Awesome Trailer Music

We all love movie trailers — they’re quick, exciting, get the blood pumping, spoil all the major films twists, etc. But a large component of making a great trailer is the use of music, most of which comes from either older films or original pieces composed specifically for that trailer (the movie’s score is created and recorded toward the end of the filmmaking process, and therefore is hardly ever available for use in the trailer).

I wanted to share with you some of my favorite pieces of original trailer scores, alongside of the actual trailers they helped prop up — and in so doing, hopefully open your eyes to the excellent work that these composers do and hardly ever get credit for.

The Piece: “Down with the Enterprise” by Two Steps From Hell
The Trailer: Star Trek (second trailer)

This score was one of the reasons I must have watched this trailer 30 times, easily (it also could be that I’m a total nerd) — the slow buildup of the piece pays off with a growing pulse that’s easily the equal to one of my favorite Star Trek scores: Star Trek IV. Two Steps From Hell is a trailer music powerhouse, and they also provided the score to the third Star Trek trailer as well.

The Piece: Instrumental version of “Cells” by The Servant
The Trailer: Sin City

I’m going to cheat a bit on the premise of this article (strictly scores created for trailers) with this one — partially because it’s such an awesome trailer, and partially because it helps to demonstrate how they can take just the instrumental track of a song and use it to great effect in a trailer.

The Piece: “Pompeii” by E.S. Posthumus
The Trailer: Spider-Man

“Pompeii” kicks in around 1:42, and this pulse-pounding score drove me mad until I found out who did it and got an MP3 of it. While I found this piece great and the trailer the better for it, it’s interesting to me that they chose it, because “Pompeii” is very attention-demanding. Music should underscore the visuals in trailers, not overshadow them, which I felt this does.

The Piece: Nara by E.S. Posthumus
The Trailer: Unfaithful

Another E.S. Posthumus score, this one has to be one of my all-time favorites. Unlike most action movie trailers, which are bombastic and thumping, this one is far more moody and evocative, with an Asian zing to it. It also became the theme to TV’s Cold Case.

The Piece: “The Power of One” by X-Ray Dog
The Trailer: Twilight

Yeah, it’s for a film I can’t stop mocking, and it sounds like “Starship Troopers” by Yes, but hey… I can’t deny it’s not an awesome song.