What's new
Fantasy Football - Footballguys Forums

This is a sample guest message. Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!

What is the most iconic movie score? (1 Viewer)

What is the most iconic movie score?

  • The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

    Votes: 12 7.9%

  • Jaws

    Votes: 19 12.6%

  • Star Wars

    Votes: 67 44.4%

  • Rocky

    Votes: 10 6.6%

  • Halloween

    Votes: 1 0.7%

  • Indiana Jones

    Votes: 9 6.0%

  • The Godfather

    Votes: 6 4.0%

  • The Pink Panther

    Votes: 2 1.3%

  • 2001: A Space Odyssey

    Votes: 10 6.6%

  • Chariots of Fire

    Votes: 5 3.3%

  • Superman

    Votes: 2 1.3%

  • Other

    Votes: 8 5.3%
  • Total voters
    151
matuski said:
El Floppo said:
I've seen all of those- outside of the Matrix, which has a couple individual songs I remember- I can't even think of the music. to me- not iconic scores. 

all of the ones listed in teh OP are to me solid examples of the music being as integral and iconic as the movie. I went with Good Bad and Ugly, but love the Sting call-out a few posts up.
Click to expand...
First thing that pops into my head for these movies is the music score.  Easily iconic scores. 

I agree with all listed here.. but for a few I have never seen.

Of course, like I said - all of these scores pop right into my head, along with so many more, so maybe the scores stick with me for a lot of movies?

eta - how can you not even think of the music for these movies?  google them, it will come back to you. 
Click to expand...
I had to play The Matrix theme on Youtube to remember it. meh.

 
A couple that first come to my mind, but I don't see mentioned.

The Graduate 

American Graffiti 

The Wizard of Oz

 
Voted 2001.  Would have voted Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone.

Honorable Mention to Empire Records.

Close Encounters was also solid if I remember right.

 
The first few notes of the Jaws main song are pretty much the perfect melding of sound to emotion.

Overall the Star Wars music is better. The Imperial March or whatever it is called is so so good.

 
The General said:
The first few notes of the Jaws main song are pretty much the perfect melding of sound to emotion.

Overall the Star Wars music is better. The Imperial March or whatever it is called is so so good.
Click to expand...
Sometimes at meetings when I worked for Big Oil, I'd play that song as everyone was arriving to the conference room.  Many laughs were had.

 
Not saying I'd put it at number 1, but Back to the Future should have been an option. 

I'd go with Rocky, Jaws or The Godfather. 

 
I really think it is a two score race between Jaws and Star Wars.  What tips it for me is that Jaws is that score.  The score defines the movie.

 
Star Wars is most iconic. Score from Last of the Mohicans sticks out as one of the more memorable part of a movie. 

 
Always interesting watching these conductors.  I have no idea what they are doing or how it helps anything.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Star Wars winning this in a runaway clearly illustrates the primary age bracket of the forum users and the overall dripping nerdiness of said collective.   I grew up in that same era and I get it, but......

come on, guys!  The ecstasy of gold from the good, the bad, and the ugly was literally voted as the all-time best score track from any movie ever.   It is impossible not to appreciate for its brilliance.  Like most greats, it shows up in commercials and sound track overs, etc, all the time, but there is just something about it.  

Its cool if everyone here wants to love the imperial death march and all but do yourselves a favor and really tune in and listen to the ecstasy of gold...absolutely bloody fantastic!

 
Shutout said:
Star Wars winning this in a runaway clearly illustrates the primary age bracket of the forum users and the overall dripping nerdiness of said collective.   I grew up in that same era and I get it, but......

come on, guys!  The ecstasy of gold from the good, the bad, and the ugly was literally voted as the all-time best score track from any movie ever.   It is impossible not to appreciate for its brilliance.  Like most greats, it shows up in commercials and sound track overs, etc, all the time, but there is just something about it.  

Its cool if everyone here wants to love the imperial death march and all but do yourselves a favor and really tune in and listen to the ecstasy of gold...absolutely bloody fantastic!
Click to expand...
Also used to open every Metallica show for decades

 
Not all time great but awesome is “The Social Network”. 

Won the Oscar, Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross.

Took scenes of that movie and made them great.

 
Wow, great choices in this poll.

I genuinely can't decide between the first 3, and definitely Rocky and Chariots have a case for being immediately recognizable to the masses.

 
Not that it really matters but score implies the songs were written specifically for the film so The Big Chill soundtrack or 2001 wouldn't technically count but they are both great

 
Funny thing.....  I was told by a friend the other day that The 13th Warrior is considered the biggest box office flop of all time.

Well, that movie is a guilty pleasure of mine(yes, it's bad but I love it).... also it has a hell of a good score.

One more great one I thought of.....   Crimson Tide.

 
When I think of score I am thinking more than just most memorable theme, and a lot of these just pop in my head as theme songs. Unlisted but mentioned upthread  was Laurence of Arabia, but there is really just one one passage that sticks in my head (sort of like the Col. Bogey March from Bridge over River Kwai.

Anyway, for me that boils things down to Star Wars, Raiders, and The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. I would rank them as:

3.Star Wars: Yes it’s awesome, but you could almost put this score on top of Raiders (or any number of Williams scores) and it would fit the movie.

