Let's face it, these films wouldn't be the same without these amazing scores! Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re looking at the greatest movie soundtracks partially or entirely composed by musical genius Hans Zimmer.
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00:00It's like, you know, a bow on a bow and arrow and you stretch it.
00:06Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're looking at the greatest movie soundtracks
00:10partially or entirely composed by musical genius Hans Zimmer.
00:20Number 20. Pearl Harbor.
00:22Michael Bay polarized audiences with his melodramatic dramatization of
00:27the attack on Pearl Harbor. The score, on the other hand,
00:30captures the scope and passion the filmmaker aspired to.
00:33Take a hand.
00:39It's beautiful.
00:40Hans Zimmer was initially drawn to the project when test footage was set to his serene score
00:45for The Thin Red Line. While his extensive work was ultimately more standard for a war blockbuster,
00:50the romantic storyline inspired a classical grace. That brought a unique emotional weight
00:55to the patriotic fanfare and the action's intense rhythm.
00:59Tennessee particularly stands out as an anthem of its genre.
01:10While Pearl Harbor received mostly technical accolades,
01:13Zimmer's score was bombarded with acclaim as the film's real dramatic triumph.
01:18Number 19. Hidden Figures.
01:20Hidden Figures celebrates the social and scientific triumph of the black
01:24female mathematicians who were integral in the moon landing.
01:27Okay, so that puts your landing zone at 5.0667 degrees north, 77.3333 degrees west,
01:37which is here.
01:39Hans Zimmer celebrates the social and scientific triumph of the black
01:43female mathematicians who were integral in the moon landing.
01:47Hans Zimmer sells everything that represents,
01:49in collaboration with Benjamin Belfish and pop star Pharrell Williams.
01:53Conveying these events by mixing emotional symphonics
01:56with futuristic electronics was truly innovative.
02:03Never mind the infectious elements of soul and jazz that are added to the equation.
02:08The final result is something astronomical,
02:10and the thrilling eclectic tone it sets distinguishes the crowd-pleasing picture.
02:17You think so?
02:19Yes, and nobody dares stand in the way.
02:23Belfish, Williams, and Zimmer were nominated for a number of awards, and rightly so.
02:29So, uh, you think we can get to the moon?
02:35We're already there, sir.
02:37Number 18. The Da Vinci Code.
02:40The sacred and the profane meet in the religious mystery thriller The Da Vinci Code,
02:44and Zimmer officiates that union with a reverent interpretation of the text.
02:48My God, I don't believe this. A rose.
02:52The scope and soul of the epic are felt in rich textures of celestial music tradition
02:57over more modern soundscapes.
02:59But when the action kicks in, the classical musicianship keeps up the pace.
03:03Who's gonna want more money?
03:10Zimmer's soundtrack was as big a hit as the film,
03:13and a bigger hit with critics.
03:15His breathtaking themes were expanded in The Da Vinci Code's two sequels,
03:19with compositions so sophisticated that renowned violinist
03:22Joshua Bell was featured in Angels and Demons.
03:32Full of fire and brimstone, Zimmer's work on Ron Howard's trilogy
03:36is practically a religious experience.
03:39She rests at last beneath starry skies.
03:46Number 17. Rush.
03:48Hans Zimmer goes to full throttle for Ron Howard's racing biopic.
03:51So when do we start?
03:54Soon as you're ready.
03:55Ready? I've been waiting for this my whole life.
03:58He had previously scored motorsports in Days of Thunder,
04:01with overtures of his synth-pop and rock roots.
04:05Rush more heavily utilizes hard rock that plays into the 1970s setting.
04:09Music industry legend Peter Asher was credited for his involvement
04:13in defining this style.
04:14When the race is on, however, Zimmer's fast-paced orchestra takes the lead.
04:26The soundtrack makes the audience feel not only the intensity of the raceway,
04:30but the danger.
04:32I'll see you on race day, champ.
04:35You will.
04:39The biopic of Solomon Northup, who was kidnapped and sold into slavery in 1841,
04:44gives a solemn portrait of an altogether evil industry.
04:47Zimmer respects that with a deliberately understated soundtrack,
04:51where every piece counts.
04:53Help me!
