Cinematic Melodies: My Favorite Film Scores

There is a very solid argument supporting the notion that out of all the different art mediums that exist, music is perhaps the most immediately powerful and the most profoundly visceral. Whereas the experience of watching a wonderful play or reading an excellent book inherently takes some time for its cumulative effect to occur, great music can often take your breath away within an instant. Before your brain can even logically process what you are hearing, music can lift your spirits, soothe your nerves, and transport you back to a special time in your life. In the space of just about four minutes, a single song can take you through an entire emotional spectrum, in a way that mere words can only dream of evoking.

And while cinema happens to be my favorite medium because it is essentially an amalgamation of all the other art forms, music still stands out as one of the most essential cinematic tools. It can instantly set the mood, maintain a sense of forward momentum, create fitting associations with characters, and elevate the emotions of a powerful moment to their purest form. So for today's post, I wanted to talk about my five favorite film scores of all time, with the operative phrase being "of all time," not so much because of how far back in history this list goes, but more so because I quite literally listen to these scores all the time, as I do my household chores, drive around town, or write blog posts like the one you're currently reading.

Before we delve into the list, I did want to make a simple distinction to the uninitiated: When I'm talking about film scores, I'm not talking about soundtracks or needle drops (as those deserve their own blog post, which may or may not come out sometime later in the summer, wink wink). I'm here to talk about the best original music created by remarkable film composers. And in an attempt to spread the love, I limited myself to one score per composer (otherwise this list might as well be called The Top 37 John Williams Scores, Ranked From Good to God-Level 😂).

So without further ado, here are my five favorite film scores of all time, in descending order:

5.) The Batman (2022) - Scored by Michael Giacchino

If you thought it was surprising that it took three blog posts for me to talk about Christopher Nolan, how about the fact that it took SEVEN blog posts for me to even mention the name Batman? That is an unprecedented display of restraint on my part, if I do say so myself (feel free to ignore the fact that the next film on this list is a literal Nolan movie 😂). But I digress.

Michael Giacchino is rightfully considered one of the finest composers working today, as his magnificent scores for films such as The Incredibles (2004), Speed Racer (2008), Up (2009), and Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017) showcase his signature ability to bring energetic playfulness just as well as affecting pathos to practically any story. For my money though, his absolute magnum opus is his immaculate score for Matt Reeves' The Batman (2022).

On the heels of working with his old pal Reeves on the underrated score for War for the Planet of the Apes (2017), Giacchino accepted the opportunity to make music for none other than the Caped Crusader himself. It is quite a tall order to follow in the footsteps of iconic composers like Neal Hefti, Danny Elfman, Shirley Walker, Elliot Goldenthal, and Hans Zimmer, all of whom have composed terrific themes for previous Batman films. And yet, what Giacchino managed to accomplish with his Batman score is nothing short of miraculous.

Not only did he subtly pay homage to all the other Batman scores that came before him, but he somehow composed a theme that captured the menace and tragedy of the character better than any other incarnation before. In tune with the moody visuals and the 70s conspiracy thrillers that served as the film's inspirations, Giacchino's score perfectly evokes the feeling of walking at night through the rainy streets of Gotham, and the dangers that lurk in the shadows of every alleyway. It also needs to be said that Giacchino has a proclivity for puns in the titles of his tracks, and his Batman score is among his best work as a punsmith. Some of my favorite examples are Meow and You and Everyone We Know and An Im-purr-fect Murder. It's clear that he got a lot of mileage (or should I say catnip) from Catwoman alone.

The score contains all kinds of triumphantly heroic and action-packed tracks you might expect from a superhero blockbuster, but it also contains genuinely mournful and achingly moving pieces that express the years of longing and isolation that Bruce Wayne has felt his entire life. In particular, the climactic track All's Well That Ends Farewell never fails to get me emotional every time I hear it. To this day, the only time I've ever seen my sister head-banging to a score is when this part of the track Riddles, Riddles Everywhere kicks in, and it's one of my happiest memories of watching a movie in a theater.

For those reasons and many more, Giacchiano's score for The Batman holds a special place in my heart, and I simply cannot wait to hear what he comes up with for the upcoming sequel.

Favorite Track: Sonata in Darkness.

4.) Interstellar (2014) - Scored by Hans Zimmer

Lemme tell a quick story that is admittedly well-known by fans of this film, but it warrants telling for those who perhaps don't know it.

Before he even wrote a single word of the script for Interstellar (2014), Christopher Nolan visited his friend/frequent collaborator Hans Zimmer, and Nolan gave him a very short story about a father leaving a child to complete an important job. The story only contained two lines of dialogue: "I'll come back" and "When?" Nolan then asked Zimmer to spend one day composing music based solely on the feelings that the short story evoked, and Zimmer proceeded to compose this beautiful piano piece that same night. After Nolan listened to it and was quite pleased with the result, he finally explained to Zimmer his ambitious concept for the film. Zimmer seemed confused at first, baffled at how a massive story about space exploration, gravitational anomalies, and the fate of the human race itself could possibly merit a piece that was so intimate and vulnerable. Nolan reassured him by saying that the piano piece would effectively be the heart of the film, and that it would inform their unorthodox approach to scoring a science fiction blockbuster.

