25 Movie Scores to Make Your Life Feel More Epic

Anyone who understands movies knows just how important music can be to the overall quality of the film. No matter whether you're talking abou a blockbuster action movie, a sweeping romance, or a cerebral drama, a strong score changes everything. A skilled composer can tell a story with sheet music in the way a director can with actors or a screenwriter can with a word processor.

Of course the irony of a bad score is that you don’t realize how important they are until you get a bad one.

That’s not to say that the state of cinema music is on the downtrend. It’s the opposite, actually. With composers like Hans Zimmer, Clint Mansell, Johnny Greenwood, Alexandre Desplat, and a whole host of others, we’ve seen a mini renaissance in the film industry over the last decade. Just recently we’ve heard gems like the scores for The Master, Stoker, and Mud. Even Man of Steel’s score was memorable, despite the movie itself falling flat.

So if you’re a film aficionado looking to revisit some of your favorites or a beginner trying to learn the ropes, we’re recounting 25 Movie Scores to Make Your Life Feel More Epic.

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Composers: Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard
Standout track: “Why So Serious?”

By trading in bombast for intensity, and heroism for pure atmosphere, James Newton Howard and Hans Zimmer redefined the way we listen to superhero movies with their work on The Dark Knight. This score begins with an ominous metallic screech that builds into a deafening crescendo in The Joker's track, “Why So Serious?”. From there, the intensity of the music never lets up for a moment; you'll likely be physically exhausted after one listen.

Zimmer has always been a composer built for volume, and here he builds and builds the music to near-deafening levels that establish the anarchistic mood of director Christopher Nolan’s take on Batman’s world. The pounding percussion, blaring horns, and select use of guitar distortion keeps the listener off balance. You don't know what's around the next corner.

Composer: John Williams
Standout track: “Journey to the Island”

John Williams is the master at creating scores for movies that help tell the story on the screen but also stick with us forever as great pieces of music. For his work on Jurassic Park, one of many collaboration with Steven Spielberg, Williams brought us his most delicate score yet. Sure, there are great Hollywood action beats and fanfares throughout, but the main theme of the movie is softer than his work on Raiders and Star Wars. The same brilliance remains, though.

What Williams did here is pretty unexpected. Just listening to the music on its own, you would never know this was set to a big budget dinosaur film with groundbreaking CGI and people getting eaten while on the toilet. It’s a score that is triumphant, hopeful, and utterly addictive all at once. You’ll have to get this one surgically removed from your head after a few listens.

Composer: Brad Fiedel
Standout track: “Main Titles”

Forget the overtly ‘80s synthesized version from the original, the main title theme from Terminator 2: Judgment Day is the most metal piece of movie music we’ve ever had the privilege to rock out to. The pounding drums set the tough-as-nails mood perfectly, while the rest of the orchestra provides us with the bleak sounds of the apocalypse.

This is the Ramstein of movie music, and it’s a main theme we can listen to over and over without tiring of it. It’s not the most complex score on this list, but composer Brad Fiedel gives us exactly what the movie calls for—music to explode shit to.

Composer: Johnny Greenwood
Standout track: “Prospectors Arrive”

Not every score needs to show off the volume of an orchestra, as evidenced by Johnny Greenwood’s music for Paul Thomas Anderson’s There Will Be Blood. Trading in mainstream decibels for quiet introspection, Greenwood crafts pieces that are sedate on the surface, but are always building in tone and tension. He trades in percussion for strings and piano, which ultimately serves to make the music lull you into a trance before cranking up the suspense to near-horror movie levels.

Greenwood’s experience in Radiohead gives him a diverse knowledge of the music industry, but even we were shocked when he began pumping out stellar scores like this. From artfully crafted tracks like “Open Spaces” to the unsettling dissonance of “Henry Plainview,” the music here doesn’t thump or pound, but it does stir up endless emotions.

Composers: Nick Cave and Warren Ellis
Standout track: “A Song for Jesse”

While mainstream Hollywood scores have disappointed in recent years, indie directors have found new life in the growing trend of hiring established songwriters and rock bands to compose music for their films. We've seen Radiohead’s Johnny Greenwood make magic with director Paul Thomas Anderson on movies like There Will Be Blood and The Master, and Grizzly Bear for Derek Cianfrance’s Blue Valentine. But the most successful example of this trend has to be Aussie rock star Nick Cave collaborating with bandmate Warren Ellis on the soundtrack for Andrew Dominik’s The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford.