04:54His sense of Americana and minimalism lends a sort of Southern Gothic tone
04:58to the suspenseful epic.
04:59Experimental touches also coordinate the character's emotional
05:02and psychological drama.
05:14The film's soundtrack is a bit of a mix-and-match between the two.
05:17It's a bit of a mix-and-match between the two.
05:19It's a bit of a mix-and-match between the two.
05:22Certainly, the horror portrayed in 12 Years a Slave speaks for itself.
05:26Zimmer himself was reluctant to take on such a daunting project.
05:30In the end, of course, his Golden Globe-nominated score
05:33makes the masterpiece an even more visceral and urgent experience.
05:47After his iconic work on the Dark Knight trailer,
05:50Han Zimmer laid the lofty musical foundation for the DC Extended Universe.
05:54The score for Man of Steel is nonetheless in a league of its own.
06:05It bears the empowering might that the Superman brand demands,
06:09with greater emphasis on Kal-El's spacey aura.
06:12Even more creative were the darker, more introspective tones
06:15unique to Zack Snyder's vision of the superhero.
06:20Batman was a natural addition to these themes in the movie sequel Dawn of Justice.
06:30This crossover found Zimmer and Tom Hulkenborg
06:32really developing the unmistakable leitmotifs that persisted across a whole franchise.
06:44It all stood on the shoulders of Man of Steel's heroic and harrowing opera.
06:5114. Kung Fu Panda
06:58John Powell has come a long way since Han Zimmer's remote control productions.
07:02When Master and pupil reunited for DreamWorks' martial arts adventure Kung Fu Panda,
07:07it was the stuff of legend.
07:13Their unique forms of whimsy and action-packed met in a playfully pop-oriented energy.
07:19Zimmer studied in China to ensure that he
07:21authentically represented the culture's musical tradition and sensibilities.
07:32The rich fusion enhanced every funny, poignant, and awesome moment in the animated classic.
07:43And it continued into the thrilling sequels,
07:46with Powell bowing out after Kung Fu Panda 2.
07:49Still, Zimmer keeps his and his protege's cosmopolitan magic going in the beloved franchise.
08:0213. Sherlock Holmes
08:05Guy Ritchie's dynamism and grit were a bold twist on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
08:10Zimmer's musical interpretation may itself be unlike anything you've heard before,
08:14but it feels distinctly Sherlock Holmes.
08:19His score captures the stunning Victorian setting and eerie sense of mystery.
08:28Its extensive use of percussion and a broken piano,
08:31however, taps into the mad genius of Robert Downey Jr.'s Holmes.
08:40From the unmistakable opening piece, Discombobulate,
08:44the punk classical symphony dazzles all the way into the sequel, Sherlock Holmes A Game of Shadows.
08:49It even helped define the modern tone for the definitive detective lore.
08:54Still, there's no matching the bold brilliance of Zimmer's themes.
09:0312. Dunkirk
09:04Christopher Nolan depicts the miracle of Dunkirk as much like a race against time
09:09as an important piece of history.
09:10The success of this pulse-pounding thriller
09:12relies heavily on a score that Zimmer worked on for 11 months.
09:21The result of collaboration between several movie music geniuses,
09:25the symphonic pieces certainly fit the distinct drama of a World War II epic.
09:29But the sophisticated use of rhythm, shepherd tone,
09:32and increases in tempo creatively pulls you into the heat of combat.
09:41Samples of Nolan's own pocket watch set the urgency for the historic military evacuation.
09:47As vivid as Nolan's Dunkirk is in dramatizing the battle,
09:50Zimmer altogether does justice to the British people's great moment of tragedy and triumph.
10:0311. The Thin Red Line
10:05Experimental filmmaker Terence Malick sought to create a poetic World War II epic
10:10with The Thin Red Line.
10:11Assisted by John Powell, Zimmer composed most of the score,
10:15over four hours of visceral minimalism,
10:18filled with both an ethereal sense of nature and the terrors of war.
10:34The extended battles are scored with brutal, bleak suspense,
10:38while the metaphysical aftermath feels just as heavy.
10:49The piece, Journey to the Line in particular,
10:51is so popular and recycled in other properties that Zimmer himself dubbed it the, quote,
10:56forbidden cue.
