How To Train Your Dragon Soundtrack
This is quite possibly the best soundtrack to come out this century (2000-), at least so far. John Powell, the composer, is one of my favorite film composers, and I would still say that if he hadn’t done all of his other soundtracks (all of which are wonderful). Yep, that’s how good this soundtrack is. The music perfectly fits each scene in the movie, adding mystery, emotion, suspense, and pure joy to each scene. Not only that, but there are so many themes given to the various settings and characters that you just implicitly give to a character, even if none of the names of the tracks on this soundtrack refer to a particular character’s theme. Please listen to this soundtrack, it is truly amazing.
Standout track: (I mean, the whole thing really, it’s a 23 way tie):
Test Drive
If you have spotify, be sure to check out my movie soundtracks playlist (title to the right), featuring over 900 tracks from various movie scores. I add new ones every week and would really like to share what I think is so great about movie music with you. Please enjoy!
Milesofmovies Movie Soundtracks
WALL-E Soundtrack
Composer Thomas Newman is most often associated with his scores for dramas like The Shawshank Redemption, Road to Perdition, and American Beauty. Occasionally, he opts for scoring a lighter film, such as Finding Nemo, but is mostly known for those three dramas. Enter WALL-E, a beautifully original movie starring a robot that is set partially on a dead future earth and partially in space. The part of the score, most notably the parts that are set on earth, are particularly under pressure of being great, since there is no dialogue or even human characters during that part of the film; the score has to fill in much of the void that occurs as a result. The score does an excellent job of both making earth feel barren and empty and adding to WALL-E’s personality and to EVE’s personality. The score excels most when it is the almost the only source of sound in the movie, such as in the context just mentioned. The most memorable tracks, such as “Define Dancing”, “EVE”, “2815 AD”, and “The Axiom” showcase just how much the music itself gives personality to characters, and majesty to set pieces, and that’s just on their own. Put them in their places in the film and they really come alive. My choice of “standout track” is “The Axiom”, which I believe is the best of these space-filling tracks. Before closing this review, though, I do want to touch on most of the other tracks, which take place while characters are talking or interacting; they are the opposite of the before mentioned tracks. These work decently enough, but often feel a little derivative of Newman’s rather unremarkable score for Finding Nemo, functional but nothing special. That having been said, the memorable tracks always bring me back to this score, and I always find something new in it.
Standout track: The Axiom
Unbreakable Soundtrack
Unbreakable is a great movie, but the soundtrack is even better. It perfectly conveys the creepy yet profoundly sad atmosphere of the movie, creating one of the most beautiful soundtracks ever written. The various themes that sweep through the music just make you feel for the characters, and it’s just a shame the music is more prominently displayed in the film, as it takes a bit of a backseat most of the time. And yet, by the time the movie begins to end and David Dunn accepts his identity as an unbreakable superhero, the tone of the music changes. Though the themes stay the same, the music takes on a positive and hopeful tone, in subtle contrast to the sadness that was on display earlier. The moment that David Dunn embraces his power is felt during the track entitled “The Orange Man” and continued in the next track: “Carrying Audrey”. This is exactly what a soundtrack should do: drive the tone of the film, making you further understand the characters and what they’re going through. The soundtrack to Unbreakable does this all while maintaining a quiet beauty throughout. Look no further for James Newton Howard’s best score.
Standout track: Reflection of Elijah
The Walk Soundtrack
Composer Alan Silvestri has written the scores for just about all of Robert Zemeckis’ films, ranging from Forrest Gump to Back to The Future. However, unlike many famous pairings between director and composer, such as Steven Spielberg with John Williams, J.J. Abrams with Michael Giacchino, or Christopher Nolan with Hans Zimmer, both Robert Zemeckis and Alan Silvestri are underrated. They always make winners and yet hardly ever get credit for them. The Walk proves this even further as it is, without a doubt, another winner from a movie perspective and from a music perspective. The film can be pretty well-split into three parts: whimsy backstory, tight heist, and beautiful walk. The first six tracks all fall into the whimsy part, where they are lighthearted and fun. Track seven, “Full of Doubt,” begins to make the transition into the heist. The next three tracks, especially the track “We Have a Problem” really churn up the tension, making this movie move faster than I thought possible. And then, when it seemed like the film would just crush me under the weight of the suspense, I see the light at the end of the tunnel. It starts with what I would say is the best track on this list, “The Walk.” This track perfectly captures the dream-like feeling Philippe Petit gets when he walks on the wire. It’s beautiful and triumphant as it represents the payoff to all of that suspense. The following tracks just serve to add to the majesty of this part of the film. Overall, the soundtrack, like the film, is separated into three parts. The last two are definitely the standouts, with the beauty of “The Walk” taking the crown for best track.
