Top Top 25 Film Scores of All-Time

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AFI's 100 YEARS OF FILM SCORES

American Film Institute (AFI) revealed the top 25 film scores of all time in The Big Picture--AFI's 100 Years of Film Scores, a one-night only presentation on September 23 produced by the Los Angeles Philharmonic Association in cooperation with AFI. A jury of over 500 film artists, composers, musicians, critics and historians selected John Williams' iconic score from the classic film STAR WARS as the most memorable film score of all time. John Williams is additionally noteworthy as the most represented composer on the list with three scores making the top 25.

Rounding off the top 10 were film scores ranging in theme from sweeping epics to westerns, including: GONE WITH THE WIND (#2), composer Max Steiner; LAWRENCE OF ARABIA (#3), composer Maurice Jarre; PSYCHO (#4), composer Bernard Herrmann; THE GODFATHER (#5), composer Nino Rota; JAWS (#6), composer John Williams; LAURA (#7), composer David Raksin; THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN (#8), composer Elmer Bernstein; CHINATOWN (#9) composer Jerry Goldsmith; and HIGH NOON (#10), composer Dimitri Tiomkin.

Spanning a century of film music and counting down from 25 to number one throughout the evening, Principal Conductor John Mauceri and the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra performed excerpts from each of the winning scores, many of them accompanied by favorite movie scenes shown on the Bowl's big video screens. While television broadcasts have announced the previous eight installments of AFI's 100 Years... series, this event marks the first time an AFI countdown was revealed before a live audience.

The winners

List of 250 nominated scores (PDF)

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Airport at no.6 and The Godfather at no. 93 they cant be serious, the music score for the godfather composed by Nino Rota was arguably the best of all time.

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I suppose with these lists there will always be some eye-rolling at the exclusions and the placements. It's a panel that obviously views things in their own light.

I was gratified to find Leonard Bernstein's score for "On the Waterfront" at the top and also Jerry Goldsmith's score for "Chinatown."

I'm am wondering how Don got "The Godfather" at 93 (I think that's one of the sequels) as Nino Rota's score is #5. "Airport" is also not number 6 -- haven't looked that up yet.

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Ah, I see -- the 250 nominated scores are in alphabetical order, not placement. The concert and telecast I gather will be only the top 25 as obviously a top 100 would take many hours.

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I'd have "North by Northwest," and "The Wizard of Oz" on the list.

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Also, this, of course, Nino Rota's great scores for Fellini (especially "La Strada" which was made into a ballet), George Auric's scores for Cocteau, and all the foreign films.

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"North by Northwest" and "The Wizard of Oz" are on the nominated list, but I think Hermann's score for "Vertigo" and "Psycho" are his best for Hitchcock. The score for "The Egyptian" is one of my favorites, also by Bernard Hermann.

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I'm glad to see that Ennio Morriconi made the list but kinda surprised it wasn't with the amazing score from The Good, The Bad and The Ugly.

Mission, that he won with, looks a little too extreme for me to watch, but maybe I'll check it out. How did How the West was Won get on there? Guess I'll have to listen to that again, it must be better than I remember.

John Williams is certainly the score-master -- Has anybody ever looked at the music from one of his scores? I don't know how anyone is able to play it, let alone write it.

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"How the West Was Won" immediately brings up the main theme in my head. As far as Westerns, I like the Jerome Moross' score "The Big Country" better than that film or "High Noon." I think part of the judging is the big tune, or main theme, that is immediately memorable.

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Lightwizard wrote:

I suppose with these lists there will always be some eye-rolling at the exclusions and the placements. It's a panel that obviously views things in their own light.

I was gratified to find Leonard Bernstein's score for "On the Waterfront" at the top and also Jerry Goldsmith's score for "Chinatown."

I'm am wondering how Don got "The Godfather" at 93 (I think that's one of the sequels) as Nino Rota's score is #5. "Airport" is also not number 6 -- haven't looked that up yet.

In the list given by Walter no. 5 is The age of innocence by Bernstein, I think you are looking in the wrong place LW

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That is not the top twenty five list, but the nominated list which is, again, alphabetical. Click on the top twenty five and Leonard Bernstein's "On the Waterfront" is No. 22, a respectable placement out of 250. You're mistaking Elmer Bernstein for Leonard Bernstein. The important list is the top twenty-five which will be excerpted at the Hollywood Bowl -- the first time AFI has presented its list before a live audience.

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I considered the "How the West Was Won" theme good enough to include among my MP3s, which are 99% 50s and 60s rock.

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I do agree that the rather exotic Jerry Goldsmith theme to "Planet of the Apes" deserved to be in there somewhere. I especially liked the music (and visuals) over the beginning credits while the astronauts are travelling in suspended animation.

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Missing are great scores to not-so-great movies like "The Blue Max" (actually a better movie than it's given credit for), "Krull" and "Raise the Titanic" (a pre-endeavor by Horner to his score for "Titanic").

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I love most of the films in the AFI Top 100 but I feel this is a real bias against modern movies. I think a majority of this most brilliant films were made in the last 20 years. I realize the ground breaking nature of some older films should be considered but you cannot tell me Pulp Fiction is not a better film than a great majority of the films in the top 25.

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Or Blade Runner ...easily in the Top 10

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John Drury wrote:

I love most of the films in the AFI Top 100 but I feel this is a real bias against modern movies. I think a majority of this most brilliant films were made in the last 20 years. I realize the ground breaking nature of some older films should be considered but you cannot tell me Pulp Fiction is not a better film than a great majority of the films in the top 25.

I could agree with you if the '80's hadn't been the worst decade for movies. Ronald Reagan seemed to have a creative damper effect. I love "Pulp Fiction" and I regret that most don't understand the film.

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Bullshit. Wheres some of these

The Big Country
Apollo 13
Dances With Wolves
The exhorcist
Southern Comfort
The Lion King
Last of the Mohicans (the one with Howard Stern lookalike guy)
Finding Forrester
MASH
Patton

KING KONG????
That was flubbery music at best, played by Bix Byderbeck in a drainpipe

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Brandon9000 wrote:

I'd have "North by Northwest," and "The Wizard of Oz" on the list.

I'm with you on North By Northwest.

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1. CrossRoads
2. Glitter
3. Cinderella Story
4. Spice World
5. Any and all movies w/ a young popstar trying to "challenge themseleves" by playing a semi-skuwed version of their life while taking on a different name.

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Top Top 25 Film Scores of All-Time

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