Best Science Fiction and Fantasy Tv and Film Soundtracks: A Discussion.

[LoneStar1836]

The work Bear McCreary did on BSG is absolutely my favorite for tv. I honestly don't think the show would have been as good as it was if not for his emotional music pieces. The man did brilliant work on BSG. I bought all the soundtracks. He also does the score for The Walking Dead. While I don't notice the music as much in TWD (as in a really stand out piece like on BSG), he still does a fine job.

Murray Gold also does wonderful work for Doctor Who. And I thought Michael Giacchino did excellent work on LOST and enjoyed his work on the last Star Trek movie.

To many movies with great soundtracks to name.

I posted this in a similar thread:

TV
-Bear McCreary - Battlestar Galactica....love, love, love his work on this show and bought the soundtracks for each season
-Michael Giacchino - LOST
-Murray Gold's work on Doctor Who

Video games
Halo games...even ODST had a great one
Mass Effect series

Movies
Too many to name....

ETA:

BSG - Something Dark is Coming (if I had to name one fav from BSG music, it's this one)

Bear did a solo piano version as well which I love to listen to

BSG - Roslin and Adama (solo piano version)
BSG - Pegasus
BSG - Farewell Apollo (later version of Wander My Friends and then a solo piano version which I love)
BSG - Prelude to War (solo piano version)
BSG - Kara Remembers
BSG - Black Market (ep may not have been very good but this piece came out of it)
I could go on and on....


LOST - Life and Death
LOST - Parting Words

Doctor Who - I Am the Doctor
Doctor Who - Madame de Pompadour
Doctor Who - This is Gallifrey
Doctor Who - Four Knocks

Torchwood - Captain Jack's Theme
Torchwood - The Ballad of Ianto Jones


Halo 3 - The Covenant. One Final Effort
Halo 3 - The Ark. Farthest Outpost
Halo 3 - Never Forget

Halo 3: ODST - Finale

Just finished my first play-through on Mass Effect 2. Great music just like the first one, especially for the final mission:

Mass Effect 2 Soundtrack: 'Suicide Mission'

{ETA:

Mass Effect OST - Mass Effect Theme
Mass Effect OST - Spectre Induction

ME2 - The Normandy Reborn

Also finished ME3 in January this yr so have to point out my favs from it as well.

ME3 - Leaving Earth (love this one especial when put into the context of the scene from the game)
ME3 - A Future for the Krogan
ME3 - I'm Sorry
ME3 - The Fleets Arrive
ME3 - An End Once and For All (extended cut) Loved all 3 games and the music heavily played into why I loved them. Sad to see the trilogy end.

I guess I'll stop now....}


Flipping through YT and forgot how great the OST was for Gears of War 2. Haven't played 3 yet.

Steve Jablonsky - Gears of War 2 - Hope Runs Deep
Gears of War 2 - With Sympathy
Gears of War 2 - Armored Prayer

Jablonsky does great work. Love "Arrival to Earth" from Transformers and "My Name is Lincoln" from The Island.

I know you only stated tv and movies but their are many great soundtracks for sci-fi/fantasy video games as well. So I indulged and posted those as well.

[Starfist]

I know that there are some great 'Game' soundtracks out there. Some have been recommended to me.

I was recently reminded of a theme to one of my favourite shows from the Star Trek franchise. This is due to the fact that the 'Syfy' channel is repeating the series.

The series is 'Star Trek: Deep Space Nine' and I really love the opening theme. As composed by Dennis McCarthy. He also 'tweaked' Jerry Goldsmith's theme from 'Star Trek : The Motion Picture' for use as the theme for 'Star Trek : The Next Generation'.

But has anyone else noticed. Sometimes a composer will 'tweak' a theme to be used for a TV Show or a movie.

[The Urban Spaceman]

So what theme/soundtrack/composer do you, dear reader, consider to be the best?

Dear Starfist,

I am particularly fond of Joe Hisaishi, who has composed many tracks for some of the great Studio Ghibli films (Nausicaa, Spirited Away, Laputa, etc). His music is beautiful and eerie and empowering, and if you've watched the films then simply listening to the soundtracks can take you right back to that specific moment within them. In particular, the tracks for Laputa (Castle In The Sky) are quite beautiful and evocative.

[Brother Freyr]

I know you only stated tv and movies but their are many great soundtracks for sci-fi/fantasy video games as well. So I indulged and posted those as well.

I know that there are some great 'Game' soundtracks out there. Some have been recommended to me.

The problem is that, no matter how good their soundtracks, few seriously compete with the best film scores. Hell, very few tv series deserve the company of the best film soundtracks. I love Christopher Beck's work on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Superb. But compared to Hans Zimmer? The Dark Knight? Or John Williams and the original Star Wars? OMG no. Xena has some quality music -- I listened to it since it's going to be our next winner in the other thread -- but come on, compared to the best films? Not even close. What would be great is a "First to 50" for thread for best game music, and another one for best television soundtracks. There's some real talent out there. I'd love to discover more of the best of it.

[Blencathra]

Personally I feel totally unqualified to say which are the best soundtracks. I can barely read music, I can't play an instrument (though I can scrape out Three Blind Mice on a violin), I can't sing and I've never composed anything in my life, so I feel I can't possibly offer any critique on any composer or their music even in a fun game. So therefore what I am doing, and perhaps others here are doing, is voting for my favourite soundtrack.

