Movie Music: Scores, Soundtracks, and Best Moments

[Milburn Stone]

This phenomenal challenge dance scene from My Sister Eileen (1955) with Tommy Rall and Bob Fosse.  The movie itself is worth seeking out - perfectly cast all around, and a charming score.  Mind you, it's too bad that Hollywood never filmed the Bernstein version of the story, Wonderful Town, but this score is pretty close to being as good.

 

What's really interesting is that the dance music in that sequence has more than a touch of Bernstein's On the Town about it. It's almost as if someone in Columbia's music department said, "Too bad we couldn't get the rights to Wonderful Town, but we can at least import a little ersatz Bernstein flavor into this dance number."

Edited September 3, 2014 by Milburn Stone

[purplemouth]

I love the Capitol Anthem that plays throughout Catching Fire, but my favorite version is with the tympanies during the tribute parade. Chills.

[pootlus]

The music that plays during Apollo 13 when the capsule was finally spotted after the blackout time had expired always made me cry.  

 

Yes - James Horner's scores can get a bit samey after a while but when the music and visuals combine like this, who's griping? Not I.

 

 

The one that came to my my mind first was the "Non Nobis, Domine" scene after the battle of Agincourt in Branagh's Henry V.  Starts a capella with a single voice, then slowly swells as the shot expands on the battlefield.  The whole soundtrack (composed by Patrick Doyle) is great, as well.

 

Always loved that one - and that it was shot in a single shot, meaning the timing had to be perfect. I imagine Branagh's anguished expression was real after having to carry a (very young) Christian Bale all that way (and that's assuming they got it in the first take)!  Also, I think the initial singer is actually Patrick Doyle himself, if I'm not mistaken.

 

Another brilliant Branagh/Doyle collaboration is Much Ado About Nothing.  The buildup/crescendo music that plays after Beatrice and Benedick realise their love for each other has been a favourite for a long time (Benedick's revelation and the buildup starts about 3:50 although the 'gulling' music that comes before is also good in a very different way):

 

 

Edit: that other clip doesn't actually contain the music I was thinking of, but it's in this one:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1KrXVvRlAIU

Edited September 6, 2014 by pootlus

[sashabear21]

I have to concur with the comments on the score from "Last of the Mohicans". It came on early this morning when I was having a bout of insomnia and I forgot how beautiful the music from that movie is and how it works so well with every scene.  

[Rick Kitchen]

:'(

 

[Jeebus Cripes]

Every bit of music from The Crow. The score and soundtrack are just perfection. Also, say what you will about the The Crow: City of Angels sequel, but Graeme Revell's score is aces there, too.

[aradia22]

It bothers me so much that I can't listen to the soundtrack to Little Shop of Horrors on Spotify.

[Sharpie66]

About twenty years ago, I heard a Disney tribute album that had a lot of great covers of Disney movie songs. Bonnie Raitt and Was (Not Was) did "Baby Mine," and it just breaks your heart to hear them.

[ChelseaNH]

I finally picked up the DVD for Pitch Perfect and I keep rewatching the riff-off.

[Laurie4H]

I think one of the best scenes is this one from All That Jazz.

[spaceytraci1208]

Just watched Little Shop of Horrors, and despite not having seen it in years, I find that I remember the lyrics to most of the songs...the only song I don't really like is "Suddenly Seymour".

[Luckylyn]

When the school cancels the memorial for a student who committed suicide in Permanent Record, a student ends up singing a song written for the dead friend in the middle of the school musical.  The scene always gets me.

Edited October 3, 2014 by Luckylyn

[jellysalmon]

I got dragged to see The Social Network and figured I would hate it, but the opening scenes/score really drew me in. This enjoyed this one in particular.

[methodwriter85]

The scene of President Snow walking away in disgust after watching Katniss and Peeta, queuing the ending credits for The Hunger Games with Abraham's Daughter by Arcade Fire. Just nailed it, and the set the mood and tone for the series.

Edited October 3, 2014 by methodwriter85

[NutMeg]

Seconding Apollo 13, and adding

 

The whole soundtrack of Belly of an architect,

 

The whole soundtrack of any Kusturica's movie - Times of the gypsies' still give goose bumps, Arizona dream is great too, Iggy Pop and Johnny Deep are wonderfully used, 

 

Queen Margot's,

 

The Talented Mr. Ripley's, has both classical, jazz and folkloric Italian songs, all excellent,

 

Breakfast club's Don't you forget about me (quoted on Pitch perfect for those who missed it the first time)

 

Movies from all of Tim Burton's Batman movies - I love the gravitas...

