The original How to Train Your Dragon has one of the best scores in cinematic history. So with the release of the live action remake, we’re talking about some of our other favorite movie scores! Let us know your favorite @SiftPop!
The biggest Oscars snub in recent memory is easily Babylon losing Best Original Score in 2023. Justin Hurwitz and Damien Chazelle are on the kind of director/composer wavelength that is maybe only rivaled by Steven Spielberg and John Williams. The normal process of filmmaking often leads to scores being secondary or even tertiary at times, but given the relationship between Hurwitz and Chazelle, the music shapes the films from initial concept, and as of now, Babylon is the standout. The score sets the tone of the grandiosity and debauchery that Chazelle is trying to display, while also supplying delicate themes of love and romance using the same chord progression. Perfect film scores highlight the films they are featured in, but also hold up for standalone listening. Babylon manages to do both, while also keeping me engaged for its entire 189-minute runtime. (Aaron Schweitzer)
I (like many SiftPop contributors) have a playlist of instrumental scores from film, television, games, and everywhere else music exists, and it’s well over two days long. Very rarely will I come upon a soundtrack where I feel compelled to save every single track. It happened recently with Ryan Coogler’s Sinners, and then it happened again, even more recently, with Terrence Malick’s second feature Days of Heaven. The film is incredible, but the score is otherworldly – and it better be, seeing as it was composed by the legendary Ennio Morricone, who imbues Malick’s gorgeous and heavily storied visual language with a floaty, operatic orchestra of pure beauty. I’ve had it on repeat nonstop since I watched the film. “The Farmer and the Girl” (of which the soundtrack includes three different renditions), “Happiness,” and “Harvest” are the standout tracks, but they are all incredible, and all contribute to an incomparable melodic aural experience. Unfortunately, the full score is not streaming anywhere, but with some handy file sharing programs and a few USB-C cables, I can now listen to it any time I want. If you’re into movie scores, and especially if you have a similar playlist of your own, I urge you to give this one a try. (Rowan Wood)
While it may be the third movie in the one of the longest and largest movie franchises in history, John Barry’s Goldfinger score defined the sound and style of Bond for the next 60 years. I love the jazzy swing style of the orchestral brass, as it contrasts with the stringed instruments during the “Into Miami” and “Alpine Drive” peppered in with the title track melody. It feels very ‘60s, but equally timeless in the action adventure setting. It’s a score that is at times thrilling, others mysterious, a little sexy, and minimally menacing during “Oddjob’s Pressing Engagement.” I love the excitement of the score, and think it was easily a factor in cultivating my adoration for England’s most daring double O. (Patrice Downing)
There’s a reason why this is the tie-in topic for the live-action reboot and why every trailer and TV spot highlights John Powell’s incredible original score. Sure, the Bourne Trilogy score is also iconic, but How to Train Your Dragon is Powell’s legacy. It’s absolutely mesmerizing. “Test Drive” legitimately has an argument for being one of the best single scored tracks ever in a film. The way it captures the magic of Hiccup and Toothless’s first flight, and even elevates that feeling as you’re watching it, is a magic trick all of its own. Even outside of the most famous track, the whole soundtrack is extremely listenable. The utilization of bagpipes makes it stand out from its peers as one of the most recognizable scores in film history. (Jake Bourgeois)
Few scores can make people quiver with fear the same way that Jaws does. Scored to perfection by the legendary John Williams, Jaws does an amazing job of amping the tension and letting you sit in the dread of impending doom. Every time you hear it, your first instinct is to look around and make sure you’re safe. This score taught an entire generation of people to be afraid of the water. The most terrifying things are those you can’t see, and Jaws embodies that to a tee. Jaws’ score was the final piece that Spielberg needed in order to make the filmthe masterpiece that it is. It brings a suspense which highlights how vital it is to the success of the film. It is arguably the most important score in film history because if the score doesn’t work, Jaws wouldn’t be the same. (Mike Hilty)