Standout Track: The Walk
Casino Royale Soundtrack
Composer David Arnold doesn’t have too many well-known films to his credit except for those within the Bond franchise. Luckily for us, Casino Royale is included in those Bond films he’s composed the music for. The soundtrack for Casino Royale is probably the best action film soundtrack in that it has excellent tracks going on during the action, but also manages to fill the rest of the film with beautiful music as well. Tracks like “African Rundown”, “Miami International”, and “Fall of a House in Venice” all take place during the film’s three biggest action scenes, and both add to the film and work well on their own, something that can rarely be said for action movie soundtracks, whose music is often filler or background music. In Casino Royale, every track matters. The music is especially beautiful when concerning the theme it gives to Vesper, the film’s Bond girl. This theme recurs quite often in the film, and is excellent every time. The music also often has a personality to it, giving the film humor, anxiety, and sometimes even fear. A lot of the humor in one of the film’s scenes between Bond and Vesper should be given to the track “Dinner Jackets.” A particularly tense scene involving poison is that much more tense because the track “Dirty Martini” is playing in the background. But the best track is the one that can change the tone of a scene. This track is “City of Lovers”, which happens during the film’s final act, when you think everything is resolved. It reminds you not to sit back in your seat, because there are still gears in motion. All in all, the soundtrack to Casino Royale perfectly fits the film, adding lots of emotion, while still maintaining its form when listened to on its own.
Standout track: City of Lovers
Star Wars Soundtrack
Star Wars signified a monumental step in both film and film music. Though composer John Williams had already won two Academy Awards, one for his work on Fiddler on the Roof and one for Jaws, Star Wars made him a legend. His score is widely regarded as the best ever written for a movie and, though I disagree, it is clear that there’s good reason behind the acclaim. Everything about the opening of the movie screams “epic” in that the screen is blank and silent, then comes blasting forth with music and the title. From then on, John Williams gives one of the most iconic themes ever to Luke, our main character, a theme that almost takes on different forms when played by different instruments. Other themes reverberate through the film at different points, reminding you of characters and places while the choice of instrument or pace of the music sets the tone that is supposed to be felt. There are so many different versions of Luke’s theme from this soundtrack, appearing, at least in some variation, in every track on the list. It’s actually ridiculous that the exact same theme that dominates the middle of the track “The Hologram/Binary Sunset” also dominates the beginning of “The Throne Room/End Title”, because they feel nothing alike; one is sad and longing while the other is accomplished and triumphant. Apart from the themes (another theme is one given to Leia), the score does an amazing job of making space feel vast. The track “Destruction of Alderaan” has a certain feeling of being far away, which perfectly works with the scene in question, in which Leia gets to look out of a window of The Death Star and watch her planet from afar. It’s incredible how well all of these different tones from the music blend together. I mean, the music for the movie honestly feels like it all belongs on one track in that Star Wars is rarely without music. This makes it very difficult to pick out a track that I feel is the strongest; few tracks stand alone. That having been said, the obvious choice for the standout track on this one is “The Hologram/Binary Sunset” because it is just the best representation of Luke’s theme.
