Music in film—why Hans Zimmer soundtracks break the rules of film scoring

What would you say if we told you that Batman doesn’t have a superhero score? Or that Dune doesn’t feature a sci-fi soundtrack? Or that Dunkirk doesn’t sound like a war movie? All those things are true because one man—the legendary Hans Zimmer—has rewritten the rulebook of epic movie soundtracks, changing the game for music in film. 

Whether you’re a video editor, an aspiring cinematographer, or simply passionate about movies and music, you’re likely already well-acquainted with the award-winning German composer. But did you know that Hans Zimmer soundtracks are changing cinema scoring history—and doing it without most mainstream audiences even noticing? 

Forget everything you thought you knew about film genres and their signature sounds—let’s explore how Zimmer’s creative work is shaking up film soundtracks and how his work has influenced the evolution of sound design in epic filmmaking.

To understand how Hans Zimmer’s soundtracks break the rules, we need to understand what those rules are and where they came from. So, let’s rewind to 1895! Before motion pictures featured recorded sound, it was common for single musicians or even entire orchestras to accompany a film while it played—like the pianist who performed at the Lumiere brothers’ first film screening. 

In those days, soundtracks were less original compositions and more a mishmash of improvised and recycled tunes. The most important thing was that the music communicated the movie’s mood, so the rules of cinematic scoring began to be written. 

For example, you’ve likely encountered the iconic composition Mysterioso Pizzicato—otherwise known as The Villain’s Theme.

And if that doesn’t sound familiar, this sure will—that’s the hero’s theme, an instantly recognizable tune that immediately tells the audience who to root for. This theme immediately set the stage for further experimentation with sound.

Max Steiner dialed up what movie soundtracks could be with his massive hit King Kong, which boasted a fully synchronized score mirroring the action on-screen. 

After King Kong came out in 1933, Steiner was credited with devising a ‘geography of the soundscape. ‘ His monster movie kickedstart the European orchestra era. This evolution saw filmmakers rush to collaborate with composers on movies spanning a range of genres—from superhero, sci-fi, and spy movies to thrillers such as The 39 Steps.

Steiner inspired many memorable melodies of this time, such as the music for Gone With the Wind, Ben Hur, and The Wizard of Oz—a soundtrack as unique and imaginative as its out-of-this-world narrative. 

Not every soundtrack achieved the grandeur and gravitas of King Kong’s original score—in fact, some sounded pretty generic. But the 1960s and 1970s were about to take soundtracks to a new supersonic level. 

Pressing play on a new era of innovation, composers started delivering leitmotifs that would profoundly affect pop culture. A leitmotif is a repeating melody representing a character, setting, emotion, or theme, which rose to prominence through popular German operas of the 19th and 20th centuries. Remember the hero and villain themes from earlier? Those are leitmotifs.  

For example, composer John Williams’ “Imperial March” theme for Star Wars’ Darth Vader had us hiding behind the sofa—and it’s a great example of the kind of soundtrack that Hans Zimmer would later so spectacularly subvert.

Other famous leitmotifs from this time include: 

Attention-grabbing and unforgettable, these iconic leitmotifs breathed new life into cinema scoring and became forever lodged in audiences’ imaginations. Let’s explore some of the characteristics of genre soundtracks.

Like Steiner’s iconic King Kong soundtrack, each film genre became associated with a particular sound. For instance, spy film soundtracks became known as jazzy.

In the French noir film Elevator to the Gallows, Miles Davis’s improvised jazz score created a moody air of mystery, inspiring composers throughout the 60s to experiment with jazz in their compositions. 

The sound was cemented by composers like Henry Mancini, of Pink Panther fame, and Lalo Schifrin’s jazzy instrumental, which has long signaled the start of a Mission Impossible movie. Of course, let’s not forget Monty Norman—the creator of the iconic James Bond theme who gave Britain’s favorite secret agent his signature sound.

The fact that these scores are so recognizable to today’s cinema-goers demonstrates how strongly jazz is associated with spy movies. For example, Schifrin’s composition—known as “Burning Fuse”—is still used today. And 007 films composed by David Arnold—such as Casino Royale—also use jazz as the basis for their scores.