The music for this movie might not be “epic” in the traditional sense, but it’s a rich tapestry of emotions and moods that coalesce brilliantly for a sound that is equal parts idyllic and tragic. This is an easy listen on its own, but it works best when combined with Roger Deakins’ lush cinematography.

Composer: Hans Zimmer
Standout track: “Time”

We keep trying to poke holes in Hans Zimmer’s brilliant resume, but we just can’t do it. The man is an absolute workhorse, pumping out countless scores over the past decade, each with a unique hook. And in 2010’s Inception, he surprised us again with one of the greatest scores in recent memory. This is a pounding work of symphonic brilliance that grabs you by the throat from the opening notes and doesn’t let go until the end credits have rolled.

In the film’s main theme, entitled “Time,” Zimmer uses a slow burn technique that builds to a deafening crescendo that is sure to send chills down your spine. That is what Zimmer does so well; he doesn’t create hooks, he creates feelings. This isn’t a score that has a memorable melody, but we promise that you won’t be able to stop listening to it.

Composer: John Murphy and Underworld
Standout track: “Sunshine (Adagio in D Minor)”

There is a long history of terrific music in sci-fi films, including Solaris, both the original and the remake, and Stanley Kubrick’s 2001 (which was comprised mostly of existing music, thus making it ineligible for inclusion here). However, one of the most overlooked spacebound scores in recent memory comes from Danny Boyle’s Sunshine. With John Murphy as composer, the music in this film is as powerful as anything we’ve ever heard in any medium, but it’s the track “Sunshine” that still generates goosebumps.

This is a sweeping piece that complements perfectly the real enormity of space that Boyle creates in his film. It’s an uplifting and beautiful medley that takes us on a range of emotions and always leaves us exhausted at the end. The haunting piano and the booming crescendo of orchestra is just as moving now as it was when we first heard it. It’s not often that a movie score transcends the film it's in and just becomes a piece of universal musical brilliance, but Murphy accomplishes just that.

Composer: John Williams
Standout track: “The Raiders March”

There are many great director-composer combinations in movie history, including Bernard Herrman and Alfred Hitchcock, and Tim Burton and Danny Elfman, but the best duo to ever grace the silver screen has to be Steven Spielberg and John Williams. This creative team has brought us countless iconic film moments over the years, and one of their most triumphant collaborations happened in Raiders of the Lost Ark.

Williams flawlessy captures the feeling of action and adventure that Spielberg puts on the screen. The music here is appropriately triumphant, romantic, and even a bit scary at points, and it all adds to the 1930s nostalgia of the film. What people remember most about the Raiders music is the main title theme, easily the most memorable piece from the film. It harkens back to the action and adventure films of Hollywood’s Golden Age, and it’s nearly impossible to watch the movie with whistling along.

Composer: Howard Shore
Standout track: “Concerning Hobbits," "The Bridge of Khazad Dum," and "Helm's Deep"

It’s a near-impossible task for a composer to capture the music and melodies of Middle Earth, but thankfully Peter Jackson found the perfect talent in Howard Shore. With a score that draws on baroque, northern European, and Celtic influences, Shore binds together a myriad styles from throughout the world to craft a sound that isn't constricted to one style or time period. In fact, the only influence for his music that doesn’t appear in this score is the typical sound you get fro most Hollywood blockbusters.

Shying away from the bombast and deafening instrumentation we see in most action movies, The Lord of the Rings trilogy sounds like what we think Tolkien was hearing in his head when he wrote. It might not leave you humming a theme, like John Williams’ work on Star Wars, but Shore’s music just fits the world and characters so well that we can’t imagine it any other way.

Composer: Hans Zimmer and Lisa Gerrard
Standout track: “The Earth” and “The Battle”

Whenever a score receives as much attention as Gladiator’s has over the years, you can't help but be a bit skeptical, but Hans Zimmer and Lisa Gerrard’s work more than lives up to the hype. Blending aspects of Wagner and Gustav Holst with some Mediterranean flourishes, this score is pure operatic grandeur.

