The 10 Best Hans Zimmer Scores

Following in the footsteps of Inception and its masterful score is no easy feat, and yet somehow, a masterful and brilliant composer managed to create yet another score that not only rivals his previous works, but it may also just have perfected it. Interstellar is a sweeping science fiction epic that has arguably one of the greatest film scores of all time. Grandious and bombastic orchestras fill the silence with sublime performances that makes the audience feel as though they are being blasted off into space on this existential adventure full of heart and wonder. From the main theme to the credits, every song on Interstellar's tracklist offers up one masterpiece after another.

Best Track:
Cornfield Chase
Day One (Interstellar Theme)
S.T.A.Y.

Powerful, anxious, bombastic, and utterly epic in every sense of the word, the musical score for The Dark Knight helped elevate this from a phenomenal superhero film to arguably the best comic book movie of all time. Hanz Zimmer's remarkable score may be one of the most understated parts of the film, but there is no doubt that each uplifting and stomach-churning scene in the film simply wouldn't be the same without his bombastic drums, uplifting horns, and masterful pace. While most superheroes need a theme, Zimmer opted out of this trend and instead gave traditional musical pieces, and this ideology could not have worked out any better.

Best Tracks:
Like a Dog Chasing Cars
Why so Serious?
I'm Not a Hero

Maximus Decimus Meridius said it best when he stated, “what we do in life echoes in eternity,” and film composer Hanz Zimmer took this to heart while creating the score for Gladiator, as he created an epic, powerful, and heartwrenching score that will undoubtedly instill hope back in the hearts of those who feel lost. Quiet yet bombastic, Galdiator's score transports audiences back in time with magical and heartwrenching performances that will bring tears to the eyes of any who truly listen to it. With Italian influences and soulful performance from Zimmer and his orchestra, the score for Gladiator may be the most underrated in his entire catalog.

Best Tracks:
Now We Are Free
Honor Him
Earth

Melancholic, heartwarming, and bombastic all at the same time, the musical score for Inception helped define scores for the 2010s and the signature “bwam” sound can still be heard in blockbusters today. While the over the top and bombastic nature of the film's main theme overtook the score, it is important to reminisce on the quieter and much more heartfelt moments that helped make the film what it was. Zimmer created a masterclass in building tension, but he also developed a score so sorrowful and heartbreaking that it will put tears in the eyes of listeners who simply take the time to listen to the beauty being displayed

Best Tracks:
Time
Dream is Collapsing
Dream Within a Dream

An upbeat swashbuckling adventure is only as good as its main theme, and Hanz Zimmers's composition of the main theme of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise is as good as any musical score ever created by any man or woman alive. A rip-roaring and powerful orchestra back one of the catchiest hooks ever known to man that has become so popular, that many audience members know it without ever even having seen the films themselves. A wide array of adventurous and trepidatious emotions can be felt listening to this beautiful score, and by the end, listeners will be ready to go out on their very own adventure.

Best Tracks:
He's a Pirate
Jack Sparrow
Drink Up Me Hearties Yo Ho

Hanz Zimmer manages to do something incredibly unique in nearly all of his pristine scores, creating an almost overwhelmingly bombastic sound while remaining quiet. The silence and buildup are deafening and build massive anticipation to see what is going to happen next, and the score for Dune may just be Zimmer's best example of his ability to create an impending explosion of sound. In what can only be described as a blend of science fiction meets horror, an overwhelming sense of unease permeates the score of Dune and helps audiences realize that they aren't in for any regular adventure, this is going to be dark, nasty, and mind-blowing.

Best Tracks:
Ripples in the Sand
Dreams of Arrakis
Herald of the Change

From the first note, audiences realize they are in for one of the most magical and out-of-body experiences a film score has ever produced. Widely regarded as the best Hanz Zimmer score of his entire career, The Lion King instills passion, hope, sorrow, anger, and love all at the same time with each and every song. A passion unlike anything ever put in animation before, thunderous drums, upbeat percussion, and magical brass work whisk audiences away and transfer them straight into the African wilderness and help them truly understand both the Circle of Life and Hakuna Matata.

Best Tracks:
Circle of Life
King of Pride Rock
Be Prepared
 

Often times war soundtracks can come off as second fiddle to the film itself. With an overwehlimg array of gunshots and explosions, music in the background of it simply seems to be too much, but Hanz Zimmer proved this to be anything but the case with his phenomenal work on the score of Pearl Harbor. Uplifting, powerful, and intensely emotional, the score instills a sense of pride and power in any audience member who listens to it and gives them hope that maybe, just maybe our heroes will come out on top. 

Best Tracks:
Tennessee 1923
Rafe Says Goodbye
Courage

It seems only fitting that one of the greatest and most underrated animated films of all time has one of the greatest and most underrated scores of all time. The work Hanz Zimmer put in for the score in The Prince of Egypt is nothing short of perfect. Adventurous, uproarious, and passionate with an eerie undertone of unease and dread, the score perfectly encapsulates the story of Moses and the Book of Exodus. Sweeping, almost swashbuckling sounds mixed with elements of traditional African music and religious music form together to create a harmony of sounds so elegant to the ear that they will leave listeners stunned at the magic they are listening to.

Best Tracks:
Deliver Us
All I Ever Wanted (With Queens Reprise)
The Plagues

While the score for Sherlock Holmes may not have the award-winning gravitas of other works in Hanz Zimmer's fantastic catalog, it hones into exactly what makes the film composer so magnificent in the first place, an adventurous and one-of-a-kind sound that instantly transports audiences into the world just by a mere sound. Showcasing some of the most unique instruments Zimmer has ever used, the folksy London Victorian sound has an almost euphoric charm instilled in its veins before being elevated by bombastic horns that will get every would-be detective prepared to go on the adventure of a lifetime.

Best Tracks:
Discombobulate
Is It Poison, Nanny?
I Never Woke Up In Handcuffs Before