1980's Film Music Appreciation!

Anyone here a fan of 1980s scifi/fantasy music? (...aside from y'know, Star Wars?)

The 1980s churned out a lot of bizarre/awesome/not-quite-old-enough-to-be-considered-B-rated-but-still-horrendously-cheesy-in-that-cult-phenomenon-kind-of-way films. And one of the reasons they were so unforgettable methinks is the music. There was a certain 1980s-ness to film music of this era. And then it suddenly died as fast as Alderaan blew when the 90s kicked in. It was as if Hollywood proclaimed: "THOU SHALT NOT PASS, SYNTHESIZER!"

Anywho, here are some of my favs....


The Terminator -- awesome film, definitely couldn't imagine a different theme. The sequels couldn't either.


The Neverending Story -- because holy hell was this cinematic fantasy at its best. (It didn't follow the classic book but I will forgive it for that.) If the soundtrack doesn't give you chills I recommend you check yourself out for any recent zombie bites.



David Lynch's WTF-fest otherwise and unfortunately titled "Dune" -- horrible film. Awesome soundtrack. Theme kicks in ~1:50. I can't find a better quality version on youtube sadly.

I could keep listing but I'm not gonna spam the OP. What are some of your favorites?

 

The score from Krull was epic! And let us not forget Conan...

 

Not quite 1980s, but Alien. There's an awful lot of unsettling asymmetric weirdness to that score, especially in the main titles.

 

I always liked the music in Star Trek II. It really fit what was happening on screen

 

Vangelis's Bladerunner is pretty dope.

 

The Back to the Future theme works well for me with being connected to the 80's. And I also loved the song from Neverending Story as well.

 

Escape from New York soundtrack, here's an example. (track 23 from the extended version, Romero and the President)

I love how Carpenter builds layers of chromatic patterns on those synths.

This remains one of my favorite soundtracks ever.

 

It's not a sci-fi or fantasy film, but Thief (1981) has a great 1980s synth soundtrack I recently discovered, by Tangerine Dream:

 

Other than Star Wars, Indiana Jones is my favorite 80s score



That and the main theme are my two favorites from Indy (not just the 80s ones).

 

terminator, Conan(epic), Blade Runner, Willow, Road Warrior, The Thing, Heavy Metal
Darkslayer good call on Indy. Slipped my mind.

 

Yep, still arguably the most epic song ever:

 

I have a real soft spot for Harold Faltymeyer soundtracks like Fletch and Beverley Hills Cop.