Ten Best Scores of All Time

Compiled by Lukas Kendall

Got this intriguing idea in the Mail Bag the other day:

From: Bryan Alban <bryanalban@hotmail.com>

I thought of a question that either you could answer on one of your daily articles, or you could have the readers respond to. It's a tough question, one that requires a lot of thought, but I think it would bring out some good responses. The question is:

What Are The 10 Best Scores of All-Time?

I know this is a large question, but like I said earlier, I think it would bring out some good debate, and people would be turned-on to new scores they maybe never considered.

I will first answer this question by saying that it is nearly impossible to answer. The biggest problem is that I don't know what the criteria are. Are we talking about the best movies with the best scores, or the best scores regardless? Is it the best music on its own, or the best when supporting the film? And is it by necessity an original score of the symphonic style most fans like, or are we including things like The Graduate and Mean Streets? I mean, for me, Superfly is one of the ten best scores of all time, but it probably isn't for a lot of other soundtrack collectors.

I can offer something useful in that last year we conducted a poll of our readers as to their various favorites, and these were the results in the relevant category:

Favorite Soundtrack of All Time

1. Ben-Hur

2. The Empire Strikes Back

3. Vertigo

4. Raiders of the Lost Ark

5. Star Wars

6. E.T.

7. Planet of the Apes

8. The Big Country

9. Batman

Conan The Barbarian

El Cid

Jaws

10. Star Wars Trilogy

The Magnificent Seven

To Kill a Mockingbird

11. Psycho

Under Fire

12. Star Trek: The Motion Picture

Also receiving votes were: King Kong (Steiner), Poltergeist, Spartacus, Superman, The Adventures of Robin Hood, The Best Years Of Our Lives, Body Heat, Citizen Kane, Glory, Goldfinger, Kings Row, Lawrence of Arabia, North by Northwest, Once Upon a Time in The West, Schindler's List, Spellbound, and The Ten Commandments.

I'm going to out (way out) on a limb and conclude this column with my own cursory list of the ten greatest scores of all time, according to me (not including collections of rock songs): the best movies with the best scores that are listenable on their own and also support the film in a creative, personal and innovative way. These are NOT in any order:

1. Psycho

2. The Empire Strikes Back

3. Vertigo

4. Planet of the Apes

5. To Kill a Mockingbird

6. Superfly

7. Dirty Harry

8. Superman

9. Once Upon a Time in the West

10. Goldfinger

Just shows you how hard this is, because now I have no room for North by Northwest, A Streetcar Named Desire, Chinatown, Ben-Hur, Lawrence of Arabia, The Magnificent Seven...

Oh man, this is hard! Okay, send your list, but NO LONG EXPLANATIONS. Short defenses of your choices only. Thanks! Also forgive me if we already did this - we've had, what, 400+ daily columns in the last two years, and I can't remember anything.

MailBag@filmscoremonthly.com