Standout track: The Hologram/Binary Sunset
The Empire Strikes Back Soundtrack
This is the soundtrack that I would stand behind as the greatest ever written for a film. So many of the memorable themes from the Star Wars universe originate here, not in the previous film. The theme of The Empire, played so well on its own in “The Imperial March” is probably the most famous theme in all of Star Wars, and it came from this film. But it’s not even the start of all of the great things that come from this score. Yoda’s theme and Han and Leia’s joint theme (a really clever variation on the already established Leia’s theme from the previous film) are both so incredible. The latter is actually my favorite theme from all of Star Wars, as I think it really carries this phenomenal movie along and grounds it so that, when a certain character is taken away at the end of this film, you can really feel it. Once again, John Williams is able to make simple themes take on so many different tones. As The Empire Strikes Back is a movie focusing on the characters, each of the characters without a theme gets one. Though often attributed to The Empire, I like to attribute that aforementioned “The Imperial March” track to Darth Vader, a character given so much more depth in this film than in the previous film. Yoda, one of two new characters in this film, gets his own magical theme, a theme that also includes a little goofiness, which perfectly reflects what his character is like in this film. Even locations get themes. Cloud City and Dagobah, two of the most amazingly beautiful places I’ve ever seen in all of cinema, each get a short theme. Dagobah’s theme can be heard in the track “Arrival on Dagobah” mixed with Luke’s theme, as he is the person who travels there. The Cloud City theme can be heard most clearly in “Lando’s Palace” but shows up in other tracks such as “Betrayal at Bespin” and “The Clash of Lightsabers”, a track that also showcases a scared and rushed version of the Han and Leia theme towards the end. Compare the tone in this version of the theme to the version in “Carbon Freeze/Darth Vader’s Trap/Departure of Boba Fett” and you’ll see just how much of a master John Williams is at using his themes. There is honestly so much to love in this soundtrack, even in places you wouldn’t expect it. Out of nowhere, music appears that is not based on themes but just perfectly fits a situation. A perfect example of this is in the second half of the track “Imperial Starfleet Destroyed/City in the Clouds”, which deals with music introducing Cloud City. The vastness and the feeling of being “out there” in space is so perfectly captured by the music that plays when Cloud City is revealed, in all of its beauty. There is just so much to love in this soundtrack as John Williams does the best work any composer has ever done. What a masterpiece!
Standout track: Rescue from Cloud City/Hyperspace
Return of the Jedi Soundtrack
Just as Return of the Jedi is my least favorite of the original three Star Wars films, so is its soundtrack. As with the film, it seems like the soundtrack to The Empire Strikes Back did all of the work that this soundtrack needed to do. That having been said, this soundtrack adds two important themes: the theme between Luke and Leia and the Emperor’s theme. Though there is a theme given to the Ewoks, it reflects the silliness of those characters and I don’t really include it in this discussion; it just doesn’t rank with the two aforementioned themes. The Luke and Leia theme is incredibly powerful in this movie because Luke barely has any interaction with Leia in the previous film. Between the Luke of Star Wars and the Luke at the end of The Empire Strikes Back, Leia nearly sees an entirely different person. Luke’s character arc is so well done that it seems like he transforms completely between the films. In Return of the Jedi, Luke is incredibly burdened with the responsibility of being the last Jedi, and it is so well reflected in the sadness that is present in the Luke and Leia theme. On the opposite end of the spectrum is the theme given to The Emperor. It is dark, brooding, and old, the keyword being old. When this theme comes plays, you get the feeling that something really old and really powerful is looming in the background somewhere, in control. That is actually what makes The Emperor so scary in Return of the Jedi: the feeling that he is just in control of our hero, Luke. But apart from those two themes, this soundtrack doesn’t offer much in terms of quality. My favorite track is “Leia’s News/Light of the Force” because it plays Luke’s theme, a theme that has previously been so happy, with a note of sadness and loss, which is exactly what Luke was feeling at the end of the movie. It was a happy ending, but bittersweet for Luke. All in all, this soundtrack, like the movie, is not as good as the two previous soundtracks. But it’s still got some great music in it.
Standout track: Leia’s News/Light of the Force
Star Wars: Attack of the Clones Soundtrack
Once again, this soundtrack is far better than the movie that received it. The worst part of Star Wars: Attack of the Clones was the awful romance in the movie. And yet, the romantic theme that John Williams wrote for the film is absolutely amazing. “Across the Stars” is one of the most enchantingly beautiful pieces of music ever written that I would have thought it would have made any romance feel amazing. But maybe that’s the problem with it. Maybe it’s just trying to hard to be epic and amazing, forcing the romance on you the same way the film did. I love the music, but perhaps it’s part of the problem. Apart from that, this soundtrack also presents some foreshadowing in the form of the theme given to the clones, which is also present as the theme given to the republic in the previous film, Star Wars: The Phantom Menace. If you listen closely, you can hear a very strong resemblance to Darth Vader’s theme and the empire. You can here this theme most clearly at the end of the track “Bounty Hunter’s Pursuit”, where it’s buildup consists of what sounds like a march, similar to the opening of Darth Vader’s theme. The rest of the soundtrack is quite good, but offers little in terms of themes. Which is what I like to focus on in the music of the Star Wars films. My favorite track is “Across the Stars”, just because it stands alone as a beautiful piece of music.
