Humans are simple creatures. Our bodies are held upright by a “series of vertebrae that extend from the skull to the small of the back” called the spine. Quite literally, our backbone is our backbone.

‍

Movies, however, are more complex (despite being made by people). Film is an art, so movies are open to interpretation (bleck), and their ultimate reception dictated by the individual. If one appreciates stunning cinematography, the opinion of a film will boil down to it. But even then, there is nuance. The colorful lensing of Vittorio Storaro will enrapture some, while Tak Fujimoto's stylistic staging will appeal to others.

‍

So, what is considered the “backbone” of a film will differ from person to person: this person says it’s the music.

‍

No, not the songs of a soundtrack, like Forrest Gump’s boomer bonanza, but the score: the music that guides us in and out of every emotional cue, jolting our nerves into hysteria, signaling narrative developments, lamenting loss with somber strings, or just being badass when people are being badass.

‍

As with any rankdown, there are criteria.

‍

1. Some themes will be on the list. However, this is about music that amplifies more than reminding us we’re watching a particular movie. As such...
2. Iconic doesn’t mean best. Doctor Zhivago's “Lara’s Theme” is not on this list. It's iconic, but Jarre has done better.
3. The list is about individual pieces of music, not the entire score.
4. The piece must be entirely compelling. While The Silence of the Lambs' opening five notes are an incredible mood-setter and the gold standard for kicking off a psychological thriller, the rest of the main title (while not bad) doesn’t measure up.
5. If the music doesn’t fit, it doesn’t count. “Chevaliers de Sangreal” would crack most people’s list, and it’s good, but it sounds more like Hans Zimmer came up with something cool and stuffed it into whatever his next movie was, which happened to be the freakin’ Da Vinci Code.
6. We all hear things we like and slide them into a Spotify playlist, but that’s not what this list is about. Thus, I must have seen the movie recently enough for the other criteria to apply. Seeing Laura at 11 doesn’t count.

‍

So, without further adieu: the 75 best pieces of movie music ever… part 1.

‍

75. “Vincent Hops Train” - Collateral, James Newton Howard

‍

Collateral’s final 20 minutes are the film’s low point; the preceding conversational thrills are far more fascinating than the action-packed climax. However, Michael Mann’s masterful thriller still ends on a high note because Newton Howard exquisitely scores the action with pulse-pounding precision.

‍

‍

74. “J.J. Gittes” - Chinatown, Jerry Goldsmith

‍

The ending “Love Theme” gets all the fanfare, but it’s actually “J.J. Gittes” that’s Chinatown’s musical peak. It’s not used in its entirety, but what use it gets is chiefly responsible for the noir aura that carries Roman Polanski’s revered mystery to higher heights than its parts suggest.

‍

‍

73. “Once There Was a Hushpuppy” - Beasts of the Southern Wild, Dan Romer & Benh Zeitlin

‍

Fantasy scores are always tricky, especially if the fantasy elements take a backseat to the more classic dramatic elements. As Wink dies and Hushpuppy reflects on life in the bathtub and moving forward, “Once There Was a Hushpuppy” roars as both a fitting tribute to a complex father figure and an ode to the vivid life led in the bayou.

‍

‍

72. “So Long” - Toy Story 3, Randy Newman

‍

The genius of “So Long,” played over Andy’s emotional donation of his childhood toys to four-year-old Bonnie, is that it accents the deeply moving moment without delving into melodrama. Newman always let the moments of Pixar’s marquee franchise speak for themselves, and our fond farewell to the toys is all the better for it.

‍

‍

71. “First Coronation” - The Last Emperor, Ryuichi Sakamoto

‍

Director Bernardo Bertolucci depicts Puyi’s life dishonestly, but his empathetic approach is captured flawlessly by Sakamoto’s theme. It’s grand and regal as the encapsulation of a monarch’s life should be but is also laced with melancholy, the sort of reservedness that inspires contemplation as we watch Puyi’s final moment, standing before the throne from which he “ruled” China, as an old man having lived a lifetime of turmoil and ultimate emotional triumph.

‍

‍

70. “Ask Me Why” - The Boy and the Heron, Joe Hisaishi

‍

Hayao Miyazaki’s (presumptive) final film makes you come to it so much it strains credulity to claim it has any genuine meaning. It nearly tricks you into believing otherwise because Hisaishi’s score does a marvelous job lulling you into contemplation and evoking the introspective profundity the movie aims to achieve.