 

And while I'm not a fan of these movies, I really like the theme song of Mission impossible, Eye of the Tiger (Rocky plus many reuses), James Bond movies.

 

And sappy as it is, and I don't really like the song, but in the context of Toy Story movies "you have a friend in me" always makes me misty eyed.  

[Luckylyn]

I love John Carpenter's choice to use music from the radio to let the audience and characters know what the car was thinking in Christine .  My favorite is when the best friend is trying to figure out what's going on by breaking into the car and suddenly "Keep On Knocking But You Can't Come In" starts playing completely freaking him out.   They made a fun Little Richard song scary.

[paramitch]

I agree with those who mention Howard Shore's LOTR work and Doyle's for Henry V. The entire Henry V score by Patrick Doyle is one of the most gorgeous and moving I've ever heard. I love pretty much everything Doyle has done, and was so unhappy he didn't return for Thor 2, since I thought his soundtrack was easily one of the best things about Thor. It managed to be majestic and fun at the same time, and was also melodically really beautiful. The score for Thor 2 was utterly forgettable.

I love the soundtrack to Last of the Mohicans by both Randy Edelman and Trevor Jones. The only thing I dislike is that "Promontory" does not actually appear on the soundtrack exactly as it appears in the movie (I hate that!!)--it's a high point of the film emotionally so it's bothersome. What appears on the soundtrack is an alternate version and the instrumentation is different.

I'm a devotee of classic orchestral movie soundtracks. Some of my personal favorites.....John Williams: Images, The Fury

I love this--John Williams' underappreciated score for The Fury is one of my favorites--just genius and one of the best things he's ever done. The resolution of the themes into the final adagio for strings is so gorgeous and reminded me a lot of the lushness/sharpness of Bernard Herrman's score for Psycho.

...the background score for The Graduate is by Dave Grusin. Not to slight the immortal Simon & Garfunkel songs we all remember, and which summon up memories of the movie instantly, but I'd like Grusin to have his recognition too.

Grusin's done so much beautiful film score work -- my absolute favorites by him would include My Bodyguard (never released as a soundtrack unfortunately--catch some of it here), On Golden Pond, Tootsie, Heaven Can Wait and The Fabulous Baker Boys.

The lighting the beacons sequence in Return of the King. Sends a shiver down my spine every time I hear/watch it!

I love that too. Shore's work for the LOTR films is fantastic, and the way he incorporated Tolkien's actual languages into so many pieces was wonderful as well.

The ending to The Professional with Sting's "Shape of My Heart" playing out the cut to black.

It's such a gorgeous song. But for me, the movie that used it most effectively was Three of Hearts. It's not the greatest movie, but the song fit beautifully. 

"Bring Him Home" is a powerful moments with Valjean praying for Marius to live so that Marius could be with Cosette, Valjean's adopted daughter and the love of Marius' life

I have a love/hate thing with the Les Mis film adaptation. I've been a huge fan of Hugh Jackman's musical work in the past, but to me his voice was simply wrong for Valjean (as was Crowe's for Javert, although I actually liked Crowe's voice work better than most people did--he has a lovely almost husky timbre that I think is very pretty). Jackman is a terrific singer, but to me he sounds awkward for much of the film because the part doesn't sit where his voice is most comfortable--he can hit the tenor notes, but they sound strained to me. I was most disappointed in his choice to belt "Bring Him Home" when it has historically been sung in falsetto--the softness of the old man's voice is gone in the film version and for me it did not work at all. But I did think Redmayne was pretty fantastic as Marius (it's the first thing I've ever liked him in), and I loved Aaron Tveit. I also loved the decision to move "I Dreamed a Dream" to much later in Fantine's downward spiral--it's so much more poignant there.

 

I love Peter Weir's use of music in his films, especially Witness and Master and Commander.

Maurice Jarre was amazing. I love the classics by him, but most of my favorite Jarre scores are the lesser-known ones like those for Witness (the barn raising!) or his fantastic score for Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome.

 

I wasn't a huge fan of the Twilight movie, but I loved Carter's Burwell's score.

I'm such a fan of Carter Burwell's. My favorite by him is the gorgeous score for Conspiracy Theory. 
 