Next, it became known that thriller soundtracks were eerie. Listen to Bernard Hermann’s score for Psycho, which complements director Alfred Hitchcock’s scary and shocking motion picture with dissonant harmonies and sharp staccato.  

Psycho became the defining thriller soundtrack, with many 60s and 70s films, like Jaws and Aliens, sharing its characteristics. These soundtracks use a lack of melody to create uncertainty and tremolo techniques (rapid pitch repetition or alternation) to ratchet up the tension.  

The techniques used in these scores still keep audiences on the edge of their seats in films like Barbarian. While we’re used to hearing a symphonic approach, we still hear synthesized versions of the classic thriller soundtrack today, such as in the Netflix films The Black Phone and The Guilty. 

Talking of symphonic, let’s look at epic science fiction films—and what better place to start than 2001: A Space Odyssey, released in 1968. Through this orchestral score, composer Gyorgy Ligeti brought Stanley Kubrick’s ambitious story to life, transporting viewers to endless possibilities and exploration.

The movie is best known for its opening theme, which features Richard Strauss’s 1896 tone poem “Also Sprach Zarathustra.” Based on Friedrich Nietzsche’s ideas, it perfectly captured the director’s vision of how people would one day travel through space.

Similarly, using a European orchestra, John Williams’ Star Wars soundtrack was influenced by another late-19th-century/early-20th-century composer. And that man was Gustav Holst and his orchestral suite, “The Planets.” 

Williams’ work on Jaws attracted the interest of director George Lucas, who felt it was important for Star Wars to have a “traditional, romantic score.” Williams’ score overflowed with depth, sophistication, and gravitas, drawing on a long history of symphonic music to infuse the movie with emotion and intelligence. 

Today, sci-fi movies tell increasingly complex stories, which means their scores are also evolving. That said, for the most part, we can still hear those European orchestras in movies like I, Robot by Marco Beltrami and The Martian by Harry Gregson-Williams. Then there’s the bombastic brass in Michael Giacchino’s compositions for the Star Trek reboot. 

Finally, our film genre journey arrives at the superhero soundtrack. These epic themes conveyed the essence of late 1970s/early 1980s superhero cinema, influenced by offerings like David Newman’s 1966 score for The Phantom, which combined adventure, romance, and all-action heroism. 

This style took off through music maestros like John Williams, whose work on 1978’s Superman captured the Man of Steel’s motto—”Truth, justice and the American way”—with its soaring melodies and grand fanfare, making it the go-to superhero score. 

In the same way, Danny Elfman’s brooding score for Tim Burton’s Batman (1989) defined the character. Drawing from film noir and Gothic literature, he reflected the Dark Knight’s psychological complexity and dethroned the title song of the 1966 TV series, which was composed by Neal Hefti. It’s dark, disturbing, and deeply memorable. 

But how is all of this relevant today? Well, like sci-fi, superhero music is evolving alongside the genre. Take John Ottman’s score for director Bryan Singer’s X-Men trilogy (2000–06), which combines epic orchestral arrangements with electronic elements. In doing this, Ottman creates an evolving soundscape reflecting the mutant heroes’ struggle for acceptance and identity.

Similarly, James Horner’s Spider-Man (2002) features a catchy central theme and lively orchestrations to perfectly communicate Peter Parker’s motto: “With great power comes great responsibility.”

And what about The Avengers, which has Williams and Elfman’s trademark bold and triumphant themes written all over it? In this 2012 film, composed by Alan Silvestri, the central theme clearly communicates the epic scale and heroic spirit of the Marvel superheroes. 

Now that we’ve covered the established rules of film scores, we can discuss how to break them effectively—precisely what Hans Zimmer has done throughout his career. 

Ready to rip up the rulebook? Let’s dive in! Before discussing how Hans Zimmer is subverting traditional soundtracks, we have to go back to the beginning of the film franchise that catapulted him into international renown. 

The Pirates of the Caribbean soundtrack is all symphonic orchestras and recognizable leitmotifs. That’s right—when tasked with coming up with a sound for the swashbuckling Captain Jack Sparrow, Zimmer followed the traditional film score rules we’ve been exploring. 

And it’s not a standalone example—he also composed scores for The Lion King, The Thin Red Line, and The Last Samurai, all epic films with soundtracks that stand among the best in their genres.

