Top 10 Favorite Hans Zimmer Scores
Hans Zimmer is one of the best and most celebrated film composers of the last 30 years. He’s worked with several high profile directors spanning multiple genres. Today I wanted to share my picks for my 10 favorite Hans Zimmer scores of all time.
NOTE: Given that Hans Zimmer is a legendary composer, there’s a lot of scores to pick from and making this list was very hard. There’s some scores that I wanted to be higher but I couldn’t because he has more that are fantastic.
10. The Holiday: I watched The Holiday for the first time last year during Christmas time. It’s a solid little Christmas film with Kate Winslet, Cameron Diaz, Jude Law, and Jack Black. It’s not one of my favorite Christmas movies but I enjoyed it a good bit. One of the things that stood out to me watching it especially during the opening with the score. It does this opening credits montage in the vein of Love Actually and the score swells and captures the Christmas spirit. As I was watching it, I was wondering who is scoring this film and I found out it was Hans Zimmer. Christmas movies aren’t usually known for their scores, this is probably the second best behind John Williams’ Home Alone score. It makes sense that the two best Christmas scores come from arguably the two best film composers of all time. The score plays throughout the film and it elevates the material. This is a romantic comedy so when it does the romantic themes that feel more powerful the most love themes in movies like this. This is probably the most surprising score on the list and the odd one out because all of the other ones are connected to some sort of established IP.
9. F1: I say that all of the other films on the list are connected to some sort of established IP, that’s sort of a lie. F1 is an original film but it’s using the concept of Formula 1 racing. I consider this film an original film and it’s also one of the best films of the year. This is one where I forgot that Hans Zimmer did the score for the film. I knew that he did but as I watched the film it totally slipped my mind. Then they do the opening credit and it says Zimmer’s name and it explains why it’s so good. This is one of the better sports film scores of all time and the score perfectly fits the high octane sports movie that F1 is. When we’re in the middle of the racing sequences, the score plays and it makes the sequences better. The score first kicks in very early on when the movie is doing the opening credits and it perfectly sets the tone for the movie you’re for. The film is this high adrenaline sports film and that score captures that so well. This is probably my favorite score of the year, it’s between this and Sinners. Sinners is probably a look for best score at the Oscars, I hope F1 is in that conversation.
8. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice: I’m not a big fan of Batman v Superman. I find it to be one of the most disappointing movies of all time. Whenever I’ve ranked it with other DC, Batman, or Superman films it’s ranked low. One of the things I’ve always really dug about the film was the music and it’s not surprising considering Hans Zimmer scored the film. So many melodies in this film I think are absolutely fantastic and some of the best music to come from the DCEU. Zimmer established Superman’s theme in Man of Steel. In this film he gives us themes for Batman, Lex Luthor, and Wonder Woman. Wonder Woman’s themes in particular get me amped up every time I hear it. I think Wonder Woman’s entrance in the film is the best scene in the DCEU. So much of that goes back to Zimmer’s incredible scores that help inform the audience that it’s an epic moment and things are about to get real. Even Luthor’s score being this creepy violinist melody I think works so well with this take on Lex Luthor. This is a great example of a mediocre film having a great score.
7. Dune (2021) & Dune: Part II: I’ve decided to combine these two together because I think both scores are pretty great and go together nicely. I do find it weird that Zimmer wasn’t considered for best score last year, but I think there’s enough similarities between the two that clumping them together makes sense to me. One of the great things about these films is the world building. It quickly becomes a world that you want to go and explore. Hans Zimmer’s score is able to captivate those emotions so well. The score helps with the world building and making the world feel large and epic. When the score first played I felt I was transported to Arrakis instantly. Very few top tier composers like Zimmer can enlist these emotions from you. Especially in Dune: Part II, when we see the conclusion for Paul’s character arc and we see do all of these things like ride a sand worm, you feel these big emotions because of the score. The score fills in that gaps of the scene and makes the scene have some much weight and made it one of the most memorable scenes of last year. I’m not as high on either one of the Dune films as other people are, but one I think is as high on as everybody else is the score.
6. Kung Fu Panda: Kung Fu Panda is a film that I’ve been watching ever since it came out. One of the elements that has always stood out to me about the film was the score. What I love about this film’s score is that it’s so much bigger and better than it had any right to be. The basic idea of the film with a panda learning Kung fu is so ridiculous, but the fact they got Zimmer to score it and give it this big bombastic score. That’s what makes Kung Fu Panda a great animated movie is that they took silly source material seriously and crafted a great movie. The music that plays over Master Oogway’s death scene is one of the best themes in any animated movie. When The Furious Five fight Tai Lung on the bridge, I love the music that plays during that sequence. The film also has this great montage anime style opening that once again has great music. To summarize my thoughts on Kung Fu Panda’s score, I love that it feels so much larger than life then what this film’s score should be. Kung Fu Panda has one of the greatest animated film scores of all time.