‍

‍

69. “Infinity and Beyond” - Toy Story, Randy Newman

‍

The crescendo of “Infinity and Beyond” is essentially double prizes. It’s a musical climax for the film, yes, but it’s also one for the complicated relationship between Woody and Buzz and the undeniable friendship created as the pair “fall with style” to reunite with their beloved Andy.

‍

‍

68. “A Really Good Cloak” - Crash, Mark Isham

‍

Crash sucks; we all know it and have beaten that horse six feet under. There’s no denying that Isham’s score feels as contrived as its movie, but “A Really Good Cloak” makes the film’s most asinine moment, when a young girl leaps between a gunman and her father only for the bullet to somehow miss literally everyone and everything, feel marginally inspirational for .01 seconds.

‍

‍

67. “Theme from Jurassic Park” - Jurassic Park, John Williams

‍

The Jurassic Park theme accomplishes the rare feat of sounding like the perfect fit for its movie while also sounding like it came from an entirely different dimension. Spielberg’s ‘90s super smash gets remembered as an action-packed dino-rific thrill ride, but it’s more of a horror movie with some science fiction sprinkled amongst the terror. “Theme from Jurassic Park” certainly doesn’t evoke that idea, but if unadulterated triumph for surviving Richard Attenborough’s stupidity and enough musical sparkle to tone-shift at the very end and create an impression of a film that may not necessarily be wholly accurate, thus helping to solidify its legacy, was the goal? Success!

‍

‍

66. “John Dunbar Theme” - Dances with Wolves, John Barry

‍

The American West has always received unworthy fascination and awe. It’s somewhat picturesque but far less romantic than Hollywood would have you believe. Dances with Wolves has less going for it than many of the landscape epics, but John Barry’s incredible score makes it feel worthy of Kevin Costner’s earnest direction.

‍

‍

65. “Cry” - The Holiday, Hans Zimmer

‍

The Holiday gets as close to being a good movie as a Nancy Meyers flick can because Zimmer’s score legitimizes it beyond its inherent ingredients. Sure, Kate Winslet and Eli Wallach do a lot of heavy lifting, but rewatch Cameron Diaz try to sell us on the heavy-handed “Amanda can’t cry" angle and tell me Zimmer isn’t the only reason it works. It’s a prime example of a composer elevating a movie beyond its inherent limitations.

‍

‍

64. “Buckbeak’s Flight” - Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, John Williams

‍

After the unabashed magical warmth of the first two Potter movies, The Prisoner of Azkaban was a test for all involved. Cinema’s greatest composer was guaranteed to pass that test, but how specifically he would do so was a matter of fascination.

‍

As the story and direction matured the characters and themes, as did Williams’ music, keeping that essence of high-flying (pun intended) whimsy while espousing an entirely different underlying aura. Many of the third film’s selections reflect this, but none better than “Buckbeak’s Flight.”

‍

‍

63. “Cleared Iranian Airspace” - Argo, Alexandre Desplat

‍

Argo has suffered some undeserved backlash over the years. If you believe its humor is self-indulgent and its bastardization of history too damning to overlook, so be it. However, no one can deny that its final 30 minutes tore open movie theater armchairs across the globe, and Desplat’s release from that tension and surge into triumph is some of his most brilliant work.

‍

‍

62. “Becoming a Lawyer” - Catch Me If You Can, John Williams

‍

Williams has done better scores than Catch Me If You Can, but none more underrated. The task was incredibly nuanced: convince us of the comedic value of Frank Abagnale, Jr.’s criminal exploits while also making us believe the film is a thriller, albeit a mild one. Also, create high drama of parental influence, betrayal, love, and the complexity of bonding the hunter and the hunted. Amazingly, “Becoming a Lawyer” sounds like all these conflicting elements rolled into one, and it works wonders.

‍

‍

61. “The Batman” - The Batman, Michael Giacchino

‍

One could argue that Giacchino’s score is almost too perfect for Matt Reeve’s reimagining of the Caped Crusader. The film is self-indulgent and bloated, and, to a degree, Giacchino followed suit. “The Batman” could show a bit more restraint, but the hero’s new theme is an overall brilliant piece, equal parts subdued, bombastic, eerie, heroic, and evocative of that seamless blend of ‘90s camp and modern realism.

‍