So, what changed? Two words: Christopher Nolan. When Nolan and Zimmer started collaborating, those well-established rules formed over 100 years of filmmaking began to shatter.

Batman Begins wasn’t your typical superhero movie by late 90s/early 00s standards, and it certainly doesn’t feature a typical superhero score. Zimmer abandoned the teachings of John Williams and Danny Elfman and gave us two notes—that’s it!

Zimmer later explained that he only used two notes to demonstrate Bruce being forever trapped in the day he lost his parents and, therefore, unable to move forward. This approach starkly contrasts previous themes, with Zimmer using two notes to tell us that Batman is a different kind of hero—one who’s imperfect and in pain. These two notes, played by horns and accompanied by strings, proved so powerful that they became the motif of the whole trilogy. 

Of course, then there’s our villain, The Joker, for whom Zimmer took 100 years of ‘baddie’ soundtrack history that sounded much like this and instead gave us this:

Zimmer created the tortured string sound by scraping razor blades across string instruments—whether you dub it genius or insanity, it works.

We started waking up to the importance of Hans Zimmer’s soundtracks when we watched Inception, a thriller in which the composer hones the style that would ultimately characterize his work. 

While you can detect the influence of Psycho composer Bernard Hermann in the song “Dream is Collapsing” and elements of James Horner in the fight scenes, Zimmer created a unique and mysterious sound by using styles that traditionally defined the thriller genre in unconventional situations. 

These tension-building strings and the crashing synthesized sound of an orchestra’s brass section combine to make an industrial, iconic pulse known as “BRAAAM.” In fact, “BRAAAM” is so effective at conveying impending drama that it’s almost become a cliché in Hollywood’s best movie trailers. However, this was one of the first film score trends that Hans Zimmer devised. 

In science fiction, Hans Zimmer soundtracks continue to turn traditional themes on their head. Thanks to films like 2001: A Space Odyssey, Star Trek: The Motion Picture, Alien, and the original Star Wars trilogy, sci-fi audiences became accustomed to outer space, little-visited planets, and galaxies far, far away sounding like a European orchestra. But all that was about to change. 

As a 13-year-old, Zimmer asked himself why sci-fi should be associated with orchestral sounds. Years later, he set the record straight with Dune by challenging this assumption, redefining the film genre and creating an entirely new aural world that had never been heard before. 

Zimmer broke the rules when he started working with Nolan—but how was this achieved? We can see the perfection of this pairing in the awe-inspiring war movie Dunkirk.

During the first bombing scene, the soldiers are waiting in line to evacuate when suddenly, we hear the sound of airplanes. The explosions are amplified by low-frequency sounds in the score, increasing the tension and adding to the sense of danger. 

Regarding this marriage of audio and visual, Zimmer says: “We’re always building the sonic world. We merge the visuals with the music; you’re almost listening with your eyes.”

Another example of Zimmer’s ability to choreograph a soundscape that intertwines with and heightens the on-screen action is the Tai Lung escape in Kung-Fu Panda. We also see this technique in Man of Steel, where the theme is divided into two very detailed parts in order to show Clark Kent failing when he first attempts to fly, and even in Top Gun: Maverick.

Thanks to Nolan’s influence, Zimmer moved away from the signature sounds that have long been associated with epic films and began changing the sound of thrillers, sci-fi, and superhero film scores.

With his pioneering approach—and partnership with Nolan—showing no sign of slowing down, we’re in for an exciting future of film soundtracks. While we await his next cinematic release, it’s over to you. If you’re involved in creating videos, audio, or social media content, think about everything you’ve learned in this video and how you can apply the lessons of Hans Zimmer soundtracks in your work. 

Consider using leitmotifs to evoke emotion or adopting techniques to entertain or inspire your audience. How can you create suspense, excitement, or a sense of wonder? How can you use sound to tell your story, develop your characters, and make your message clear? 

We hope you’ve learned something from Hans Zimmer’s epic career. Don’t forget to explore Envato’s extensive royalty-free library of more than 116,000 tracks covering a range of genres, categories, and styles. Our new feature lets you search for music that sounds like another track. You can also check out our predictions for 2025 music trends, from 2000s pop to darkwave loops.