Top 30 Hans Zimmer Tracks: Part 1

30. Theme to Broken Arrow

Hans Zimmer is best known as the king of the grand and grandiose, but he could always knock off a terrific cheesy 90s action flick soundtrack if he wanted to. Broken Arrow is as over-the-top as John Woo action films get, and as ham-tastic as a John Travolta villain action flick gets, but boy is it some dumb fun. The theme song is relatively simple, a sort of pseudo-Western, very whimsical and offbeat music perhaps more fitting to a lighthearted Western than a nuclear weapons thriller. Somehow, though, this dissonance works extremely well with the silly tone of the film.

29. 'The Way of the Sword' - The Last Samurai 

Hans goes to Japan, and while even the maestro himself doubted he'd be able to achieve the very particular tone of reverence and respectfulness towards Japanese culture the film does, I do think he manages to nail it.This is a great action theme which is heart-pounding before seguing into a very heartfelt, reverential tone, and very much embodies the film's ideals of heroism and honour.

28. The Theme to Black Rain  

Curious, though, that Zimmer was so nervous about taking on the themes of Japanese culture through his music, since he pretty much nailed it in one of his first goes with Black Rain. The film shares many similarities to The Last Samurai with its respectful approach to the Japanese, and is a fairly entertaining action film to boot. Zimmer's ending theme to the film is a fantastic example of him bringing about a great conclusion, as it so succinctly surmises the bond of the two men from different continents.

27. 'Stone in My Heart' - The Thin Red Line

Like the vast ensemble which was significantly pared down by Terrence Malick's brutal cutting process, Hans Zimmer's soundtrack for The Thin Red Line was apparently largely cut from the final product, with only several of his nearly 4 hours worth of music appearing in it. Well, say what you will about the man, but Terry M clearly knew what to pick out of Zimmer's bag of tricks. It's such a unique soundtrack for a war movie as there's absolutely no John Williams, James Horner or (more recently) Rupert Gregson-Williams sort of bombastic tone to any of its tracks. Which is not to diminish the work of those composers in their war sequences, they're amazing in their own ways, but Zimmer opts for a different approach  to contrast with the visuals of horror and suffering. This track, set to the beautiful shots of C Company's trails in the South Pacific, shows the calm and serene surface, with the violin reprise of the tune towards the end symbolizing the men's own internal states as they move towards battle.

26. 'You're So Cool' - True Romance

As derivative from Badlands' score, as the film itself is in many ways indebted to that great Malick film, this is nevertheless another A+ quality score from Zimmer for a very entertaining, if a bit disorganized, semi-Tarantino-semi-Tony Scott venture. The sprightly and playful tune is absolutely pitch-perfect for the road trip of the two protagonists, mischievous and cheekily winning their way into your hears.

25. 'Agent of Chaos' - The Dark Knight

Starting off so calmly before setting off on another pulse-pulsating theme, this theme amplifies the escalating tension of Batman finding out about the Joker's 'Sophie's choice' dilemma, and the desperate mindset of Bruce Wayne. I have a particular affinity for how the Joker's theme subtly underlies this theme, and how it so cruelly ends its 'epic' theme to revert back to a calm, chilling score that shows the horror and tragedy of the Joker's actions.

24. 'God Yu Tekem Laef Blong Mi' - The Thin Red Line

This serene, beautiful piece of music is implemented into the film at its most understated, soothing and calm segments, to create this sense of the otherworldly. The instrumentals are minimal, but Zimmer wisely holds back in this regard to let the Melanesian choral songs and chants flourish all the more. They are a perfect representation of Private Witt's (Jim Caviezel) state of tranquility, and provides such fitting comfort in a film that so vividly depicts war's greatest horrors. It's never forceful in its emotions, fitting to the tone of the film, and provides the basis for some of its most emotionally powerful sequences.

23. Theme to Driving Miss Daisy

Atypical Zimmer, to the extent that I didn't realize till quite recently that this soundtrack was composed by him. It's sparkly and lighthearted in a fitting way to the sparkly and (mostly) lighthearted film it accompanies, and you can just see Morgan Freeman glowing and Jessica Tandy glowering/glowing herself as you listen to this catchy little tune. The use of synthesizers and samplers, very much an 80s staple and a Zimmer staple, capture that specific time period of the film despite the somewhat anachronistic use of this modern music making technique.