The Talented Mr. Ripley's, has both classical, jazz and folkloric Italian songs, all excellent,

And I love that every song directly comments on the action in some way--writer/director Anthony Minghella (RIP, sob) not only wrote the lyrics for Ripley's gorgeous "Lullaby for Cain," he also co-produced most of the songs on the soundtrack. Minghella had a knack for using onscreen/'live' music in a really organic way in his films--I especially love his use of music in Truly, Madly, Deeply as well.

 

My other lesser-known favorite scores would include: Patrick Doyle, A Little Princess, Christopher Young, Dreamlover, Jennifer 8, The Gift, Christophe Beck, Guinevere, Thomas Newman, Men Don't Leave, Lemony Snicket, Oscar and Lucinda, Meet Joe Black. Plus James Horner (Field of Dreams, The Journey of Natty Gann), Giorgio Moroder (Electric Dreams), John Powell (How to Train Your Dragon), Harry Gregson Williams (The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe), Hans Zimmer (Green Card), Murray Gold, Doctor Who. 

[Oreo2234]

I love Dario Marianelli's scores for Pride and Prejudice, Atonement and Jane Eyre. I really like the music during

the scene in Pride and Prejudice where Darcy comes to propose to Elizabeth.

[paramitch]

I love Dario Marianelli's scores for Pride and Prejudice, Atonement and Jane Eyre. I really like the music during

the scene in Pride and Prejudice where Darcy comes to propose to Elizabeth.

 

I love those scores too -- he does very elegant work that just seamlessly fits into the action. My favorite musical moment in Pride and Prejudice (which to this day I think is just stunning and underrated) is the "Liz on Top of the World" moment. It's just so gorgeous. Or the scoring work on the dance in which they begin in a crowded room that fades away around them (the music manages to echo this). I would add the

proposal

, but I'm always so totally charmed by the way

Darcy

stammers "I love--I love--I love you" that I don't even register the music there.

I thought the music to Atonement was so interesting because of the use of the typewriter as a percussive instrument that also manages to directly comment on the action and subtext as well. It was a really strange and creative choice. I tend to love weird percussion choices. Like, I love Harry Gregson-Williams's score for The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe and the way he infuses it with these gorgeous glass chimes and percussive instruments throughout to bring this "icy" sound.

 

Speaking of fun percussion, I also wanted to add that I think my favorite variation by a composer on his own work is John Williams, who does this completely different take on his previous HP scores for Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (and the ticking clock is a frequent aural touch). It's much quirkier and less slick and modern; it has these little pops of what almost feel like Early Music instrumentation (the instruments sound more acoustic throughout), it's just really beautiful. It's by far my favorite of all the Harry Potter film scores.

Edited November 7, 2014 by paramitch

[DollEyes]

Paramitch:  Re your comments about Hugh Jackman's singing in Les Miserables, I respectfully disagree. From my perspective, while a great singer can hit all the notes, what I love about Jackman's performance in the film were the emotions. Jean Valjean could have been played by a technically better singer than Jackman, but if he didn't make me care about Valjean, it would have been a waste of time. Jackman's performance in the film made me feel for Valjean every step of the way, whether it was his despair in the opening number, his rage in "Valjean's Lament," his love for Cosette in "Suddenly," his anguish in "Bring Him Home"

 or his sorrow/ redemption in the finale

.  Jackman's performance in the film was so powerful that he deserved the Golden Globe he won and the Oscar nomination he got for it, as far as I'm concerned.

Edited November 9, 2014 by DollEyes

[vibeology]

Except, its not an either/or. There are actors on Broadway right now who hit the notes and act the parts. I don't love Hugh in the role, though I know the movie wouldn't have happened without him. But let's be real; its not an either/or. There are actors out there who can play the part on the emotional level and hit the notes as written, but they're not household names and they can't bring in the box office the way Hugh Jackman could.

 

 

I cried seeing Ramin Karimloo's Vanjean in Toronto last year. Just listening to Colm Wilkinson's Bring Him Home gets me misty eyed. Musical theatre actors are actors. They can inject a character with life and vitality. And they can hit the notes. (And many of them can dance) But not every actor can fit into every role. Hugh is a great actor and I love his voice. He's not Valjean, though. It doesn't suit his voice. And when that is wrong, its harder to focus on what is going right.

[blixie]

Brock Thornton's The Man From Snowy River is one of my all time favorite scores. 

 

 

And I mean I'm a feminist and all, but damn if I don't turn to jelly at, "I'll be back for them. (Looks at Jessica) And whatever else is mine." Damn. I have refused to see the sequel on principal all these years and in looking for this stumbled upon a clip. Oh no, no, nope.