Standout track: Across the Stars
Star Wars: The Phantom Menace Soundtrack
If you’ve read my review of Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, you know that I absolutely hated the movie but gave it a point for its soundtrack; that was the only point it got. Not even Star Wars: The Phantom Menace can hurt John Williams, who put out a great score to the movie despite its quality. That having been said, it still doesn’t rank very well against the other scores. It introduces themes for the trade federation and the republic, but does little else in terms of adding themes. It does add “Duel of the Fates”, an incredibly famous soundtrack that is actually quite good, even if the battle during which it plays has pretty much no stakes whatsoever. Still, it’s hard to fault the soundtrack for the quality of the movie. It still delivers some genuine emotion that should have worked really well in the movie in a number of tracks, most notably “Anakin is Free”. This movie just couldn’t capitalize on its great score, so there really isn’t that much more to talk about.
Standout track: Anakin is Free
Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith Soundtrack
Just as end-of-the-world like as the film intended to be, the soundtrack for Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith is full of music intended to be epic. It’s incredible “Battle of the Heroes”, which features a huge chorus that chants throughout the runtime, really speaks for itself. It’s more instrumental version, “Anakin vs. Obi-Wan” also manages to tie in “Duel of the Fates” from Star Wars: The Phantom Menace to create an equally epic feel. And it works, because these tracks feel like they means something big, which is what the film was going for. Other tracks, like “Anakin’s Betrayal” really work on an emotional level, bringing a lot to the scenes they play in, even though the scenes themselves really had nothing there to begin with. My favorite track from this score is “The Immolation Scene”, because it genuinely combines emotional music with actual emotion from the film to produce something that works: Obi-Wan leaving Anakin. If their relationship had been as great as it should have been, this track would have just crushed me because it perfectly fits what the scene is trying to do. Once again, it’s difficult to fault the soundtrack for problems in the movie. I really like this music, listening to it quite often. I just don’t like the movie.
Standout track: The Immolation Scene
Star Wars: The Force Awakens Soundtrack
Once again, John Williams continues to impress. He was 83 when he wrote this score, his seventh score for a Star Wars film. It would have been so easy for him to have just rehashed his older scores to make this new one. But he didn’t. This soundtrack is almost 100% original, with new themes and create music to be found everywhere. This soundtrack offers four new themes that I found: a theme for Rey, a theme for Poe Dameron, a theme for Kylo Ren, and a new theme for Luke, heard briefly at the beginning of the final track “The Jedi Steps and Finale”. Rey’s amazing theme gets its own track, “Rey’s Theme”, which perfectly encompasses what I think Rey means in this film. It starts off so small and subtle, but gradually expands to this grand and sweeping score, the same way her character starts off as a nobody and gradually gets exposed to this amazing universe. Poe Dameron’s theme can also be attributed to Finn, as we hear it in two scenes that feature both characters (but star Poe Dameron). It’s heard very clearly in the middle of the track “I Can Fly Anything”. Kylo Ren’s theme is found all over the film, making its big entrance when he arrives on Jakku at the beginning of the movie (heard towards the end of the track “Main Title and the Attack on the Jakku Village”. It’s also all over the track “Kylo Ren Arrives at the Battle”. The last theme that plays in this amazing score is one I can’t really attribute to any character, but is definitely to be attributed to tragedy, as it occurs in both scenes of tragedy in Star Wars: The Force Awakens. It’s found in the middle of the track “Torn Apart” but makes up the track “The Starkiller”, my favorite track in this entire score. Just like in the track “Anakin’s Betrayal” from Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith, John Williams has created a track that completely carries the emotional weight of the scene over which it’s played; both scenes have virtually no dialogue and just show reactions to some momentous event that is taking place. It’s just amazing how effective this type of track is. Both scenes happen to be my favorite scenes from their respective movies, so there’s something to be said for that. The score is great at using its themes for foreshadowing as well. The track “Han and Leia” takes place during a conversation between the two, and ends with touches of Kylo Ren’s theme. If you listen to what takes place in the conversation, you understand what this means in the context of the story. The rest of the score is great as well, filled with originality that is really welcome.
