# The best film scores of all time

Original orchestral scores that top AFI's 25 Greatest Film Scores and Classic FM's Movie Music Hall of Fame, with the modern scores fans vote for most.

- 84 votes · 25 items
- May 29, 2026 · pieter_couchpotato
- https://even.best/en/l/110/the-best-film-scores-of-all-time

## Top 25

1. **Star Wars — John Williams** (10 · ▲10 ▼0) — 1977. The main title, the Force theme and the Imperial March (1980) to come; AFI's number one score.
2. **Psycho — Bernard Herrmann** (7 · ▲7 ▼0) — 1960. Strings only, and the shrieking violins of the shower scene.
3. **The Godfather — Nino Rota** (6 · ▲6 ▼0) — 1972. The waltz and the love theme that define the Corleone family.
4. **Gone with the Wind — Max Steiner** (5 · ▲5 ▼0) — 1939. Tara's Theme, the second-highest score on AFI's list.
5. **The Lord of the Rings — Howard Shore** (4 · ▲4 ▼0) — 2001–2003. Leitmotifs for the Shire, Rohan and Gondor across three films; three Oscars.
6. **The Good, the Bad and the Ugly — Ennio Morricone** (4 · ▲4 ▼0) — 1966. The coyote howl and 'The Ecstasy of Gold'.
7. **Lawrence of Arabia — Maurice Jarre** (3 · ▲4 ▼1) — 1962. A sweeping desert theme that won Jarre his first Oscar.
8. **Gladiator — Hans Zimmer and Lisa Gerrard** (3 · ▲3 ▼0) — 2000. 'Now We Are Free' and the battle music copied by trailers for a decade.
9. **The Mission — Ennio Morricone** (3 · ▲3 ▼0) — 1986. 'Gabriel's Oboe', voted many times as Classic FM listeners' favourite film music.
10. **Once Upon a Time in the West — Ennio Morricone** (2 · ▲3 ▼1) — 1968. Each character has a theme, from Jill's soprano to the harmonica.
11. **Schindler's List — John Williams** (2 · ▲3 ▼1) — 1993. Itzhak Perlman's violin theme; Oscar for Best Original Score.
12. **Interstellar — Hans Zimmer** (2 · ▲3 ▼1) — 2014. Recorded with the organ of London's Temple Church.
13. **Jaws — John Williams** (2 · ▲2 ▼0) — 1975. Two notes that made a whole generation afraid of the sea; Oscar.
14. **Cinema Paradiso — Ennio and Andrea Morricone** (2 · ▲2 ▼0) — 1988. The love theme was written by Morricone's son Andrea.
15. **Jurassic Park — John Williams** (2 · ▲2 ▼0) — 1993. The awe-struck theme of the first sight of the dinosaurs.
16. **Raiders of the Lost Ark — John Williams** (2 · ▲2 ▼0) — 1981. The Raiders March, Indiana Jones' signature.
17. **Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl — Klaus Badelt and Hans Zimmer** (1 · ▲2 ▼1) — 2003. 'He's a Pirate', a staple of school orchestras.
18. **Vertigo — Bernard Herrmann** (1 · ▲1 ▼0) — 1958. Spiralling, Wagnerian music for Hitchcock's obsession.
19. **Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone — John Williams** (1 · ▲1 ▼0) — 2001. 'Hedwig's Theme' on the celesta became the sound of the saga.
20. **Out of Africa — John Barry** (1 · ▲1 ▼0) — 1985. Romantic strings over the Kenyan landscape; Oscar.
21. **The Magnificent Seven — Elmer Bernstein** (1 · ▲1 ▼0) — 1960. The galloping western theme on AFI's top ten.
22. **Chinatown — Jerry Goldsmith** (0 · ▲2 ▼2) — 1974. A lonely trumpet written in ten days to replace a rejected score.
23. **E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial — John Williams** (0 · ▲1 ▼1) — 1982. The flying-bicycle finale; Spielberg re-edited the scene to match the music.
24. **Inception — Hans Zimmer** (0 · ▲1 ▼1) — 2010. 'Time' and the 'BRAAAM' derived from slowing down Édith Piaf.
25. **How to Train Your Dragon — John Powell** (0 · ▲1 ▼1) — 2010. Celtic-tinged flying music, a favourite in Classic FM's Hall of Fame.

How is this ranking ordered? By people's votes: each ▲ adds a point and each ▼ takes one away. Anyone can vote and add what is missing.