 

Since it's my handle namesake obviously I love Tangerine Dream's score from Legend.

 

 

Pretty much anything synthy/80's is gonna do it for me, like Vangelis and Blade Runner

 

 

Recently the soundtracks from Drive and The Guest have brought me to a whole genre made just for me outrun electro.

[Luckylyn]

I love the

for Legends of the Fall.

 

@blixie I agree about the Legend score.  It kind of reminds of the the music for The Legend of Zelda.

 

I really love the

for Badlands.

[Jeebus Cripes]

Since it's my handle namesake obviously I love Tangerine Dream's score from Legend.

 

I've always loved that score as well, and also, Jerry Goldsmith's score for the film is wonderful.

Edited November 13, 2014 by Jeebus Cripes

[jah1986]

I always feel completely nostalgic when I hear the opening bars of the theme from Star Wars. All the visuals that immediately come to mind. No matter how you feel about the films now that's still an iconic score.

[cpcathy]

For me, the Star Wars theme is pure excitement, I was eight in 1977, you went to see the film over and over and looked forward to the 20th Century Fox logo, and then, BAM--that theme. John Williams has done some masterful work but that is up there on the list just for nostalgia alone.

[BizBuzz]

Out of the blue, I asked my daughter (15), if I asked you what your favorite movie soundtrack was, what would you say.  She came back with, oh gosh, that is hard, can I give you my top three in no particular order?

 

Anything from LOTR

The soundtrack from How to Train Your Dragon (the first one)

Tron (the new one)

 

Gosh, my daughter is certainly diversified.  ::giggle::

[hendersonrocks]

The Mission has never failed to send tingles down my spine!

 

I have no idea how to actually embed video (I'm sure it's completely easy and I just haven't a clue), but this link goes to Ennio Morricone conducting the main theme. SO GOOD. [ETA: So it really IS that easy, huh?! The magic of the internet.]

 

Edited November 13, 2014 by hendersonrocks

[BizBuzz]

I have no idea how to actually embed video (I'm sure it's completely easy and I just haven't a clue), but this link goes to Ennio Morricone conducting the main theme. SO GOOD.

 

The video was embedded, all you do is put the link and the forum software does the rest.

[VCRTracking]

"Gabriel's Oboe" I love that piece.

 

As a kid I heard this as the theme to the local news  before finding out it was from the movie Cool Hand Luke and written by Lalo Schifrin:

 

Edited November 14, 2014 by VCRTracking

[bluwater]

Speaking of Jerry Goldsmith, the soundtrack for The Secret of NIMH is gorgeous and listening to this track (especially 1:28 onwards) makes me tear up every.single.time.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MdV0OGoMhB8&list=PL80B2D945B64CE2DA&index=12

[Sharpie66]

The music video for the song that's going to play over the closing credits of the final Hobbit film has been released: http://insidemovies.ew.com/2014/11/21/the-hobbit-last-goodbye-music-video/

 

It's being sung by Billy Boyd (yes, Pippin!), who also co-wrote the song along with the films' writers, and it's more a tribute to the entire six-film saga than anything else. Very good, up there with the RotK Annie Lennox song IMO.

Edited November 21, 2014 by Sharpie66

[turbogirlnyc]

The music video for the song that's going to play over the closing credits of the final Hobbit film has been released: http://insidemovies.ew.com/2014/11/21/the-hobbit-last-goodbye-music-video/

 

It's being sung by Billy Boyd (yes, Pippin!), who also co-wrote the song along with the films' writers, and it's more a tribute to the entire six-film saga than anything else. Very good, up there with the RotK Annie Lennox song IMO.

 

Billy Boyd also wrote the song Pippin sings in LOTR ROTK.

[88Keys]

Billy Boyd also wrote the song Pippin sings in LOTR ROTK.

 

 I saw Mockingjay Part 1 today, and they used that song during a preview for the last Hobbit film.  Very effective.

 

Speaking of Mockingjay, what they did with "The Hanging Tree" was stunning.  My favorite part of the film.  Gave me chills.

 

 

 

 

Also, in the first Hunger Games movie, the music in Rue's death scene (or right after it, when Katniss does the salute) is very beautiful.  And I love how it moves to the riots beginning in Distric 11- very powerful, and really shows the impact of Rue's death. 

 

This is fun!  I'll do some more tomorrow.  I've been wanting to download some good movie scores for my ipod, and you all have given me a lot of great ideas. 