The resulting score is nothing short of extraordinary, as it indeed captures both the grandeur of the space adventures that Interstellar contains, just as much as the devastatingly emotional moments that follow. The score for this film has become so popular that it has become a bit of a tradition for piano players to play music from Interstellar in public spaces. Zimmer manages to create a sense of discovery and wonder with a piece like Cornfield Chase, he gradually ratchets up the tension with the metronomic sound of a watch in the piece Mountains, and he breaks your heart into a million pieces with the crucial piece Stay. The frequent usage of a church organ in the score is such an inspired choice as well, as it elevates the film to a spiritual level that feels apropos for the concept of exploring what awaits beyond the skies. With each new collaboration between Nolan and Zimmer, you can actively feel how they're trying to experiment with what can be achieved with a film score, and their innovations are felt in full force here. It is no surprise that in the years since the film's release, Zimmer often says that the score he's proudest of is Interstellar.

I also wanna take a moment to shout out my favorite teacher from high school, Frau Garrett, who would often play the Interstellar score during the Film Club meetings that would take place in her classroom, making those cherished memories all the more indelible.

I could go on and on talking about how much this film in particular means to me (and I probably will to some extent on a future blog post), but in the interest of brevity and efficiency, let's just say that the score of Interstellar deserves its place among the stars.

Favorite Track: Coward.

3.) Punch-Drunk Love (2002) - Scored by Jon Brion

Let's shift gears (or change radio stations, if you prefer) to a much smaller but no less influential film, as it is a truly idiosyncratic work that many filmmakers and actors cite as one of their favorite movies, and I wholeheartedly agree with them. This special film is Paul Thomas Anderson's Punch-Drunk Love (2002), it stars Adam Sandler as a socially anxious entrepreneur named Barry Egan, and I think that the best way to describe the film without spoiling too much is that it is a surrealistic romantic comedy about the unpredictable chaos of life and the saving grace of love. This film is perhaps my favorite example of purely subjective storytelling, which is to say that the story unfolds from Barry's perspective, and thus everything in the film is meticulously designed to reflect how Barry perceives the world around him. And out of all the ways in which the film makes the audience feel like they're in Barry's head, arguably the most crucial component in that regard is the brilliantly unique score by Jon Brion.

I can confidently say without exaggeration that there is no other film score quite like this, in the sense that it is such a peculiar distillation of different influences. As he was writing the film, Anderson apparently watched a lot of old MGM musicals from the 50s, like Singin' in the Rain (1952) and The Band Wagon (1953), as well as classic French films from the 60s, like Shoot the Piano Player (1960) and PlayTime (1967). In the process of describing his vision to Brion, it became clear to both of them that what they wanted to make was essentially a movie that kinda felt like a musical except nobody ever breaks into song. While that might be hard to imagine out of context, if you watch the film, it really is a very apt description for its vibrantly colorful aesthetic, its occasionally whimsical tone, and particularly its experimental approach to music.

Punch-Drunk Love is certainly the kind of film whose mood shifts in perfect tandem with its main character. When Barry is feeling romantic and optimistic, the piece that plays is Third Floor Hallway, an orchestral piece that is about as lovely and as uplifting as you can get. When Barry feels regretful and concerned, we get a piece like Hospital, which captures the realization that mistakes have been made. And when Barry is having a full-blown panic attack, where he feels utterly cornered by everyone in his life, we hear the percussive piece Hands and Feet, a virtuosic cacophony of disparate sound effects that expresses an increasingly overbearing feeling of anxiety better than anything else I've heard.

Some people are somewhat surprised to hear that a film with such severe tonal shifts is what I consider to be my go-to comfort movie, but I fully stand by it. Punch-Drunk Love is an inimitable film that constantly inspires me to experiment with all the tools of cinema, and its expressionistic creativity never fails to leave me astounded.

Favorite Track: He Really Needs Me.

2.) Jurassic Park (1993) - Scored by John Williams

Now comes the toughest challenge of this entire list: Choosing just one John Williams score. I mean, how can you pick just one out of that discography? Stop me if by any chance you've heard of any of these films: Fiddler on the Roof (1971), Jaws (1975), Star Wars (1977), Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), Superman (1978), Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982), The Witches of Eastwick (1987), Home Alone (1990), JFK (1991) Schindler's List (1993), Saving Private Ryan (1998), Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (2001), Minority Report (2002), Catch Me If You Can (2002), The Adventures of Tintin (2011), Lincoln (2012), and The Book Thief (2013). I know, right? Just a bunch of practically non-existent films that no one remembers or cares about. Oh, he also composed the music for four different Olympic ceremonies. Just wanted to drop that lil' fun fact for ya.

