To this day Jerry Goldsmith remains one of the all-time great film composers and his contribution to the action genre is only surpassed by maybe Hans Zimmer. He had an instantly recognizable sound and it’s hard to narrow it down to just these, but here are what I consider his best action scores.
Honourable mentions would include: Alien, Basic Instinct, Logan’s Run, Gremlins, The Omen and The ‘Burbs, but they aren’t really action so I left them off.
King Solomon’s Mines (1985)
I’ve always loved old-fashioned adventure films and Jerry scored a few. King Solomon’s Mines delivers everything you’d want with an amazingly heroic main theme.
First Knight (1995)
Sean Connery and Richard Gere starred in this King Arthur retelling that was made watchable mostly due to Connery but also Goldsmith’s sweeping score especially Arthur’s Farewell which is amazing.
Congo (1995)
The movie is a fun adventure although not a classic, but I do enjoy Jerry Goldsmith’s score which contains African chants and escapism.
Air Force One (1997)
For pure gung-ho Americana you can’t do much better than Air Force One and its awesome score from Jerry Goldsmith. It’s super heroic, exciting and one of his best.
Extreme Prejudice (1987)
With one of the manliest casts of all time, Extreme Prejudice is one of Walter Hill’s best films elevated by Jerry Goldsmith’s awesome score.
Deep Rising (1997)
Few people talk about this movie which is a shame as it’s great fun and the score is one of Goldsmith’s most underappreciated,
The Shadow (1994)
Back in the good old days superhero movies had memorable theme tunes; The Shadow may not be the best superhero movie ever but Jerry Goldsmith’s score is fantastic sounding suitably dark and mysterious while being heroic.
The Mummy (1999)
Filled with sweeping adventure cues The Mummy perfectly captures the spirit of old fashioned serials and it sone of the many highlights of this massively entertaining movie.
The Edge (1997)
Although more of a survival movie I still consider The Edge an action picture and Jerry’s score is fantastic with a memorable main theme which conjures up images of the wilderness as soon as it starts.
Total Recall (1990)
I wanted to put this at number 1 and it was so close however, when you see what it is you’ll understand why. Total Recall is one of the most masculine and badass action movie scores of all time. I used to listen to it all the time in the gym before I became a lazy, fat piece of shit.
The Rambo Trilogy
I know there are 5 (so far) Rambo movies with Brian Tyler taking over for Rambo 2008 and Last Blood and he did an awesome job too, but Jerry did the original trilogy and created the iconic theme we know and love. The genius of the main theme is that it can be made to sound sad one moment and then heroic the next and it sticks in your head for days after hearing it. Escape from Torture from First Blood: Part II is my favourite piece of music from the entire franchise.