If you know me (and chances are you don't), you know that I LOVE film music. I remember buying Howard Shore's scores for The Fellowship of the Ring and Two Towers as a teenager and absolutely adoring both. Then I discovered Hans Zimmer and the world as I knew it had changed forever.
In a nutshell: the only music I prefer to film music is Backstreet Boys the sound waves make when crashing ashore, and the sound trees make when moving back and forth in the wind. (But that's a story for another time.)
Going back through the entire history of film music would take too much time, so let's cover my favorite film / TV music pieces from this century so far, with a bonus of three honorable mentions.
- Time by Hans Zimmer (Inception, 2010). Completely disregarding the fact that this is the cliché choice, I must declare my love for this piece of music. It perfectly encapsulates the herculean task Dom Cobb has had to execute to success in the movie. What's more is that I can see a strong vision - an uplifting and inspiring vision - in my head every time I hear this piece.
- Main Title by Carlos Rafael Rivera (The Queen's Gambit, 2020). I can't begin to describe what I feel when I hear this piece, but I'll try anyway: life is a challenge to achieve an ultimate maxim, and you've achieved it. I wish I get to hear this live, performed by an orchestra, one day during my lifetime.
- Trucks in Place by Ludwig Göransson (Tenet, 2020). Through several re-watches, Tenet has become one of my all-time favorite movies, and knowing that most people don't understand its genius makes me feel even better about it. (Sweet sweet self-irony.) The entire soundtrack is great, especially for getting work done, and the crazy inverse beat in this particular piece (the one that starts at 1:28) is absolutely divine. I just wish people would learn the correct way to pronounce the composer's name.
Honorable mentions:
- No Time for Caution by Hans Zimmer (Interstellar, 2014). The best piece of a flawless movie.
- Game of Thrones Main Title Theme by Ramin Djawadi (Game of Thrones, 2011-2019). I strongly prefer the score to the series, which was epic, but not as epic as this main title song.
- Prison Break Main Titles by Ramin Djawadi (Prison Break, 2005-2009). The entire first season soundtrack is pure gold, perfectly setting the mood for the story and its ambiance.
And now that I've managed to insult John Williams, I'm out.
RK
P.S. There's nothing inherently wrong with Zimmer's Batman trilogy scores; I just don't like them. I massively prefer the work Zimmer did on Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (the video game). It's insanely good. Out of this world. Highly recommended.
P.P.S. John Williams is a god who only composes perfect masterpieces.
