We’ve all had that experience: You watch the movie and it’s got great acting, an awesome script, beautiful cinematography — it’s almost perfect. There’s just one problem, and it’s an aspect of moviemaking you may have never given much thought to before: the soundtrack/score. (Yeah, I realize there’s a difference. This ain’t cinema class.)
And because of that lousy score, you hate the whole film.
It’s always struck me as one of those things that’s easy to overlook until you encounter a really bad one. Once you start noticing, though, you start to understand how integral it is to a well-crafted film.
So name the best — and the worst — you’ve ever heard.
12 September, 2007...8:39 pm
Best and worst soundtracks
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7 Comments
12 September, 2007 at 9:39 pm
Worst: “Ladyhawke.” It’s dreadfully inappropriate… and just plain dreadful.
13 September, 2007 at 1:05 am
You took the first one that came to mind for the worst … “Ladyhawke,: great film, lousy score. Ugh!
Among my favorite scores are those for the Godzilla movies, scored by Akira Ifukube. Absolutely perfect. You can really tell a huge difference in the Big G appearances that weren’t scored by Ifukube.
Howard Shore’s score for the “Lord of the Rings” movies is brilliant, too.
– Steve
13 September, 2007 at 12:29 pm
As long as we’re talking about musical scores … there is one orchestral piece that is used repeatedly in movie trailers. I don;t know the name of the piece or the composer, but it seems to get used EVERY time a movie trailer wants to impart a sense of sweeping drama. It’s not bad music at all, really, but through over use it has become a cliche.
I think I’ve heard it during the trailers every time we’ve gone to a cinema in the last 10 years. It drives me insane.
The next time you watch a movie commercial and see a heroic figure moving in slow motion against a backdrop of chaos, pay attention to the music. I’ll bet you recognize it.
– Steve
13 September, 2007 at 9:00 pm
Favorites:
Conan the Barbarian
The Crow
Once Upon A Time in the West, but any of Ennio Morricone’s other spaghetti western work will do
Singles
Desperado
From Dusk Til Dawn
I don’t really have any I hate, because if the scores don’t catch my attention, I usually ignore them. However, I have to agree with Steve’s views about Ladyhawke.
14 September, 2007 at 2:15 am
Oh, another movie with a killer score: “Last of the Mohicans.” The most recent version, of course, with Daniel Day-Lewis. Really good score.
24 September, 2007 at 7:10 am
There has been several good sounds tracks over the years.
The Stars Wars
Indiana Jones
Youngs Guns had a great song by Bon Jovi
Just a few I can remember at thsi time.
27 September, 2007 at 12:52 am
Ty: I wish I could ignore a bad movie score. Oh, how I wish I could ignore a bad movie score! But I can’t. I can very seldom master the trick of tuning out music I don’t like. It seeps into my pores, twists my eardrums, makes my teeth chatter … argh!