"ACTION movies with the best music." Topic

None of those … kissing movies! Eeeewwww.
I beg that Dear Editor exclude any kissing movies!

Howard Shore's magnificent score for The Lord of the Rings.
YouTube link

YouTube link
I feel as if I must add, the Witch King did NOT break Gandalf's staff!!!!!

Last of the Mohicans, Clanaad et al.
link

I love Clanaad, and LOTR, but NO. What you want for action movie music is
Erich Korngold doing Captain Blood, The Sea Hawk and Robin Hood for Errol Flynn,
Miklos Rozsa's Scores for Ben Hur and El Cid,
Alfred Newman's How the West was Won and Mark of Zorro,
Elmer Bernstein's Magnificent Seven and The Comancheros
Jerry Goldsmith's Patton and The Wind and the Lion
Dominic Frontiere for Rat Patrol* and The Train Robbers
John Williams for Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Midway and Superman.
Dmitri Tiomkin for The Alamo and The Guns of Navaronne.

Once, action movies had scores, and not "needle drops." I'd like to drop a few needles on Gunn.

*OK, not a movie, but still… Also Mike Post for The A Team theme.

I always liked the sound track from The Last of the Mohicans.

All good suggestions. I would add…

Basil Poledouris' Conan soundtrack was stellar.
Eric Serra's Fifth Element soundtrack is amazing.
Hans Zimmer's Blackhawk Down Soundtrack get's my heart pumping.
John Williams' Star Wars and Empire Strikes Back Soundtracks set the standard for decades.
Vangelis' Blade Runner soundtrack created a whole style of music.

Oh, Mister Negative Nelly! 😱
Let the voters decide!

Been awhile but I remember really enjoying the sound track to the 1927 Silent Film Napoleon (Not sure which version of the Sound track I heard – but remember it making the Silent Film really stand out

Some of the clips are on youtube

YouTube link

Conan the Barbarian by Basil Pouledouris, outstanding.
Jason and the Argonauts (Bernard Hermann)
Son of the Morning Star (Craig Safan)
Black Robe (George Delerue)
The Alamo (Dimitri Tiomkin)
Quo Vadis (Miklos Rosza)
Ben Hur (Miklos Rosza)
The Wind and the Lion (Jerry Goldsmith)
Zulu Dawn (Elmer Bernstein)

I'm kinda torn about Howard Shore and the LOTR films. I think those are OK, but my feeling is sorta like my feelings about the films -- pretty good, but could have been better. But also could have easily been a lot worse. Still, I don't reach for those movies or those STs as often as I once did.

Apologies for any misspellings, I'm working off memory.

Are these "Action" films??

I do not pay attention to music when I am watching a movie. It is a distraction.

Lawrence of Arabia (Maurice Jarre)
The Vikings (Mario Nascimbene)
55 Days at Piking (Dimitri Tiomkin)
How the West was Won (Alfred Newman)

Lawrence of Arabia
The Wind and the Lion
The Sand Pebbles
Gettysburg
Patton
The Lord of the Rings (all of them)
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
2001: A Space Odyssey
Goldfinger
The Great Escape
Star Wars (all of them)

Highlander, Queen

Where Eagles Dare

I should have remembered the Basil Pouledouris' Conan. Other than that and Terminator, Ahnold at his peak was very poorly served by composers.

A Bridge Too Far, John Addison (who actually fought in Market Garden)
Last of the Mohicans, Trevor Jones/Randy Edelman
Good, Bad and the Ugly, Ennico Morricone

Another vote for Conan and the Good, the Bad and the Ugly

I also liked the Rock – but then again I am a huge Hans Zimmer fan

Master and Commander
Platoon
Zulu
the Good, the Bad and the Ugly
Last of the Mohicans
Apocalypse Now
The Dambusters
The Mission

The Last of the Mohicans.

Ennio Morricone's scores for A Fistful of Dollars, For a Few Dollars More, and The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, but also for The Thing and The Battle of Algiers.

ALL of these are good, but The 13th Warrior is one of my favorites. The Mummy 1999 also has a great score.

Just a quibble with Old Contemptible's list: I don't consider 2001: A Space Odyssey to be an "ACTION" movie per the other ones listed. It does have a great soundtrack.

Yeah, I should have remembered 13th Warrior. Goldsmith again, and so was the 1999 Mummy. Truthfully, I'd have given a slight edge in score to the 2001 Mummy Returns by Alan Silvestri over The Mummy. Silvestri tends to be underrated as a studio composer. He may not be in the top rank for action movies, but he's done good work--and he's done good work in just about every movie genre.

Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl

The Rocketeer (the opening title sequence is perfect)

Flash Gordon("Ah-aaah!") by Queen

Batman (Danny Elfman)

Batman (1966-68 TV series, but also a movie, so it fits this poll)

James Bond theme music— classic and evocative, never gets old.

Star Trek: The Motion Picture (especially the general theme and the Klingon theme)

Doc Savage! (Okay, just kidding. But it is all John Philip Sousa!)

I also liked:
Rob Roy
Braveheart