Edited November 22, 2014 by 88Keys

[methodwriter85]

   I liked that the Hunger Games got back to it's Appalachian folksy roots for the third movie- that was missing in the second movie.

[DkNNy79]

The Cider House Rules (main title) - Rachel Portman.  It just says "americana" to me.

 

Also, want to echo my love for Patrick Doyle - Sense & Sensibility and the Pride and Prejudice Soundtrack as well.

 

Shag the Movie - love the music in this movie. 

Soul Food - one of my all time favorite soundtracks.  So many great songs.  My favorites being "Mama" by Boyz II Men and "I Care About You" by Milestone

 

Honorable mention:

I really love "I See Fire" by Ed Sheeran from Desolation of Smaug (the 2nd Hobbit movie)

"Northbound Train" from the North and South soundtrack (BBC Movie).  Perfect song for the ending. :)

[DollEyes]

vibeology:Re your review of Hugh Jackman's performance in the film version of Les Miserables, still respectfully disagreeing.  Jackman may be a movie star, but he's also a stage actor and a Tony-winner. Other actors have played Valjean before and will again, but Jackman put his own spin on it and it worked for me. As far as I'm concerned, Jackman was much better as Valjean than Russell Crowe was as Javert.

 

  On another note, I've just seen The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 and I loved "The Hanging Tree." If any song is a contender for a Best Song Oscar nomination next year it's that one, if it's eligible, that is. 

 

  On still another note, one of my all-time favorite films is The Wizard Of Oz and the music is a big part of it. Every song is iconic, whether it's "Somewhere Over the Rainbow,"  "If I Only Had A Brain/ A Heart/The Nerve," "Follow The Yellow Brick Road," "We're Off To See the Wizard," "If I Were King Of the Forest" or "Lions & Tigers & Bears (Oh My)." 

Edited November 29, 2014 by DollEyes

[NumberCruncher]

"Northbound Train" from the North and South soundtrack (BBC Movie).  Perfect song for the ending. :)

So glad you mentioned this because Martin Phipps is one of the most underrated composers working today, IMO. His BBC scores are all-around amazing but because they are confined to the British TV world, he doesn't get nearly the recognition he deserves. His scores for North and South, The Virgin Queen, Sense and Sensibility, Wallander, etc., have been consistently great and more importantly--unique. Sadly, most of them aren't available for purchase/download. :(

[Rick Kitchen]

 

On another note, I've just seen The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 and I loved "The Hanging Tree." If any song is a contender for a Best Song Oscar nomination next year it's that one, if it's eligible, that is.

 

Totally agree, but, to my shock and amazement, I also like "Yellow Flicker Beat" by Lorde, whose music I really don't like.

[Schweedie]

The new Jurassic World trailer reminded me how much I love the first Jurassic Park score by John Williams - I hadn't listened to it in a while and it's just so wonderful. The video on the first page doesn't load for me anymore, so I'll just leave this here:

 

 

Seriously, this piece of music is one of my all time favourites. It's an amazing score on the whole, too, but this particular strain... I don't know, it just gets to me!

[hendersonrocks]

Shag the Movie - love the music in this movie.

 

 

So much love for Shag! Two of my most played songs on iTunes are from the movie (Stagger Lee and Monkey Time). It's an interesting watch as an adult in the 2010s as opposed to a teenager in the late 1980s! The music never fails to put a skip in my step, though...and one of the many things I loved about living in North Carolina for a few years was being able to see & hear real life shagging & shag music. It was a dream come true for this MInnesota girl!

[emjohnson03]

I just watched the independent film The Guest. Great movie and I don't like those sinister type films.

 

Check out the soundtrack to it. I love it. It's a throwback to 80's sound but with some really great dark/edgy tones. Just really sets the film while the characters are talking and as background music, it really gets you in the mood of the film.

[xls]

I'm loving this lyrical scene from Prometheus where David is standing in the middle of the star map;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-kXDzhlQ-jg

[Ronin Jackson]

Love this topic.  I grew up a total movie nerd and while other kids my age were listening to Nirvana and Public Enemy, I was listening to movie music.  My taste in music is largely colored through my love of cinema.

