As a frequent moviegoer, I believe that between two movies which both have a great story/plot, memorable acting from their casts, excellent film editing and visual effects, it is their individual film soundtrack that will determine which one is very good and which one is great. The soundtrack set the mood of the movie right from the beginning and highlight the important scenes by providing a touch of realism. It sometimes helps in making a movie achieve an iconic stature by providing an “element of recall” thru subliminal means to the moviegoers who have seen that movie (after watching movie with a good theme music, you will often hear some people, mostly kids and kids-at-heart, whistling/humming the film’s theme music).
A movie’s film score is the music composed or used in a film (usually orchestral in nature), whether it was originally composed for the film or used in another context previously. It’s a common misconception to synonymously associate a movie’s theme song with its film score. The film score, the theme song and the other theme music used in the film are generally contained in the film’s soundtrack album.
When I watch a movie, I give an effort to notice and to appreciate that movie’s soundtrack. As an avid movie collector and home theater buff, one of my criteria in selecting a movie DVD from the store shelf is that movie’s particular sound effects and/or soundtrack. When I watch a movie in the comfort of The Sanctuary (the name that I gave to my small home theater room in the house), I want to maximize the capability of my home theater system and enjoy a total movie experience.
But before I go on with my top five, I want to make clear that I only considered action/adventure films because I’ve noticed that movies from this type of film genre provide a wide range of orchestral theme music – slow, fast, from slow to fast, from fast to slow, and romantic instrumentals at times. (Next time’ I’ll be listing down my five favorite romantic themes/theme songs.)
5> Superman March
The Superman March, also known as The Superman Main Theme, was composed by John Williams for the movie Superman (1978). Since then, his composition was adapted and subsequently used in the other Superman films that followed, including in the latest movie from the franchise, Superman Returns. The score for this release was composed by John Ottman using some of Williams' compositions.
The sound clip below is the concert version of the original release. Right around the middle of the theme, you will hear a little portion of the love theme from the movie, Can You Read My Mind.
[More Trivia] Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, the creators of Superman, got the hero’s alter ego Clark Kent from the first names name of two actors, Clark Gable and Kent Taylor. Metropolis, Supes' home city was from Fritz Lang’s movie of the same title.
In 1966, a Broadway play based on Superman was produced. The title of the play was It's a Bird... It's a Plane... It's Superman!, with Bob Holiday playing as Superman/Clark Kent.
4>The Pink Panther Theme
The Pink Panther Theme was composed by Henry Mancini for the movie The Pink Panther (1963). What I like about this theme is its jazzy arrangement. If you like saxophone jazz, you should definitely listen to the many different variations of this theme using a very good pair of headphones. You might find them rather relaxing.
[More Trivia] A lot of you probably know this by now, but for those who do not, well, The Pink Panther being referred to by the title of the movie is actually the gem stone in the movie plot and not the Pink Panther cartoon character.
The femme fatale in this movie was played by Capucine. Her name is pronounced "Kap-oo-seen"-- is French for the Nasturtium flower.
3>Raider’s March
The musical score for the movie Indiana Jones and the Raider’s of the Lost Ark (1981) was composed by John Williams. I think that this is one of the greatest musical themes ever produced. All I can say is that the moment you hear William’s composition, you can only think of two words – BIG ADVENTURE. It makes excited that you would want to go with Indy on his adventures.
[More Trivia] The film Indiana Jones and the Raider’s of the Lost Ark (1981) was deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" by the United States Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the National Film Registry in 1999.
2>Batman Theme
Yeah, I know that The Raider’s March should be higher than this theme in the listing, but hey, I’m a Batman fan so I’m putting this as my number 2.
The theme for the movie Batman (1989) was composed by Danny Elfman. His work added a dim tone to the already dark and gothic visual style of Tim Burton. As a Batman fan, when I hear the theme, I can visualize Batman riding inside the Keaton Batmobile (the newest one is called The Tumbler) and then springing out in action, climbing the walls of an old Gotham city building, and eventually striking his famous pose on top of that building’s gargoyle statue, watching over his beloved city during the night, with the moon shining and the Bat-Signal illuminating behind him.
[More Trivia] The movie Batman Returns (1992), whose theme was again composed by Elfman (a variation of his first one), was the first film to use Dolby Digital technology when it premiered in theaters in 1992.
1>Star Wars Themes
I may be a big Batman fan but I know how to appreciate a great musical theme when I hear one. For me, John Williams’ Star Wars soundtrack is the best one out there. I agree with the people who say that what George Lucas created is a movie saga, a mythos, the Star Wars Universe. And Star Wars achieved its iconic status with much help from Williams’ compositions in the two trilogies. His compositions, starting from the Phantom Menace up to the Return of the Jedi, tell the whole story of the mythos.
If you notice, I used the word "themes" above. This is because in reality, there are lots the Star Wars Themes; each is very good in its own right. When you group them together, you have one great big movie soundtrack. The usual one is the Star Wars Main Theme, sometimes known as Luke’s Theme, and is considered to be the anthem of the saga, often associated with bravery and adventure. Other notable themes/scores from the trilogies include The Imperial March aka Darth’s Vader Theme, the Force Theme, Duel of the Fates, the Throne Room, and Battle of the Heroes. The saga even has a romantic theme for Anakin and Padme, Love Across the Stars.
Below, I have a chosen the Track 16 of the Revenge of the Sith soundtrack. This score contains parts of most of the important scores form the whole saga (except maybe the Darth Vader theme).
[More Trivia] THX stand for Tomlinson Holman’s eXperiment. It was developed in Lucasfilm by Tomlinson Holman for use in the soundtrack of Lucas’ Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi (1983).
Best of the Rest
The following themes are still some my favorites; they’re not on the same level as my top five but they’re still very good.
James Bond theme
“Dum di-di dum dum” - this signature theme of every James Bond movie is a famous one. Used in every official James Bond film produced, the theme and its variations found in the movies are played during many different types of scenes, most memorably in the famous gun-barrel sequence. Monty Norman is credited for writing this theme while John Barry is credited for the 'definitive' orchestration of the theme, starting with Dr. No (1962).
Among the many musical themes/scores associated with the James Bond franchise, my favorite score is the instrumental We Have All the Time in the World, from On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969). It’s very romantic and sentimental, rightfully, as this is the only movie where James Bond fell in love and was married. At the end of this orchestral track, you can hear the famous James Bond Theme.
Jack Sparrow Theme
I just like the Jack Sparrow theme from Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl (2003). It is officially credited to Klaus Badelt. When you listen to it, you can just imagine Captain Jack and his crew battling Capt. Hector Barbossa and his cursed henchmen in classic swashbuckling-style, aboard the sailing Black Pearl.
Spiderman Theme
Actually, the Spiderman theme that I like is not the official movie theme. Rather, this is the Spiderman cartoons theme which the first sequel adapted to its soundtrack. It’s actually sort of a secondary theme song. I liked it because it was performed by Michael Buble, giving it a classic and jazzy feel.
This is all for now. Next time, I'll be listing my top five movie love themes.
Sources
http://en.wikipedia.org/
http://www.imdb.com
http://www.filmscoremonthly.com/features/functions.asp
For comments, suggestions and requests, you can contact me at Eyes.X.Only@gmail.com
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