Standout track: The Starkiller
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story Soundtrack
For the first time, a Star Wars film was scored by someone else. John Williams did not return to compose the score for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. Instead, Michael Giacchino stepped in, trying his best to emulate arguably the greatest film composer of all time. The result is decent but underwhelming.
One of the clearest changes in this score relative to other Star Wars scores is the lack of big themes. There are really only two themes in this score that recur with any sort of regularity, and they are fleeting. Jyn Erso has a theme, heard most prominently in the tracks “Your Father Would Be Proud” and “Jyn Erso & Hope Suite” and Krennec has a theme featured in “When Has Become Now” and “The Imperial Suite”. Both themes are good, feel like Star Wars, and are somewhat prominent in the film, but don’t seem as engaged as themes used to be in Star Wars movies; in general, the score feels like filler and not like its own character in the film. You remember that scene in Star Wars when Luke is flying through the trench and the music swells and Obi-Wan says “Use the force Luke!” It’s just a fantastic moment of the music meaning something to a character and to how the audience feels. There are no moments like that in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. Similar moments can be found in all of the other Star Wars films, including Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
Despite these complaints and a few strange instrument choices in the score (listen to the track “Trust Goes Both Ways”), there is still a fair amount to enjoy. While Giacchino doesn’t always emulate Williams, there are a few times where he is quite successful. The first half of the track “Jedha Arrival” and each of the three suites at the end of the album all capture what John Williams sounded like. The track “Your Father Would Be Proud” has to go down as my favorite, as it uses Jyn’s theme to actually mean something at the end of this film. Still, as much as there are good parts of this score, it is hard not to be disappointed by how strange it sounds in comparison.
Standout track: Your Father Would Be Proud
La La Land Soundtrack
Though La La Land is probably going to be known for its songs, it's really important to point out how much the score for the film is actually just as important. The musical themes of the film that are the background for the songs are all over the place, reminding you of the song and setting the tone.
Justin Hurwitz did an amazing job composing this score, which is probably my favorite of 2016 (though there is some competition from a few other films). It perfectly blends the feel of old Hollywood with heavy brass and jazz but keeps the melodies full of life. The film's big theme played on the piano so simply by Ryan Gosling is perfect. I don't think it could be made better. It feels like someone's long lost dream, something someone once wanted to do but never had the courage. It's amazing how much this music perfectly mirrors the themes in the film and the characters' struggles. The first time we hear this theme is in a moment of rebellion against generic Christmas music, which is a perfect introduction to the character's struggle in the film as he wants to do something personal in the world.
The only thing I would say is that I would recommend watching the film before listening to the score, as it is such a joy to experience for the first time in the theater in connection with scenes from the film. Get out there and experience it.
Standout track: Epilogue
Star Wars: The Last Jedi Soundtrack
John Williams returns to compose the score to Star Wars: The Last Jedi in what is mostly a retread of his score for Star Wars: The Force Awakens. The opening track plays in parallel with the score from the original Star Wars. The standout in this track is a particular sequence where the music comes back after a short pause. It goes in tangent with one of the best moments in the whole movie, giving drama and weight to it. The next track, "Ahch-To Island" is one that accompanies one of the few sequences of visual storytelling in the film as it follows Luke on his island. The other tracks are mostly a retred of the score from Star Wars: The Force Awakens with smatterings of Leia's theme and Yoda's theme. The only new theme that makes any kind of presence in this score is the theme that develops around the new character of Rose, which is nice and relaxing. It and the sequence on Canto Bight feel very new and original. It's just unfortunate that they happen to be associated with the most forgettable sequences in the film.
While there isn't much in the way of new themes, one theme that was only established at the end of Star Wars: The Force Awakens is expanded upon quite a bit in this score. It might as well become the theme of the island of Ahch-To, where Luke Skywalker resides. As quite a lot of the movie takes place on this island, the music is featured quite prominently in the entirety of the score. So at least there's that.
Standout track: Ahch-To Island