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Top Films from Selected Film Composers (A-J)

The lists below include only films for which the composers contributed original music regardless of whether they were credited.

John Barry

Rank Title Year Director(s) Overall
Rank
1 Midnight Cowboy 1969 John Schlesinger 194
2 Goldfinger 1964 Guy Hamilton 244
3 Dances with Wolves 1990 Kevin Costner 318
4 Body Heat 1981 Lawrence Kasdan 702
5 Dr. No 1962 Terence Young 742
6 Zulu 1964 Cy Endfield 825
7 Walkabout 1971 Nicolas Roeg 853
8 From Russia with Love 1963 Terence Young 856
9 The Ipcress File 1965 Sidney J. Furie 912
10 Out of Africa 1985 Sydney Pollack 930
11 The Lion in Winter 1968 Anthony Harvey 1568
12 On Her Majesty's Secret Service 1969 Peter R. Hunt 2320
13 Thunderball 1965 Terence Young 2535
14 Chaplin 1992 Richard Attenborough 2770

Elmer Bernstein

Rank Title Year Director(s) Overall
Rank
1 To Kill a Mockingbird 1962 Robert Mulligan 100
2 Airplane! 1980 Jerry Zucker, Jim Abrahams, and David Zucker 164
3 Ghostbusters 1984 Ivan Reitman 169
4 Sweet Smell of Success 1957 Alexander Mackendrick 173
5 The Great Escape 1963 John Sturges 234
6 The Magnificent Seven 1960 John Sturges 273
7 Animal House 1978 John Landis 360
8 An American Werewolf in London 1981 John Landis 436
9 The Ten Commandments 1956 Cecil B. DeMille 493
10 Trading Places 1983 John Landis 632
11 Hud 1963 Martin Ritt 911
12 Far from Heaven 2002 Todd Haynes 1099
13 The Shootist 1976 Don Siegel 1110
14 My Left Foot 1989 Jim Sheridan 1145
15 The Age of Innocence 1993 Martin Scorsese 1235
16 The Grifters 1990 Stephen Frears 1261
17 True Grit 1969 Henry Hathaway 1293
18 The Man with the Golden Arm 1955 Otto Preminger 1383
19 Some Came Running 1958 Vincente Minnelli 1891
20 Devil in a Blue Dress 1995 Carl Franklin 1938
21 Stripes 1981 Ivan Reitman 2003
22 Heavy Metal 1981 Gerald Potterton 2492
23 ¡Three Amigos! 1986 John Landis 2616

Carter Burwell

Rank Title Year Director(s) Overall
Rank
1 Fargo 1996 Joel Coen 75
2 The Big Lebowski 1998 Joel Coen 108
3 No Country for Old Men 2007 Ethan and Joel Coen 189
4 Being John Malkovich 1999 Spike Jonze 346
5 Miller's Crossing 1990 Joel Coen 466
6 Raising Arizona 1987 Joel Coen 476
7 Blood Simple 1984 Joel Coen 506
8 Barton Fink 1991 Joel Coen 733
9 In Bruges 2008 Martin McDonagh 846
10 Adaptation. 2002 Spike Jonze 888
11 True Grit 2010 Ethan and Joel Coen 934
12 Three Kings 1999 David O. Russell 967
13 Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri 2017 Martin McDonagh 1272
14 Carol 2015 Todd Haynes 1279
15 A Serious Man 2009 Ethan and Joel Coen 1387
16 The Kids Are All Right 2010 Lisa Cholodenko 1619
17 Where the Wild Things Are 2009 Spike Jonze 1655
18 The Blind Side 2009 John Lee Hancock 1681
19 The Rookie 2002 John Lee Hancock 1898
20 Anomalisa 2015 Duke Johnson and Charlie Kaufman 2061
21 The Man Who Wasn't There 2001 Joel Coen 2272
22 The Celluloid Closet 1995 Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman 2284
23 Velvet Goldmine 1998 Todd Haynes 2307
24 Gods and Monsters 1998 Bill Condon 2365
25 Before Night Falls 2000 Julian Schnabel 2519
26 Twilight 2008 Catherine Hardwicke 2521
27 The Hudsucker Proxy 1994 Joel Coen 2605

Georges Delerue

Rank Title Year Director(s) Overall
Rank
1 Platoon 1986 Oliver Stone 200
2 Jules and Jim 1962 François Truffaut 201
3 The Conformist 1970 Bernardo Bertolucci 229
4 Hiroshima mon amour 1959 Alain Resnais 326
5 Contempt 1963 Jean-Luc Godard 371
6 Day for Night 1973 François Truffaut 467
7 Shoot the Piano Player 1960 François Truffaut 807
8 A Man for All Seasons 1966 Fred Zinnemann 838
9 The Day of the Jackal 1973 Fred Zinnemann 1573
10 Steel Magnolias 1989 Herbert Ross 1658
11 Salvador 1986 Oliver Stone 1820
12 The Last Metro 1980 François Truffaut 1896
13 Silkwood 1983 Mike Nichols 1924
14 Women in Love 1969 Ken Russell 2293
15 Julia 1977 Fred Zinnemann 2713

