Top 20 Film Music - Part 1 (1-10)
As part of the Sound of Cinema Season, the BBC ran a poll to find out the best music in Film. Star Wars came out on top with a massive 25% of the vote, here's the full list on the BBC Website
Like any musical vote, opinions are varied - so to add to the debate, we are handing over the reigns to the Page 1 Blog. They picked the 20 they think are the best....
PAGE 1 BLOG: We haven't included any from the BBC's short list and after much discussion, we excluded musicals as they have an unfair advantage.
This is a less democratic version of the BBC's survey... but y'know... if you ask thousands of people what they think is the best song, they put 'Misletoe & Wine' to number one, or buy Alexandra Burke's version of 'Hallelujah' instead of Jeff Buckley's or Leonard Cohen's original.
What do you reckon?
There's no particular order, but no better place to start......
Rocky
Bill Conti: "Gonna Fly Now"
Rocky, the love story hidden in a boxing movie and its sensational score from Bill Conti. If you thought he was a mumbling punchbag at the start of the film, by the time he sprints up the steps to Philadelphia Museum of Art, you're right with him. Over the top and yet totally irresistible.
Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence
Ryuichi Sakamoto: "Theme"
David Bowie starred in this story about a British soldier in a Japanese POW camp. Not many remember the movie too well, but Sakamoto's delicate composition has stuck around long after the film. Sakamoto actually starred in this movie as well and then went on to win an Oscar for The Last Emperor in 1987.
Shaft
Isaac Hayes: "Theme from Shaft"
"No-one understands him but his woman". Issac Hayes theme struts its stuff so confidently, he doesn't even need to start singing until 2:40 minutes into the song. Bad-ass.
The Mission
Ennio Morricone: "The Mission"
Robert De Niro and Jeremy Irons played Spanish missionaries who protect a South American tribe from Portuguese invaders. Ennio Morricone's score is as good as any of his Westerns.
Butch Cassidy & TheSundance Kid
Burt Bacharach: "Raindrops keep falling on my Head"
"But it's a pop song!" you say. Well, this is an original composition made for the movie - It won Bacharach an Oscar for this wonderful film. There have never been two more handsome men in the same movie*. Fact. Lucky saddle.
*Apart from The Sting, which also stars Paul Newman and Robert Redford
Requiem for a Dream
Clint Mansell: "Lux Aterna"
If you don't know the name, you'll have definitely heard the song. Originally composed for Darren Aronofsky's film about addiction, it was then claimed by Peter Jackson for The Hobbit but it's most commonly heard on The X-Factor. Clint Mansell is the former lead singer of "Pop Will Eat Itself", which, ironically, in the case of The X-Factor, is completely true!
Amelie
Yann Teiersen "La Valse D' Amelie"
This wondrous, imaginative, stylish and charming film swept away all who saw it. It pumped blood through stone hearts, thanks in no small part to Yann Teiersen's playful score. The music could not be more French even if you stuck a beret on its head and shoved a Gauloises in its mouth. See also: 'Allo 'allo theme tune.
Koyaanisqatsi
Phillip Glass: "Pruit Igoe"
Koyaanisqatsi is the Kenyan expression for "unbalanced life". In this 1982 film, directed by Geoffrey Reggio, the entire soundtrack was composed by Phillip Glass. Koyaanisqatsi is a sort of visual poem, using time-lapse footage shot over several years by Reggio and cinematographer Ron Fricke, the mesmeric imagery is matched by Glass' hypnotic composition.
The Harder They Come
Jimmy Cliff: "The Harder They Come"
Jimmy Cliff not only wrote the theme tune to this movie, but he sang it and played the lead role of Ivanhoe Martin, an aspiring singer who turned to crime. It's a belter of a song and narrowly pipped Many Rivers to Cross from the same soundtrack in our top 20. If you want to hear that instead, here's Jimmy Cliff singing with Jools Holland on piano
Trainspotting
Underworld: "Born Slippy"
Alright, so it wasn't written for the soundtrack, fair enough, but this seminal tune would have been nothing but an obscure B-side if it wasn't for Trainspotting. Danny Boyle's soundtracks are as carefully and lovingly constructed as any director's and 'Born Slippy' was plucked from nowhere by Boyle to end the pulsating film. Plus, if you've made it down this far, you deserve a banging track to leave the page on!!!
CLICK HERE FOR 11-20
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