Hans Zimmer’s 10 best film scores – ranked from good to Interstellar

12 September 2025, 16:55

He’s up there with John Williams as the best-known film composer in the world. But what are Hans Zimmer’s greatest soundtracks to date?

One of the most celebrated film composers of our time, Oscar-winning movie maestro Hans Zimmer has pushed the boundaries of traditional film scoring with distinctive soundscapes which combine classical instrumentation with innovative uses of technology.

By focusing on a story’s most intimate themes, from the death of a father in Disney’s The Lion King, to a close father-daughter relationship in space film Interstellar, Zimmer’s scores act as more than a musical accompaniment to the picture, rather defining its emotional identity – remarkably, without being overly sentimental.

Today, many of his scores have taken on a life beyond the screen. Let’s dive into his best…

1. Pearl Harbor (2001)

   Melodic, lush and romantic – Zimmer took a surprising direction in his music for Pearl Harbour, a three-hour war movie about the surprise attack that led to America’s entrance into World War II. The score evokes a noble melancholy, especially evident in main theme ‘Tennessee’, which combines a wistful piano solo with the sweeping strings of a heavily processed orchestra, a familiar sound following the composer’s 2000 score for Gladiator.

   The movie received mixed reviews but the poignant and powerful score, which was nominated for a Golden Globe, has taken on a life beyond the picture.

   

   Pearl Harbor Soundtrack - Tennessee (Hans Zimmer)

2. Sherlock Holmes (2009)

   Zimmer famously made use of – and was personally responsible for trashing – a broken pub piano in his soundtrack to Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes remake. He bought it for $200 and used it throughout the compositional process.

   With a score marked for a banjo, cimbalom and ‘squeaky violins’, Zimmer described his soundtrack to Ritchie as “the sound of The Pogues joining a Romanian orchestra”. It’s wild, audacious and hugely fun to listen to.

   Read more: Definitively the greatest film scores of the 21st century so far

   

   Sherlock Holmes Opening Theme

3. The Dark Knight (2008)

   Working collaboratively with composer James Newton Howard, Zimmer admitted it took him a year to complete the dark, brass-driven score, describing the Christopher Nolan movie as one of the most challenging projects he has ever worked on. “We had so many ideas and never enough hours in the day,” he said. “Put it this way, I got to hang out with some of my demons for a while.”

   Zimmer’s trademark technique balances orchestral music with electronic elements, and in The Dark Knight, Zimmer said that balance was “about fifty-fifty”. He added: “I never segregate a violin from a synthesiser – both are ways and means of making music.”

   

   Batman The Dark Knight Theme - Hans Zimmer

4. The Da Vinci Code (2006)

   The music for a movie about deciphering codes and exploring an alternative religious history needed to be encoded with mystery, suspense and intrigue – and that’s exactly what Zimmer gives us with this goosebump-inducing soundscape, where an orchestra, chorus and organ evoke the feeling of walking into a glorious, stained-glass cathedral.

   Although the film itself had mixed reviews, Zimmer’s epic soundtrack which includes the memorable ‘Chevaliers de Sangreal’, was nominated for the 2007 Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score.

   The film’s director, Ron Howard, said it well: “Hans Zimmer has given us extraordinarily memorable music to appreciate within the framework of a film or completely on its own, where you can let the sounds carry you on your own private journey.”

   

   Hans Zimmer - The Da Vinci Code Orchestra Suite - Pt. 4 (#EnterTheWorldOfHansZimmer)

5. Dune (2021)

   Winning Zimmer his second Oscar at the 94th Academy Awards, Dune represents some of the composer’s most experimental writing.

   To evoke Frank Herbert’s 1965 sci-fi vision, he uses distorted and electronic sounds to create a deeply immersive futuristic soundtrack, enhanced by the harsh solo voices that weave their way through the music. Zimmer coined the signature riff, a wailing voice cried out by vocalist Loire Cotler which paints the picture of the desert planet Arrakis, as “the cry of a banshee”.