5. Interstellar: This is one that people might think should be higher and honestly, they’re not wrong. Like I said earlier, there’s scores that are lower on the list then even I want them to be. I look at Interstellar’s placement at #5 and wish I could rank it higher but I don’t know where to place it. I was actually pretty late to the party watching Interstellar. I heard all of this hype and people calling it Nolan’s masterpiece and Zimmer’s masterpiece. I don’t think it’s either one of their bests, but that doesn’t mean it’s not fantastic. By this point in time Nolan and Zimmer collaborated on many films. And this score feels so different from their other collaborations. The score fits so well with so many sequences, mainly the docking the sequence that mixed with Nolan’s direction, the editing, and Zimmer’s score makes it this incredibly stressful and memorable sequence. It’s also an emotional film and whenever the score plays it swells the emotions in all the right ways. From the top to bottom, the score fits and it’s so different from the Nolan and Zimmer collaboration I’m used to which is The Dark Knight.
4. The Lion King (1994): I think The Lion King is the second best animated film score behind The Incredibles. This is another one that I think perfectly fits the tone, the vibe, and the epicness of The Lion King. It’s this Shakespearean epic that’s pulling inspiration from Hamlet with a story spanning years and you get this score that perfectly encapsulates the emotions of the film. Whether it’s Simba seeing Mufasa’s spirit in the sky or Simba reclaiming Pride Rock after defeating Scar, the score plays and it evokes these big emotions. You feel this sense of victory and inspiration whenever you hear these themes. I’ve always found it hard to identify scores in musicals because it’s hard to know when it’s music and when it’s the score. The Lion King is one of the counter examples of this as I find it easy to identify what’s the music and what’s the score. I think part of that is because the score is so much bigger and granger than the music. This was probably the score that put Hans Zimmer on the map and where he started getting recruited by top level talent.
3. Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl: While Zimmer has a lot of fantastic scores, I don’t feel like he has a lot of definitive scores for certain genres. I love Interstellar’s score, but I don’t think it’s the quintessential sci-fi score. I don’t think that Man of Steel is the quintessential Superman score. When it comes to Pirates of the Caribbean, I think he created the quintessential pirates music. Whenever you hear this score you think of pirates, you think of swords fights, you think of ships, and you think of so much more and that’s why it’s ranked at #3, higher than it probably will be for most people. The simple “He’s a Pirate” theme being the theme song for the entire franchise is iconic and memorable. I think that’s one of the best music themes of all time. One of the forgotten great ones in my mind is “Swords and Crossing” when Elizabeth discovers Captain Barbosa’s secret is a great piece of music. He even scored the sequels and there’s several themes in Dead Man’s Chest that I think are iconic. I’m putting Curse of the Black Pearl because that’s my favorite, but all of the films have great music.
2. The Dark Knight: The Dark Knight is my favorite film of all time and the film’s score is one of the best superhero film scores of all time. With this film, Zimmer took the score from Batman Begins and elevated it to a whole other level. It fits because The Dark Knight is a bigger film than Batman Begins. The score starts in the opening scene and immediately establishes the type of film you’re into. When the opening heist sequence starts and you get the music playing, it starts ratcheting up the tension until it breaks and with an unstable insane character like the Joker, that kind of melody works so well. There’s another great moment especially during the final scene when Gordon is giving his speech. You have the music playing in the background letting them know the importance of the scene and how it’s going to affect the next film. All three of the films have the same music playing over the credits, it works so well and leaves you feeling like you’re on a high note. I don’t think this score is as iconic and Batman feeling as Batman (1989) or The Batman. But for a Nolanized take on The Caped Crusader, I think the score works and is one of the best scores in a Nolan film.
1. Man of Steel: I don’t know how hot of a take this is, but I do think Man of Steel is Zimmer’s best score. It’s not as good or as iconic as John Williams’ Superman score, but for that different take on Superman that Zack Snyder was going for, I think it works really well. The character arc for this version of Superman ties into finding yourself and figuring out your place on the planet. The score is able to capture those emotions in certain scenes. When we see Cavill in the suit for the first time and you have the iconic “Flight” theme playing you know exactly what the emotions you’re supposed to be feeling are. I think “Flight” is one of the greatest superhero movie themes of all time. Everytime that I listen to it I feel motivated and amped up to do something and that’s when you have a great score is when you feel emotions listening to it out of the context of watching the film. Like The Dark Knight trilogy, the music that plays over the credits is pretty fantastic, it’s done in a similar style probably because both had Christopher Nolan involved in major ways. Throughout the film there’s a lot of really great music and I love listening to it while watching the movie.
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