Alexandre Desplat

Rank Title Year Director(s) Overall
Rank
1 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 2011 David Yates 484
2 Fantastic Mr. Fox 2009 Wes Anderson 694
3 The King's Speech 2010 Tom Hooper 696
4 A Prophet 2009 Jacques Audiard 842
5 The Grand Budapest Hotel 2014 Wes Anderson 917
6 Moonrise Kingdom 2012 Wes Anderson 963
7 The Curious Case of Benjamin Button 2008 David Fincher 1029
8 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 2010 David Yates 1087
9 The Tree of Life 2011 Terrence Malick 1275
10 Zero Dark Thirty 2012 Kathryn Bigelow 1419
11 The Queen 2006 Stephen Frears 1498
12 The Beat That My Heart Skipped 2005 Jacques Audiard 1563
13 Argo 2012 Ben Affleck 1660
14 The Imitation Game 2014 Morten Tyldum 1668
15 The Shape of Water 2017 Guillermo del Toro 2064
16 Lust, Caution 2007 Ang Lee 2218
17 Birth 2004 Jonathan Glazer 2672
18 Isle of Dogs 2018 Wes Anderson 2757

Danny Elfman

Rank Title Year Director(s) Overall
Rank
1 Edward Scissorhands 1990 Tim Burton 203
2 The Nightmare before Christmas 1993 Henry Selick 297
3 Good Will Hunting 1997 Gus Van Sant 495
4 Chicago 2002 Rob Marshall 617
5 Spider-Man 2 2004 Sam Raimi 652
6 Spider-Man 2002 Sam Raimi 655
7 Big Fish 2003 Tim Burton 711
8 Coraline 2009 Henry Selick 717
9 Midnight Run 1988 Martin Brest 773
10 Men in Black 1997 Barry Sonnenfeld 787
11 Pee-wee's Big Adventure 1985 Tim Burton 873
12 Milk 2008 Gus Van Sant 886
13 Beetlejuice 1988 Tim Burton 1072
14 Mission: Impossible 1996 Brian De Palma 1435
15 Silver Linings Playbook 2012 David O. Russell 1441
16 Sleepy Hollow 1999 Tim Burton 1764
17 Mars Attacks! 1996 Tim Burton 1807
18 Hellboy II: The Golden Army 2008 Guillermo del Toro 1966
19 Corpse Bride 2005 Tim Burton and Mike Johnson 1989
20 To Die For 1995 Gus Van Sant 2024
21 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory 2005 Tim Burton 2179

Michael Giacchino

Rank Title Year Director(s) Overall
Rank
1 Up 2009 Pete Docter 188
2 The Incredibles 2004 Brad Bird 205
3 Ratatouille 2007 Brad Bird 412
4 Inside Out 2015 Pete Docter 494
5 Star Trek 2009 J.J. Abrams 623
6 Coco 2017 Lee Unkrich 809
7 Zootopia 2016 Byron Howard and Rich Moore 1039
8 Rogue One: A Star Wars Story 2016 Gareth Edwards 2060
9 Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol 2011 Brad Bird 2080
10 Star Trek into Darkness 2013 J.J. Abrams 2089
11 Dawn of the Planet of the Apes 2014 Matt Reeves 2429
12 Mission: Impossible III 2006 J.J. Abrams 2454
13 Incredibles 2 2018 Brad Bird 2505

Jerry Goldsmith

Rank Title Year Director(s) Overall
Rank
1 Alien 1979 Ridley Scott 16
2 Chinatown 1974 Roman Polanski 21
3 L.A. Confidential 1997 Curtis Hanson 127
4 Planet of the Apes 1968 Franklin J. Schaffner 166
5 Patton 1970 Franklin J. Schaffner 291
6 Total Recall 1990 Paul Verhoeven 487
7 Poltergeist 1982 Tobe Hooper 560
8 The Omen 1976 Richard Donner 637
9 Hoosiers 1986 David Anspaugh 701
10 First Blood 1982 Ted Kotcheff 775
11 Basic Instinct 1992 Paul Verhoeven 796
12 Seconds 1966 John Frankenheimer 817
13 Papillon 1973 Franklin J. Schaffner 948
14 Gremlins 1984 Joe Dante 1146
15 Mulan 1998 Tony Bancroft and Barry Cook 1190
16 Rudy 1993 David Anspaugh 1194
17 The Secret of NIMH 1982 Don Bluth 1203
18 Logan's Run 1976 Michael Anderson 1580
19 Star Trek: First Contact 1996 Jonathan Frakes 1672
20 Lonely Are the Brave 1962 David Miller 1704
21 Seven Days in May 1964 John Frankenheimer 2018
22 Air Force One 1997 Wolfgang Petersen 2347
23 The Mummy 1999 Stephen Sommers 2388
24 Outland 1981 Peter Hyams 2687