[Starfist]

The trouble is, and I think it should be said, that there are so many good theme tunes out there.

I collect soundtrack albums. Mostly on compilations. That way I get a wide variety of themes.
I also have a few movie and tv soundtrack albums.

On the subject of albums. A friend of mine set me a very interesting challenge. Which may appear as a new thread.

[Final]

I'm a collector of soundtracks as well. Here are some of my favorites dealing with scifi and fantasy:

Predator - The main theme from the original movie.
Inception - Great soundtrack by Hans Zimmer.
Matrix movies - The music during the chateau fight and Neo fight scenes with Smith.
Akira - The music during the motorcycle chase scene was great.
Terminator 1 & 2 - The main themes and the sound whenever the T-1000 was on screen.
Star Wars movies - I remember hearing somewhere that Lucas wanted to deviate from the stereotypical scifi music of the time and have a more heroic soundtrack and I'm glad he did.
Blade Runner - I thought the soundtrack set the mood very nicely for this film.

Power Rangers - The theme songs to the Power Rangers shows are always great.
Batman Beyond - Best theme song of the DC cartoons.
Godzilla TAS - Theme song.
X-Men TAS - Theme song.
X-Files - I thought the soundtrack set the tone for this show. The theme song is iconic.
Big O - Theme song.
Cowboy Bebop - You'd think the soundtrack would be good judging from the title of the show and you wouldn't be dissapointed.
Gantz - Love the theme song. It's in Japanese and has a reggae feel to it.
Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex: The entire soundtrack fits the tone of the show. You should watch the theme song.
Naruto - The show itself has been going downhill but the soundtrack is still as great as always.
Dragon Ball Z - Loved the Ocean soundtrack. The Bruce Faulconer one is good as well.
One Piece - The soundtrack fits the pirate theme of the show perfectly.
Doctor Who
Paranoia agent - Crazy theme song you need to see the video:

[Brother Freyr]

I'm a collector of soundtracks as well. Here are some of my favorites dealing with scifi and fantasy

I like most of your choices, although I'd add that a great theme isn't enough for a great film/tv score. Necessary, yes, but not sufficient.

About the x-files. I had a cd of x-files music called "Songs in the Key of X." It wasn't a musical score, just a collection of songs featured in the series. It was, hmm, eclectic? That show had some weird music, let me tell you.

[LoneStar1836]

The problem is that, no matter how good their soundtracks, few seriously compete with the best film scores. Hell, very few tv series deserve the company of the best film soundtracks. I love Christopher Beck's work on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Superb. But compared to Hans Zimmer? The Dark Knight? Or John Williams and the original Star Wars? OMG no. Xena has some quality music -- I listened to it since it's going to be our next winner in the other thread -- but come on, compared to the best films? Not even close. What would be great is a "First to 50" for thread for best game music, and another one for best television soundtracks. There's some real talent out there. I'd love to discover more of the best of it.

I'd wager it's because films have bigger budgets and can afford the money it takes to hire those A list composers who then in turn get full orchestras, etc to create said music.

Video games generally don't score big names to compose music considering that it's probably not a top priority for most games produced. But there is some great stuff out there, imo, like what I listed above...and I've only sampled a small portion of music from video games as I only have 74 games on my 360 card. Gears of War 2 and 3 both had Steve Jablonsky (Transformer movies, The Island, etc.) as the composer and Mass Effect 3 did get Clint Mansell to contribute two pieces of music. (Requiem for a Dream, Moon, etc.) I love this piece from Moon...Memories (Someone We'll Never Know).)

But I would still put Bear McCreary's work on the new BSG up against almost any movie score. He may not be a John Williams yet, but he did a fantastic job, imo, with the tools afforded him on BSG. I may not be a music critic, but I do know what I like, and many of the music scores he created for the show really caught my attention just like a good movie score does.



I just finally got Gears 3 last week and played the campaign. Found myself getting the main theme stuck in my head since he likes to remix it in tracks. (Gears 3 OST playlist) Some of my favorite tracks....Finally a Tomorrow, Father and Son, Hanover's Favorite Son, Gears Keep Turning.

[Brother Freyr]

But I would still put Bear McCreary's work on the new BSG up against almost any movie score. He may not be a John Williams yet, but he did a fantastic job, imo, with the tools afforded him on BSG. I may not be a music critic, but I do know what I like, and many of the music scores he created for the show really caught my attention just like a good movie score does.

I agree. McCreary's BSG scores are among the best of the best.

[Starfist]

Well it's time to give this thread a little kick...

I finally got to see some 'Caprica' episodes over the last few days. And I like the soundtrack.
But then again it is written by Bear McCreary.

I understand he's done some work for 'Defiance'.

[Brother Freyr]

I've been listening to Game of Throne's season three soundtrack. Beautiful. Moving. Go get it. :-)

[Starfist]

Thank you for the recomendation.

[Morgania]

Ones I remember really liking...

Lord of the Rings (all three)
The Hobbit
King Arthur (2004 movie)
Mists of Avalon (miniseries)


The Mummy

[REPLICATOR SAM]

I must say the lord of the rings films have superb scires throughout them.

The scores are just so perfect for each and every event in the 3 films.
It just makes you feel happy and sad you really feel what they feel in the film.