The Top 30 Soundtracks of All Time

I am an avid fan of original scores to movies. So much so that I follow them close enough that I honestly believe I could make more informed votes on that category than half the Academy. They should really let me vote on that one category. Since that is not going to happen I decided that I would honor my favorite soundtracks. The list isn't in any paticular order since you can't compare genres of music. Who is going to say that Grindhouse is better than Amelie? One is Spanish guitar/rock where the other is classical piano. I also listed my favorite tracks on each one, the tracks that define the mood and theme of the music.

1. Memoirs of a Geisha by John Williams

Key Tracks: Sayuri’s Theme, Going to School, Becoming a Geisha, The Chairman’s Waltz

2. Amelie by Yann Tiersen

Key Tracks: J’y Suis Jamaise Amelie, Les Jours Tristes, La Valse de Amelie, La Noyee

3. Edward Scissorhands by Danny Elfman

Key Tracks: Storytime, Falling in Love With Kim, The Ice Dance, The Grand Finale

4. Wall-E by Thomas Newman

Key Tracks: 2815 A.D., Wall-E, Eve, Bubble Wrap, The Axiom, Define Dancing, All That Love’s About, Horizon 12.2

5. American Beauty by Thomas Newman

Key Tracks: Dead Already, Arose, American Beauty, Any Other Name

6. Jurassic Park by John Williams

Key Tracks: Opening Titles, Theme from Jurassic Park, Journey to the Island, Welcome to Jurassic Park, End Credits

7. The Legend of Bagger Vance by Rachel Portman

Key Tracks: Savannah Needs a Hero, Bagger Offers to Caddy for Junuh, Bagger and Hardy Measure the Course at Night, Junuh Sees the Field, Junuh Comes Out of the Woods, Bagger Leaves, Old Hardy Joins Bagger By the Sea

8. The Time Machine by Klaus Badelt

Key Tracks: Professor Alexander Hartdegen, The Time Machine,

I Don’t Belong Here, Good Night

9. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by John Williams

Aunt Marge’s Waltz, Double Trouble, Buckbeak’s Flight, Window to the Past, Mischief Managed

10. The Godfather by Nino Rota

Key Tracks: Connie’s Wedding, Love Theme, The Godfather Waltz, Apollonia, The New Godfather, The Godfather Finale

11. Raiders of the Lost Ark by John Williams

Key Tracks: The Raiders March, Marion’s Theme, The Map Room, The Basket Game, The Warehouse

12. The Shawshank Redemption by Thomas Newman

Key Tracks: Shawshank Prison, New Fish, Rock Hammer, Brooks Was Here, Suds on the Roof, Shawshank Redemption, Sisters, Zihuatanejo, Lovely Raquel, And That Right Soon, Compass and Guns, So Was Red, End Title

13. Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring by Howard Shore

Key Tracks: Concerning Hobbits, Many Meetings, The Council of Elrond, The Ring Goes South, The Great River, The Breaking of the Fellowship

14. The Land Before Time by James Horner

Key Tracks: The Great Migration, Whispering Winds, If We Hold On Together, Foraging For Food, Rescue/ Discovery of the Great Valley, End Credits

15. Grindhouse by Robert Rodriguez

Key Tracks: Grindhouse, The Ring in the Jacket, Killer Legs, Cherry’s Dance of Death

16. Pride and Prejudice by Dario Marinelli

Key Tracks: Living Sculptures of Pemberly, Arrival to Netherfield, Postcard to Henry Purcell, Liz on Top of the World, Secret Life of Daydreams, Your Hands Are Cold, Mrs. Darcy

17. Ocean’s 11: David Holmes

Key Tracks: Caravan, Gritty Shaker, Tess, 160 Million Dollar Chinese Man, 69 Police

18. Meet Joe Black: Thomas Newman

Key Tracks: Yes, Everywhere Freesia, Peanut Butter Man, Whisper of a Thrill, Cold Lamb Sandwich, Frequent Thing, Someone Else, That Next Place, Over the Rainbow

19. The Empire Strike Back by John Williams

Key Tracks: Main Theme, The Asteroids Field, Luke’s Nocturna Visitor, Han Solo and the Princess, The Imperial March, Yoda’s Theme, End Title

20. The Good the Bad and the Ugly by Ennio Morricone

Key Tracks: Main Title, The Strong, The Story of a Soldier, The Ecstasy of Gold, The Trio

21. The Duchess by Rachel Portman

Key Tracks: The Duchess, Gee and Grey Together in Bath, Six Years Later, End Titles

22. Atonement by Dario Marinelli

Key Tracks: Briony, With My Own Eyes, Half Killed, Elegy for Dunkirk

23. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest by Hans Zimmer and Klaus Badelt

Key Tracks: Jack Sparrow, The Kraken, Two Hornpipes, Wheel of Fortune

24. The Fountain by Clint Mansell

Key Tracks: The Last Man, Death is a Disease, Xibalba, Death is the Road to Awe, Together We Will Live Forever

25. Road to Perdition by Thomas Newman

Key Tracks: Rock Island 1931, Just the Feller, Murder in Four Parts, Road to Chicago, Reading Room, Dirty Money, Rain Hammers, Virgin Mary, Grave Drive, Cathedral, Ghosts, Lexington Hotel Room 1432

26. Psycho by Bernard Hermann

Key Tracks: Prelude, The Patrol Car, Hotel Room, The Murder, The Search

27. The Horse Whisperer by Thomas Newman

Key Tracks: There Was Snow, Runaway Meadow, Rhythm of the Horse, Grace, End Title

28. Hook by Thomas Newman

Key Tracks: Prolouge, Granny Wendy, The Arrival of Tink and the Flight to Neverland, Presenting the Hook, From Mermaids to Lost Boys, The Never-Feast, Remembering Childhood, You Are the Pan, When Your Alone, The Ultimate War, Farewell Neverland

29. A Beautiful Mind by James Horner

Key Tracks: A Kaleidoscope of Mathematics, Playing a Game of Go, Creating “Governing Dynamics”, Cracking the Russian Codes, Of One Heart of One Mind, The Prize of One’s Life…The Prize of One’s Mind, All Love Can Be, Closing Credits

30. Gladiator by Hans Zimmer

Key Tracks: Homecoming, The Slave Who Became a Gladiator, Rome is the Light, The Gladiator’s Waltz

Honorable Mention: Jaws