2. Raiders: Slightly ahead  just because this score put me in the mood to buckle swashes.

1. TGTBTU all the way for me. I think you could remove the dialog and just play the soundtrack and lose little if anything from the movie. Plus, I remember having mock gunfights with friends while growing up and it was mandatory to make the duhduhduhduhduhh DUH DUH DUHHH before you faced off. Also,nobody kissed their sister in this one.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Ghost Rider said:
Not saying I'd put it at number 1, but Back to the Future should have been an option. 

I'd go with Rocky, Jaws or The Godfather. 
Click to expand...
I almost always hate when people go off the menu with these types of polls, but I have to agree with you on this.  As soon I read your post, I could hear the theme playing in my head.

 
Whole lotta confusion about the difference between "best" and "most iconic" in here.

Also the difference between a score and a soundtrack.

The Matrix, for example, had both a score AND a soundtrack. Neither of which are particularly memorable, BTW.

 
Moonlight said:
Score from the Big Country is still fantastic and set the bar for Westerns.
Click to expand...
I'd mention "High Noon" as another one that set the early bar for Westerns.  Love the way that "Do Not Forsake Me, O My Darling" tied into it.  May be another one that is more great than iconic though.

 
Andy Dufresne said:
Whole lotta confusion about the difference between "best" and "most iconic" in here.

Also the difference between a score and a soundtrack.

The Matrix, for example, had both a score AND a soundtrack. Neither of which are particularly memorable, BTW.
Click to expand...
As far as soundtracks go (Probably worthy of a separate thread!), the Guardians of the Galaxy was great.

1. "Hooked on a Feeling" - Blue Swede

2. "Go All the Way" - Raspberries

3. "Spirit in the Sky" - Norman Greenbaum

4. "Moonage Daydream" - David Bowie

5. "Fooled Around and Fell in Love" - Elvin Bishop

6. "I'm Not in Love" - 10cc

7. "I Want You Back" - The Jackson 5

8. "Come and Get Your Love" - Redbone

9. "Cherry Bomb" - The Runaways

10. "Escape (The Piña Colada Song)" - Rupert Holmes

11. "O-o-h Child" - Five Stairsteps

12. "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" - Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell
Click to expand...
 
Don Quixote said:
I'd mention "High Noon" as another one that set the early bar for Westerns.  Love the way that "Do Not Forsake Me, O My Darling" tied into it.  May be another one that is more great than iconic though.
Click to expand...
it's not quite as iconic as that one, but another one where the theme song at least (which, iirc, ends up being a leitmotif for the score) is completely tied to the movie for me- The Quiet Man. 

 
Mr. Ected said:
As far as soundtracks go (Probably worthy of a separate thread!), the Guardians of the Galaxy was great.
Click to expand...
yeah, I raised this point earlier with Dazed and Confused and Repo Man- two of my favorite soundtrack collections of songs that tie in perfectly with the movie. Wings of Desire kind of straddles score/soundtrack IIRC... but I could be wrong and it might just be that the soundtrack (which I love) completely overshadows the score (which if there, I can't remember).

oh- another score/soundtrack confusion favorite for me- Diva.

 
Don Quixote said:
I'd mention "High Noon" as another one that set the early bar for Westerns.  Love the way that "Do Not Forsake Me, O My Darling" tied into it.  May be another one that is more great than iconic though.
Click to expand...
I think some of the great older themes were equally as iconic as many of the ones listed here but simply have lost status culture due to turnover. 

Gone with the Wind had an incredible score with various themes in and it's still the highest grossing movie when adjusted for inflation of all time. It's been watched on TV more than any other movie in history. It was re-released in 1961 and was the 4th highest grossing movie of the 60s. It's time is certainly fading fast for multiple reasons, but it's score is certainly deserving of a nomination here. 

Also, like Star Wars, take away the music and the movie falls apart. In Tara's Theme I think you can hear  a lot of what John Williams would do in his career and what big epic movies of the 60s and beyond would aim for. 

 
Last edited by a moderator:
El Floppo said:
Mr. Ected said:
As far as soundtracks go (Probably worthy of a separate thread!), the Guardians of the Galaxy was great.
Click to expand...
yeah, I raised this point earlier with Dazed and Confused and Repo Man- two of my favorite soundtrack collections of songs that tie in perfectly with the movie. Wings of Desire kind of straddles score/soundtrack IIRC... but I could be wrong and it might just be that the soundtrack (which I love) completely overshadows the score (which if there, I can't remember).

oh- another score/soundtrack confusion favorite for me- Diva.
Click to expand...
One that I thought was a confusion was The Commitments. The soundtrack is songs, all performed (at least sung) by the actors in the movie, but I'm sure there was background music to scenes that was more score-like.

1. "Mustang Sally"

2. "Take Me to the River"

3. "Chain of Fools"

4. "The Dark End of the Street"

5. "Destination Anywhere"

6. "I Can't Stand the Rain"

7. "Try a Little Tenderness"

8. "Treat Her Right"

9. "Do Right Woman, Do Right Man"

10. "Mr. Pitiful"

11. "I Never Loved a Man"

12. "In the Midnight Hour"

13. "Bye Bye Baby"

14. "Slip Away"
Click to expand...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Doctor Detroit
  • Poll Poll
Best Mad Max movie, the pole
Replies
13
Views
918
packersfan
packersfan
Evilgrin 72
Best soundtrack that simply fits the movie..
2 3
Replies
139
Views
4K
AcerFC
AcerFC
timschochet
timdraft #4: Movie Category Draft
108 109 110
Replies
5K
Views
129K
BobbyLayne
BobbyLayne

Users who are viewing this thread

Total: 1 (members: 0, guests: 1)
Back
Top