You’re sitting in a movie theater watching the film you’ve been waiting for since the day you first heard it was being produced. Or you could be snuggling up on the couch with a loved one watching a childhood favorite. What is the fist thing you hear? Is it the crash of two cymbals or the sound of a trumpet blaring through the speaker. Maybe it’s the trill of a flute or the beating of a snare, the strumming of guitar strings, the sound of a full choir singing notes that blend in and out, making us (the audience) feel emotions well before we even see an image on the screen. The power of a movie soundtrack can go a long way in terms of bringing the viewer into the story.
Music without imagery already has a pull on the human’s emotions. Music can make us cry, love, and hate; it can make us bring back memories from our past—both bad and good. Now combine that music with a motion picture telling the story of two lovers getting ready to die, or Batman chasing the Joker down the streets of Gotham, or a group of witches in search of falling star to rejuvenate their long lost beauty; only then does the story become something more.
Some of the most talented film score composers include: Hans Zimmer (The Lion King, Pirates of the Caribbean, The Dark Knight, Inception), John Ottman (Fantastic 4, X2: X-men United, Valkyrie), John Powell (The Bourne Supremacy, United 93, Shrek), James Horner (Titanic, Avatar, Braveheart), Henry Gregson-Williams (The Chronicles of Narnia, Man on Fire, X-men Origins: Wolverine), John Williams (Star Wars, Jaws, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban). These men were born with a gift many of us wish we had—the ability to tell a story without words, just music.
A soundtrack doesn’t have to have a full orchestra to make it great; in fact, some of my favorite soundtracks are pop and indie based. For example the soundtracks to Nick and Nora’s Infinite Playlist, Juno, and The Twilight Saga. Those soundtracks feature bands such as Vampire Weekend, Paramore, Muse, Sonic Youth,The Black Keys, and Bloc Party.
Soundtracks are something that I’ve been passionate about since I could remember. I’m not sure where the fascination started, but if I had to take a guess I’d say that first note of Circle of Life. I was five and I remember being scared out of my mind when the sun peaked up over the horizon and I heard Circle of Life for the first time. Now a hit musical on Broadway, The Lion King has moved the masses and little did I know that to this very day I’d still be listening to that soundtrack.
A lot of different movie websites and blogs don’t have a page dedicated to soundtracks, but personally, I think the soundtracks are just as important as the film. This page will consist of everything soundtrack related. I will try my best to post a review of one soundtrack every week, maybe even two.
Here is a list of my top ten favorite songs from movie soundtracks (no particular order):
- “Harry in the Winter” from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by Patrick Doyle
- “Promontory” from The Last of the Mohicans by Trevor Jones and Randy Edelman
- “Molossus” from Batman Begins by Hans Zimmer
- “Shooting Star” from Stardust by Andy Brown, Ilan Eshkeri, and the London Metropolitan Opera
- “Dark Phoenix’s Tragedy” from X-men: The Last Stand by John Powell
- “The Portrait” from Titanic by James Horner
- “Resurrection” from The Passion of the Christ by John Debney
- “Cinema Italiano” from Nine by Andrea Guerra and Maury Yeston
- “Wheel of Fortune” from Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest” by Hans Zimmer
- “The Battle” from Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by Henry Gregson-Williams
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