10:57But, as a whole, his haunting and layered soundtrack is simply an artistic triumph.
11:03Look out at the things you made.
11:10All things shining.
11:1210. Blade Runner 2049
11:15There may be no replicating Vangelis' iconic score for the sci-fi noir, Blade Runner.
11:20Do you like our owl?
11:24It's artificial?
11:27Of course it is.
11:28Benjamin Valfish and Hans Zimmer collaborated with great respect for that classic
11:32on a sequel 35 years in the making.
11:35That meant extensive use of the Yamaha CS-80 synthesizer
11:38that created the original's hypnotically futuristic theme.
11:48At the same time,
11:49the immense orchestration enriched that theme
11:52with a balance between classicism and modernity.
12:02It's a breathtaking soundscape on a colossal scale,
12:05with tension escalating through percussion and distortion.
12:08The stakes and emotions both feel higher for Blade Runner 2049.
12:13Like the film as a whole,
12:14the score is an epic sci-fi masterpiece.
12:289. The Prince of Egypt
12:31Hans Zimmer's work on The Lion King revolutionized the musical sensibilities
12:35of animated family films.
12:37DreamWorks Animation aimed for that same dramatic force
12:39for their adaptation of The Book of Exodus.
12:48The score makes history and theology come alive with cinematic sweep,
12:52seamlessly infused with Egyptian and religious musical elements.
12:56This made the movie's surprisingly mature emotional scope feel more authentic.
13:02With Stephen Schwartz writing the songs,
13:05Zimmer worked closely with pop stars and rising composers
13:08in remote-control productions to make the musical numbers even grander.
13:12The Prince of Egypt kicked off Zimmer
13:14and his most distinguished students' renowned working relationship
13:16with DreamWorks Animation.
13:18After all these years though,
13:20its soundtrack might be the peak of that collaboration.
13:32Look at your people, Moses.
13:38They are free.
13:408. Pirates of the Caribbean – At World's End
13:44The heyday of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies
13:46evolved some of the most distinct and exciting themes Zimmer ever composed.
13:57For the third installment, Zimmer rebooted the series' score,
14:00abandoning the synthesized pieces to record over five hours of orchestral material.
14:05The final cut is a spectacular symphony of romance,
14:08surrealism,
14:09horror,
14:10and other sensations,
14:11layered over each other and the film's elaborate narrative.
14:19As the music cranks up with the swashbuckling action,
14:22the classic motifs return more richly textured than ever.
14:26At World's End would ultimately divide fans as a maximalist blockbuster,
14:30but they could agree on the score's refinement as possibly the franchise's fullest epic.
14:44Japanese customs and western influences do battle in the classic epic The Last Samurai.
14:49Zimmer encompasses that versatile drama with his western sweep and Hollywood intensity.
14:54But at the center of this score is a meticulous use of eastern classical.
14:59Traditional Japanese instruments and musicality play off Zimmer's own customs
15:03to convey beautiful reconciliation or gripping conflict between two worlds.
15:19This defines the heart of The Last Samurai as action-packed and empathetic.
15:24The film's soundtrack was nominated for a Golden Globe and won a Satellite Award,
15:28and to this day,
15:29many fans consider it one of Zimmer's most creative and resonant achievements.
15:38James Newton Howard and Hans Zimmer were indispensable in forging the story.
15:43They were the ones who brought the story to life.
15:45James Newton Howard and Hans Zimmer were indispensable
15:48in forging Christopher Nolan's grandiose grit for the caped crusader.
15:58Batman Begins still had a traditional comic book flair.
16:01With The Dark Knight, the composers delivered the depth of noir
16:05with the breadth of the ultimate blockbuster.
16:07The Joker in particular made an impression with a creeping minimalist theme
16:11that defined his unhinged menace.
16:16And between the percussive flourishes accompanying Batman's action,
16:24more solemn pieces captured the torment of Bruce Wayne and others.
16:28This opera changed the way genre films are dramatically scored.
16:32Though Zimmer expanded this as a solo act in The Dark Knight Rises,
16:35his work with Howard is among the most captivating in superhero cinema.
