By
Published: Tuesday, 07 January 2025 at 12:34 PM
Best Hans Zimmer scores: ranking the music of a cinematic composing icon
Hans Zimmer is one of the most celebrated and influential, not to say the greatest movie composers of our time. Known for his innovative soundscapes and groundbreaking use of technology, Zimmer has composed scores for over 150 films, earning numerous awards, including Golden Globes, Grammy Awards and a brace of Oscars along the way. Here’s our ranking of the best Hans Zimmer film scores.
Best Hans Zimmer scores
11. Beyond Rangoon (1995)
John Boorman’s critically-acclaimed drama about a woman on a journey of self-discovery in Burma (Myanmar) may not be the first title you think of in relation to Hans Zimmer. His contribution to the film, though, remains one of his most understated and beautiful. With percussion, ethnic flutes and vocals at its heart, Zimmer’s score is a bit of a gem, surrounded as it is in his filmography by animated features, romantic comedies and high-octane blockbusters.
10. Crimson Tide (1995)
Zimmer truly pushed the envelope with this score, for Tony Scott’s submarine thriller. With it, he proved that composers could confidently move away from traditional orchestral methods of scoring and still create music of convincing enough scale and drama.
9. Sherlock Holmes (2009)
This is a huge amount of fun, and you get the sense that the composer and his friends had a blast coming up with the soundworld for this score. It’s really representative of where Zimmer was creatively at this time; collaboration is the foundation stone here. The music has a brilliant audacity about it, with its wildly cavorting rhythms, electric violin, guitars and a flavour of Eastern European folk music.
8. Pirates of the Caribbean – At World’s End (2007)
The third film in the massively popular Pirates franchise really was the creative apogee of Zimmer’s continued work on the series – everything about the film has a grander sweep than the prior two. His familiar themes from those first two films are plundered and given even more gravitas, along with some stunning action setpieces and new thematic material. The love theme for Will and Elizabeth is a particular highlight.
7. Rain Man (1988)
Zimmer’s very first Hollywood film score, for Barry Levinson’s moving drama, earned him an Oscar nomination. It was a breath of fresh air in terms of its sound, which was born of Zimmer’s inate skill with keyboards and synthesisers.
Some of the Rain Man soundtrack is very much of its time, and perhaps just a little dated, but his main theme remains a soulful triumph. This is iconic and influential music; indeed Zimmer’s sound was so imitated, it drove him to explore fresh approaches.
6. The Lion King (1994)
This triumphant film owes a huge amount to its wonderful, effervescent music, and not just the songs by Elton John and Tim Rice. Hans Zimmer might have been unsure about taking on a ‘kids film’ at the time, but his music brought to The Lion King a gravitas and emotion that truly elevates it. It’s essentially a tragedy, after all, and the composer takes the score to operatic heights.
Hans Zimmer deservedly won an Oscar for his score for The Lion King. A key component is the traditional African vocal elements, brought to life by South African musician Lebo M – with whom Zimmer worked on 1992’s The Power of One. Rice and John contributed so many great songs – such as ‘Hakuna matata’.
Best Hans Zimmer scores: the top five
5. The Dark Knight (2008)
This scintillating sequel to Christopher Nolan’s Batman Begins made audiences rethink just what a ‘superhero’ movie could be. While the late Heath Ledger’s performance as the Joker was scene-stealing (and Oscar-winning), Zimmer’s contribution picked up on the character’s freneticism and murky sense of show. As in the first score, Zimmer was joined by composer James Newton Howard who took charge of the music for Bruce Wayne and Harvey Dent, aka Two-Face.
4. Inception (2010)
Christopher Nolan’s mind-bending blockbuster remains a puzzle for some viewers, and it was up to Zimmer to guide us through the movie maze. As withThe Dark Knight above, sound design and music converge, creating an aural world that goes beyond any sense of traditional film scoring. The result is one of the composer’s most original and integral scores, with the cue ‘Time’ a bit of a masterpiece.
3. Gladiator (2000)
Ridley Scott’s epic film about a general who becomes a slave and then one of Rome’s most prized fighters was a bit of a surprise hit when it was released. Zimmer made the most of the no-holds-barred battle sequences, unleashing his own variety of hell with massive musical strokes. Powerful for sure, but also poignant thanks to Lisa Gerrard’s vocals and some truly gorgeous tunes.
2. Dune / Dune: Part Two (2021 / 2024)
To evoke the literally otherworldly atmospheres of Frank Herbert’s exotic, interstellar Dune universe, Zimmer arrived at a captivating mixture of traditional orchestration and more experimental sounds.
He called on an array of unusual instruments, custom-made sounds, and unique vocal textures, including chanting and wailing voices, to evoke the mystique of Arrakis, the desert home planet of the hero Paul Atreides. Elsewhere, surprising elements like an ensemble of bassoons contributed to the haunting atmospheres of Arrakis and Caladan. To evoke the customs of the nomadic Fremen, meanwhile, Zimmer incorporated exotic scales, instruments, and rhythms inspired by Middle Eastern and North African traditions.
The score for Dune (2021) earned widespread acclaim, earning Zimmer his second Oscar, as well as a BAFTA and a Golden Globe. HIs bold approach to scoring these interplanetary epics set a new standard for sci-fi film music, with its irresistible mix of atmosphere and emotional resonance.
And the best Hans Zimmer score is….
1. Interstellar (2014)
If he impressed with Inception, Hans Zimmer took it to the next level with this score for Christopher Nolan’s complex space odyssey. In a way it’s a case of less is more, as the composer dials things down, unafraid to roll at no more than a whisper.
The use of pipe organ is inspired, too, its tones taking us on a mesmerising, quasi-spiritual journey. Again the boundaries of music and sound design are blurred and the result is one of the most affecting and beautiful scores the composer has ever crafted.
- Buy the soundtrack from Amazon
- How the world’s largest pipe organ ended up in a Philadelphia department store
Top image by Getty Images
About Michael Beek
Michael Beek is the Reviews Editor of BBC Music Magazine. He joined the team in May 2018, following ten years as a freelance film music journalist and fifteen years at St George’s Bristol – where he was everything from Box Office Supervisor to the venue’s Content & Engagement Manager.
Michael specialises in film and television music and was the Editor of Music from the Movies.com. He has written for the BBC Proms, BBC Concert Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Albert Hall, Hollywood in Vienna and Silva Screen Records. Also a presenter, Michael has hosted concerts and live events for Bristol Film Festival and St George’s Bristol, plus Debbie Wiseman’s ‘Music and Words from Wolf Hall’ at venues across the UK.