If we're talking about the single best and most influential track of Williams' career, I think it's a bit of a no-brainer that The Imperial March from The Empire Strikes Back (1980) is probably the one that takes the cake. But since we're talking about entire film scores, I would actually say that Williams' score for the original Jurassic Park (1993) is my personal favorite work of his.

Of course, everyone loves and remembers the main melody of the film, it's one of the most hummable themes ever composed. I do think though that the rest of the score is somewhat taken for granted, like the meditative piece Remembering Petticoat Lane or the tension-filled track High Wire Stunts. During last week's post, I mentioned that the latest installments of the Jurassic World series have really taken away a lot of awe and grandeur of seeing dinosaurs on the big screen, as there is a familiar feeling of "been there, done that" to a lot of the effects shots that are meant to feel utterly spectacular. But what is amazing about Williams' music is that even when it is lazily recycled for sequels that are decidedly not directed with the emotional precision of Steven Spielberg, you still get enraptured with this feeling of absolute wonder. His music can't help but carry any film he works on, regardless of the given movie's actual quality.

And mind you, Williams started working on the score towards the end of February 1993, merely FOUR months before the film's release on June 11th. It was by all accounts a rushed job, brought upon by Spielberg's decision to make Jurassic Park and Schindler's List in the same year (an insane artistic undertaking that has never been equaled since). The fact that the final result turned out to be as iconic as it remains is a testament to Williams' incomparable power as a musician.

Favorite Track: Journey To The Island.

1.) Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters (1985) - Scored by Philip Glass

Lastly, when I think about what I consider to be the absolute greatest film score of all time, I often think about Philip Glass' score for the arthouse cult classic Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters (1985). For those of you who haven't heard of this film, it is an unconventional biopic about the controversial Japanese author Yukio Mishima. Utilizing one of the most ambitious narrative structures ever conceived, the film intimately presents Mishima's backstory in black-and-white, it vividly depicts his last day on earth in a handheld documentary style, and it audaciously dramatizes three different novels of his, with each having a distinct color palette, like the one you see above, which is titled The Temple of the Golden Pavilion (1956). And the film manages to cover all of this complex material in a timespan of exactly two hours. How exactly does the film accomplish this structure, you may ask?

The lion's share of the credit belongs to the writer/director Paul Schrader, who had the perceptiveness to see that Mishima's novels were more revealing and indicative of his character traits than his actual actions in life ever were. But a major reason why the film packs such a striking punch is because of its singularly operatic score from Philip Glass.

In this case, I'm using the adjective "operatic" in quite a befitting manner, since Glass' specialty prior to working on film scores was composing minimalistic, abstract operas like Einstein on the Beach (1976) and Satyagraha (1980). Apart from his work on the stage, his other notable work was his score for the acclaimed non-narrative documentary Koyaanisqatsi (1982), which is also an all-timer score in its own right. When it came time to make the music for Mishima, Schrader knew he needed someone who could musically connect all the segments from the film, someone who could find an orchestral coherence amongst all the visual experimentation and narrative abstraction that the film contained. Safe to say, Glass delivered on that front and then some.

So why do I think this is the greatest film score of all time? It's because this score is arguably the ultimate example of music being as much of a lead character as any actor or setting in the film. The score doesn't casually play in the background of scenes, it has a formidable presence that feels inextricable from the very fabric of the film. When you hear a thunderous piece like November 25: Morning, an ethereal track like Kyoko's House, or a piece as honestly transcendent as Runaway Horses, you're instantly oriented in terms of which segment in the film is taking place, and you're seamlessly presented with the exact mood that each segment is meant to convey. That right there is a level of musical precision that is astonishing to me. In terms of what film scores are capable of being, I don't think there's one that is quite as overwhelming, as visionary, or as awe-inspiring, as Glass' score for Mishima.

Favorite Track: Mishima/Opening.

Here are various honorable mentions of other incredible film scores that I love listening to, and for each score I've attached a link to my favorite track: Howard Shore's score for The Lord of the Rings Trilogy (2001-2003), Jonny Greenwood's score for Phantom Thread (2017), Alan Silvestri's score for the Back to the Future Trilogy (1985-1990), Ludwig Göransson's score for Oppenheimer (2023), Ennio Morricone's score for Once Upon a Time in America (1984), Alexandre Desplat's score for Little Women (2019), Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross' score for The Social Network (2010), Dario Marianelli's score for Pride & Prejudice (2005), Mica Levi's score for Under the Skin (2013), Nick Cave & Warren Ellis' score for The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007), Tom Holkenborg's score for Mad Max: Fury Road (2015), and Justin Hurwitz's score for Babylon (2022).

I'll leave you with one of my all-time favorite quotes, from the legendary Russian composer Sergei Rachmaninoff: "Music is enough for a lifetime, but a lifetime is not enough for music."