As Ted just reviewed Chappie this weekend, he mentioned that the only thing he liked in the movie was Hans Zimmer‘s score. So it made me think of other robot movies that have great, memorable soundtracks. First thing that came to mind is of course Pacific Rim, boy I love that movie and its soundtrack, but I’ve featured that in previous music break here.
So here are five of my favorite movies dealing with robots and/or artificial intelligence. It’s interesting how soulful most of the music of sci-fi movies can be, and Blade Runner in particular, have such an emotionally haunting quality about it. For some reason I didn’t include the A.I. soundtrack as one of my favorite John Williams’ scores which is a glaring omission as it’s just sooo beautiful. I also like the song For Always by Lara Fabian, but the instrumental side is even more gorgeous. So here they are in order of release:
Blade Runner (1982)
By Vangelis
Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
By Brad Fiedel
The Iron Giant (1999)
By Michael Kamen
Artificial Intelligence (2001)
By John Williams
Big Hero 6 (2014)
By Henry Jackman
BONUS:
I simply have to include this one even though it’s a TV series. My hubby is a big fan too, especially from the earlier seasons.
Battlestar Galactica (2004 Series) by Bear McCreary
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Hope you enjoy this music break. What are some of YOUR favorite soundtrack from sci-fi movies about robots?
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A.I. from your list. I would add James Horner, ‘Bicentennial Man’ starring Robin Williams.
Hi Cindy! I remember you like A.I. a lot. Oh I haven’t seen Bicentennial Man, gotta add that to my queue!
Love the Blade Runner and T2 themes. My other favorite theme is from the original ROBOCOP:
Hi Ted! I actually listened to this last night and was considering it. Yeah it’s great score, definitely fits the subject matter.
I don’t remember the music from Robocop, Ted but I remember Basil Poledouris’s thunderous score for The Hunt For Red October. In college I was working at a movie theater in Boston and must have seen the ending like 50 times. Seriously.
BTW Ronnie Cox uttering “Dick… You’re Fired!” from Robocop is one of my favorite lines of all time. LOL.
There used to be a Schwarzenegger metal tribute band called Austrian Death Machine. They interspersed impressions of Arnold from his movies between songs. Mainly T2, Predator and Total Recall.This was the first track on one of their cd’s that then went into a metal version of the T2 Theme. This always made me laugh Ted.
Love the “Dick.. You’re fired!” line from RoboCop. I also enjoyed Hunt For Red October theme too, Poledouris was definitely an underrated composer and I’m a bit sad he’s no longer with us.
That Austrian Death Machine is hilarious, thanks for the share! Lol.
That Blade Runner score is pretty much what all Sci-Fi scores should aspire to be.
I’d agree w/ you Drew! It’s amazing how it still holds up to this day!
Yes! Great to see BG on there. That score is fantastic throughout the whole show. Great sci-fi picks too!
Yay! So say we all Mark! 😀 Yes it’s a great series and the ENTIRE soundtrack is absolutely fantastic!
Love the music from Blade Runner. Since this is about robots, where’s the score for WALL-E?
Hi Steven! I LOVE Wall•E but for some odd reason I don’t remember much of the soundtrack.
I’d have to agree with Blade Runner and Battlestar Galactica Ruth. All good picks though.
My picks would be Moon by Clint Mansell and Sunshine by John Murphy. Also, while non-original, the timeless classical music from 2001:A Space Odyssey. While some people may just consider them just computers, not robots, they were self aware (A.I.) and did control their respective ships/base which by extension were their bodies.
The selection from Moonis about 9 minutes so if you listen to the first 4-5 you’ll get the gist.
One of my favorite pieces of music.
I haven’t seen Moon yet! Oooh I like that Sunshine one, soooo gorgeous! But for this post I specifically focus on scifis dealing w/ robots 🙂 Glad we both love BSG and Blade Runner!
I know it’s not really a robot movie but I love the sound track from Pacific Rim.
Hello Kim! Welcome to FC! Oh Pac Rim would count too, but as I mentioned in the first paragraph, I already dedicated a post for it 🙂
Cool post Ruth. Battlestar Galactica is something I keep meaning to watch but never get round to. One day!
Hi Chris! Oh you should watch it when you get a chance, I binged on it years ago and couldn’t get enough. I’ve been meaning to catch its follow-up, Caprica, too!
Terminator is an excellent example. Man is that score haunting and imposing. You’ve reminded me of another layer of what makes that film just one of the greatest things ever. 😀
Hi ya Tom! Haunting and imposing, that’s a perfect description of it. I think they still used it in the latest one, Terminator Salvation, and it’s practically the best thing about it.
Great post. Love that you included BSG. Bear McCreary is a genius. 😀
Hi V! Glad to hear from another Bear McCreary’s fan! He’s been busy lately scoring for all the shows on STARZ. His work for Outlander and Black Sails are outstanding!
As soon as I saw him credited on Black Sails I thought, “Well at least I’ll enjoy the music, whatever happens!” Though I’ve been enjoying almost all aspects of Black Sails so far. As for Outlander, would you recommend it? I’ve yet to give it a whirl.
Hey, glad to hear you love Black Sails. Not sure if you know that I’ve recently been obsessed with Toby Stephens ever since I saw him in BBC’s Jane Eyre. He’s outstanding as Capt Flint wouldn’t you say? Sexiest pirate ever and the first time I ever found a pirate attractive, ahah.
I’ve only seen a couple of episodes of Outlander. I think it’s good, I like the Scottish setting too and there’s a whole lot of steamy scenes between the two leads 😉
Awesome picks! I just rewatched The Iron Giant last week, and that score is terrific. LOVE the ones from T2, A.I. and Blade Runner as well.
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