   

   Dune Official Soundtrack | Paul's Dream – Hans Zimmer | WaterTower

6. Pirates of the Caribbean (2003-)

   While Klaus Badelt is credited as composer and conductor for The Curse of the Black Pearl, Zimmer composed some of the main themes and oversaw Badelt’s work. Although critics berated the composers’ work for its lack of connections to the ‘swashbuckling’ genre, the duo succeeded in creating a rhythmic score that is impossibly catchy, cheekily evocative of the unpredictable Captain Jack, and hugely exciting when performed by a full symphony orchestra – as it often is, in concert halls around the world.

   Zimmer returned to score the second, third and fourth instalments of the franchise – Dead Man’s Chest, At World’s End, and On Stranger Tides.

   

   ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ - Liverpool Philharmonic at the Royal Albert Hall | Classic FM Live

7. Inception (2010)

   Zimmer revealed his entire score for Inception originated from the Edith Piaf song ‘Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien’. But, he argued, he should still be eligible for an Oscar for Best Original Score, telling New York Times: “I didn’t use the song; I only used one note. [I got] the original master out of the French national archives. And then [found] some crazy scientist in France who would actually go and take that one cell out of the DNA.”

   From that small spark of inspiration, Zimmer pioneered a piece of sound design that is now heard in so many Hollywood trailers and movies. The Inception ‘BRAAAM’ sound was created, according to Vulture, by four different wind instruments – the bassoon, French horn, trombone and tuba – all playing one note simultaneously. It’s testament to Zimmer’s power to once again change the game of film music composition.

   

   Hans Zimmer - Time (Official Audio)

8. The Lion King (1994)

   When he was first approached to compose The Lion King soundtrack, Zimmer’s reaction was: “Cartoons – really?”. But as soon as he clocked this as an opportunity to finally take his young daughter, Zoe, to a child-friendly film premiere, he signed up and won his first Oscar the following year.

   The score is renowned for its seamless blend of Lebo M’s distinctive African-inspired rhythms and chants, Elton John’s songs, and large, powerful orchestral and choral forces that come into full effect in Zimmer’s requiem for Mufasa, which he wrote for his own father who died when he was six years old.

   “Here I am, sitting in front of this cartoon, and it’s about the death of a father,” the composer told Jonathan Ross on Classic FM at the Movies. “And so, I basically wrote a requiem for my dad, and it became a really serious piece,” he added. “I think people notice that it’s written from a deeper place than your normal cartoon.”

   

   The Lion King Suite - Hans Zimmer | Classic FM

9. Gladiator (2000)

   Zimmer’s collaboration on Gladiator with the Australian singer Lisa Gerrard, known for her uniquely powerful vocal stylings, was foundational to the success of this score – full of soaring tunes to elevate Ridley Scott’s drama and emotion-packed narrative.

   Since the film’s release, the soundtrack has gone on to achieve legendary status for Zimmer and Gerrard, from the epic orchestral ‘Honour Him’ to the outlandishly beautiful ‘Now We Are Free’, pushing Gladiator into the ranks of those movies for which the music is a vital part of its success.

   Read more: Hans Zimmer wins Oscar for ‘Dune’, accepts award in his bathrobe

   

   Gladiator Soundtrack "Elysium", "Honor Him", "Now We Are Free"

10. Interstellar (2014)

    Zimmer himself has said Interstellar is his best work in the studio to date, and the music world agrees.

    With Christopher Nolan, he visited London’s Temple Church to record music on the 1926 Harrison & Harrison organ for the Interstellar soundtrack, creating a surprisingly religious feeling for a science fiction film. On top of the organ, he adds 34 strings, 24 woodwinds and four pianos, as well as a 60-voice choir.

    He composed the film’s haunting main theme after reading just a single page of the script, a heartfelt exchange between a father and child, without even knowing the film’s genre. The result is one of the most emotionally resonant scores in modern cinema, and latterly, a familiar favourite among content creators.

    The score for Interstellar was nominated for an Academy Award and Original Score at the Hollywood Music in Media Awards.

    

    Anna Lapwood - Hans Zimmer 'Interstellar' LIVE | Classic FM