 

For classic film composers Bernard Herrmann is my favorite... particularly his music for Citizen Kane, Vertigo, Psycho, and Taxi Driver (gotta give a shout to The Twilight Zone as well).  And I gotta confess classic John Williams was formative stuff for me.  Star Wars music seems like such an obvious discussion, but I gotta single out the score for The Empire Strikes Back, which is simply one of the greatest film scores of all time.  It just hits all the right emotional notes.  It really bothered me how in the Special Edition, a climactic scene was changed to intercut Darth Vader returning to his ship, and in doing so cut up the music, which was originally so key to the emotional resonance of that particular scene.  More evidence of how Lucas lost it leading up to the prequels.

 

I also really love Japanese composer Toru Takemitsu, who did a lot of very dissonant, experimental music.  I tracked down an imported collection of his film music, and there's some incredible music there, and many of the films are next to impossible to see in the U.S.  But one film that is available is Kwaidan, in which Takemitsu created the entire soundscape, incorporated sound effects into the musical design.  He was capable of incredible work with more traditional sounding scores as well... notably his work in Akira Kurosawa's Ran.

 

It's through movies that I developed an appreciation for the emotional palette of experimental, dissonant modern music like György Ligeti and Krzysztof Penderecki, particularly from Kubrick's films.

 

A couple of recent scores that really stood out for different reasons, Mica Levi's score for Under the Skin and Alexandre Desplat's for The Grand Budapest Hotel.

[Lonesome Rhodes]

For me, the greatest mix of film and soundtrack are Maurice Binder's sensual and magical film title designs with John Barry's themes for the James Bond movies.  Many, many have cited Barry's Out of Africa score as the most beautiful/gorgeous of all time, as well.   It certainly is in the conversation as far as I am concerned.

 

My favorite soundtrack is Leone's The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.  The individual themes for the protagonists were marvelous.  The haunting music sung by the all-male chorus used to cover up the torture in the CSA POW camp is as affecting as anything I have ever heard.  My God.  Then, the epic showdown, which many say is overwrought, is to me, great fun.  I adore the contrast of the music box with the bombast of a full orchestra furiously recalling a bullfight.  It added so much to the constant edits of the three deciding when to fire, and at whom to fire their gun.   

 

I also am compelled to add Williams' great white shark theme in Jaws.  Has anything capture the imagination of the entire world as those first few menacing low strings phrasing  "duh duh.    duuuuuh duh."  Genius.  Perfection.

Edited December 30, 2014 by Lonesome Rhodes

[DollEyes]

 

I'm loving this scene from Prometheus where David is standing in the middle of the star map;

 

 Me too. The power, the grace, the elegance the beauty and the danger-and the music's great, too.

[Shades of Red]

I have several movie soundtracks in my CD collection and have watched all the movies that go with them except for one :  the soundtrack for Romeo + Juliet.  Someone I knew introduced me to the songs on the CD and I had to have it.

 

The Big Chill was the very first movie soundtrack I bought and it didn't have the song on it I wanted (You Can't Always Get What You Want - ironic I know).  That's when I learned about licensing and copyright material.  This lesson came into play when I wanted the soundtrack from the movie C.R.A.Z.Y.  Too costly to make a soundtrack so none exists.

 

August Rush, Bridget Jones - two CDs, A Home at the End of the World, Once, Jesus Christ Superstar and Evita also fill my shelves and provide hours of excellent music.  If the music resonates with me on viewing a movie the first time, the odds are I'll hunt down the soundtrack if available.

[proserpina65]

If ever there was a director who really knew how to use music in his films, it surely is Peter Weir.  From "Au fond du temple saint" and the Albinoni adagio in g minor in Gallipoli, through the Strauss Four Last Songs in The Year of Living Dangerously to pretty much everything in Master and Commander, his choice of music for his films is impeccable.

[Jipijapa]

Totally agreed, proserpina65.  Weir is one of my favorite directors, mainly because he is almost always dealing with interesting material that's different every time.  But as a fan of film composers, I especially appreciate that he does not force a composer to mimic a famous piece of music he wants to use - something too many directors do.  No, Weir just uses the actual piece of music he wants.  And it's usually a great choice. 

 

In my view, hire the composer for their own music.  Not to produce second-rate Gorecki.  (Or even second-rate John Williams, as the case may be.)

[Snowprince]

GOWWWLDFINGAAAH!!!

 

The orchestral arrangement and Shirley Bassey's delivery make it my favorite Bond theme.

 

I found this on YouTube, giving me confirmation I'm NOT the only person alive that ever saw this movie. Dubbed into English and retitled in the U.S. as Goldsinger, it's a pretty good Italian parody of Goldfinger, including a reworking of Dame Bassey's iconic theme song.