Saturday, June 21, 2014

60 Soundtracks to Consider


Kurt Harden of Cultural Offering recently asked me for a list of my favorite film soundtracks. A serious music fan, Kurt often lists Essential Mixes on his blog and so his request is somewhat daunting. I am certain that many great ones have been overlooked but here, in no particular order, is my list. [I've put asterisks next to the ones I find myself listening to the most.]
  1. Ben-Hur 
  2. Lawrence of Arabia *
  3. The Thin Red Line *
  4. To Kill a Mockingbird *
  5. Cinema Paradiso *
  6. Nowhere in Africa *
  7. Gladiator *
  8. The Last of The Mohicans *
  9. The Cowboys *
  10. Sense and Sensibility *
  11. Jesus of Nazareth
  12. The Godfather
  13. My Fair Lady
  14. O Brother, Where Art Thou?
  15. El Cid
  16. DragonHeart *
  17. Ten Years in Tibet *
  18. Amelie *
  19. Chariots of Fire
  20. The Lion in Winter
  21. Get Shorty *
  22. Braveheart *
  23. Gone With The Wind
  24. Shakespeare in Love *
  25. Deep Impact *
  26. Sleepless in Seattle [More of a collection of great songs]
  27. Doctor Zhivago
  28. Jurassic Park *
  29. Mary Queen of Scots
  30. We Were Soldiers *
  31. The Big Country
  32. Star Wars
  33. Topsy-Turvy
  34. The Piano
  35. True Grit [new version] *
  36. The Cider House Rules
  37. The Magnificent Seven
  38. The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly
  39. Finding Nemo
  40. Witness
  41. Saving Private Ryan
  42. Fiddler on the Roof
  43. Master and Commander *
  44. October Sky
  45. House of Sand and Fog
  46. Gettysburg
  47. Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows - Part Two *
  48. Is Paris Burning?
  49. Nicholas Nickleby *
  50. A Beautiful Mind
  51. Road to Perdition
  52. Michael Collins
  53. Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkaban
  54. Big Fish [Another collection of great songs]
  55. Batman Begins
  56. Father of the Bride
  57. West Side Story
  58. South Pacific
  59. Oklahoma!
  60. Midnight Express

2 comments:

John E. Smith said...

Great list, Michael ... pretty much the soundtrack to my life, in some ways:).

Question: Some of the soundtracks are musicals, while most are not. Do you distinguish these two types of cinematic music in any way?

Just curious ...

John

Michael Wade said...

John,

I personally distinguish between the "pure" soundtracks and musicals but have noticed most of the other "best" lists don't so I caved to convention. A few, such as "Sleepless in Seattle" are great collections more than soundtracks.

Some - "October Sky" is an example - have an original composition as well as popular tunes.

Michael