John Williams has composed so many of the most recognizable movie scores of the past 50 years that it’s a shame to single out just one. His career includes some of the most iconic themes in cinematic history, from Indians Jones and Superman to Harry Potter and Star Wars —yet one stands out as far and away my favorite. Jurassic Park was the first movie I saw in theaters using the new state of the art Digital Surround Sound of the era, cementing the audio experience of one of my favorite movies as one of the most memorable. It would be hard for me not to picture the chiseled stone archway and thick wooden doors opening whenever I hear “Jurassic Park Gate,” or keep from getting a slight chill during “The Raptor Attack” or “T-Rex Rescue & Finale.” But unlike most musical compositions from films, the music of Jurassic Park can be heard out in the wild when exploring Universal’s Islands of Adventure. While roaming throughout the Jurassic Park Isla Nublar themed area of the theme park, hearing the score throughout the land adds to the immersive experience of feeling as if I really am about to ride the movie securing its place as my favorite film score. (Patrice Downing)
Before he became a bigger name in the composing game, “Junkie XL” Tom Holkenborg captured many people’s attention with his dynamite, dynamic, and dominating score for George Miller’s apocalyptic action symphony from The Wasteland, Mad Max: Fury Road. There are moments where Holkenborg leans heavily on the expected instruments of film composition, proceeding to deliver plenty of emotion and feeling through strings. The heavy metal elements of the Fury Road score are the ones that truly stand out. Its mixture of electric guitar, tribal drums, and electronic musing creates a unique and unrelenting soundscape that is second to none. The in-world Doof Warrior leading his metal band of insanity is just the cherry on top to make the score diegetic as well. “Brothers in Arms” is one of the truly great pieces of music created for a film in the past 25 years. Pulsating. Bombastic. Perfection. (Shane Conto)
I’m the kind of person who loves music, so film scores are definitely up my alley. Lately, I’ve been listening to Sinners, but before that, one “small” film with one of the best scores of the decade truly captured me: Oppenheimer. Ludwig Göransson has been building his filmography since 2011, and he shows no signs of slowing down. In recent years, he’s proven why he’s becoming one of the greatest composers of our time. Hearing the Oppenheimer score for the first time in theaters was a game-changer. The track “Can You Hear the Music” has completely taken over my life — every time I hear that melody, I can vividly see the montage of paintings, Oppenheimer, atoms, and glass shattering. And the last minute and a half of “Atmospheric Ignition,” where Oppenheimer and Einstein speak briefly, builds into this intense, euphoric high as the bass grows louder and more powerful. The score enhances every scene, weaving itself into the film’s emotional and thematic core, and it’s hard to imagine the film without it. I wasn’t surprised when it won Best Original Score in 2024 — nothing else came close that year. I even bought the soundtrack on vinyl, and it’s one of my favorite possessions. There’s something special about pulling it out and letting the music wash over you all over again. (Chantal Ashford)
Let me make this clear: Klaus Badelt’s work on Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl is utterly incredible. If I’m honest, it feels a little odd highlighting an entry here that technically has another credit on it, because a lot of what Hans Zimmer is doing in the sequel, Dead Man’s Chest, builds off Badelt’s original work. However, he also does something that elevates this above its predecessor, and that’s the addition of the theme for Davy Jones. To call it haunting doesn’t feel like it does it justice. It’s little additions like that that does what a sequel should and elevates this score above the original to make what already was a modern classic even better. (Jake Bourgeois)
My hot take for the week is that Rogue One: A Star Wars Story features the greatest score in a Star Wars project to date. Much of what makes it great is the framework set up by John Williams in the previous entries to that point, but handing the rains to Michael Giacchino was a daring move that paid off in spades for me. Giacchino perfectly taps into the themes of both the original and prequel trilogies and carves out space in the middle, similar to the film’s timeline. What makes this score stand out as my favorite, however, is the focus on hope as a theme of the movie. The score allows itself to go into the dark corners of the galaxy, but always remember the film is centered around hope, leaving every track with either a smile on my face or tears streaming down it. (Aaron Schweitzer)