16:455. Dune
16:51Denis Villeneuve's Dune practically reinvented the space opera genre.
16:55Only Hans Zimmer could capture that immense and ethereal tone,
16:59but his sound is something completely new.
17:09The monumental project combined futuristic electronics
17:12with musical motifs from several traditions.
17:15In fact, Zimmer even invented new instruments.
17:19This transported listeners to a distant world
17:21and into the complex psychology of the characters
17:24and the intensity of their adventure.
17:33Dune's score alone was such a blockbuster event
17:36that three albums were released along with the film.
17:39And when Zimmer won his first Oscar in 27 years,
17:43he was already composing more groundbreaking material
17:46for the sci-fi sensations sequel.
17:554. The Lion King
17:57Hans Zimmer's popular breakout as a visionary came with,
18:00of all things, an animated family film.
18:02Granted, The Lion King is ambitious animation,
18:05adapting Shakespeare with beasts of the East African savannah.
18:145. The Lion King
18:18Zimmer realized that aesthetic by combining huge Western melody
18:22with traditional instruments and chants of the region.
18:25The score explodes with emotion and percussive energy
18:28to distinguish one of Disney's highest dramas.
18:37It still has a playful side to complement songs
18:40composed by pop legend Elton John.
18:42The Lion King won Zimmer his first Oscar for best original score.
18:46He would expand the revelatory work
18:48with the movie's hit Broadway adaptation and 2019 remake.
18:52Still, the initial soundtrack stands out
18:54as a revolution in animated musicals and the composer's career.
18:58Remember who you are.
19:02No, please, don't leave me.
19:06Father!
19:073. Inception
19:09Inception is the full measure of Christopher Nolan's
19:12mind-bending collision of genres,
19:14and that comes across in Zimmer's score.
19:29Very impressive.
19:30Composed in tandem with the production,
19:32the score's conglomeration of styles and auditory experiments
19:35sharpen the surreal dream heist.
19:37From up-tempo polyrhythms to crashing electronic chords,
19:41every piece is both bold and memorable.
19:44Variations on Edith Piaf's
19:45Non, je ne regrette rien
19:47also prominently influence the theme's underlying drama.
19:59This made the minimalist piece time
20:01crucial to one of the most iconic movie endings of the 2010s.
20:05Inception's score as a whole became one of the most popular
20:08of the decade after earning many accolades.
20:11It's an incomparable psychological experience.
20:252. Interstellar
20:26Christopher Nolan's genre epics have consistently pushed
20:29Hans Zimmer's electronic experimentation.
20:31When his music helped inspire Nolan to make Interstellar,
20:34the pair achieved a new frontier in emotional splendor.
20:38That's initiate.
20:45As a team of astronauts brave time-dilating distances
20:48to colonize another planet,
20:49the enormous ambiance pulls audiences into the peril.
20:52The unlikely lead instrument in the extensive recording sessions
20:55was a 1926 Harrison & Harrison organ.
21:05Its celestial sound blended with futuristic electronics
21:08to make the tone even more cosmic,
21:10while anchoring the stakes facing the characters.
21:13Such imagination made Interstellar an unmistakable journey.
21:16It also produced one of Zimmer's loftiest
21:19and most rewarding feats of genius.
21:251. Gladiator
21:49Ridley Scott's groundbreaking marriage
21:51of both classic epics and modern spectacle
21:53provided a platform for Hans Zimmer's mastery of both.
22:06Gladiator's symphony of action and emotion
22:08are felt in every piece of explosive, exotic music.
22:12Zimmer collaborated with neoclassical vocalist Lisa Gerrard
22:15to enrich his large-scale orchestration
22:17with ethereal, ancient European elements.
22:19This captured a period and a vengeful warrior's grief
22:22unlike any Hollywood epic before.
22:31While Gladiator's tremendous success
22:33inspired a revival in this genre,
22:35its highly decorated soundtrack changed an industry of music.
22:39It helped set the tone for 21st century blockbuster scores
22:42that can be both pop culture hits and classical achievements.
22:45The masterpiece also formally announced Zimmer
22:48as a leader in a new generation of cinematic music.
22:53What are your favorite scores by Hans Zimmer?
23:01Tune up in the comments.
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