Hans Zimmer is the sound of modern Hollywood. The highly prolific composer participates in multiple films and TV shows every single year and, throughout his acclaimed career, has worked on some of the most iconic scores in film history. However, as is the case with any artist as productive as him, there are a few of his scores that tend to get buried beneath his more noteworthy work.

It's a shame because Zimmer's most underrated scores are every bit as memorable, creative, and masterfully crafted as his best-known works. From horror films like the American remake of The Ring to more lighthearted music for animated family films like Megamind, the German composer has made plenty of scores that deserve to be talked about a lot more often and much more highly. These are Hans Zimmer's most underrated scores, brilliant compositions that prove why he is such a master of his craft.

10 'The Ring' (2002)

Standout Track: "End Credits Suite"

The original 1998 Japanese horror mystery Ringu is a timeless classic, and the 2002 American version, The Ring, happens to be one of the few remakes that live up to their predecessor. In it, a journalist must investigate a mysterious videotape that seems to cause the death of anyone who sees it one week after the fact.

Viewers shouldn't let its PG-13 rating fool them: The Ring is perhaps the most terrifying PG-13 film ever made. Hans Zimmer's score for the movie is tremendously eerie and deeply haunting, no doubt playing a crucial part in how scary the overall film is. It's a score that thrives on its atmospheric simplicity, appealing to viewers' most basic instincts with understated instrumentation and a moody tone. Zimmer is a master of achieving wonders with very straightforward music, and this is one of the best testaments to that skill.

9 'Green Card' (1990)

Standout Track: "Restless Elephants"

The French-Australian-American co-production Green Card is one of those underrated rom-coms that have sadly been forgotten over the years. Nevertheless, this film, about a man entering a marriage of convenience to stay in the U.S., sports a terrific pair of lead performances by Gérard Depardieu and Andie MacDowell, as well as one of Hans Zimmer's best '90s scores.

The composer is no stranger to scoring comedies, with his work on films like Driving Miss Daisy and The Holiday being pretty well-known; Green Card, however, is easily one of his best works in the genre. The synth-heavy melodies enforce the film's tone and themes beautifully, giving it a unique personality with sounds much different than one would expect to hear in a rom-com from this era. Not many people come out of a rom-com thinking of the score, but Zimmer's work in Green Card might just be the most memorable aspect of this sweet movie.

Listen on Spotify

8 'Rush' (2013)

Standout Track: "Lost But Won"

Racing films can be some of the most exhilarating in the sports movie genre. Though Ron Howard mostly tends to be a pretty divisive director, his 2011 sports drama Rush is one of the best racing movies of the 21st century. It's the true story of the rivalry that Formula One rivals James Hunt and Niki Lauda (played impeccably by Chris Hemsworth and Daniel Brühl, respectively) shared during the 1970s.

Zimmer helps Howard build a thrilling atmosphere of excitement and high-octane speed. The score has lots of rock sounds with a rousing electric guitar taking center stage in accompaniment of a restless synth. The composer constantly finds new and creative instrumentations to expand his artistic voice, and the variety found in Rush's score proves it. Like the film itself, Rush's score is thrilling, hectic, and at times overwhelming, flawlessly fitting the narrative.

Listen on Spotify

7 'Mission: Impossible II' (2000)

Standout Track: "Injection"

The scoring of the Mission: Impossible movies has changed hands on numerous occasions over the years. From Danny Elfman's iconic work on Brian De Palma's original to Lorne Balfe's outstanding music for the latest two installments, the franchise never fails to have killer tracks. Even though it tends to be considered the weakest movie in the series, with some going so far as to call it a so-bad-it's-good kind of film, Mission: Impossible II is no exception in the "amazing music" department.

The film's score is imbued with Spanish influences, filling the romance at the core of the narrative with passion and flair. For the action scenes, Zimmer opts for much more purely suspenseful sounds than those found in Elfman's more spy-sounding work on the first film. The powerful vocals of Australian musician Lisa Gerrard, who Zimmer worked with on Gladiator that same year, are the cherry on top of a score that's brimming with personality.

Listen on Spotify

6 'Megamind' (2010)

Standout Track: "Giant Blue Head"

It used to be one of DreamWorks Animation's most underrated efforts, but with its recent surge in newfound popularity, it seems that Megamind has finally found its niche. It's the story of an evil genius who, after defeating his superhero nemesis, finds that he has accidentally left himself without purpose. Thus, he sets out to find a new goal, which may or may not result in catastrophe.

The film's score, composed by Zimmer and Lorne Balfe, has an air of charm, innocence, and sensitivity that's contrasted with the heavy rock-focused soundtrack. It makes Megamind's more introspective scenes all the more touching, its emotional sequences all the more effective, and its explosive action scenes all the more exciting. Zimmer's score is vital to Megamind's narrative, complementing it in a way few other compositions usually do in their respective movies.

5 'The Lone Ranger' (2013)

Standout Track: "Finale (William Tell Overture)"

It may not be one of the best Westerns of the past few years, but Gore Verbinski's The Lone Ranger, based on the classic TV series of the '40s and '50s, sure does have one of the best Western scores in recent memory. It's told from the perspective of Native American warrior Tonto, who recounts the untold tales of what transformed John Reid, a man of the law, into a vigilante legend.

From the ominous strings of "Never Take Off the Mask" to Zimmer's expansive rendition of the "William Tell Overture," the composer creates some of the most powerful leitmotifs in his modern body of work. The typical Western sounds one can hear in pretty much every score in the genre are definitely there but twisted and expanded upon in a variety of riveting ways. Sadly, The Lone Ranger is a truly terrible movie, with two awful leads and a clumsy screenplay; Zimmer's score is the only bright spot in this otherwise unpleasant experience.

Listen on Spotify

4 'Black Rain' (1989)

Standout Track: "Charlie's Badge"

One of Ridley Scott's most underrated films, Black Rain is about two NYC cops who arrest a Yakuza member and must escort him when he's extradited to Japan. What's so special about the film, aside from Scott's typical '80s spark, is that it was Hans Zimmer's first venture into the action genre. It's a genre whose sound he came to singlehandedly re-define, so that alone is reason to consider this a groundbreaking piece of work.

The heavily digital sound of Black Rain works its magic on a foundation of traditional Japanese music, with an undeniably '80s-y sound that should be an absolute delight for those who like the decade's action films. Though Zimmer's work on the score was notoriously plagued by issues, he evidently didn't let those problems drag him down. The general themes in Black Rain would inform Zimmer's future work in the action genre, making it a seminal work of art in his composing career.

Listen on Spotify

3 'Days of Thunder' (1990)

Standout Track: "Days of Thunder (Main Title)"

Directed by Top Gun's Tony Scott, Days of Thunder is a racing drama about a young hotshot stock car driver who gets a chance to compete at the top level. With the same air of careless excitement as Scott's best-known work, Days of Thunder may not be an extraordinary sports movie masterpiece, but Tom Cruise's charisma and the fun racing scenes are enough to make it a charming '90s classic.

Full of adrenaline pumped by booming drums, Zimmer's score for Days of Thunder is one of the most '90s-sounding pieces of music that Hollywood cinema saw during this decade. That's in no way a bad thing: the digital rhythms and rock sounds make this one of the two-time Oscar winner's most fun scores to listen to as a standalone composition. As any great score should, Zimmer's work on Days of Thunder makes the narrative a hundred times more exciting, which is quite impossible to overstate.