20 Films With Amazing Sound Design You Need To Watch

(And why they made the list, in one sentence or less.)

Apocalypse Now (1979)

Star Wars (1977)

Why it made the list: Ben Burtt.

No Country For Old Men (2007)

Why it made the list: The lack of a score or soundtrack enables the sound design to breathe and puts it front and center of the film.

PlayTime (1967)

Why it made the list: Tati's 1967 film kicked off the French neorealism movement, and to say that those neorealism ideas impacted the sound of the film would be an understatement.

Apocalypse Now (1979)

Why it made the list: Sound designer Walter Murch was able to make the sound cut through, but still sound incredibly realistic.

Tenet (2020)

Why it made the list: Christopher Nolan's "Bond-esque" thriller narratively enables the sound to go to places most films don't.

Eraserhead (1977)

Why it made the list: Director David Lynch and sound designer Alan Splet use non-diegetic sound in a way that has quite simply never been matched to this day.

Blow Out (1981)

Why it made the list: The film centers around a sound effects technician, what could be better?

Stalker (1979)

Why it made the list: Director Andrei Tarkovsky's magnum opus is largely recognized as one of the greatest films ever made because of Vladimir Sharun's sound design, which includes hypnotic and repetitive sounds of telephone lines, among other things.

Citizen Kane (1941)

Why it made the list: Often regarded as the greatest American film to ever be made, Welles was progressive in his ideas not only in editing, blocking, and framing but also in regard to sound design.

Heat (1995)

Why it made the list: Ron Bartlett creates possibly the greatest and most realistic-sounding guns in any film ever.

Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)

Why it made the list: One of the greatest working sound designers, Mark Mangini, and his team layered vehicle engines with whale noises, among other things, to create an out-of-this-world soundscape.

2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

Why it made the list: Director Stanley Kubrick went with the theory that space is silent and combining that with the bare-bones nature of the dialogue, every breathe, click, hum, pop, buzz, and more can be heard extremely clearly.

Saving Private Ryan (1998)

Why it made the list: Head sound designer, Gary Rydstrom makes it sound like the viewer is simply a few inches away from getting hit by a bullet.

Alien (1979)

Why it made the list: The sound of the Nostromo and Alien.

Persona (1966)

Why it made the list: Very simple but very successful in its gentle, and soft sound design.

WALL-E (2008)

Why it made the list: The greatest accomplishment in animated sound design ever, Ben Burtt cements his legacy as one of the greatest sound designers ever.

A Man Escaped (1956)

Why it made the list: Minimalist French director, Robert Bresson’s "A Man Escaped", is the definition of simple, yet engaging sound.

Blade Runner (1982)

Why it made the list: The sound design of the film, blends extremely well with Vangelis' legendary score.

Arrival (2016)

Why it made the list: Simply put, the entire film is anchored on sound design.

Come and See (1985)

Why it made the list: Bone-chilling film and sound that work very well together.