“The sound and music are 50% of the entertainment in a movie.” George Lucas
Hello there, glad to have you back.
Ever, since I was a kid, I have always been a science-fiction fan, even when it wasn’t cool to be so. Today science-fiction is more relevant than ever, with some experts even saying that is the most important artistic genre; combined that with music and you have a perfect recipe for a classic work for the ages.
Last year, during the worst days of the Covid-19 quarantine, I was stuck, working from home and had to reorganize my life again. And music was there to help. I decided to make a playlist of my favorite sci-fi movie themes of all times and now I want to share it with you.
Here they are, I know you will like them:
10-Rock Shop from RoboCop (1987)
After composing the extraordinary score for Conan the Barbarian (1982), Basil Poledouris created this for one of the best science-fiction movies of the 1980s. This was his second collaboration with director Paul Verhoven, after Flesh and Blood (1985); they would work together again in Starship Troopers (1997).
Paul Verhoeven said once said about Robocop: "The point of 'RoboCop,' of course, is it is a Christ story," "It is about a guy that gets crucified after 50 minutes, then is resurrected in the next 50 minutes and then is like the super-cop of the world, but is also a Jesus figure as he walks over water at the end."
“Dead or alive, you're coming with me”, Alex Murphy.
Listen to the theme here:
Open in new windowRock Shop from RoboCop9-Escape from New York Main Title from Escape from New York (1981)
A score made by director John Carpenter himself, this track feels mysterious and nostalgic at the same time. Perfect for the dystopian future atmosphere of this classic.
Listen to the theme here:
Open in new windowEscape From New York Soundtrack Track 1. "Main Title" John Carpenter Alan Howarth
8- Life from Prometheus (2012)
A misunderstood movie people love to hate, some even say that almost ended up Ridley Scott’s career; nevertheless I loved it when I saw it and still like it to this day. Give this movie one more chance and listen to the 4th track of the soundtrack, it’s inspiring!
Listen to the theme here:
Open in new windowPrometheus: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (#4: Life)7- The Landing from Alien (1979)
From Planet of the Apes to The Omen to Total Recall, legendary composer Jerry Goldsmith was no stranger to sience-fiction and fantasy. A very sought-after movie composer who did music for like a hundred works between movies, television and video games. Here is the third track of Alien, when the Nostromo crew lands in the LV-426 planetoid.
Goldsmith once stated: “If our music survives, which I have no doubt it will, then it will be because it is good”.
Listen to the theme here:
Open in new windowAlien Soundtrack Track 3 "The Landing" Jerry Goldsmith6- Blade Runner Blues from Blade Runner (1982)
Using only synthesizers, Greek composer Vangelis achieved with this soundtrack one of the most influential pieces of both electronic music and film history music. It’s one of the best soundtracks ever for what could arguably be one of the three best science-fiction movies ever made. This is the 7th track from the Blade Runner soundtrack which captures the loneliness and lack of humanity in a bleak dystopian future.
Listen to the theme here:
Open in new windowBlade Runner Blues5- Back to the Future Original Score/End Credits from Back to the Future (1985)
American composer Alan Silvestri, Pedator (1987) and The Polar Express (2004), has been a frequent collaborator of director Robert Zemeckis in many of his films. By far Back to the Future could be their best collaboration of all and the movie wouldn’t have been the same without Silvestri’s score.
Listen to the theme here:
Open in new windowBack To The Future (From "Back To The Future" Original Score/End Credits)4- Terminator - Main Title from The Terminator (1984)
Prolific American composer Brad Fiedel created the score for this James Cameron’s classic entirely on synthesizer, so to represent “a mechanical man and his heartbeat”. He went to collaborate with Cameron again in Terminator 2: Judgment Day and True Lies. Can you believe this guy was once the keyboard player for Hall and Oates? Nothing against Hall and Oates, hey, I think they’re great!
Here is the main theme from The Terminator:
Open in new windowTerminator - Main Title3- Across the Stars Love Theme from Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones (2002)
This one was the most difficult for me to choose for this list, heck, you could make entire lists of music from all the Star Wars movies! From The Empire’s theme to Luke Skywalker’s theme they all resonate in our memories. But I chose this beautiful work from the subpar Episode II; I know those prequel movies aren’t nearly as good as the original ones, however the quality of the soundtracks didn’t diminish and are actually amazing. John Williams is one of the most legendary movie composers of all time, scoring almost all of Steven Spielberg’s movies. The Star Wars music is the most famous music from movies of all times.
Listen to the theme here:
Open in new window2- Symphony No.9 in D Minor, Opus 125 Choral: II. Scherzo. Molto vivace from A Clockwork Orange (1971)
Another one difficult to choose from. The Thieving Magpie, the William Tell overture or even I Want to Marry a Lighthouse Keeper, they’re all great, but it's time for some good, old Ludwig Van, o my brothers, so let’s go with Beethoven. Stanley Kubrick might have been difficult to work with but you have to admit that he and Ludwig Van make an excellent collaboration.
“And I could viddy such images”, Alex de Large.
Enjoy the theme here and have a glass of milk!
Open in new windowBeethoven: Symphony 9, Op. 125 (Clockwork Orange)1- The Blue Danube from 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
Who could ever thought that when you look at space you would think about classical music? From Also sprach Zarathustra by Richard Strauss, to Atmospheres by Ligeti, Stanley Kubrick was a master at choosing music completely unrelated to the film itself and nevertheless make an impact in our memories. Here is Johann Strauss II most famous waltz composed in 1866, which appears in the space station sequence of the movie. According to Wikipedia: “This is the result of the association that Kubrick made between the spinning motion of the satellites and the dancers of waltzes”.
Listen to the space waltz here:
Open in new windowThe Blue Danube - Johann Strauss II (1866)And a Bonus song:
Starman-David Bowie from The Martian (2015)
Ok, not an instrumental theme like the rest of this list, but it’s related to space, is from then great White Duke, and was included in Ridley Scott’s The Martian from 2015. Can you believe they let the entire song play in the middle of the movie? I dare you to find another movie that lets an entire song play from beginning to end.
Listen to it here:
Open in new windowStarman (2012 Remaster)This is my second music-related post, check the first one here:
@thereadingman/20-of-the-most-beautiful
So, what do you think? Let us now in the comment section which one of the themes did you like the most. Feel free to also share your favorite science-fiction movie themes in the comments. Please, don’t forget to like this post, it’s a big help for me so I can continue uploading content. Thank you for stopping by.
Until next time.
Take care.
The reading man.