The action scenes are perfectly composed in pieces like “The Battle,” where Zimmer and Gerrard cut loose with a track that is fit for the Coliseum. Then, when the mood calls for a more soothing sound in “The Earth” and “The Wheat,” we’re treated to delicate instrumentation and haunting vocals to establish the solitude of the main character and the air of impending tragedy.

This eclectic mix of styles is exactly what modern blockbusters needs. It’s not all about how loud you can blow your horn or bang a drum, it’s about setting the scene and helping the story jump off the screen.

Composer: Monty Norman
Standout track: “James Bond Theme”

There isn’t much left to say about the music in the James Bond series. It’s among the most iconic in the history of film. Composed by Monty Norman, the Bond theme is a surf style guitar riff, coupled with a sleek bass line and a bellowing horn section to back it all up. It perfectly mixs the ‘60s mainstream sound of the time with more timeless elements to create a theme that is just like Bond himself: a classic hero with a modern edge.

The score for Dr. No is an obvious choice to make your life more exciting because it’s the Bond music stripped down to its bare essentials. There are no added flourishes or celebrity guest-appearances like the modern 007 soundtracks. This is pure uncut Bond, and it’s as cool as ever.

Composer: Danny Elfman
Standout track: “The Batman Theme”

Whenever a composer puts together a theme for a movie, it’s vital for for him or her to truly understand the character and then mold the music to fit that character's personality. Thankfully, Danny Elfman understood exactly what made the Dark Knight tick—even more so than Tim Burton—when he was writing the music for 1989’s Batman. From the opening moments of the film until the end, we’re treated to the now-iconic Batman theme in all of its gothic splendor.

Dark, moody, and incredibly intense, this piece is what most people still associate with the character more than 20 years later. This score wasn’t all brooding and darkness, though, and Elfman allowed a more playful side of himself to come out when crafting music for the Joker in the selection, “Waltz to the Death.” This is still the definitive music for the world of Gotham City, and we certainly wouldn't mind the main theme making a comeback when Batman returns to theaters next year.

Composer: Jerry Goldsmith
Standout track: “Main Title”

Between the sci-fi premise, the brilliant makeup effects, and the shocking twist ending, people often forget how groundbreaking Jerry Goldmsith’s score for the original Planet of the Apes was. Through the use of frantic percussion, chaotic piano stings, and a fleet of wind instruments, Goldmsith created a music that heightened the terror on the screen.

There is a primitive sound to the music here that echoes the low-tech, violent society the apes have created. The jungle-like quality to Goldsmith’s music adds to the creepy vibe of the movie, especially in the lead-up to the discovery of the apes. But when he finally cuts loose, he brings the adrenaline-packed score the movie needs during its larger set pieces. It doesn’t always get the respect it deserves, but next time you watch Planet of the Apes, pay attention to the genius that Goldsmith puts into every note.

Composer: John Williams
Standout piece: “Main Title March”

Never before has one piece of music embodied a character quite like John Williams's main theme for 1978’s Superman: The Movie. This sweeping suite is the perfect theme for the Man of Steel—it’s triumphant, uplifting, and thoroughly catchy. To this day, whenever we pick up a Superman comic or see the character’s iconic “S” shield emblazoned on a T-shirt, we can’t help but hum this.

This iconic theme is used throughout the film, capping off action scenes and making Superman’s feats of strength seem that much more epic. You’ll be lucky not to be covered in goosebumps by the end credits. In addition to the main march, Williams also crafted other memorable pieces, most notably “The Planet Krypton,” which gave us a more understated view of Superman’s doomed home planet.

Composer: Nino Rota
Standout track: “Godfather Waltz” and "The Love Theme from The Godfather"

The Godfather score may not bludgeon you over the head with blaring horns or driving percussions, but Nino Rota’s work on this soundtrack is one of understated beauty and old-world romanticism. The sweeping strings and wandering horns all add up to a delicate symphony that is both firmly entrenched in the world that Francis Ford Coppola created and utterly timeless.

