pretty movies with quiet soundtracks?

Question

I'm looking for movies that are visually beautiful or serene that have quiet soundtracks to go with them. Nothing loud, not very much shouting or guns going off.
Kind of like...
Final Fantasy the Spirits Within (saw that one recently)
A lot of Miyazaki's stuff
Zen garden
The first disc of The Fellowship of the Ring
Even just abstract pictures set to music like...Illuminations which was a VHS tape I had awhile back.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Answer 1

I think you would really like Koyaanisqatsi. It's a movie which involves a bunch of scenes (mostly from nature) set to a Phillip Glass minimalist soundtrack. There are no words at all, and extremely slow moving, but it's very cool.



See the trailer here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PirH8PADDgQ

Answer 2

You might like music from:



Dances With Wolves - John Barry (movie has its violent moments, but it's also very beautiful at parts)



Princess Mononoke (A Miyazaki movie, so I bet you've seen it) - Joe Hisaishi



Braveheart - James Horner (war movie, so I suggest, if this is a deterrence, just listening to the soundtrack)



The Sheltering Sky - Ryuichi Sakamoto



The Truman Show - Burkhard Dallwitz and Philip Glass



Fearless - Shigeru Umebayashi (the same composer of House of Flying Daggers)



Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon or Hero - Tan Dun (I didn't really like CTHD, but the music is very nice)



The director of Hero and House of Flying Daggers, who makes some incredibly visually stunning movies, has an older movie called The Road Home, which I really enjoyed. It has the same actress who also played in both of the other two films listed above.



There are certain tracks on some of these that are kind of loud, but they all have quiet moments, which is the reason I added them. Also, some of the above movies have war scenes. Two movies, Sense and Sensibility (2008 version and not the Emma Thompson movie) and North and South (with Richard Armitage) are both beautiful films with great soundtracks...that have not been released.

Answer 3

Let's see...





The Family Stone - Has a great soundtrack that is genital, and many cool scenes of Snow and town...just brings you into the Holiday spirit.



The Edge - Sound track kind of loud, however, very relaxing. The views they show you are breath taking...just amazing. And an overall great movie.



The Ultimate Gift - Wonderful sound Track, has a few pretty scenes, just an overall touching movie.



The Time Machine (2002) - One of the most amazing sound tracks I have ever heard...a little loud, but it gives you shivers down your spine. Also has many breath taking scenes.



Forrest Gump - Wonderful soundtrack with cool views.



Contact - A very relaxing soundtrack, however, doesn't have anything amazing as far as scenes go till the end.







That is all I can think of right now, hope that helps...



The best one out of that list that is closest to what you are looking for would be "The Edge".

Answer 4

when this is described I think of John Barry's composing like:



Out of Africa-starring Robert Redford, Meryl Streep



Somewhere in Time- Christopher Reeves, Jane Seymour



High road to china-Tom Selleck, Bess Armstrong



Dances with Wolves-Kevin Costner,Mary Mcdonnel, Graham Green, Rodney Grant



and then

Hans Zimmer:



Driving Miss Daisy

K2

The Last Samarai



then there's Mark Isham

A river runs through it

Of mice and men

eight below





There's a list of some good ones.

Answer 5

Koyaanisqatsi (1982)