Before Part 4 , a reminder of the criteria and guidelines for the list:

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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

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‍30. “Reunited” - Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey, Dan Broughton

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The epic journey of Shadow, Chance, and Sassy to reunite with their owners is a kids’ classic. It’s action-packed, filled with gorgeous scenery, and delivers valuable lessons about life, loyalty, and friendship. The moment the trio finally comes home, with a limping Shadow in tow, is a bonafide tearjerker, thanks largely to Broughton’s swelling music.

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29. “Star Wars (Main Title)” - Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, John Williams

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Star Wars fans will forever debate which of Williams’ pieces is the franchise’s best. Many say “Duel of the Fates,” others “Imperial March.” Alas, the first remains the best. It’s our introduction to George Lucas’ billion-dollar universe and kickstarts a sci-fi juggernaut. Oh, and it’s some of the greatest horn music ever composed.

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28. “Read Me to Sleep” - The English Patient, Gabriel Yared

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The English Patient's romance is inherently unsympathetic, so making Katharine’s death and Almásy's carrying her body“into the palace of winds” emotional is difficult. Anthony Minghella’s sensitive direction carries a significant portion of that emotional load, but “Read Me to Sleep” provides a delicate melody that ropes us into Almásy profound grief.

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27. “Unable to Stay, Unwilling to Leave” - Titanic, James Horner

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The genius of James Cameron’s juggernaut is maximizing the many grand, sweeping moments in Jack and Rose’s epic romance. One of the more confounding ones is Rose's choice to leap back onto a sinking ship. Making that decision believable requires a contradictory blend of tact and melodrama, and Horner’s score nails it.

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26. “Joy Turns to Sadness/A Growing Personality” - Inside Out, Michael Giacchino

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Joy’s realization that Riley needs to experience life’s hardships, thus minimizing her role in her life, is one of Pixar’s most profound moments. It forces us to appreciate the enormity of that daily acceptance of this universal truth, no matter how devastating it can feel. Absent Giacchino’s music, that moment would get criminally undersold, and his letting his genius be a supplement instead of a crutch makes the moment.

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25. “Gwen Stacy” - Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, Daniel Pemberton

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One could argue that the Spider-Verse movies are more style than substance, but even if that’s the case, man, what style. Pemberton’s score is like a relentless bolt of lightning electrifying a colorful comic book come to life. “Gwen Stacy” is the pinnacle of his genius, compensating for any substance the film lacks.

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24. “I Have Faith in You” - X-Men: Days of Future Past, John Ottman

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Days of Future Past is one of the few movies to leave this writer sobbing. "I Have Faith in You," played over a devastating montage of our beloved heroes’ dying as Mystique contemplates the massive choice before her, is an emotional gut punch. It takes us on a contemplative journey in a minute, empathizing with Mystique’s anguish over a delicate piano.

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23. “Main Title” - Mouse Hunt, Alan Silvestri

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Mouse Hunt’s black comedy never hits as it desires, but what success it finds is down to Silvestri’s central theme. It’s a delightfully mischievous tune, the perfect ode to the devilish machinations of the titular mouse. It’s leaned on heavily throughout the film, likely because all involved knew it would flounder without it.

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22. “Can You Hear the Music” - Oppenheimer, Ludwig Göransson

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Oppenheimer defies categorization, presenting itself as a traditional biopic on paper but seamlessly incorporating elements of a classic psychological thriller. This genre-blending would fail miserably without all its ingredients working in perfect orchestration, none more vital than Göransson’s music. “Can You Hear the Music” is Oppenheimer: disorienting, pulse-pounding, and overflowing with momentum, but constantly harmonious.

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21. “Miss Wichita” - Erin Brockovich, Thomas Newman

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Erin Brockovich deserves better. Julia Roberts’ Oscar win remains controversial among cinephiles, but she gave the year’s best leading performance, enlivening a brilliant screenplay from Susannah Grant. But the unsung hero that sells us on Erin’s legal deep-dive into PG&E’s corrupt practices is Newman’s score. None of his pieces shines more than “Miss Wichita,” which compliments several of the film’s most heart-wrenching and triumphant moments.

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20. “Pan’s Labyrinth Lullaby” - Pan’s Labyrinth, Javier Navarrete

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In criticism of any kind, there is one word that exposes its user as a hack: “haunting.” Alas, I will happily assign this label to myself to properly relay the stirring emotion conjured by Navarrete’s signature piece from Guillermo del Toro’s dark fantasy classic.

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19. “Rose” - Titanic, James Horner

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Criticism of his dialogue is fair, but James Cameron’s story writing is above reproach, at least with Titanic. Jack and Rose’s first kiss at the bow of the doomed luxury liner is arguably Hollywood’s all-time great romantic moment. The sunset and the staging work their magic, but Horner’s hypnotic music and Sissel’s breathy ethereality make the moment so enrapturing and iconic.

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18. “Theme from Schindler’s List” - Schindler’s List, John Williams

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When asked by Steven Spielberg to compose the score for Schindler’s List, Williams told him he needed a better composer. Spielberg agreed but claimed they were all dead. Williams gorgeously captured the reflective sorrow of the Holocaust, and anyone who doesn’t well up as Itzhak Perlam’s violin hits those final notes needs psychological help.

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17. “Penny Returns ” - Top Gun: Maverick, Hans Zimmer & Harold Faltermeyer & Lady Gaga

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A moment can have everything going for it, but music always carries the day. Jennifer Connelly, donning a badass leather jacket and standing against her ‘73 Porsche 911 S, is iconic, but it would do little if not for “Penny Returns,” a gloriously synthy piece filled with the triumph and feel-good nostalgia Top Gun: Maverick sold so well.

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16. “Flying Over Africa” - Out of Africa, John Barry

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Sydney Pollack’s Best Picture-winning romance has aged horribly. During ‘80s Reagan conservatism, its old-fashioned melodrama resonated, but in retrospect, it’s a bore. Its one saving grace is John Barry’s soaring strings as Meryl Streep and Robert Redford fly over the gorgeous plains of Kenya, an all-time romantic sequence.

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