If you’re not one to listen to an entire score, just take a listen to “The Godfather Waltz” and “Love Theme from The Godfather.” These two pieces are just beautiful and elicit tones of melancholy and tragedy. There is also a sense of classic Hollywood here, when scores were huge affairs, devoid of digital instrumentation and electric instruments. It’s only appropriate that Rota, an Italian composer, created the definitive sound for the Corleone family.

Composer: Leonard Bernstein
Standout track: “Symphonic Suite”

On The Waterfront might not come to mind when most people think of iconic movie scores, but we’re here to change that. Composed by the legendary Leonard Bernstein, the music here is a jazzy combination of Hollywood bombast and classy orchestral flourishes. The main “Symphonic Suite” is the highlight of Bernstein’s work on the movie. This is a sweeping piece that pounds and thrashes its way through changing tempos and tones, culminating with the raucous pounding of an epic showdown.

For the movie's more mellow moments, Bernstein turns down the volume and focuses on a lone saxophone cutting through the rest of the instruments, which is eerily similar to the solitude of Marlon Brando’s character in the film. On the Waterfront was Bernstein’s only original movie score not to be adapted from one of his own works, and we can’t help but wonder what else he could have brought to film had he concentrated on the medium. At least we got a glimmer of his brilliance with this score.

Composer: Max Steiner
Standout track: “Main theme”

King Kong wasn’t just innovative in its use of special effects, it also revolutionized the way music was used in movies. Many directors back in the ‘30s would recycle old scores and pre-existing pieces for their films, but director Merian C. Cooper thought Kong deserved something better than that. Cooper wound up paying composer Max Steiner out of his own pock to produce an original score for the film to help add to its grandeur.

The result was a booming, epic soundtrack that was the perfect compliment to the larger-than-life ape. Impressively, Steiner was also able to tone down the music to accommodate the sweeping romance happening in between Kong’s rampages when necessary. It takes a composer with a limitless imagination to create music fit for a 50-foot-tall ape, and Steiner was more than up to the challenge.

Composer: Clint Mansell
Standout track: “Lux Aeterna”

Director Darren Aronofsky struck cinematic gold when Clint Mansell agreed to compose the score for his harrowingly dark tale of drugs and addiction, Requiem for a Dream. Mansell’s score is a sonic assault on the senses, mixing traditional orchestral vibes with understated electronica to produce a rhythmic explosion. Mansell’s work is unique in that it works symbiotically with the movie on the screen, yet it is so transcendent that selections from it have been used in countless trailers and commercials over the years.

The overall body of work has been distilled to one track, “Lux Aeterna,” which can be considered the main theme of the piece. This track has a grandiose quality that somehow ended up in a small indie film. It’s a testament to talent and creativity enhancing a movie’s scope and becoming something far bigger and more important.

Composer: Bernard Herrmann
Standout track: “Prelude and Rooftop”

The making of a classic film score begins with the relationship between the director and the composer. Thankfully Alfred Hitchcock found a muse in Bernard Herrmann, who turned in some of his best work for Hitchcock’s 1958 classic, Vertigo. Though Hitchcock is often called the master of suspense, we can’t help but wonder if half of that crown should go to Herrmann himself.

His composition for Vertigo isn't just music playing in the background; it adds much of the atmosphere and emotion to the film itself. The score starts with an eerie string section that instantly give us an uneasy feeling. Then we’re treated to blaring horns that take us off balance, and finally Herrmann offers up a dizzying bit of orchestral cacophony that leaves us clutching to restore our balance. The visceral emotions this score elicits is rare for a movie, and it goes to prove just how choosing the right composer can make your movie a classic.

Composer: Ennio Morricone
Standout track: “The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly Theme”

With its use of traditional instruments like guitars, peculiar wind instruments like ocarinas, and some perfectly-placed backing vocals, Ennio Morricone created the quintessential music for the old west in The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. From its opening howl to the closing notes of the iconic “The Ecstasy of Gold” track, this is music that gets our adrenaline flowing and makes our trigger finger itchy.

The main theme is the film’s most memorable piece, and it helps capture the mood of Sergio Leone’s film. It’s the perfect music to accompany a lone gunslinger, and Leone utilized it brilliantly throughout the entire movie. Even if you’ve never seen the movie—which you definitely should—this is a score that deserves your attention.

