The 40 Best Movie Soundtracks of All Time
The cult of movie soundtrack listeners extends far and wide beyond your typical movie watchers. For a music and film lover, the perfect soundtrack can extend the experience of a favorite movie so the story doesn't have to end when the credits roll. A good collection of songs can put the viewer in the same headspace of the movie, living their own lives like the characters in some of their favorite films. And those songs can enrich the movie itself, bringing it to new cinematic heights via the triumph of the perfect sound to accompany each scene.
Watch a movie like Almost Famous and instantly, a song from the soundtrack becomes something more than the song itself. How can anyone not love the "Tiny Dancer" scene, where the band sings along on the tour bus? Great films are made better by their unique soundtracks, like Simon & Garfunkel's iconic work on The Graduate. Music takes a movie and turns it into a cultural moment, capturing a feeling in a near-magical way.
To honor some of that movie-music magic, we've curated a list of some of our best soundtrack picks of all time. In no particular order, here are twenty truly fantastic soundtracks, along with the most memorable tracks from each one.
The Graduate
Best Track: “Sound of Silence” by Simon & Garfunkel
Superfly
Best Track: “Superfly” by Curtis Mayfield
Trainspotting
Best Track: “Lust for Life” by Iggy Pop
The Harder They Come
Best Track: “You Can Get It If You Really Want” by Jimmy Cliff
O Brother, Where Art Thou?
Best Track: “I Am a Man of Constant Sorrow” by The Soggy Bottom Boys and Dan Tyminski
Purple Rain
Best Track: “Purple Rain” by Prince
Rushmore
Best Track: “Ooh La La” by Faces
Help!
Best Track: “Yesterday” by the Beatles
Do the Right Thing
Best Track: “Fight the Power” by Public Enemy
2001: A Space Odyssey
Best Track: “Also sprach Zarathustra, Op. 30, TrV176 1. Prelude” by Richard Strauss, Berliner Philharmoniker, and Karl Böhm
Saturday Night Fever
Best Track: “Stayin’ Alive” by the Bee Gees
Shaft
Best Track: “Theme from Shaft” by Isaac Hayes
The Social Network
Best Track: “Hand Covers Bruise” by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross
Black Panther
Best Track: “All the Stars” Kendrick Lamar and SZA
Dazed and Confused
Best Track: “Sweet Emotion” by Aerosmith
Juno
Best Track: "Anyone Else But You" by The Moldy Peaches
The Descendants
Best Track: "Hi'ilawe" by Gabby Pahinui
Almost Famous
Best Track: "Tiny Dancer" by Elton John
Goodfellas
Best Track: "Rags to Riches" by Tony Bennett
Pulp Fiction
Best Track: "Jungle Boogie" by Kool and the Gang
8 Mile
Best Track: "Lose Yourself" by Eminem
The Breakfast Club
Best Track: "Don't You (Forget About Me)" by Simple Minds
The Muppet Movie
Best Track: "The Rainbow Connection" by Jim Henson (as Kermit the Frog)
Top Gun
Best Track: "Danger Zone" by Kenny Loggins
Batman
Best Track: "Batdance" by Prince
Donnie Darko
Best Track: "Mad World (cover)" by Michael Andrews and Gary Jules
Space Jam
Best Track: "Space Jam" by Quad City DJ's
Garden State
Best Track: "New Slang" by The Shins
Dirty Dancing
Best Track: "(I’ve Had) The Time of My Life" by Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes
Once
Best Track: "Falling Slowly" by Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova
Guardians of the Galaxy
Best Track: "O-o-h Child" by The Five Stairsteps
A Star Is Born (2018)
Best Track: "Shallow" by by Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper
The Bodyguard
Best Track: "I Will Always Love You" by Whitney Houston
Kill Bill
Best Track: "Bang Bang" by Nancy Sinatra
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Best Track: "Everybody’s Got to Learn Sometime (cover)" by Beck
McCabe & Mrs. Miller
Best Track: "The Stranger Song" by Leonard Cohen
Django Unchained
Best Track: "Unchained (The Payback/Untouchable) [Remix]" by 2Pac & James Brown
Friday
Best Track: "Friday" by Ice Cube
Repo Man
Best Track: "Institutionalized" by Suicidal Tendencies
The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou
Best Track: "Rebel Rebel (cover)" by Seu Jorge
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