22. 'The Village' - The Thin Red Line

Like 'Stone in My Heart' the track begins in a tranquil fashion, before gradually turning into a darker, more tragic and mournful piece. The beauty of the strings instruments coalesce with the constant ringing and the use of bells to show how, try as one might to lose oneself in the beauty of the islands or the innocence of the past, the ringing of war is always in one's ears. The dissonance never feels jarring, but instead adds so much to the sequences in the film it's utilized in. It never 'raises its voice', so to speak, but you still completely feel how it represents the symbol of war weighing upon the men's shoulders.

21. 'Leaving Walbrook' - Rain Man 

A neat subversion of the typical road trip theme song, as we get another synth-heavy Zimmer soundtrack which is entirely fitting to the very methodical, precise and yet heartwarming personality of Raymond Babbit (underrated Oscar-winning performance by Dustin Hoffman) and his relationship with his brother Charlie (underrated, period, performance by Tom Cruise). It's very straightforward in terms of the comfortable sweet spot it hits with the score, but effectively so, and brings a smile to one's face whenever it's heard in the film.

20. 'Is She With You?' - Batman v.s. Superman: Dawn of Justice

This off-kilter collaboration with Junkie XL works out surprisingly well, in fact I'd say this is a perfect example of a soundtrack that is greater than the sum of the completed film. Honestly, Wonder Woman's theme here suggests a far greater story and plot line than the final film gives her. It's utilized really well in her standalone film too by Rupert Gregson-Williams, but this is where it was established, and credits to Zimmer and Junkie XL for crafting a truly inspiring, epic theme song that puts many other superhero themes of today to shame.

19. 'Introduce a Little Anarchy' - The Dark Knight

The difficult part about praising the soundtrack to Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy, in particular The Dark Knight, is how the score in each given scene is mostly compromised of fragments of other parts of the score, combined to fit the varying tones and moods of the film - usually gritty and rather grim. This is an excellent example of this splicing, as we have a heart-pounding, rousing score to accompany the best action sequence in the film as Batman has to take out his own SWAT team and save a bunch of 'hostages'. Everything just kicks in at the right time here as you can clearly distinguish each rising line of action between the chords here.

18. 'The Corall Atoll' - The Thin Red Line

Begins the men's journey into war impeccably, as here we get a bit more of the expected Hans Zimmer gravitas to its ascending opening, as it rumbles in accordance with the ominous sounds of the ships, bringing men closer and closer to the battlefields where many will lose their lives. After that it switches between the meek and calm, and the rumbling and gritty. There is an ominous air to much of the music, symbolizing the 'great evil', but there also an otherworldly sense of someplace else, the 'beautiful light' Private Witt speaks of in the great beyond.

17. 'The Medallion Calls' - Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl

A grand collaborative effort by Zimmer, Klaus Badelt, and Ramin Djawadi (of Game of Thrones fame). It effectively acts as an entry for Jack Sparrow, for better or worse, and captures so beautifully that off-kilter and mischievous airs of Captain Jack. Its grandeur juxtaposes his silly antics and airs of pretension, with just the right amount of wry knowing-ness. In many ways the Pirates series features some of the most bare-bones and simple soundtracks of Zimmer's filmography. Doesn't matter because it fits the tone of the films perfectly, even when the films themselves aren't exactly on point.

16. 'Home' - Dunkirk

Zimmer's latest soundtrack is, for lack of a better word, quite the masterpiece. It should be said that the whole sound design of the film is perhaps its most remarkable quality, and the use of a ticking clock motif for the soundtrack is a stroke of genius, as it creates such a constant urgency throughout the film. The frentic pace and rhythm this creates throughout the film is palatable through the first part of 'Home', which makes its sudden transition to something more comforting and inspirational in its second half, perfectly correlating with Kenneth Branagh's impeccable acting in that scene, so moving.