse (John Williams)
Star Tracks (Erich Kunzel & Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra)
Star Tracks II (Erich Kunzel & Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra)

 

[amirm]

Great idea. I am a huge fan of soundtracks. Not only are they nice to listen to, but usually have superb fidelity with incredible dynamics.

I will post more but for now, here are my initial list of tracks:

Tron Soundtrack by Daft Punk. The real track in the movie is unbelievable in bass response. The CD is also quite excellent. A bargain at just $9: http://www.amazon.com/Tron-Legacy-D...id=1410725062&sr=8-1&keywords=tron+soundtrack

Jump to around 2:30 for one of my favorite tracks:

One that I can never get tired of is from the excellent movie, The Village. You will enjoy it 10 times more if you watch the movie first. I have rarely heard a soundtrack so closely mimic the movie itself. The composer is none other than the super talented and prolific James Newton Howard: http://www.amazon.com/Village-James...725311&sr=8-1&keywords=the+village+soundtrack

The next track is by one of our other favorite movie composers, Hans Zimmer in the form of The Last Samurai: http://www.amazon.com/The-Last-Samu...8&sr=8-1&keywords=the+last+samurai+soundtrack. As with James Newton Howard you can buy all of his soundtracks blind and not have a single dud. I must have listened to this CD thousands of times and while riding in Japan transportation so it has a special meaning to me. I love the rather melancholy/"respectful" tone which so nicely matches the movie's ending.

He is also the composer of Dark Knight series, Sherlock Holmes, etc. that Roysen picked. If you just bought every soundtrack from the last two composers you will have enough great music to last you years .

More to come later.

 

[LL21]

Awesome thread!!!

1. Harry Potter - The Half-Blood Prince
2. The Lord of the Rings Soundtracks...but get the full-on 3-CD versions for each movie which I believe are literally the 3.5-hour scene by scene soundtrack of the entire movie. They come in these box-like editions that look like antique books. I have the first 3 from the LOTR Triology. Stunning. The newer series are also good (Smaug, etc)
3. As already said, Both Sherlock Holmes soundtracks, both Dark Knights and Tron (there is a 2CD special edition, and the 2nd CD is cool)
4. Angels and Demons/DaVinci Code
5. Lincoln - John Williams
6. ONLY if you like stuff like this for fun...Fast and Furious 5. (Fast & Furious 6 is 'ok' overall...but the Cypress Hill/Deadmau5 track and Bandoleros track are simply awesome!!!)

 

[still-one]

Many of my favorites are included in Roysen's list but here are a few additonal:

La Mula - Oscar Navarro
Cider House Rules - Rachel Portman
Gone Baby Gone - Harry Gregson-Williams
Departures- Joe Hisaishi
Shakespeare In Love - Stephen Warbeck
The Words - Marcelo Zarvos
Yo Yo Ma Plays the music of Ennio Moriconne

The there are the 3 Varese Sarabande compilations. Each include four discs of music
The 25th Anniversary Celebration
The 30th Anniversary Celebration
The 35th Anniversary Celebration
The recording quality gets better with each iteration.

 

[Garth]

...

 

[MtnHam]

Jean de Florette and Manion of the Spring
Jean de Florette (1986) Trailer - YouTube:www.youtube.com/watch?v=V44E_YanQsg

I have the LP. Highly recommended, both the music and the films. Many say this is the absolute best of French cinema.

 

[Ronm1]

Jean de Florette and Manion of the Spring
Jean de Florette (1986)
Highly recommended, both the music and the films. Many say this is the absolute best of French cinema.

As mentioned in another thread two of my favorite foreign films. One of the classic revenge films ever IMHO. Course one has to view both to appreciate it.

 

[JackD201]

The Commitments
Cadillac Records
Ray
'Round Midnight
Trainspotting
The Mission
Cinema Paradiso
Summer of 42
Immortal Beloved

I'm leaving out Broadway adaptations, of which there are very many.

Trivia Quiz: Name the movie about a one hit wonder where that one "hit" was played with a stupid number of arrangements a stupid number of times throughout the course of the film.

 

[Ronm1]

^^^ Some of my favorites there Jack.
I've always been partial to the music in the film 'Songcatcher'. I don't know how well it works as a standalone soundtrack, though.
Your quiz has me stumped??? At the moment.

 

[JackD201]

I'll give you a clue Ron. The title of the song is also the title of the movie. It would have made for one heckuva funny soundtrack, one song done so many ways. LOL!

 

[docvale]

The Vangelis , Blade Runner

+1

I would also recommend Once Upon a Time in America, by Ennio Morricone.

 

[Mike]

I'll give you a clue Ron. The title of the song is also the title of the movie. It would have made for one heckuva funny soundtrack, one song done so many ways. LOL!

Sympathy for the Devil

 

[JackD201]

That a song/movie? Dang! There are 2 of 'em?

 

[Mike]

I was being silly. It's a great song, but I'm not so sure about the movie. Is it That Thing You Do!?

 

[JackD201]

You da man Mike!

 

[Mike]

You da man Mike!

I want my prize.

I like the movie soundtrack from Taxi Driver by Bernard Herrmann.

 

[Shadowfax]

For Stanley Clarke fans - "Passenger 57" will test your house foundation with the right system.

 

[LL21]

For Stanley Clarke fans - "Passenger 57" will test your house foundation with the right system.

Was this the Wesley Snipes action flick?

 

[Shadowfax]

Was this the Wesley Snipes action flick?

Yes, here is the imdb link
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0105104/

From allmusic-

Passenger 57 was a 1992 Wesley Snipes vehicle that placed the cartoonish action of Die Hard inside the skin of a jetliner. While the film's pasted-in suspense and general dullness long ago relegated it to the "do not rent" pile, Snipes' memorable tagline -- "always bet on black" -- has continued to resonate in pop culture. For the purposes of this soundtrack, the line might be tweaked to read "always bet on bass." It falls to contemporary fusionist Stanley Clarke to illustrate the supposed tension of Passenger, and against all odds the ex-Return to Forever bassist largely pulls it off. "Lookin' Good (Cutter's Theme)" pops with Member's Only cool, while "Rane to Plane" -- which introduces the film's hijacking villain -- stutters with spikes of percussion and a dirty bassline. The rest of the set alternates between contemporary jazz instrumentals typical of Clarke and pieces that are appropriate to the film's most tense moments, even if, in the actual film, that tension is buried under hackneyed pacing and laughable predictability.

 

[LL21]

Yes, here is the imdb link
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0105104/

From allmusic-

Passenger 57 was a 1992 Wesley Snipes vehicle that placed the cartoonish action of Die Hard inside the skin of a jetliner. While the film's pasted-in suspense and general dullness long ago relegated it to the "do not rent" pile, Snipes' memorable tagline -- "always bet on black" -- has continued to resonate in pop culture. For the purposes of this soundtrack, the line might be tweaked to read "always bet on bass." It falls to contemporary fusionist Stanley Clarke to illustrate the supposed tension of Passenger, and against all odds the ex-Return to Forever bassist largely pulls it off. "Lookin' Good (Cutter's Theme)" pops with Member's Only cool, while "Rane to Plane" -- which introduces the film's hijacking villain -- stutters with spikes of percussion and a dirty bassline. The rest of the set alternates between contemporary jazz instrumentals typical of Clarke and pieces that are appropriate to the film's most tense moments, even if, in the actual film, that tension is buried under hackneyed pacing and laughable predictability.

I remember the move but not the soundtrack...thanks! will go check it out.