Composer: Phillip Glass
Standout track: “Pruit Igoe”

1982’s Koyaanisqatsi is one of the most powerful non-narrative films ever attempted. Instead of dealing in plot and characters, director Godfrey Reggio used a combination of slow motion and time-lapse photography of the modern world to paint a picture of a society bludgeoned by advancing technology, shameless advertising, and devastating poverty. Holding these themes together is one of cinema’s great scores, masterfully composed by Phillips Glass.

Like the horns of the gods themselves, Glass’ score sweeps through the footage like a natural disaster. From tranquil footage set to subtle instrumentation, to the extravagant sounds of “Pruit Igoe,” Glass seems like he’s scoring humanity’s undoing here, and it still leaves us speechless. If the Bible was set to music, we think this is how it would sound.

Composer: Maurice Jarre
Standout track: “Overture”

Maurice Jarre’s work on Lawrence of Arabia is nothing short of a masterpiece. The thumping percussion and booming horns add a sonic splendor to David Lean’s widescreen epic, but it’s in the film’s overture where Jarre really worked his magic. This is a theme that has become one of the most iconic in Hollywood history. The juxtaposition between the harsh drum beats and the soothing strings add so many layers to the piece, and it keeps the music constantly propelling forward and unpredictable.

Lawrence of Arabia hit theaters at a time when movies were getting larger in both visual scope and budget, so it was important for the film to have music that shared its ambitions. Jarre’s work is tailor-made for Lean’s tastes, and that combination led to music that can stand alongside anything being produced by the most talented composers of the era.

Composer: Bernard Herrmann
Standout track: “Prelude” and “The Murder”

Never before has a score left such an indelible link to a movie like Bernard Herrmann’s work on Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho has. The moody atmosphere and the screeching string section are a perfect compliment for the master of suspense. Herrmann’s work here isn’t the best that he put out for Hitchcock, but it’s easily the most iconic in the realm of pop culture.

The track “Prelude” eerily sets up an air of mystery around the film. We know something is going down, we just don’t know what yet. As the score moves on, we’re given hints at the terror to come. Then it happens. During the iconic shower scene, Herrmann hits his highpoint with a deafening violin sting that helped turn Psycho into a phenomenon. To this day, Herrmann’s work on this movie is the international music for murder.

Composer: John Williams
Standout track: “Main Titles”

With just two notes, John Williams made us never want to dip our toes into the ocean ever again. The movie famously opens with a lone woman swimming in the ocean as the repetition of this menacing theme—dun dun—begins to build. While the music intensifies, so does the suspense. Suddenly, as the music hits its terrifying peak, she’s dragged under the water by the menacing Jaws. This theme is played throughout the film whenever the Great White rears its toothy head, and despite its simplicity, it still drives us to a cold sweat today.

The main theme for Jaws encapsulates the brilliance of John Williams perfectly. He studies every movie he works on, collaborates with the director, and finds music that truly fits the film, instead of just forcing his style into the movie. It’s not his most dynamic score, but it’s his most effective.

Composer: John Williams
Standout tracks: “Main Titles,” “Imperial March,” and “Han Solo and the Princess”

John Williams has pumped out some truly memorable music during his illustrious career, but his magnum opus will always be his work on the original Star Wars trilogy. The scores for these three films run the gamut of drama and emotion—from action to romance to quiet introspection. There are selections here that sound like they were ripped directly from Wagner’s “Das Rheingold” and others that echo back to the serials of Hollywood's golden age.

Most people think of movie scores as overlong and lacking action, but the music from Star Wars is exactly the opposite. Williams’ work is concise, focused, and will leave you humming along for weeks afterwards. Whether your personal favorite is something militaristic like “The Imperial March,” something softer like “Yoda’s Theme,” or something heart-pumping like “The Last Battle,” there is a piece for every mood.

The marriage between a movie and its score is incredibly important to enhance what is unfolding on the screen, and it’s safe to say that Star Wars would be lost without Williams’ genius. If you take out the dialogue and sound effects and just left the score in place, these movies would still be classics.