With the social isolation and social distancing a necessity in this quarantined world, I’ve been going for lots of walks, and of course I will usually put on my headphones and listen to music on these walks. Sometimes I’ll put on my Movie Soundtrack playlist, which has inspired today’s Top Ten Movie Themes.
Note that this is not the top Soundtracks as a whole, but rather the main theme of the movie; it may or may not play over the title or credit sequence, but is notably the main musical theme of the film, and in many cases, series. It’s also the composer’s main score, as opposed to a lyrical song performed by a singer or band.
10. Harry Potter (Hedwig’s Theme – John Williams)
The theme from the Harry Potter series is interwoven through all eight movies, and while Williams didn’t compose all eight movies himself, the theme was thankfully left more or less alone by the other composers. It’s filled with wonder and whimsy, and ties in with several of the different moods of the films.
9. Mission: Impossible (Theme – Lalo Schifrin)
Ok, I’m cheating here a little – the main theme from the Mission: Impossible movie series is the same as from the 1960s/70s television show, albeit adapted for each movie in the Tom Cruise series. The theme is instantly recognizable, and each film’s composer has been able to adapt it to fit within the rest of the score and the mood of their film. Danny Elfman, Hans Zimmer, Michael Giacchino, Joe Kramer and most recently Lorne Balfe have left their signature fingerprints on the theme, which untouched is still a classic.
8. The Godfather (Main Theme – Nino Rota)
When that first haunting note of the trumpet hits your ears, you instantly get a feel for the Corleone family. It sounds Italian, it is equal parts regal and mysterious, and it is part of a classic 1970s score in one of the best movies ever put to film.
7. Indiana Jones (Main Theme – John Williams)
Another John Williams entry, it’s a triumphant head-bobber of a song that celebrated the return of the adventure hero to the big screen. With absolutely no haunting sense of doom and gloom, it just makes you want to hop on a horse and ride off into the sunset every time you hear it.
6. Jaws (Main Theme – John Williams)
It’s amazing how two notes of music can create one of the most recognizable, haunting, and also parodied pieces of music ever written. Williams masterfully creates a sense of suspense and imminent disaster with his breakout score. If you ever want to freak out a group of beachgoers, grab a loud set of speakers, blast the theme from Jaws and see how fast they can run. Even if you haven’t seen the movie, you know the song.
5. The Pink Panther (Theme – Henry Mancini)
At its heart, the Pink Panther series is a detective story – or at least a mild spoof thereof. Likewise, Mancini’s trademark theme is equal parts film noir and goofy, which fits into the basic understanding of the films. Not just the opening credit song, but rather a theme which plays multiple times throughout the movies, it fits several different comedic settings and is great for comedic tension.
4. The Lord of the Rings (Main theme – Howard Shore)
For a series which has so many different memorable musical motifs like the Minas Tirith theme and the theme of the Rohirrim, Shore’s main theme makes viewers of the series think of both the Shire and the Fellowship – so in a way it’s a perfect main theme, uniting all of the characters once they all take their different paths. Its quiet beginning with a long buildup to the triumphant Fellowship theme, its use in the films is primarily to evoke feelings of hope.
3. The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (Main theme – Ennio Morricone)
Morricone is easily the best composer of Western films, and this is his finest. From the opening whistle into the humming and the guitar, no matter where you are when you listen to it, you can close your eyes and picture the tumbleweed blowing past the cowboys in the standoff, ready to draw their pistols. As one comment on the Youtube video for the music aptly puts it: “There are four characters in the movie: the good, the bad, the ugly…and the music.”
2. Star Wars (Main theme – John Williams)
This might be the only theme which we can all remember hearing for the first time when we watched our first Star Wars movie. Whether in a theatre or in our living rooms, we all remember how we feel when we first heard that opening blast of the horns. And with each other movie in the series after, in theatres at least, those horns result in wild applause and cheering from most audiences. Goosebumps.
1. Pirates of the Caribbean (He’s a Pirate – Hans Zimmer/Klaus Badelt)
This blood-pumping, exhilarating theme makes me wish I was a pirate…who had loudspeakers on my ship, playing this song on repeat. Not very practical, I’ll admit, but if it can make washing the dishes or folding laundry feel like an epic act, imagine how it would feel if you were pirating to this music? Watch the live medley performance posted below, and when they get to the main theme (around 10:27), just watch the childish joy on Zimmer’s face as the orchestra pumps it out.
Talking Films 