What are some of your favorite movie themes ever, and why?

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What are some of your favorite movie themes ever, and why?

Postby CaptainFluffatun » 11 Jan 2014 02:33

I think film is one of my favorite mediums to discover rad music. While music does not make a film, it is the cherry on top that ties everything together. The perfect musical accompaniment (or lack thereof) can take a scene to new heights and punch you in the face with emotion. I'd love to hear some of your favorite themes from film, and if you have an explanation, please share that as well! As a rule so that this page loads well, I ask that you format your links as follows:

[url= YOUR URL TO THE SONG]The text of your song[ /url] with no spaces in the html obviously.

I'll start:

Number Five: In the House - In a Heartbeat, from 28 Days Later.

It starts out so simple. The song seems almost frozen over. Before long, the piece builds to incredible heights before imploding in on itself. This theme fits the film's commentary on human nature perfectly as the song tumbles out of control into darker and darker instrumentation. Also it's badass.

Number Four: Why so Serious?, from The Dark Knight.

I don't even care about the actual orchestral parts of this theme. I mean, sure, they're cool, but the reason this theme stands out so much to me is that droning sound in the beginning. It sounds like a fly buzzing by your ear that you just can't get rid of. In the film, that sound built incredible amounts of tension every time The Joker showed up (or was about to). I also give Hans Zimmer props for creativity in production of the part I care less about. I hear he sampled razor blades scraping against one another and used that at some point.

Number Three: Lux Aeterna, from Requiem for a Dream

This song makes me fucking poop every time I hear it. I'll admit, I first heard this song a million times in trailers before seeing the film it was from, and it never really got me that much. After I decided to watch the film, the song quickly jumped up my list. If you've ever seen the movie, you know it's impossibly sad. Every time the bass note motif kicked in in the movie I pooped tears. During the film, it sort of feels like a ride that you want to get off but you can't. It really gives me a sense of a loss of control.

Number Two: The Shire, from The Lord of the Rings.

I've never felt so at home. Yeah, this theme was cute in the beginning, but towards the end of Return of the King, it really conveyed the bond between Sam and Frodo. It's just such a pleasant piece of music to listen to.

Number One: The Ecstasy of Gold, from The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly.

I have never heard such a beautifully triumphant piece of music. This is the song that plays when Tuco finally arrives at the graveyard containing the treasure he and Blondie had been searching for the whole movie. Much like In the House - In a Heartbeat, the song starts simple, but before long, explodes into its powerful operatic orgasm. It really is the theme for the end of a journey, for the fruit of all they have labored for. So fuck people who think the main theme of this movie is better than this particular piece. It is not an opinion they are wrong no questions go away.
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Re: What are some of your favorite movie themes ever, and wh

Postby Navron » 11 Jan 2014 12:11

Great pick for #5. Quite possibly my favorite theme.

Aside from that one you already posted, another one of my favorites would have to be:

Death is the Road to Awe, from The Fountain.
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Re: What are some of your favorite movie themes ever, and wh

Postby Freewave » 11 Jan 2014 13:10

I am a huge of the John William's soundtrack to the Empire Strikes Back. While the Star Wars theme is carried over from the original movie its all the additions that add to making it the best star wars movie and soundtrack.

You have the
Hoth battle scenes
The Imperial March
Han Solo and the Princess (Love Theme)
Asteroid Belt themes
Yoda's / Endor themes
Cloud City
and themes like Hyperspace and the into and outros combining them all in medleys
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But each part of the movie has such clearly identifiable music and it works so well during the movie and outside of it.

I'm also a sucker for John Barry especially On Her Majesty's Secret Service which is my fav non vocal orcherstral theme from him. The ski chase music being particularly nice.
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The early electronic mmets orchestral of Vangelis on Blade Runner is especially wonderful. That whole original soundtrack is a gem.
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Re: What are some of your favorite movie themes ever, and wh

Postby CaptainFluffatun » 11 Jan 2014 16:27

As a bonus mention, the motif at :59 would have been in my top, but it doesn't seem to be its own song, just a running motif in the Star Wars score http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wolFdVti ... CD2438C404

I specifically like the slower versions of that motif, but don't know the names of the tracks it's in.
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Re: What are some of your favorite movie themes ever, and wh

Postby CitricAcid » 11 Jan 2014 20:14

These are some of my favorites in no particular order:

Test Drive - How to Train Your Dragon
I love the dovetailing, how the piece can progress from bottom heavy strings to top heavy woodwinds to blaring brass all in a few measures time. It also incorporates a long, non-repeating, yet memorable melody, which is something I try to do with my own music.

National Treasure Suite - National Treasure
I use this for inspiration a lot when I'm writing something that's action-y or otherwise heavily rhythmic. It's also a piece that I use when I'm demoing other headphones or sound systems, since it covers very wide dynamic and frequency ranges.

Possibility - Pay it Forward
Thomas Newman is my favorite film composer. I love his usage of strange percussion and electronic sounds with orchestra.

The Medallion Calls - Pirates of the Caribbean
This is probably one of those everyone likes. I'm allowed to like it more, because I play French horn.
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Re: What are some of your favorite movie themes ever, and wh

Postby azerty » 11 Jan 2014 20:51

I don't watch many movies, but a personal favourite theme of mine would have to be I Giorni dell'Ira from Django Unchained. Though it isn't the main theme, it's my favourite piece from an amazingly diverse and artistic soundtrack.
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Re: What are some of your favorite movie themes ever, and wh

Postby CaptainFluffatun » 11 Jan 2014 22:43

azerty wrote:Though it isn't the main theme

I should also note any song you post here doesn't have to be the "main" theme

See: The Ecstasy of Gold
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Re: What are some of your favorite movie themes ever, and wh

Postby Mr. Bigglesworth » 12 Jan 2014 05:54

I'm not gonna contribute anything if that's alright, but;

CaptainFluffatun wrote:I'll start:
Number Five: In the House - In a Heartbeat, from 28 Days Later.

It starts out so simple. The song seems almost frozen over. Before long, the piece builds to incredible heights before imploding in on itself. This theme fits the film's commentary on human nature perfectly as the song tumbles out of control into darker and darker instrumentation. Also it's badass.


I loved that movie so much. The theme song was a big part of it. It's one of the few zombie movies I've seen with any real human element to it (I was hoping WWZ would do that, but that's a story for another time). The sequel was pretty good too, but it didn't capture that human-ness the first one did.
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Re: What are some of your favorite movie themes ever, and wh

Postby CaptainFluffatun » 12 Jan 2014 06:53

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Re: What are some of your favorite movie themes ever, and wh

Postby itroitnyah » 12 Jan 2014 08:57

Time by Hans Zimmer. From, you guessed it, Inception.

Hans just does an excellent job of raising tension and creating the epic vibe that fits into the whole theme. The composition and structuring are beyond excellent as well.
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Re: What are some of your favorite movie themes ever, and wh

Postby azerty » 12 Jan 2014 20:52

^Better yet, we could start a favourite-video-game-music thread, there's plenty of potential there.

I would, but I can't do it at this moment.
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Re: What are some of your favorite movie themes ever, and wh

Postby CaptainFluffatun » 12 Jan 2014 21:22

I would have made a thread for that right after making this one but viewtopic.php?f=21&t=4432&hilit=favorite+videogame+theme
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