This Collider article rounds up eight films where the soundtrack or score is considered stronger than the story, spanning genres from sci-fi to war drama to romance. The piece argues that while music-driven filmmaking is unusual, these titles stand out specifically because their music outshines weaker or thinner plots, with quality varying considerably across the selections.

Highlights include Tron: Legacy, praised chiefly for Daft Punk's electronic score despite a thin "more Tron" story; The Mission, which pairs Ennio Morricone's acclaimed music with Robert De Niro's 18th-century redemption tale, albeit at a slow pace; Electric Dreams, an odd 1980s romance about a computer that falls for the same woman as its owner, elevated by its era-defining soundtrack; and Top Gun, whose music is judged more memorable than that of its sequel, Top Gun: Maverick.