Film Music Guide
Film Scores carry the atmosphere of any film. Although still considered a niche genre, film scores have risen in popularity since John Williams made the famous score for Star Wars!
Below, I have tried to create a set of “Best Of” lists by composer and era. Of course, any such list will be subjective and personal. Understand that this is my list, not those of a professional film score critic and historian. These are my favorites!
My Favorite Scores...
Classics, masterpeices and guilty pleasures! Williams has the most scores listed, but maybe that’s why he’s my favorite film score (and non-score) composer. This list is not meant to be balanced to highlight the best by period and composer. This is simply the list of scores that I own that jumped out at me when I browsed my collection. It’s what I like to listen to!
- Aliens, Horner
- AI, Williames
- Batman, Elfman
- Ben Hur, Rosza
- Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Williams
- Conan the Barbarian, Poledouris
- Couching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Dun
- Dracula, Kilar
- Ed Wood, Shore
- E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial, Williams
- Henry V, Doyle
- Jaws, Williams
- Lord of the Rings, Shore
- Matinee, Goldsmith
- The Mission, Morricone
- Mouse Hunt, Silvestri
- North By Northwest, Herrmann
- Planet of the Apes (1968), Goldsmith
- Psycho, Herrmann
- Raiders of the Lost Ark, Williams
- Robin Hood, Prince of Theives, Kamen
- Rudy, Goldsmith
- he Rocketeer, Horner
- Saving Private Ryan, Williams
- Schindler’s List, Williams
- The 7th Voyage of Sinbad, Herrmann
- Star Trek, The Motion Picture, Goldsmith
- Star Trek VI, Edelman
- Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, Williams
- Stargate, Arnold
- Superman, Williams
- Tomorrow Never Dies, Arnold
My Best of John Williams
- Empire Strikes Back
- Close Encounters of the Third Kind
- Schindler’s List
- Saving Private Ryan
- Raiders of the Lost Ark
- Superman
- E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
- A.I.