Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes has published a list of its 300 top-ranked films. The list, which features hits like The Godfather and The Dark Knight, was reviewed and selected by Rotten Tomatoes critics and users who have now named the greatest film of all time.
The picks are "Certified Fresh" on the Tomatometer as opposed to "Rotten." These "Fresh" and "Rotten" designations are based upon whether a film's reviews are at least 60% positive. A film is Certified Fresh if it has a consistent score of 75% or higher and received at least 80 reviews, with at least five reviews from Top Critics.
With a 99% score on the Tomatometer, L.A. Confidential (1997) is the best film of all time, per Rotten Tomatoes. Notably, the film is not one of the ten that garnered a score of 100%. The movie follows three LAPD officers attempting to revamp the force's image in the 1950s after years of corruption.
Jerry Goldsmith scored L.A. Confidential and produced its corresponding soundtrack. The composer and conductor boasts an impressive resume, having helmed the score of movies like Star Trek, Alien and Basic Instinct throughout his prolific 53-year career. He has been nominated for 18 Academy Awards, clinching the Oscar for his score for The Omen (1976.) Goldsmith passed away in 2004.
Two of his scores, for Chinatown (1974) and Planet of the Apes (1968), are on the American Film Institute's list, 100 Years of Film Scores, which highlights the best film scores of the 20th century. John Williams holds the title for most scores in the top 25 on the prestigious list.
The L.A. Confidential score is bombastic. There are lulls and calmer moments offset by clashing drums and fiery horns; smashing symbols offset haunting violins. Booming, thunderous keys permeate throughout the 11-track record. There are definitive 1950s tones to the score given its setting, but Goldsmith's sound stands tall over 20 years later.
Goldsmith cited iconic composer Leonard Bernstein's score for On the Waterfront as the inspiration for his own work on L.A. Confidential. Bradley Cooper recently starred as Bernstein in Maestro, a biopic about the artist.
Curtis Hanson, director of L.A. Confidential, spoke about Goldsmith's impressive work, stating that he had figured out the soundtrack for the film before the score was created, leaving Goldsmith to tie the picture together.
"I already had all the songs in the picture and what Jerry needed to do was not only create a score, but do it in such a way that it wouldn't feel like the songs and the score were in two different pictures," said Hansen.
The soundtrack features artists like Dean Martin, Chet Baker and Gerry Mulligan. Kay Starr's "Wheel of Fortune" is deliciously immersive with the sound of a spinning wheel offset by her siren-like vocals. Hints of doo-wop emerge among the persistent jazziness. "Look for the Silver Lining" by Chet Baker is a soft, dancey tune in which the piano flirts with the listener.
"The motif that was consistent in the songs was the trumpet of Chet Baker on several tracks and Bobby Hacket on a couple of others. So, Jerry took the trumpet and used it throughout the score to create a musical whole," said Hansen.
Goldsmith succeeded in blending together the soundtrack's jazz and blues sound with the score's powerful, world-building additions to L.A. Confidential.
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