Collider has published a ranked countdown of the 20 best movie soundtrack songs of all time, compiled by writer Michael Block, celebrating tracks that transcended their films to become cultural touchstones in their own right. The list spans different eras and genres, highlighting songs praised for being either thematically perfect within their scenes or so powerful that they were woven into a film's structure and marketing.

Among the entries revealed are "Take My Breath Away" by Berlin, ranked 20th for its role as the romantic anchor of Top Gun (1986) — a synth-driven ballad by Giorgio Moroder and Tom Whitlock that won the Academy Award and Golden Globe for Best Original Song and helped the film's soundtrack sell over nine million copies. Also featured is Carly Simon's "Let the River Run" from Working Girl (1988), reflecting the article's broader argument that the 1980s produced many of cinema's most enduring soundtrack hits; the full ranking continues through further classic and modern selections.