Bernard Herrmann

Rank Title Year Director(s) Overall
Rank
1 Psycho 1960 Alfred Hitchcock 2
2 Citizen Kane 1941 Orson Welles 4
3 Vertigo 1958 Alfred Hitchcock 13
4 Taxi Driver 1976 Martin Scorsese 14
5 North by Northwest 1959 Alfred Hitchcock 40
6 The Day the Earth Stood Still 1951 Robert Wise 245
7 The Magnificent Ambersons 1942 Orson Welles 405
8 Jason and the Argonauts 1963 Don Chaffey 877
9 Fahrenheit 451 1966 François Truffaut 1178
10 Cape Fear 1962 J. Lee Thompson 1237
11 Marnie 1964 Alfred Hitchcock 1401
12 The Man Who Knew Too Much 1956 Alfred Hitchcock 1463
13 The Ghost and Mrs. Muir 1947 Joseph L. Mankiewicz 1528
14 The 7th Voyage of Sinbad 1958 Nathan Juran 1785
15 The Wrong Man 1956 Alfred Hitchcock 2165
16 The Trouble with Harry 1955 Alfred Hitchcock 2578
17 Sisters 1972 Brian De Palma 2587

James Horner

Rank Title Year Director(s) Overall
Rank
1 Aliens 1986 James Cameron 61
2 Titanic 1997 James Cameron 129
3 Braveheart 1995 Mel Gibson 185
4 Avatar 2009 James Cameron 262
5 Field of Dreams 1989 Phil Alden Robinson 385
6 Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan 1982 Nicholas Meyer 393
7 A Beautiful Mind 2001 Ron Howard 524
8 Glory 1989 Edward Zwick 625
9 Apollo 13 1995 Ron Howard 776
10 Legends of the Fall 1994 Edward Zwick 1478
11 The New World 2005 Terrence Malick 1494
12 The Name of the Rose 1986 Jean-Jacques Annaud 1844
13 Commando 1985 Mark L. Lester 1850
14 Apocalypto 2006 Mel Gibson 1879
15 48 Hrs. 1982 Walter Hill 1919
16 The Boy in the Striped Pajamas 2008 Mark Herman 1971
17 The Land before Time 1988 Don Bluth 2120
18 The Rocketeer 1991 Joe Johnston 2298
19 Cocoon 1985 Ron Howard 2400
20 An American Tail 1986 Don Bluth 2406
21 Enemy at the Gates 2001 Jean-Jacques Annaud 2456
22 Clear and Present Danger 1994 Phillip Noyce 2786

James Newton Howard

Rank Title Year Director(s) Overall
Rank
1 The Dark Knight 2008 Christopher Nolan 47
2 The Sixth Sense 1999 M. Night Shyamalan 187
3 Batman Begins 2005 Christopher Nolan 414
4 Pretty Woman 1990 Garry Marshall 521
5 The Fugitive 1993 Andrew Davis 677
6 Glengarry Glen Ross 1992 James Foley 914
7 King Kong 2005 Peter Jackson 1027
8 Primal Fear 1996 Gregory Hoblit 1558
9 Major League 1989 David S. Ward 1566
10 The Hunger Games 2012 Gary Ross 1581
11 Collateral 2004 Michael Mann 1645
12 Unbreakable 2000 M. Night Shyamalan 1735
13 Blood Diamond 2006 Edward Zwick 1771
14 Nightcrawler 2014 Dan Gilroy 1811
15 The Hunger Games: Catching Fire 2013 Francis Lawrence 1950
16 Signs 2002 M. Night Shyamalan 2007
17 Michael Clayton 2007 Tony Gilroy 2027
18 My Best Friend's Wedding 1997 P.J. Hogan 2040
19 The Devil's Advocate 1997 Taylor Hackford 2337
20 I Am Legend 2007 Francis Lawrence 2385
21 Falling Down 1993 Joel Schumacher 2511
22 Space Jam 1996 Joe Pytka 2525

Maurice Jarre

Rank Title Year Director(s) Overall
Rank
1 Lawrence of Arabia 1962 David Lean 19
2 Eyes without a Face 1960 Georges Franju 406
3 Doctor Zhivago 1965 David Lean 425
4 Dead Poets Society 1989 Peter Weir 433
5 Ghost 1990 Jerry Zucker 740
6 The Man Who Would be King 1975 John Huston 764
7 Witness 1985 Peter Weir 857
8 Fatal Attraction 1987 Adrian Lyne 879
9 The Longest Day 1962 Ken Annakin, Andrew Marton, and Bernhard Wicki 923
10 The Tin Drum 1979 Volker Schlöndorff 980
11 The Train 1964 John Frankenheimer 1064
12 Jacob's Ladder 1990 Adrian Lyne 1271
13 The Professionals 1966 Richard Brooks 1480
14 The Damned 1969 Luchino Visconti 1976
15 The Year of Living Dangerously 1982 Peter Weir 2045
16 Top Secret! 1984 Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, and Jerry Zucker 2278
17 Enemy Mine 1985 Wolfgang Petersen 2648
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This page was last modified on March 26, 2020