Which movie(s) do you think has the best soundtrack?
I think American Psycho has a good soundtrack and I listen to it occasionaly.
For me the criteria is: would the movie be very different with another soundtrack. The below offerings truly elevate their movies imo.
Tron Legacy
Blade Runner
Black Panther
Into The Wild
Good Will Hunting has a fantastic soundtrack.
That’s the movie that introduced me to Elliot Smith!
Just watched the whole movie. Absolutely loved it.
Reservoir Dogs, O Brother Where Art Though, Blues Brothers, From Dusk til Dawn,
I know you said movies, but a soundtrack for a show I’m hooked on currently is Legion (FX/Marvel, on Hulu). The whole entire show has an amazing cast to begin with, but Jeff Russo (Fargo, Star Trek Discovery, more) and Noah Hawley put together one hell of a score. I highly recommend it and the show.
Since you’ve broadened it out to TV, I’ll use that as an excuse and mention that I think Nicholas Britell’s score for Andor is pretty cracking too.
Could not agree more, Legion has an absolutely amazing score/soundtrack. The Bolero scene? Legendary.
More general answer than you expected, but…
I really like when the sound design in movies makes sense - it “plays” in radio, gramophone…
For example “Black hole sun” cover in first episode of Westworld is just brilliant and caught me off guard (I didn’t know what it is about).
The adjective for this type of music is “diegetic”. That’s sound which is occurring and audible in-universe, not just to the audience.
TIL, thanks.
My favourite example of this is in Grosse Point Blank, when the GNR cover of Live and Let Die is playing non-diagetically, right until the moment Martin walks into the store, and suddenly a cheesy muzak version of it is playing over the shop radio. It’s beautifully done :-)
Haven’t watched it yet, but I love Black Hole Sun. I’ll definately check it out
If you don’t know anything about Westworld - don’t read reviews…
The mindfuck from the first season is worth it when you go blind in to it. The soundtrack is making the vibe of it even more disturbing/disorienting.
Most people, as evidenced by the comments, don’t know the difference between soundtrack and score. Either that or they DO know the difference and are choosing to answer as if they didn’t.
Then give us some of your pieces as comparison
Lots of good ones here, I’ll add some that haven’t been mentioned: Sahara, Rango, both Sherlock Holmes movies, Scott Pilgrim vs The World, the JJ Abrams Star Trek’s, The Incredibles, Godzilla 2014, The Road to El Dorado
Can’t believe no-one mentioned The Crow…
It can’t rain all the time.
Godzilla 1998
Varsity Blues
Watched Blade Runner 2049 2 days ago. Had a very good soundtrack but I wouldnt just listen to it just.
Personal favorites:
Tron: Legacy
Pacific RimMonsoon Wedding
Lord of the Ringa
I’m not seeing Oppenheimer mentioned , perhaps I’m in the minority here.
When I think of exquisite sound design, two of my favorite movies spring to mind: Stalker (1979) and The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly.
The former has such a subtle soundtrack that it’s almost like it’s not there, but without it so much of the atmosphere of a movie that is heavily atmospheric would be lost.
The latter is just a perfect western with a perfect western soundtrack. The theme is well known, but L’estasi Dell’oro gives me chills every time it starts playing.
