As many of you probably know from reading my blog, I’m not a movie person. But of the few movies I do like, most of them are space movies. More specifically, space disaster movies.*

I like space. I like disasters (both real-life and fictional). But I think the main draw for this particular genre is the fact that many of them have astounding soundtracks where there is at least one song that results in an unavoidable and severe emotional reaction (usually crying).

Examples (I’ve posted a lot of these before but I DON’T CARE):

Interstellar – No Time for Caution (Hans Zimmer)
The buildup to 2:36 is wonderful and the payoff is so good. I’m pretty sure I damaged my hearing by cranking this up too loud the first few times I listened to it.

Gravity – Shenzou (Steven Price)
I’m posting the clip of the movie where this song is heard because it syncs so beautifully with the amazing imagery in that scene. That breakup of the craft at 1:30. That shot of all the pieces entering the atmosphere at 2:46. The smoke and alarms at 3:00. I re-watched this scene for this blog post for the first time in like three years and I’m freaking sobbing over it, haha.

Armageddon – Launch (Trevor Rabin)
Did Michael Bay fit as many explosions into this movie as was physically possible for its run time? Yes. But the soundtrack is still great.

Mission to Mars – Toward the Unknown (Ennio Morricone)
This movie was…strange. But this even stranger song really fit the scene it was part of and is this weird combination of futuristic and retro (in my opinion).

And the big hitters:

Sunshine – Adagio in D Minor AND Capa’s Last Transmission Home (John Murphy)
Didn’t know this movie existed until I heard Adagio in some YouTube vid, looked up the song, and found this movie. The whole soundtrack is wonderful.  

Apollo 13 – The Launch (James Horner)
I know, I know, I know. Every single year I post about this song. But this is honestly one of my favorite pieces of music to ever exist. That heartbeat of silence at the crescendo of music just after 6:17 gives me literal goosebumps every single time.

*Actually, I can’t think of a single movie set in space that does not involve a disaster…but then again, my knowledge about movies is almost nonexistent. Can anyone think of any?